Sycamore’s Chef Tasting

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Philadelphia and the surrounding areas are now seeing more restaurants than ever that focus on locally grown produce and meats. As someone who cares about that sort of thing, it’s a thrill to have Sycamore. around the corner from my house. The other day I received an email about their Tuesday night chef tasting, announcing there would be no set menu—Sam Jacobson, the chef, was heading into Reading Terminal Market that morning to buy up what looked good and would serve accordingly.

Well, I can never turn down a mystery dinner.

The theme ingredient (I’m giggling because I sound like the Iron Chef announcer in my head right now) was wild Maine lobster, which isn’t exactly local, but many of the ingredients in the dinner were. So what were the courses eventually served up?

• Lobster salad—persimmon, jicama, baby fennel, marinated Napa cabbage
• Tempura-fried lobster tail—crispy pork belly, kimchi aioli
• Fragrant lobster risotto—lemongrass, kaffir lime, scallions, crushed marcona almonds
• Buttered lobster with hen of the woods mushrooms—heirloom carrots, parsnips, turnip creamed potatoes, sambuca lobster sauce
• Local butternut squash crisp—cranberries, amaretto ginger crust, maple mascarpone

Yes, it was delicious. Then again, I’ve never had a bad meal at Sycamore.

Other than the butternut squash, I can hazard a guess about what else may have been local. Can you?

Coincidentally, I was thrilled to see the kimchi aioli on the menu. If you’ve been reading Farm to Philly long enough, you know I love to make kimchi. I may need to experiment with that aioli, see if I can make a passable fascimile! With cabbage and some radishes in season, now’s the time to pickle.

Sycamore
14 S. Lansdowne Ave,
Lansdowne, PA 19050