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Lomo saltado quesadilla
Lomo Saltado is a Peruvian stir-fried dish of spiced beef and French fries, among other ingredients. At Panchamama, which restaurateurs Dan and Yen Chung of Driven Hospitality opened in Green Brook, N.J., last month, chef Ricardo Ramirez seasons beef loin with salt, pepper, cumin, and garlic and sears it in a wok with red wine vinegar, soy sauce, chopped red onion, demiglace, and French fries.
Separately, he heats a tortilla on the plancha with mozzarella cheese until the cheese melts, adds the beef, folds the tortilla over it, lets it melt shut, and cuts it into four pieces which he serves with pico de gallo, sour cream, and guacamole,
Price: $18
Lemon tartlet with cherry blossom gelato
Alex Levin, executive chef of the Schlow Restaurant Group, is celebrating Washington, D.C.’s cherry blossom season with this dessert at Alta Strada.
He blends the company’s base gelato with cherry blossom powder and a little raspberry purée. He said the powder actually makes the gelato even smoother and gives it a bright pink color. “It’s my new favorite springtime flavor!” he said.
He makes a classic vanilla sable crust and makes three-inch tartlet crusts out of it. He bakes them and after they cool fills them with lemon curd and then tops them with Italian meringue that he torches to color it brown. It’s accompanied by the cherry blossom gelato.
He garnishes the plate with orange marmalade.
Price: $12; the gelato is available on its own for $4 per scoop.
Island Vibes
For this cocktail at Two Fifteen, which hotelier Ian Schrager just opened with nightlife professional Nur Khan in the Public Hotel on New York City’s Lower East Side, mixologist Charlotte Voisey shakes together with ice an ounce of Flor de Caña 4 Years White Rum, ¾ ounce pineapple syrup, ½ ounce of lime juice, 4 dashes of Angostura bitters and four to five mint leaves. She strains it into a Champagne flute, tops it with Prosecco and garnishes it with a single mint leaf.
“It’s a tropical Champagne Mojito served in a more elegant style,” Voisey said, noting that it’s similar to the Old Cuban created by cocktail expert Audrey Saunders.
Price: $22
Veal Milanese with a poached egg and truffles
Chef Julian Medina, who opened Amarena restaurant on New York City’s Upper East Side last February with restaurateur Louis Skibar, was experimenting at home and discovered that the classic Italian dish Vitello alla Milanese takes on new dimensions with the addition of a poached egg and truffles. So he pounds a veal chop to a ½-inch thickness, coats it with flour, an egg wash and his own Italian breadcrumbs, fries it in clarified butter and then tops it with a poached egg, truffle sauce made by finely chopping black truffles and mixing them with olive oil and Parmesan cheese, plus more Parmesan cheese.
Price: $68
Lobster & truffle ‘Easter eggs’
For this dish at Corvina in Boca Raton, Fla., executive chef Jeff Tunks makes a luxurious version of Sicilian arancini.
He starts with a risotto made with arborio rice and onions sautéed in olive oil, deglazed with white wine and then cooked with lobster stock, and then finishing it with truffle butter, grated Parmesan cheese, shaved truffle, and diced lobster meat. He cools that in a sheet pan, scoops it into golf-ball sized balls, breads them, fries them, and serves them in a nest of buttered kadayif (shredded phyllo dough) in San Marzano tomato marinara sauce and dollops of pesto.
Price: $19
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