It is becoming common practice for chefs to make a dish their own by swapping out key components but presenting it in a relatable form.
That’s what Harley Peet and his chef de cuisine Phil Lind are doing at Bas Rouge in Easton, Md. Lind is from England, so offering a variation on Beef Wellington makes sense, but Easton is near the Chesapeake Bay, and so using crabcakes instead of beef brings local flair. Using summer squash for the duxelles gives it seasonality.
Not too far away at 1310 Kitchen & Bar in Washington, D.C. chef Jen Crovato takes what is arguably the beefiest of beef dishes, short ribs, and makes it vegan by using eggplant instead.
Wings are given the fine dining treatment at Landrace in San Antonio, where Steve McHugh uses duck instead of chicken, and cures it and confits it before frying it.
At Essex Restaurant in New York City, Steffen Sander brings a summertime touch to gnocchi with basil and corn.
In Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at La Fuga, which specializes in coastal Italian cuisine, food & beverage manager Marco Zaccariotto makes his own limoncello boosted by lavender, and at Mister Mao in New Orleans, bartender Madeleine Chao evokes mangoes and sticky rice with her ESL cocktail
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