Eating local, Midwestern style

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

There are several restaurants in Philadelphia and the surrounding areas that feature locally grown ingredients - FARMiCia, White Dog Cafe, and many more.  With the ‘locavore’ movement still in its infancy in many ways, I’m always curious to see what the restaurant culture around eating locally is like in other cities.  I recently had a chance to find out - I was in St. Paul, Minnesota last week for a work conference and met up with some local friends for dinner.

We chose Heartland, a restaurant recently featured by the Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmer.  Not that Heartland really has a lot of bizarre food on the menu - it was featured because it endeavors to use all of an animal - from tail to snout.  On the night I was there, there were no testicles in sight, alas.

Heartland bills itself as ‘contemporary Midwestern’ and sources many of its ingredients locally.  It’s obvious from looking at the menu, which changes nightly, that it’s seriously thought out and very seasonal.  There’s an a la carte menu, as well as a vegetarian and non-vegetarian prix fixe menus.

The amuse bouche the night we went to dinner at Heartland was a slice of venison prosciutto.  I went with the non-vegetarian prix fixe, which was veal liver with mushroom and onion sauce, grassfed beef with cranberries and yams, and a butterscotch tart with peach coulis. The menu was more specific about ingredients, but when I think about the meal my eyes just gloss over and I remember how fantastic everything was.  There wasn’t a speck of anything left on any of the plates.  It was just....tremendous.

I was also able to steal bites of everyone else’s dinner.  I have never had better onion soup - I actually don’t really like onion soup...until I tried Heartland’s onion soup.  The beet salad was great, and don’t even get me started on the wild boar chop.

I understand that St. Paul and Minneapolis have quite a few restaurants devoted to locally grown ingredients, although I wasn’t able to get to any of them in the limited time I had in town.  I can honestly say, though, that I’m jealous - totally jealous of anyone who lives in the vicinity of Heartland.  Around here, Restaurant Alba comes closest to Heartland, but none of the restaurants here seems to do ‘eating local’ with the kind of daring and detail that Heartland does.  Still, I have hope.

Review: Restaurant Alba

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Today is our seventh wedding anniversary.  We used the occasion to try one of several restaurants out our way [the Delco burbs] that focus on locally grown ingredients.  Restaurant Alba won out, and we had our anniversary dinner there last night.

Being slightly snobby about suburban restaurants, we didn’t count on how hard it would be to get a reservation!  It’s in Malvern, for pete’s sake!  Who flocks to Malvern on a Saturday night?  Well...people do, apparently.  We couldn’t get a reservation until 9pm.  So let this be a lesson: call early.  I think I made the reservation last Tuesday and that was still late to get in at an earlier hour.

Restaurant Alba is a BYOB, so we arrived with a bottle of Chenin Blanc (not local, alas) in hand at the appointed hour and were graciously shown to our table.  The place was absolutely packed solid.  I won’t bore you with details about the decor or whatever, because we both know what’s important: the food.  But I will say that the waitstaff was absolutely lovely, and attentive without being annoying.

My husband, Craig, and I decided to order the antipasto (which changes daily) and the wood grilled octopus to start with.  The wood grilled octopus was a plate of large chunks of slightly blackened meat in a very light lemon vinaigrette, along with a few bits of potato that were supposed to be ‘pesto dressed’.  The octopus was delicious.  It really was - perfectly cooked.  It reminded Craig and I of octopus we had last year on Mykonos.  It was so good that I could overlook the very plain potato with it. 

There wasn’t a single bad thing about the antipasto.  The star of the plate was large marinated shrimp in lemon-infused chickpea sauce.  Also on the plate: seared tuna with a pine nut salsa, bruschetta with Shellbark Hollow goat cheese and fig, crostini with baccala, and a slice of sopprasetta.  Everything was fabulous.  We practically inhaled it.

A word here about the bread.  The staff keeps the bread basket filled, and bring a little dish of olive oil for dipping.  The bread was...OK.  It was bread.  It wasn’t bad and it wasn’t excellent.  The overall quality of their food makes me wish the bread was better.

Anyway, moving on.  Dinner for me was North Carolina fresh water trout, spinach crema, crab risotto cake, tomato jam, and spinach salad.  Craig ordered prosciutto wrapped Chatham cod, pistachio butter, spaghetti squash, and braised endive.  Both the trout and cod were perfectly done and absolutely delicious!  The tomato jam topped the risotto cake, and the spinach salad topped the jam.  The spinach crema was beneath the trout.  A bite of trout with the spinach crema was a great combination.  The spinach salad was very nice - little bits of goat cheese accompanied it.  The tomato jam was good and so was the risotto cake - but I couldn’t taste any crab in it.  Craig’s cod was good and salty because of the prosciutto wrap.  I was thrilled to see spaghetti squash on the menu, and it was very tasty with the pistachio butter.  Craig liked the endive (I didn’t have the chance to try it). 

By this time I was absolutely stuffed.  For a restaurant that is supposed to focus on locally grown food, I felt like I hadn’t really had very many in my meal.  Just about the only thing I knew for sure was local was the goat cheese on the antipasto plate.  Would the menu have indicated if the spinach or the squash or tomatoes for the tomato jam were locally grown?  I don’t know.  I mean, the menu clearly stated if the cheese was local, and on the dessert menu there were desserts with local apples and local honey.  My point is that aside from a few things clarified on the menu, you really don’t know if the restaurant is sourcing a lot of their produce locally.  Do we trust them, or don’t we?  I don’t know.

Anyway, because I felt like I should go out of my way to order the locally grown thing, Craig and I decided to split the apple betty made from locally grown apples.  It came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.  It was absolutely delicious!  The apples were tangy and warm and lovely.

The food at Restaurant Alba was very, very good.  I just wish we were able to discern a little easier how much of the produce is locally sourced.  Still, being able to get locally made cheese and a dessert made with locally grown apples is more than most restaurants around these parts will do!

As a snarky aside, there was a table next to us full of people talking about how awful foie gras production was.  Restaurant Alba normally has foie gras on the menu (last night they had sweetbreads instead), so I’m shocked that people so concerned about it would eat there.  They were talking about it pretty loudly, and I was so tempted to lean over and direct them toward an article on foie gras production that appeared in City Paper this year written by Farm to Philly’s own David Snyder.  I understand why people might be concerned with how foie gras is made, but it pays to be well informed about the subject - not just content to accept one side of the story.

Restaurant Alba
7 West King Street
Malvern, PA 19355
610-644-4009

Slow Food Dinner Tonight at Marigold Kitchen

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

On Wednesday, September 26, 2007, Slow Food Philadelphia is sponsoring a five-course dinner at Marigold Kitchen inspired by chef Michael Solomonov’s recent trip through Turkey and Israel.

Amuse Bouche

First Course
Modern and Classic Mezze.  Eggplant salad, chopped Israeli salad with quail eggs and white anchovies, tuna carpaccio stuffed with tabouleh, and mussels cooked with spiced basmati rice.

Second Course
Braised swordfish with Shakshouka (classic tomato stew) and poached egg.

Third Course
Smoked loin of lamb with stewed prunes and flavored with Za’atar.

Dessert
Peach sorbet with peach salad, peach mousse, and peach cobbler with labneh ice cream.

$50 + tax and tip (the total price will be $65).  Reservations can be made through Open Table Philadelphia.

Slow Food USA is an educational organization dedicated to stewardship of the land and ecologically sound food production; to the revival of the kitchen and the table as centers of pleasure, culture, and community, to the invigoration and proliferation of regional, seasonal culinary traditions. The members of the Philadelphia chapter come from a wide variety of professions and backgrounds. It organizes dinners, tastings, tours, lectures, and picnics, where members gather in a convivial setting to explore the richness of our area’s culinary heritage or the food and drink of other cultures around the world.

Marigold Kitchen
501 S. 45th St.
(215) 222-3699

James and Sly Fox Beer Dinner

Thursday, September 13, 2007

On Monday, September 17, 2007 at 6:30 p.m., Chef Jim Burke of James is teaming up with Brewmaster Brian O’Rielly of Sly Fox Brewery for James’ Inaugural Beer Dinner.  This five course dinner will be made with local/seasonal ingredients and will be paired with local beers from Sly Fox.  The menu will feature the following dishes and beer pairings:

Hors d’oeuvres
The chef’s selection of hors d’oeuvres will be paired with Sly Fox’s Saison Vos, a Belgian style ale brewed with German Pils malt, hopped with East Kent Goldings and fermented with a special proprietary yeast that gives it a dry, spicy character.

1st course
Mussels in soppressata broth with olive crostini, which will be paired with Sly Fox’s Pikeland Pils—a light-bodied, Northern German style Pilsner brewed with imported German Pils malt and hopped with German and Czech hops.

2nd course
King salmon confit with crisp apple salad and potato rosti, which will be paired with Sly Fox’s Phoenix Pale Ale, a medium bodied American Pale Ale brewed with British Pale and Crystal malts and hopped with Centennial and Cascade hops from the Pacific Northwest.

3rd course
Poularde, which was recently awarded Best Entrée by Philadelphia Magazine, served with a wild mushroom fricassee.  The Poularde will be paired with Sly Fox’s Octoberfest, a smooth, medium-bodied, malty brew made with German Vienna malts and German hops.

4th course
Pork loin with melted shallot and fennel jus, which will be served with Sly Fox’s Incubus, an Abbot Style Triple brewed with German Pils malt and invert sugar.

Dessert
Beer mousse, almond cake and brown butter pears served with Sly Fox’s Instigator, a classic, full-bodied German-style doppelbock brewed with German Munich and Roast malts and Hallertauer hops.

The price for this event is $65 per guest, tax & gratuity not included.  Seating is limited.  For reservations, call Kristina at 215-629-4980.

James
824 S. 8th Street
215-629-4980

Restaurant Week with sustainable choices!

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Restaurant Week begins in Philadelphia in a few short weeks.  For $30 you can get a three course meal from some of Philadelphia’s best restaurants.  I was delighted to see a few restaurants focusing on local ingredients are participating!

City Grange in the Westin Hotel, for instance.  Their Restaurant Week menu features Lancaster County chicken noodle soup, salads that include locally made cheese, Atlantic salmon, and vegetables from Jersey.  This is a perfect time to try the food at the newly opened City Grange.

FARMiCia is also participating this time around with a menu full of seasonal, local ingredients, and even Cuba Libre is getting in on the act with a salad of Jersey tomatoes.

Don’t miss out!

Capogiro - Blackberry Gelato and Rosemary Gelato

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Cheesesteaks are not the only food for which Philly is famous.  Thanks to Capogiro, Philly is also known for artisanal gelato and sorbetto.  Capogiro has received national press for its diverse and daring selections, including such offerings as Cucumber and Pinoli.  In terms of taste and quality, Capogiro’s gelati rival those found in Italy.

Capogiro sources a lot of their ingredients from local farms.  Today, the two locally sourced gelati that caught my eye were the Mora Gelato and the Rosemary, Goat’s Milk and Honey Gelato. 

The Mora Gelato is made from blackberries sourced from Green Meadow Farm in Lancaster County.  The blackberry flavor in this gelato is intense and concentrated, yet it is still bright with an almost citric freshness. 

The Rosemary, Goat’s Milk and Honey Gelato, however, is not to be missed.  The rosemary is sourced from Overbrook Herb Farm in Landsdale, PA, the goat’s milk comes from Pequea Valley Farm in Lancaster County and the buckwheat honey comes from New Jersey.  On paper, rosemary may seem to be out of its element here.  But one bite will change your mind.  The fragrant, fresh-from-the-sprig herb blends well with the rich goat’s milk and sweet honey.  Despite its creaminess, this gelato is surprisingly refreshing, especially on a hot Philly afternoon.

Capogiro
119 S. 13th Street
(215) 351-0900

and

117 South 20th Street
(215) 636-9250

Buy Fresh Buy Local Happy Hour at James

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

The folks at Buy Fresh Buy Local asked Jim and Kristina Burke of James to host a happy hour to kick off the summer.  Jim and Kristina had a better idea:  “We said, why not the whole summer?” Kristina said.

And that’s what they did. 

Every Tuesday this summer, James has hosted a Buy Fresh Buy Local happy hour from 5pm to 7pm.  The specials include:

• Half off of all local draft beers, including Philly’s Sly Fox Royal Weiss and New Jersey’s Flying Fish;
• Half off of all cocktails made with fresh fruit sourced from Green Meadow Farm, including and the B&B made with Philly’s Blue Coat Gin and local blueberries and the insanely popular Strongberry Lemonade made with local strawberries and lemons; and
• Free bites made with farm fresh, local ingredients!

Last week, the free apps, which change every week, included focaccia made with sweet cherry tomatoes from Green Meadow Farm.  But one of the more impressive selections was the diverse platter of bruschetta and vegetable spoons.  The diced beets, also sourced from Green Meadow, had an intense fresh-from-the-ground earthiness.  The Country Time Farm pork pate bruschetta was smooth and satisfying.  The Vineland, New Jersey spinach topped with ricotta cheese, however, stole the show—deep, rich, meaty greens without any bitterness.

There are only a couple of these summer happy hours left at James, so make sure you stop by.  But don’t worry if you miss out; James’ commitment to fresh local ingredients lasts all year-round.  Chef Jim Burke admits it can be challenging to source locally during the winter months, but he doesn’t mind.  “It makes you more creative,” he says.

James
824 S. 8th Street
(215) 629-4980

White Dog Hosts Local Corn Dinner

Monday, August 06, 2007

On Tuesday, August 7 at 6 pm, White Dog Café will celebrate the tastes of Summer with a Local Corn Dinner, featuring innovative dishes created with corn grown organically by Pennsylvania farmers. 

“Right now in our little corner of the world, corn is at its peak of perfection,” says White Dog founder Judy Wicks.  “With this dinner we are celebrating both the glorious bounty of the area’s fertile countryside and the hardworking farmers who cultivate it.”

To create the dinner, Executive Chef Andrew Brown sought out the region’s best organic corn, a bi-color silver and white sweet variety, indigenous to South-Eastern Pennsylvania, which he sources from Green Meadow Farms, Branch Creek Farms and Lancaster County Farm Fresh Co-Op.  For the multi-course dinner, Chef Brown will create a variety of delicious dishes that showcases the corn’s incredibly sweet natural flavor.  Some of the dishes will include:  Corn and Herb Gnocchi, with blue crab and corn broth; Corn Encrusted Fish, line caught from the Atlantic Ocean; Corn Pudding, with chocolate-hazelnut topping; and several surprise dishes.  The dinner will cost $45 per person.  Reservations are required. 

Following the dinner, guests will be joined by Deborah M. Burd, Executive Director of the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, who will discuss some of the challenges facing small, family-owned farms and explain what guests can do to help change the US Farm Bill to protect the area’s rich farming traditions.

White Dog Cafe
3420 Sansom St.
(215) 386-9224