An arepa is a type of corn cake from Central and South America — more rustic than a tortilla, and heartier. A Colombian version is available at Carnivale in Chicago, where chef Carlos Lucas Garza makes it using fresh corn and serves it with preserves made with tomatoes from his rooftop garden, creating a farm-to-table version of the menu item, and managing to charge $24 for it.
Carpaccio is considerably more refined, but chef Elier Rodriguez gives it some oomph at Dolce Vita in Washington, D.C., in the form of pork cracklings, along with a tough of molecular gastronomy with some balsamic vinegar pearls.
At the New York City outpost of Katsuya, which has restaurants all over the world, kingfish sashimi gets an enhancement with cold smoke, and at The Henri in Washington, D.C., a light spring cocktail gets smoke from mezcal.
And in Charleston, S.C., at Bistronomy by Nico chef de cuisine Andrew Singer makes pad Thai with beef and turns it inside-out, serving the meat inside the noodle by making a dumpling.
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