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Duck Consommé with foie gras dumplings
At Brasserie la Banque in Charleston, S.C., which opened at the end of November, chef Jeb Aldrich takes the bones of aged Rohan duck, a byproduct of another dish, roasts them and makes a rich stock out of them, then clarifies the stock into a consommé using a traditional raft technique. He pours that over dumplings made out of a simple dim sum-style dough that he pipes with trim from his foie gras torchon.
Price: $17
Seared Octopus with black garlic
Esperanto is a language that was invented in 1887 in an attempt to create a universal second language for global communication. It hasn’t exactly caught on, but it is a treasure trove for words that are unlikely used yet in the names of restaurants. Sereneco means “serenity” in Esperanto, and it’s also the name of a new restaurant in the Brooklyn, N.Y., neighborhood of Greenpoint where chef Dennis Hong serves this dish. He braises the octopus until tender, and then at service sears it on a plancha and serves it with black garlic purée blended with aged balsamic vinegar and olive oil. That’s accompanied by Hong’s take on a classic sauce vierge made with sundried tomatoes and Castelvetrano olives simmered in olive oil with anchovy and garlic and finished with olive oil, lemon juice and white pepper. The plate is finished with shaved baby fennel and parsley dressed in lemon juice and olive oil.
Price: $17
Cuban Coffee Rubbed Lamb Chops
At Gala, a new restaurant in Aventura, Fla., executive chef Phillip Thompson combines finely ground Cuban coffee beans with dark chile powder, brown sugar, cumin and kosher salt. He rubs that on a rack of them and chills it for 12 hours.
Then he roasts the lamb to temperature and plates it with dots of demiglace and blue oyster mushrooms sauteed in olive oil with garlic. He accompanies it with a blend of micro cilantro, bulls blood microgreens, micro radish and edible confetti flowers.
Price: $30
Chicken Shawarma Flatbread
This item has become a guest favorite at Lumin Skybar in Columbus, Ohio. Chef Kris Dixon marinates chicken breast for at least 24 hours in a Moroccans spice blend comprised of cumin, cinnamon, coriander, ginger, allspice and cayenne pepper, plus harissa paste, cilantro, olive-garlic paste and jalapeño peppers. That’s slowly roasted at 230 degrees Fahrenheit.
At service, flatbread is spread with a blend of manchego and goat cheese, which combined, according to Dixon, have a nice tang and slight sweetness.
That’s topped with yogurt mixed with mint and honey along with chopped jalapeño peppers, olives and shreds of the roasted chicken.
Price: $12
Butternut Squash Lasagna
For this dish at Culinary Dropout, and 8-unit chain by Fox Restaurant Concepts, director of culinary Taylor Domet and his team roasts whole butternut squash, scoops it out and purées it with mascarpone cheese, Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs salt and honey.
Separately, they cook baby spinach in garlic oil, chop it and blend it with ricotta and mascarpone cheeses, lemon zest and Aleppo chile flake.
They alternate six layers each of cooked pasta sheets, mornay sauce, the butternut squash and spinach-ricotta layers, and grated mozzarella & provolone cheese. They bake that, cool it and slice it. Then at service they warm a slice in the oven and serve it with tomato sauce and a slice of buttered garlic bread.
Price: $17
