Eat First

Nothin’ But Noods Pasta Company (ghost kitchen)

I don’t do Grubhub and I don’t do DoorDash and I don’t do Uber Eats. But I do order takeout food sometimes and I did order dinner from a local ghost kitchen, so don’t say I don’t keep up with the times.

What is a ghost kitchen? It’s a sort of virtual restaurant/food hub that offers pick-up or delivery only: no dining room, no bar, no reservations, no walk-ins. Orders are placed online, usually, or by phone. Delivery is sometimes available, but not always.

After following the Nothin’ But Noods account on Instagram and seeing the weekly menus, I was curious about this new food option. The pasta-to-go business is owned and operated by John D’Amore, a chef who has worked at a long list of Syracuse-area restaurants, including the former Genesee Grande Hotel and more recently Strada Mia. He’s gone solo and shares kitchen space on Brewerton Road in Mattydale with the owners of Phokouttahere (Vietnamese food and food truck) and Fat Brother, which specializes in Laotian and southeast Asian cuisine. 

Each week, D’Amore posts a build-your-own pasta menu on Instagram and Facebook, which is also where he takes orders. Choose your style of pasta (from Rochester’s Flour City Pasta; everything from traditional linguine to squid ink linguine) then choose your homemade sauce (marinara, vodka sauce, puttanesca, pesto, creamy pesto, etc.) and any extras, like meatballs, garlic broccoli and brown butter mushrooms. D’Amore also offers an entree special each week.

I sent the chef a direct message on Instagram to ask him which sauce he would recommend with the garlic chive pappardelle (creamy pesto, he replied) and placed an order for that and a side of garlic broccoli. I requested a 4 p.m. Saturday pickup, pulled into the parking lot and called the phone number provided with my order confirmation. Out came the chef with my food. He handed me a bag and I handed him money. 

In the bag was a plentiful serving of pasta in an aluminum container, a container of extra sauce, two slices of Italian bread, butter, and two small containers with Parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper flakes. A separate container held the garlic broccoli. The pasta was cooked to a perfect al dente and could have easily served two. I removed half of it from the container when I was ready to eat and drizzled it with some extra sauce before reheating it. It was delicious – and nice to not have to cook.

Will I go back? Absolutely. I love that D’Amore is using Flour City Pasta (whose owner is a fixture on Saturdays at the Central New York Regional Market) and I want to try his vodka sauce. Next time I’ll probably skip the broccoli, which was too crisp for my taste.

The cost of this feast before tip was $18. That’s reasonable for a restaurant-quality meal-to-go.

Note: Nothin’ But Noods accepts cash only.

What's for dinner? Almost-instant ramen from Kasai Ramen

Staying in for dinner tonight -- and most every night? Join the club. The pandemic has caused major, lasting changes in how we eat. More people than ever are cooking at home. And an estimated 70% of American adults are now more likely to order takeout from restaurants than they were prior to the pandemic, according to the National Restaurant Association. We're not talking just the usual suspects, like pizza, wings and subs (not that there's anything wrong with those things). We're talking more "elevated'' restaurant food.

Kasai Ramen, a fusion restaurant in Syracuse's Armory Square known for its ramen bowls, kimchi salt potatoes, steam buns and other Japanese-influenced fare, has always offered ramen for takeout and delivery. With the Omicron variant of COVID-19 surging and dining at home on the upswing, the restaurant has started offering take-home ramen kits. Again.

What are ramen kits and how are they different from a takeout order of ramen? The kits include all the ingredients and toppings for a delicious bowl, but assembly is required. If you're a DIYer in the kitchen, you'll have fun putting your meal together.

I ordered a shoyu ramen kit ($13.35 plus tip) on a recent weekday when I knew I'd be dining solo and wouldn't want to bother with cooking for myself. I called ahead and my order was ready in 15 minutes. A brown bag was packed with several containers: pork and chicken broth, a nest of homemade noodles, braised pork, six-minute egg, enoki mushrooms, bok choy and scallions. I set a place at the table, boiled unsalted water for the noodles, heated the broth on the stove and warmed the pork in the microwave. I had already left the six-minute egg and vegetable toppings on the counter to take the chill off them.

In a matter of minutes, I sat down to a warming, comforting and filling bowl that was almost too pretty to eat. The kit included chopsticks, which I used along with a spoon and fork to get every bit and drop. 

Note: Instructions are supposed to come with the ramen kits (in this case they were omitted), but if you've had ramen bowls before, cooking the noodles, heating the broth and garnishing the bowl is pretty self explanatory. I overcooked the noodles somewhat. Next time I'll know they need just 30 seconds to a minute in boiling water.

Kasai Ramen is at 218 Walton St., Syracuse. Information: 315-310-8500

Main photo courtesy of Kasai Ramen

Finished bowl photo: Margaret McCormick

 

Food Rescue Food Truck, Syracuse

The 1988 Grumman rescue vehicle that chef Gerald "Jerry" Bolton and partners rolled out as a food truck this summer had a long life traveling to fire scenes a couple counties away, in Geneva. Now it's a state-of-the-art mobile restaurant kitchen, serving upscale, firehouse-themed food at public and private events around Syracuse and Central New York.

"It's fun,'' says Bolton, who is best known as the executive chef at The Oncenter in downtown Syracuse. "We have a good following. We change the menu up every time we go out.''

 

Partners in the project are Bolton, his wife, Susan, and Chuck Wilhoit. They purchased the retired rescue truck, which had 100,000 miles on it, in May of 2019 and left it in the capable hands of Edward Pacelli, a retired steelworker and metal fabricator in Auburn. Pacelli stripped out the truck's interior and added a four-burner stove, fryer, charbroiler, salad unit and work station with a large cutting board. A two-and-a-half-foot aisle separates the stations in the 16-foot space, so it doesn't feel cramped, Bolton says.

 

The food truck became a welcome stay-at-home project for the partners when Governor Cuomo ordered restaurants and event venues to close in March to help stem the spread of the coronavirus. The Boltons and Wilhoit used their new-found free time to work on menu items and make plans to launch the food truck. The Food Rescue Food Truck made its debut at a private event in July and started making appearances at local breweries, including Middle Ages Brewing Company in Syracuse and ONCO Fermentations, in Tully. They've also been doing a lot of corporate/business/employee events. They hope to eventually collaborate with local fire and police departments on events and donate a percentage of proceeds to first responders.

 

At each gig, the chalkboard menu features about five items. The partners keep an eye on the weather when deciding what to serve and have started adding in cool-weather fare, like soup, chili and chicken and biscuits. Some favorite menu items so far include EMS Chips 'n Dip (housemade seasoned potato chips with caramelized onion dip); Pyro Piggy Poutine (crispy french fries topped with pulled pork, barbecue sauce, cheese curds and creme fraiche); Firehouse SPO (grilled sausage, peppers and onions on a toasted roll); Smokin' Quattro Formaggi (four-cheese grilled cheese with smoked gouda, asiago, fontina and sharp cheddar on sourdough); Hook and Ladder Chicken Riggies (chicken breast, cherry peppers and pink sauce over rigatoni, "with just enough fire''); and the Stop Drop 'N Oyster Roll (fried oysters with lettuce, tomato and “Rescue Sauce” on a toasted hoagie roll). Desserts (by Sue Bolton) might include jumbo chocolate chip cookies or  brownies.

 

                EMS chips and caramelized onion dip

 

                   Chicken riggies

                    Pulled pork quesadilla

 

We caught up with the Food Rescue Food Truck on a recent Saturday at ONCO Fermentations, a small farm brewery in Tully. We ordered more than we could realistically eat, but wanted to sample several of the items on the menu. All three items were easy to share. Potato chips of any kind are my downfall, and the seasoned EMS chips with caramelized onion dip ($6) were outstanding -- warm, thick, crisp and lightly seasoned. The chicken riggies ($12) had plenty of fire and the pasta was perfectly cooked. The serving was huge and more than half of it came home with us. The pulled pork quesadilla ($10) featured shredded pork tossed with a savory bourbon barbecue sauce, topped with cheddar cheese, garnished with scallions and a drizzle of sour cream. The quesadilla was nicely grilled, so everything was hot and melty inside the crispy tortilla.

 

We hadn't been to ONCO since it opened last year. Owners Erin and Brian Bullard make a wide range of beers and their plum saison and signature session New England IPA hit the spot on a warm fall day. ONCO has added outdoor seating and the doors to the warehouse space roll up, making it nice and airy inside.

 

Chef Bolton recently returned to his position at the Oncenter, where he has worked for 26 years, overseeing the food end of events for hundreds and sometimes thousands of guests. He's there two days a week, for now, preparing for the time the facility gets the go-ahead to resume special events. Prior to COVID-19, he figured he'd work on the food truck on his days off. He's glad to have the food truck "side hustle" and grateful for the positive reception it has received so far in the community.

 

 "It's something different,'' Bolton says. "We get along well and work well together. We're learning as we go.''

 

The Food Rescue Food Truck will be at Middle Ages Brewing in Syracuse the afternoon of Saturday, October 3 and at ONCO Fermentations on Oct 10, 16, 23 and 30. Hours are 3 to 8 p.m. Oct. 10 and 4:30 to 8 p.m. the remaining dates. Check the food truck Facebook page for more details and updates. 

 

For more information or to book the Food Rescue Food Truck, call 315-516-6770 or email [email protected].

 

 

 

Cooking at home with Sara Tong-Ngork

Sarinthra (Sara) Tong-Ngork has logged more than 20 years in local restaurants. Her resume includes stints at Lemon Grass, Bangkok Thai, Alfa Bar and Dining Room, the Century Club and Bellevue Country Club, among others.  Come fall, she will venture out on her own as one of eight merchants at Salt City Market, the food hall scheduled to open at 484 Salina St., across from the Marriott Syracuse Downtown. 

 

Sara's stand, Firecracker Thai Kitchen, will feature Bangkok-style "street food:" soups, curries, noodle dishes, salads and more. Her menu is in development and she has been going through the steps of writing a business plan.

 

Sara, 45, grew up in Syracuse and attended local schools, including SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. After college, she decided to pursue cooking as a profession. "I started in 1997 at Lemon Grass as a prep cook and never looked back,'' she says.  She has worked with and learned from some of the best chefs and cooks in Central New York, including chef Eamon Lee, her boss and mentor at The Century Club. "I leaned from him for over a decade. ... Better than any culinary school education I could have gotten.''

 

Sara's parents are from Thailand and she has spent much of her coronavirus-mandated stay home time cooking with them and for them.  She's looking forward to life resuming a sense of normalcy and to feeding CNY's "Thai tribe'' at Salt City Market.

 

How did you learn how to cook? I’ve been cooking since I was a little kid, maybe 7. My sisters and I would come home from school and I’d make us a snack while we waited for our parents to come home. Eventually I’d help my parents with dinner. They were both excellent cooks and I think that’s why I love food so much. 

 

How would you describe your style of cooking: I gravitate towards simplicity and letting the natural flavors shine. I like to highlight freshness and balance sweet, salty, sour and spicy, which is the key to Thai cooking. I don’t like to measure and I don’t like a dish with a million ingredients. It's pretty rare for me to spend more than an hour making something, unless it’s simmering or braising away.

Do you have a signature dish? My signature dish is Spicy Chicken and Thai Basil. It was a dish the cooks would make for family meal (the staff meal before service) at Lemon Grass. After almost four years of working there, it was the only dish I could still eat every day.  My version is different, not quite as bright, but equally crave worthy. I’ve run some version of it everywhere I’ve cooked.

Favorite cookbook or cooking show? My favorite cookbook is one that Eamon (Lee) introduced me to, "The Best Recipe" (America's Test Kitchen). I love how it incorporates food science and tells you the "why" of a recipe. TV show -- I was a huge fan of "Ready...Set...Cook!" back in the infant years of the Food Network. After school, other kids would be playing outside and I’d run downstairs to catch that and "Great Chefs." 

What have you been cooking during "stay at home life”? I’m quarantined with my parents. We’ve been cooking a lot of Thai comfort food --  noodles, soups and Thai-style congee are family favorites. We had to keep it pretty simple for a while because we couldn’t get Asian ingredients as most of the Asian grocers buy stock from New York City.
 
Favorite place to shop: My favorite place to shop is the Central New York Regional Market and I wish I could get there more often than I do.  That food has been taken care of. Someone took the time and energy to nurture those ingredients. You can taste that in the product. A misshapen, locally grown donut peach with a blemish, enjoyed mid-summer at peak ripeness, will always taste better than the biggest, most perfect looking one from the grocery store. With a lot of produce,  just because something is available year-round, doesn’t mean it’s good year-round.

 

Any advice for people who are new to cooking? Invest in proper tools - you don’t need to spend a lot. I use a sharp knife I got from Amazon for $20.

• Start simple: Make scrambled eggs and figure out how much salt and pepper to add to them to make them taste good. This will help you learn how to season food.

• Don’t give up. Even the most talented chefs have cooked something only to throw it right in the trash.

 

 

Thai Omelet

From Sara Tong-Ngork

 

Sara says: The omelet is often served alongside other Thai dishes, as Thai food is almost always family style. It’s also found at many food stalls and almost every restaurant. For me, it’s comfort food. This recipe serves two as an entrée and four as a side dish to quell any spicy dishes. The optional condiment adds a little extra salt, spice and brightness to the dish.

 

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1/4 cup onion, 1⁄4-inch slices or diced

2 tablespoons scallion, rough chop

1 tablespoon cilantro, rough chop (optional)

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic (garlic powder)

1 1/4 teaspoon fish sauce or 1 teaspoon soy sauce (to keep it vegetarian)

Freshly cracked white or black pepper (3 to 4 twists of the pepper mill)

2 tablespoons rice bran or grapeseed oil (high smoke point)

Cooked jasmine rice (2 to 4 servings)

For the optional condiment:

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

1 garlic clove, minced

1 Thai chili pepper, minced

 

In a bowl, beat eggs, onion, scallions, cilantro, garlic powder, fish sauce/soy sauce and pepper  together until mixed. Heat up a non-stick skillet on medium- high heat. Wait until the pan is hot, then add the oil. Gently pour egg mixture into pan and

reduce heat to medium. As the egg cooks, pull the sides of the omelet towards the center and allow the uncooked egg to run underneath it. Do this all around the omelet until there’s no more runny liquid (the top will still be uncooked). Check underneath the omelet for a golden brown color, then carefully flip it, using plates if necessary. Continue cooking until the bottom is golden brown as well. You may need to add a few more drops of oil if it becomes too dry or it will burn.

 

Serve the omelet immediately with hot jasmine rice and optional condiment. Makes 2 to 4 servings.

 

Optional condiment: Combine all ingredients and serve with omelet.

 

 

 

Social, from a Distance: A Virtual In-Home Dining Experience

When Gov. Cuomo ordered restaurants across the state to limit their operations to takeout and delivery last month in an effort to help reduce the spread of coronavirus, the mandate left restaurants reeling – and scrambling to adapt and survive. It also left many people cooking at home like never before and wondering what they can do to help keep chefs and restaurants afloat.

To remind people that it’s possible to come to the table -- without sitting next to or across from each other -- four Central/Upstate New York chefs pooled their energy and creativity to collaborate on "Social, from a Distance -- a Virtual In-Home Dining Experience.'' In doing so, they showed some love to local farmers and producers and brought nearly 300 people from across the region together, virtually, to celebrate food and community.

"Social, from a Distance'' was held on Friday, April 3 and a second event spotlighting restaurants in the region is in the works. It's scheduled for April 24.

The logistics of the project were "intense," according to chef Sarah Hassler, of Syracuse-based Hassler Hospitality Group, one of the event organizers. Hassler partnered with Luke Houghton of Pure Catering and Events, Auburn, Tim Hardiman of The Tailor & the Cook, Utica, Michael Lanahan of The Cellar Modern Fusion Restaurant, Corning, and food photographer and social media marketing specialist Chris Johnson of We Eat CNY (who served as emcee) to put the event together in a two weeks.

The event sold out and some guests attended the show only (no food) via Zoom and live stream on YouTube. Hassler's brother, Chad, managed all the technology aspects of the night, which went so far as to seat guests at "tables'' together in private chat rooms. Everything went off smoothly, with few glitches.

Tickets cost $35 (or $5 for virtual access only, no food) and meals, meticulously packaged for reheating at home, were picked up the afternoon of the event at designated locations in each city (or delivered, for an extra charge). The chefs planned each course virtually and prepared them remotely. Courses prepared in Auburn were delivered to Corning and Utica -- and vice versa.

We picked up our dinner box (shown above) outside The Sweet Praxis in downtown Syracuse and opened it up to find about a dozen plastic containers and a helpful explainer sheet for all the various ingredients. Most of the items required just refrigeration, reheating, plating and garnishing.

Michael Lanahan's black bean soup was a tasty starter. The soup had a hint of spicy heat on the finish and polenta croutons and lime cabbage slaw added some interesting texture.

Hassler's dish, "Running Hot and Cold'' put braised potatoes and chilled celery root salad on the same plate with delicious results. The salad was cool and crunchy, with a light lemon vinaigrette. The potatoes, finished in the oven, were crispy on the outside and topped with a slightly spicy remoulade sauce.

The main courses by Luke Houghton were long on flavor: cauliflower and mushroom curry (above) and fork-tender braised beef short ribs (below) with kale on the side. Both were served with creamy polenta prepared with coconut milk.

I'm still thinking about Tim Hardiman's "Layers of Flavors" trifle, which combined blueberries, sweet potato custard, gluten-free sponge cake, milk jam and whipped cream, topped with a sprinkle of pumpkin seeds.

Hardiman said he had been thinking for a long time about a dessert that included blueberries and sweet potato, and when The Tailor & the Cook closed its doors in March he had eight gallons of milk on hand to put to use. That inspired the milk jam, a mix of caramelized milk and sugar that is cooked over low heat for hours. It's similar to dulce de leche.

The dessert was the only dish we enjoyed straight from the container, in order to preserve the multiple layers of the trifle. The photo below by Chris Johnson of We Eat CNY shows the beautiful presentation it would receive under normal restaurant circumstances.

A Finger Lakes Riesling and Long Island Cabernet Franc were available as add-ons for $20 per bottle. Each meal box contained a small jar of artisan flake salt from Syracuse Salt Company. Hassler suggested adding a pinch or two of it to the celery root salad and Hardiman suggested adding a sprinkle of it to his dessert.

Chef Luke Houghton demonstrates making polenta

Technology allowed guests to interact with and ask questions of the chefs: Hassler from her home kitchen in Syracuse, Houghton at Pure Market & Café in Auburn, Hardiman at home near Utica and Lanahan in his kitchen at The Cellar, where he was in the midst of Friday night takeout dinner service. It also allowed guests to send messages to each other and the chefs.

This comment, from a guest who lives in Utica, sums up the experience: "What you guys did tonight was amazing. ... Thank you so much for organizing this and please do this again and again -- even after all the restaurants are back up and running.''

To learn more about future "Social, from a Distance'' events, follow chef Sarah Hassler on Instagram and Facebook or visit the Dining Inside Out website.

 

Cooking at home with Julie Platt-Opanhoske

Julie Platt-Opanhoske is used to cooking for a crowd. At home in Sennett, near Auburn, she cooks for her husband, Chris, and four kids (ages 10, 16, 18 and 20). And as owner of Carriage House Catering, she cooks for gatherings of 50 to 100 or more.

Opanhoske (pronounced Ah-PEN-ah-ski), 43, has been cooking all of her life. Her grandfather DeMassi was a cook in the Army and he and her grandmother, "Nana Rose,'' cooked Italian-American specialties and regularly hosted family dinners with adults and kids crowded around the table. "I think that's where I get my 'cook for an Army mentality,''' she says. Prior to launching her catering business, Opanhoske worked alongside Culinary Institute of America-trained chef Chris Lego at The Restaurant at Elderberry Pond, where she "soaked up as much knowledge as I could to refine my skills.''

For Opanhoske, life in the time of coronavirus is an opportunity to cook comforting food for her family and to plan the next level of her business, which will include a learning kitchen and interactive dining. She plans to offer cooking and baking instruction as well as brunches and dinners with herself, guest chefs and others in the Central New York hospitality industry.

How long have you been cooking?  I have been cooking my entire life. My grandpa DeMassi and Nana Rose were always cooking something and it was usually straight from the garden. Zucchini fritters with the flowers, broccoli raab drowning in olive oil and garlic and pots and pots of tomato sauce and meatballs. Between my Italian grandparents and my Irish grandmother, I developed a love for not only cooking but for feeding people. My Irish grandmother, Mary, always had a knack for creative cooking. She would start one day with a soup, then the next it was a casserole just by adding a few other ingredients. I suppose she learned that from raising eight children. It didn't matter which grandparents house I was at cooking and feeding people always brought me incredible joy. 

How would you describe your style of cooking? I would describe my style of cooking as "simple." I like food to taste like it is intended without too much manipulation from its original state. 

Do you have a signature dish? I would say any kind of soup, but to be more specific, "Pasta Fagioli" (pasta and beans) -- at least this was the consensus after asking my friends and family. I learned from my grandpa and Nana Rose many years ago. I have probably put my own spin on it through the years but I can say that every time I make it, the smell alone brings me back to the good old days and I'm right back in the tiny kitchen on Garrow Street in Auburn, sitting around a cramped table, elbow-to-elbow with all my cousins, indulging in grandpa's Pasta Fagioli and sipping on mini glasses of wine.

Favorite cookbook or cooking show? I would say my favorite cooking show would be "Lidia's Kitchen.'' I love her simple way of cooking easy recipes. Cooking should be fun and simple.

What have you been cooking during "quarantine life"?  I have been cooking everything. Last week I made Bolognese sauce and pasta, roasted pork with rosemary and thyme served with butter potatoes, Pigs In a Blanket soup and last night I made a creamy Cajun sausage pasta. I have lots of kids here to feed, so I'm doing my best to keep them satisfied with comforting food. Oh, and the baking: carrot cake cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, cheddar garlic bread and banana muffins on the menu for today.

Favorite place to shop: I try to shop local and organic as much as possible. Living in New York, that's hard to do this time of year. I buy all my meat from Indelicato's Market in Auburn. They are wonderful people who've run a successful, high-quality market for over 100 years. When she's open for business, I source all my vegetables from Jacqui McCarthy at The Produce Station in Elbridge. She does a beautiful job growing local, organic produce for the community.

Any advice for people who are new to cooking: Keep it simple and use the best ingredients you can get. When you start good you end good. Whenever I try something new, I follow the recipe to a T, then I change what I need to to fit my taste. A lot of cookbooks and cooking shows can be overwhelming. I would suggest "Lidia's Kitchen" and "Barefoot Contessa." I have used many of their recipes and they are very easy and always good.

Photos courtesy of Julie Platt-Opanhoske

Pasta Fagioli
From Julie Platt-Opanhoske

2 pounds dried Great Northern Beans (preferably Goya)
1 smoked picnic ham with bone (approximately 12 pounds)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
6 to 8 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch celery, chopped (including leaves)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1/2 cup white wine or dry sherry (optional)
2 14.5 ounce cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes
4 or 5 bay leaves
1 pound ditalini pasta

Prepare beans: Place beans in a bowl and soak in cold water overnight in the refrigerator. Make sure beans are covered by a few inches. The next day, drain beans, rinse, and set aside.

Prepare ham: Cut off any excess fat and cut remainder into large chunks but small enough to stir in the pot, including the bone.

Prepare soup: In a 12-quart stock pot, heat olive oil on high. Add onions and celery, cook about 10 minutes then add garlic. Cook five more minutes then add tomato paste and let it toast on high heat until it begins to caramelize. Add 1/2 cup white wine or dry sherry to deglaze the pan. This step is optional but does add some dimension to the flavor. Add the fire-roasted tomatoes, beans and ham chunks (don't forget to use the bone) and fill with water to the bottom of the handle rivets. Toss in the bay leaves, bring to boil and reduce to a simmer.

It usually takes about four to five hours to really cook the beans down and make the ham tender. You may need to add more water as the beans absorb it.  When the ham is tender, remove all the large chunks (including the bone) and let cool for a few minutes while you put water on for the pasta. Cut the ham into bite-size chunks and add back to the soup.

Cook pasta al dente then add to the pot. Serve the Pasta Fagioli with a topping of Parmesan cheese and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Mangia! Makes about 24 two-cup servings.

Notes:

• Recipe can be cut in half.
• Soup will keep for about a week in refrigerator.
• If you plan to freeze soup for later use, portion it off before adding pasta.

 

A charcuterie spread for one of Julie's catering events

 

Dining out: A Mano Kitchen & Bar, Syracuse

Several restaurants have opened in downtown Syracuse in the last year or so and we're slowly getting around to checking them out. For my birthday earlier this month, I mulled the options and went back and forth over a few before finally settling on A Mano Kitchen & Bar, knowing that my partner would like it, as well.

 

The restaurant is owned by Anthony Fiacchi and his son, Alex Fiacchi, who is also the restaurant's executive chef. Alex Fiacchi has worked on farms in Italy and in some of the finest restaurants in Philadelphia and has a deep appreciation for locally sourced ingredients. His approach to Italian is not the "red sauce" Italian-American food that so many restaurants in Central New York are noted for. You could call it "modern Italian" or "elevated Italian.''

 

THE VIBE: Lively, friendly and a bit noisy. It's a big space with high ceilings. The Open Table reservation form suggests "business casual" attire, but plenty of diners were in jeans and sweatshirts. 

 

THE MENU: Not too big, not too small -- just right. There's something for everybody and every appetite -- from wood-fired pizza and salads to steak, seafood and chops. Pasta, pizza dough and breads are made in house each day and the menu changes seasonally.

 

LIQUID ASSETS: The seasonal cocktails sounded fantastic, but we consulted with our server and decided to share share a bottle of Dynamite Vineyards Zinfandel 2013 from California's North Coast ($38). It was full-flavored, jammy and smooth and I will be looking for it in local wine stores. 

 

THE FOOD: I started the meal with the misticanza salad ($9; above), a mix of baby lettuces, fennel and herbs, dressed with a light vinaigrette sweetened with local honey and topped with an oversized focaccia crouton. A bread basket containing housemade focaccia and cheese crackers arrived with the salad.

 

Both of us ordered from the pasta section of the menu. I had scoped out the menu in advance and was excited to try chef Fiacchi's Pumpkin Cappelletti ($20) because I like to order things I'm unlikely to make at home when we go out for dinner. The dish featured tender cappelletti pockets, stuffed with smooth pumpkin (with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg?) and dressed in a sauce of brown butter, crispy sage leaves and taleggio cheese. The chew of the al dente pasta was a nice contrast to the smooth pumpkin interior and buttery sauce. I could have cleaned my plate but tend to mentally divide restaurant portions in half and take some home to enjoy the next day. Robert ordered the spaghetti bolognese ($19), which was plenty meaty yet not as meat-dense as we've come to expect when ordering bolognese. He also ordered a side of broccoli rabe ($6; a somewhat bitter cruciferous vegetable that's similar to broccoli) and found it to be too crisp for his liking. It was returned to the kitchen for some extra time on the heat to soften it up (and was well-dressed with olive oil and garlic).

 

As a birthday bonus, the chef sent out a plate of francobolli, small, ravioli-like pasta with ruffled edges. It was filled with cauliflower, tossed with a light butter-dill sauce and garnished with poppy seeds, which added interesting texture to the delicately flavored dish.

    

DESSERT: Several choices were offered, including chocolate cake, cannolis and housemade ice cream. We shared a petite, photo- friendly apple crostada, served on a slate flecked with powdered sugar. The pastry shell holding seasoned apple slices was nicely browned yet tender and the dessert was topped with a small scoop of caramel ice cream and toasted walnuts. A few bites apiece was a just-right sweet ending to our meal.   

 

THE SERVICE: Our server was professional, helpful and present at our table regularly without being intrusive. She deftly managed several large tables (it was Friday of Parents Weekend at Syracuse University) while also checking in on our two-top, refilling wine glasses, offering a second bread basket, etc.

 

WHAT'S A VEGETARIAN GOING TO FIND: Wood-roasted cauliflower, burrata Caprese, Margherita pizza, roasted garlic pizza with wilted arugula (and several other pizzas that could be made vegetarian), mushroom fettuccine and the aforementioned francobelli dish, to name a few options.

 

THE DAMAGES: Dinner for two, with a bottle of wine, one salad, two entrees, one vegetable side dish and one dessert (including tax and 20 percent tip), came to about $133. 

 

THE NEXT TIME: Wood-fired pizza. We're definitely coming back for the pizza. 

 

DETAILS: A Mano Kitchen & Bar is at 344 Warren St., Syracuse. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday to Friday and for dinner only on Saturday. Phone: 315-303-1630. Parking is available on the street. The restaurant is accessible to the disabled.

 

Note: Reviews on this blog are based on one visit (usually) and are reflective of our budget and how we like to eat. It's not unusual for me to order two appetizers or an appetizer and a salad and save room for dessert.

 

All photos by Margaret McCormick unless otherwise indicated.

 

 

 

 

Farm to Fork 101 Community Dinner at Commonspace

Chef Sarah Hassler (background) and Farm to Fork 101 founder Mark Pawliw (back, left) speak to Commonspace residents at a community dinner in August.

If you've attended a Farm to Fork 101 event in Central New York, you're familiar with Mark Pawliw. He's the founder of the series of pop-up dinner events that shine the light on locally grown and sourced food and serves as a conduit between farmers, chefs and diners. He also works in the restaurant industry and is the coordinator of cooking events at the Wegmans Demonstration Kitchen in the Art and Home Center during the New York State Fair.

If all of that isn’t enough, Farm to Fork hosts dinners about once a month at Commonspace, a co-working and co-housing community on Jefferson Street in downtown Syracuse. Commonspace calls itself "a neighborhood in a building.'' The small apartments offer both privacy and opportunities to mix and mingle with other residents. Each apartment has a kitchenette and residents have access to spacious, fully outfitted kitchens on each floor. Commonspace's first apartments made their debut in 2016. The developers have since expanded the concept to two other historic buildings downtown.

Farm to Fork founder Mark Pawliw (left) and Eden chef Rich Strub prep for a community dinner at Commonspace earlier this year. (photo courtesy of Commonspace)

Mark invited me to attend the August dinner at Commonspace Jefferson, which was held on the rooftop of the building on a beautiful summer evening. Guest chef was Sarah Hassler, formerly of The Stoop Kitchen, who's now a consulting chef with her own business, Hassler Hospitality Group.

Mark and Sarah planned the meal in advance and Mark did much of the shopping/procurement of ingredients by visiting Graber Farms, Haas Farms, Main Street Farms and other vendors at the Central New York Regional Market. The ingredient list included kale, tomatoes, peaches, garlic and ethically raised chicken.

Sarah had done chef duty for a previous dinner, so she felt comfortable in the Commonspace kitchen. She kept her menu simple and prepared enough food for 15 people. Any leftovers are stored and left in the common refrigerator for residents to enjoy.

"It feels like cooking for family and it's good to do family-style sometimes,'' Sarah said. "It’s relaxed. You get to cook anything you want, which is pretty sweet.'' Besides, she added, "I like working with Mark. He’s chill.”

Sarah's menu for the evening: oven roasted tomatoes with garlic marinated zucchini, hot honey and fennel seeds (pictured at right); Filipino-style adobo chicken (simmered with vinegar, garlic and other spices); chickpea and kale stew with basmati rice; and peach crisp for dessert. Everything was prepared on site and carried up to the rooftop "dining room,'' where Mark had set a series of tables to create one long table.

Diners enjoyed both the food and the fellowship. Several Commonspace residents said their jobs keep them super-busy, so they "meal prep" on weekends in the common kitchen and enjoy "reheat and eat" meals in their own spaces during the week.

Past dinners have featured chefs from The Mission, Otro Cinco, Eden and other downtown restaurants. Mark gives each chef or chefs the opportunity to explain the dishes they've prepared for the evening and ends the meals with an invitation to meet up with him at the Regional Market on Saturdays.

Ethan Suttner, one of the first Commonspace residents, moved out recently to share a house in the Westcott neighborhood with two other former residents. During his time there, he said, he enjoyed the diversity of the chef-prepared community dinners organized by Mark. "There have been so many good dinners... it's hard to pick a favorite,'' he said.

"The one constant for the history of Commonspace has been the dinners once a month that Mark puts on,’’ Suttner added. “There are some people that I only ever saw at the dinners. That was one social aspect that I appreciated. And Mark is a great guy. He knows where all the best food in the area comes from.’’

Farm to Fork 101 has several events open to the public coming up:

• On October 28, Syracuse University’s Center for Sustainable Community Solutions, in partnership with Farm to Fork and LoFo, will host a zero-waste community dinner at Chuck Hafner’s Farmers Market and Garden Center in Liverpool. The event (6 to 9 p.m.) will team five local chefs with five local farms to create a five-course meal from gleaned produce (that is, produce that has not been brought to market or otherwise used by the farm). For more information and to purchase tickets, CLICK HERE.

• On November 11, Farm to Fork will host a community dinner at Eden, a new restaurant in downtown Syracuse that features foods cooked over a wood fire. The five-course tasting menu-style dinner begins at 6 p.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, CLICK HERE.

Note: Photos by Margaret McCormick unless otherwise indicated.

 

 

Fresh Herbs of Fabius

Clockwise from top left: Mahogany tomatoes; a Parisian carrot; lettuce leaf basil and a handful of white currants, all grown at Fresh Herbs of Fabius.

 

Like many farmers, Ken and Elizabeth Nevius grow a lot of produce for chefs. They started out growing herbs exclusively -- hence the name of their business, Fresh Herbs of Fabius -- but before long branched into microgreens, heirloom vegetables and some fruits.

 

They started out on a small plot of land at their home in rural Fabius, in southeastern Onondaga County, and have since expanded to five acres of tiered growing space on the hillside behind their home. They now grow hundreds of varieties of herbs and specialty produce.

 

A field of fingerling potatoes at Fresh Herbs of Fabius

 

I visited the farm on a recent weekday, in the prime of the growing season. Elizabeth showed me around in a golf cart and Ken walked the land. They pointed out a long field of fingerling potatoes, many of which will be used by chef Damien Brownlow at Kitty Hoynes Irish Pub & Restaurant in downtown Syracuse. I was introduced to short and stubby Parisian carrots and Mexican gherkins, which look like tiny watermelons but are said to taste like cucumber. There was so much to see: baby eggplants in various shades of purple, baby summer squashes, pole beans, peppers, heirloom cucumbers and heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and mahogany tomatoes slowly starting to ripen.

 

And then there are the herbs, too numerous to mention all by name: spicy bush basil, opal basil, Thai basil, lettuce leaf basil as big as your hand, which chefs like to use for beautiful wraps and roll-ups. Parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, tarragon, chamomile, chives, cilantro, borage, fennel, oregano, lemon balm, lemon grass -- the list goes on and on. They also grow fruits, including tiny, tart red and white currants, sour cherries, white cherries, pears and apples etc. Last but not least, they grow nasturtiums, pansies, roses, bachelor buttons and other edible flowers to add color, flavor and artistry to plates.

 

Come fall, they'll have winter squashes and sugar pumpkins. They start everything from seeds in a small greenhouse and are able to grow and offer microgreens, salad greens and some micro flowers year-round. 

 

The Nevius' didn't plan to be niche growers for restaurants. Ken grew up in Connecticut and worked for many years as a manufacturing and production engineer at the former Philips Broadband Networks plant in Manlius. When the company shut down, he worked as a custodian for the local school district and he and Elizabeth researched how to grow herbs.

 

They launched their business in 1999, showing up at restaurants like the former Kettle Lakes Restaurant in Tully with beautiful micro greens and herbs. The late chef Brian Shore, who owned and operated Kettle Lakes and later served as executive chef at the Arad Evans Inn in Fayetteville, was one of their early customers. "He really was an advocate for local farmers and locally grown produce,'' Ken Nevius recalls. Shore helped to spread the word about Fresh Herbs of Fabius.

 

Both Ken and Elizabeth work on the farm and share in the marketing of their produce. Their list of clients includes many fine dining restaurants in Central New York: Defi Cuisine Corp. and The York in downtown Syracuse, and Mirbeau Inn & Spa, Rosalie's Cucina and The Krebs in Skaneateles, to name a few. Clients are emailed each week with a list of what's available on the farm. Produce is harvested and packed by hand, delivered to restaurants and often served the same day it's picked.

 

The Nevius' sometimes grow specific items for specific chefs and restaurants -- like the potatoes for Kitty Hoynes. Chefs are invited to take field trips to the farm and sometimes they do, when their schedules allow.

 

"We're focused on quality, not quantity,'' Ken says. "We grow things for flavor.''

 

For more information on Fresh Herbs of Fabius, call 315-683-5159.

 

Note: All photos by Margaret McCormick unless otherwise indicated.

 

Deep purple opal basil at Fresh Herbs of Fabius.

 

Happy first anniversary, Defi Cuisine Corp.

The 200 block of West Water Street in downtown Syracuse is usually lined with cars parked on both sides. On May 19, the street will be closed to traffic to accommodate an enormous tent housing a series of tables set for dinner.

Defi Cuisine Corp., a restaurant at 208 W. Water St., will celebrate its first anniversary with a five-course “long table’’ dinner that day. Chef-owners Cody Dedischew (on left, below) and Nick Salvetti have received a special permit from the city for the street closure and hope to welcome 200 guests to the table. The public is invited to attend – with a ticket, of course. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS

Defi (pronounced de-FEE) is French for challenge. Defi the restaurant opened on May 14, 2018. It's an intimate, 40-seat room with an open kitchen at its center, allowing diners to converse with the chefs and see their meals being prepared. Cody and Nick chose the name Defi because they want to challenge people and their perceptions of food and dining out and because they want to challenge themselves to do and be their best. Their goal: Give people an experience, not just plates of food.

What's in season and available in Central New York shapes the menus at Defi. The chefs use a good amount of produce and pastured pork, chicken and other meats from Grindstone Farm, an organic farm in Pulaski, as well as produce, greens and grains from other area farms. They estimate that 70 percent of the ingredients used at the restaurant are sourced locally. That includes local cheeses from 2 Kids Goat Farm, Tumino Cheese Company and other small producers, artisan salts from Syracuse Salt Company, coffee from Skytop Coffee and local and regional beers, wines and spirits. (Below: Spring Ramps Farro Grits with Gulf Shrimp)

In summer, the percentage of local sourcing rises to more than 90 percent. Both chefs like to visit the Central New York Regional Market on Saturdays and walk a block to Clinton Square on Tuesdays during the summer to pick up fresh ingredients to spotlight in dishes. "Everything we do is geared towards farms,'' Cody says. "A lot of farmers come right here to our door,'' Nick adds.

Both chefs say their first year with Defi has brought them challenges and joy. They started out serving lunch as well as dinner, but pretty quickly dropped lunch to focus on dinner service and special events. They are pleased with how diners are receiving their food and their approach to it and especially pleased with the number of people who choose the four- or six-course "Defi'' option, where the chefs consult with diners to determine their tastes and needs and create custom meals in the moment using what’s in season and what's at hand in their kitchen. Menus change with the seasons and often change again within a season as more produce becomes available.

For the May 19 event, Defi's chefs are planning a five-course tasting menu ($85 per person) that includes pre- and post-dinner cocktails and wine pairings. The menu will depend on what's in season and available, but is likely to include spring things like asparagus, rhubarb and fiddlehead ferns. The event will begin at 3 p.m. with a cocktail hour, with dinner courses beginning around 4 p.m. 

"I love the idea of doing a long table dinner,'' Cody says. "It's going to be fun.''

Defi Cuisine Corp. is at 208 W. Water St., Syracuse. The restaurant is open for dinner Wednesday to Saturday. Phone: 315-907-0202

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