Italian food is one of the most loved cuisines in the United States, but chefs still like to add their own flourishes to it, like Steven De Vellis, the new executive chef of E3 Chophouse, with locations in Nashville and the Colorado ski resort of Steamboat Springs, who sweetens up a bucatini carbonara with figs and balsamic vinegar, and also adds goat cheese and mushrooms.
At Etta’s Bucktown location in Chicago (although there are also locations in that city’s River North neighborhood as well as in the Los Angeles and Phoenix areas), executive chef Danny Luckey takes Italian beggar’s purses, or sacchettoni, and tops them with huitlacoche.
Speaking of Mexican influence, at The Vasper in New York City executive chef Nick Koustefanou spruces up Lobster Thermidor with spiced street corn.
In a different part of New York City, at Sweet Catch in Brooklyn, chef Bryan Lindsay is paying homage to 19th Century oyster bar magnate Thomas Downing with broiled versions of the shellfish.
And in Miami, at Doya, beverage director Anthony Medina is trying to evoke feminine energy with a cocktail called Rosita.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
