RI Chefs Name Their Top Secrets
By Ann and Michael Martini, GoLocalProv Food Editors
RI Chefs Name Their Top Secrets
If one of your New Year's resolutions was to get out and try some "cheffie" foods in the new year, this round-up is for you. The tech boom has reached all corners of American life and the restaurant kitchen is right there on the cutting edge. Whether it's chefs curing meats in-house or vacuum-sealed "sous vide" cooking, we Rhode Island food lovers are very lucky to have so many artisans challenging us to expand our palettes. We found four cool things for you to try this year...and 9 great places to try them...
House-Made Charcuterie:
Our favorite part of the current food renaissance is the return of classic dishes and preparations. As chefs return to using whole animals, the byproduct is all of the extra cuts that chefs love and are a mystery to the general dining public. Local chefs are using these great, primal cuts to make incredible cured meats, sausages and pates that educate as they fill you with tasty goodness. Local spots to enjoy these treats include Chez Pascal, where owner Matt Gennuso is as passionate about charcuterie as they come. His love even spawned a hot dog cart and a mobile truck serving some of the tastiest house-made sausages in the state. New Rivers Chef Beau Vestal includes a daily charcuterie menu that shows off his deft touch with an incredible array of meats and fish. On the current menu he has an incredible 14 items to choose from that are all made in-house. Chez Pascal, 960 Hope St. Providence, 421-4422, www.chez-pascal.com New Rivers, 7 Steeple St. Providence, 751-0350, www.newriversrestaurant.com
Bomster Scallops:
Chefs are a particular lot. It’s their name and reputation on the menu and a bad meal can be a killer in a state as competitive as ours. So it was that we were shocked several years ago when we heard of the best and brightest in the state using a…dare we say…FROZEN scallop from Stonington, Connecticut. We set out to try this carpetbagger scallop and were duly impressed. The Bomster family has perfected a method of shucking, rinsing with sea water, vacuum sealing and flash freezing that produces a scallop that holds up better than a lot of fresh scallops. In Newport, Chef Jake Rojas pairs a vanilla-scented parsnip puree with the seared scallops at his Thames Street restaurant, Tallulah on Thames.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST
Artisan Cheeses:
In a city like Newport you would expect great wine and cheese shops and you get them with Newport Wine Cellar and Le Petit Gourmet, both owned by Maria Chiancola and situated next to each other on Bellevue Avenue. The small, but packed, Le Petit Gourmet has a small cheese case that features a non-stop rotation of interesting cheeses that always challenge us. This summer we picked up a prosecco-aged cheese that was wrapped in the prosecco mash while it was aged so it would naturally pair better with a glass of this Italian sparkling wine. See…challenging and delicious. In the capital city, Matt and Kate Jennings’ little cheese shop, Farmstead, is still chugging along and providing a constant supply of crave-worthy cheeses that delight and confound. Chef Jennings makes it easy on us cheese lovers with several tasty ways to explore cheese. Of course, you could grab some and go with some great sides to enjoy at home; you could try the always tasty cheese monger’s grilled cheese at lunch featuring an array of stinky and delicious cheeses or you could go to Fondue Fiesta on January 29th and fall back in love with, perhaps, the 1970’s greatest contribution to mankind. Le Petit Gourmet, 26 Bellevue Ave. Newport, 619-3882, www.newportwinecellar.com Farmstead, 186 Wayland Ave. Providence, 274-7177, www.farmsteadinc.com
Sous Vide Cooking:
The kitchen technology boom has been, sometimes, hit or miss. We’ve had good foams and bad foams and it seems like a little restraint by the chef goes a long way. One of the major “hits” for us has been sous vide cooking. Sous vide literally means “under vacuum” and features vegetables or proteins vacuum sealed and cooked at very low temperatures. This method of cooking ensures that the tough parts are broken down before the integrity of the outside is damaged. You can seal a steak with garlic and olive oil and thyme and slowly cook it so the meat is not stressed and tough. You end up with a steak that is perfectly and evenly cooked from end to end and it is incredibly tender. Two local practitioners of this cooking method are Eric Haugen of Seasons at the Ocean House, in Watch Hill and Ben Sukle of the Dorrance, in Providence. Chef Haugen has been known to cook fresh-caught lobster tail in this style to incredible results, with the lobster maintaining a silky consistency. It will remove the idea of “rubbery” from your lobster vocabulary. Chef Sukle has helped breathe new life into the old Federal Reserve building with his delicious food and interesting takes on small plates. We love his Sous Vide steaks. We are yet to have a tough bite and the temperature is always perfect. Although it was discovered in 1799, this “innovation” is one we hope has legs. Seasons at the Ocean House,1 Bluff Ave. Westerly, 584-7000, www.oceanhouseri.com The Dorrance, 60 Dorrance St. Providence, 521-6000, @the_dorrance