New Menu Items 6/25/2015

Pata de Cabra $7 for Taleggio

Pasteurized sheeps milk cheese from, the valley of Zaragoza in Aragon (northeast spain). Aged for 40-60 days the cheese has a washed rind and is reminiscent of taleggio made from goat’s milk. The rind is strongly aromatic, but the cheese itself is somewhat milk, rich and tangy with some grassy milky notes. Pata de cabra means leg of the goat in spanish.

Poached strawberries to apricot jam on the foie gras

Apricots are diced and cooked very slowly in rice wine vinegar, salt, sugar and a touch of water. When the liquid is reduced and apricots are tender we steep in fresh basil and remove it once it becomes fragrant in the jam. 

New Bianca Pizza $16

Local Clams, Calabrian Chili, Green Onions, Potato

We will be using a variety of clam called soft shell, or steamer clams. These are the same clams that would traditionally be used for fried clams. The clams are soaked to drain out any sediment. Also on top of the pizza are fingerling potatoes (grilled lemon, olive oil, water, salt), grilled scallions, and a small amount of mozzarella cheese. Once the pizza comes out of the oven its finished with picked parsley, fresh lemon juice, and a calabrian chili puree (calabrian chilis, mirepoix, lemon)

New Lunch Menu Items 6/8/2015

New Lunch Menu Items 6/9/2015

Smoked Beef Tongue (Replacing Sanguinaccio on Offal Board)
Orange, Juniper, Grains of Paradise

The beef tongues are brined for 1 week with salt, sugar, oranges, coriander, juniper, and grains of paradise. They're smoked for one hour, then cooked for 24 hours after which the outer skin is removed. The tongue is thinly sliced and garnished with a citrus salt and black pepper.

Lardo Iberico de Bellota (Replacing Chorizo on Cured Board)
Dry Cured Fat Back, Rosemary

Lardo is Italian dry cured pork fat back. This product comes from La Quercia, a company run by a husband and wife team in Iowa. The lardo is made from Iberico de Bellota pigs (the same ones used to produce the famous Jamon Iberico), which are fed on acorns (bellota is spanish for acorn). This diet leads to a rich and flavorful meat with very soft fat. The lardo is rubbed with rosemary, coriander, and nutmeg before being hung to dry cure for 4 months. It will be sliced it thinly and garnishing it with fresh chopped rosemary and a touch of maldon salt and black pepper.

Grilled Lamb Shoulder Sandwich
Market Beans, Cloumage, Aleppo, Mint

Lamb is deboned and brined for three days and coated in a southern italian/ middle eastern influenced dry rub (15 spices including thyme, fennel pollen, caraway, cumin, coriander, etc.) It is rolled up and trussed (tied together) and cooked in the combi oven for two hours. Once cooked, it is cut into quarter inch slices and grilled. A mixture of Cloumage, lemon juice and olive oil is spread onto the bread. It is served with market beans (depending on what’s available and in season) that have been blanched in salted water, sauted shallots, and grilled red pepper. All vegetables are cooked with olive oil, lemon juice, mint and Aleppo chili.

New Menu Items 6/4/2015

New Menu Items 6/4/2015

New Appetizers 

Fried Vermont Quail

Artichoke Pinzimonio, Parmesan, Taggiasca Olives

The quail come in from Cavendish farms in vermont, they are sleeve boned meaning they still have the wing/leg bones, but the ribcage has been removed. The quail are brined in salt and sugar, then soaked in buttermilk, dredged in a mixture of AP and Semolina flour and deep fried. When they're removed from the fryer they are tossed with a spice blend of aleppo, white pepper, black pepper, fennel pollen, and salt. They're plated with a parmesan crema (buttermilk, parmesan, and olio verde) and topped with a salad of shaved raw artichokes, shaved raw fennel, fennel fronds, and mint dressed in a taggiasca olive vinaigrette (taggiasca olives, golden raisins, brunoise lemon zest, brunoise shallots, champagne vinegar olio verde)

SP Burrata
Pompeei Tomatoes, Pickled Zucchini, Pine Nut Crumb

The burrata is made in house. We make mozzarella using curd and stuff it with house made stracciatella. The finished burrata is stored in a brine made of cream, buttermilk and salt. The dish is served with pickled zucchini and summer squash which are pickled with rice wine vinegar, salt, sugar and water. The pompeii tomatoes are very high quality preserved tomatoes that are grown in the volcanic soil around Mount Vesuvius. We season them with salt and sicilian olive oil and thicken it with xanathan gum. The dish is also garnished with basil dehydrated cherry tomatoes and a pine nut crumb. The pine nut crumb has basil seeds and finely cut garlic toasted in olive oil.

New Cheese

Crottin

Pasteurized Goat’s milk cheese from Vermont Creamery, fresh chèvre style cheese, an homage to the classic loire goat cheese of the same name. The cheese is cultured overnight with a mix of yeast and mold added to the fresh milk. The molds breakdown the curd resulting in a very smooth and creamy paste. Drained for two days the cheese is then vacuum packed to prevent the formation of a rind. The cheese is citrusy and milky with a subtle yeastiness. The cheese is garnished with a citrus salt, black pepper, and olio verde.

New Meats

Salami Milanese

This is a cured sausage (not cooked) from creminelli in Utah. This is a classic italian style dry cured salami, peppery and a little tart with subtle hints of spice. A little fattier than genoa salami that most people are familiar with.

Lamb Neck Merguez

Merguez is a north african sausage (typically tunisian and moroccan) made using lamb and harissa a (the north african spice paste) as a primary seasoning. We getting in lamb necks, an ideal cut for sausage making because of the fat content and flavor, they are deboned tossed with harissa and a blend of north african spices (cumin, coriander, caraway, etc) then stuffed into lamb casings and cooked to 65 degrees C. On the boards will be= two small links, garnished with a blend of dehydrated yogurt and sumac.

New Entrées

Pork Tasting  (MISE WITH A STEAK KNIFE)

White Asparagus, Fresh Truffles, Shaved Egg Yolk

The dish will consist of a regular rotation of three meats, generally including pork belly and pork loin. The base of the plate will be an egg yolk puree (eggs are cooked at a low temperature for one hour, we then separate the yolks from the whites and blend them with olio verde and banyuls vinegar). Jumbo white asparagus will be blanched, grilled, and then tossed with a truffle butter sauce (truffles, butter, water). Jumbo green asparagus will be shaved thin and tossed with a vinaigrette (sherry vinegar, olio verde, and shallots.) Garnishing the plate are slow cooked quail eggs, salted and dried egg yolks, and shaved fresh truffles. (Allergies: Dairy--butter only*, Egg)

Lamb Stinco  (MISE WITH A STEAK KNIFE)
Whey Braised, Fresh Chick Peas, Harissa, Spiced Carrots

Lamb shank is braised in whey, mirepoix, rosemary and white wine stock. The lamb shank is dressed in a harissa and garlic yogurt sauce (harissa, greek yogurt, lemon juice, olive oil, honey, salt, pepper, and cucumber.) The lamb is then coated in a southern italian/ middle eastern influenced dry rub (15 spices including thyme, fennel pollen, caraway, cumin, coriander) It is served with grilled carrots (confited in olive oil, coated with the same dry rub) and garlic yogurt sauce (greek yogurt, lemon juice, salt, olive oil, honey and cucumber,) grilled pea greens and fresh chick peas dressed in a gremolata (lemon, olive oil and mint). (Dairy)

Fluke alla Vignarola (MISE WITH SPOON)
Olive Oil Poached, Local Vegetables, Garlic Scape Brodo

Fluke (local flat fish) is poached at low low temperature in olive oil. Local vegetables will change throughout the season (currently: peas, fava beans, carrots, garlic scapes, fiddleheads, artichokes, and yellow beans) are heated in a vegetable broth and glazed in butter. The base of the dish is a fennel and onion puree as well as a garlic scape brodo (broth: mirepoix, garlic scapes, pea pods, fava pods…also subject to seasonal change) seasoned with a garlic scape purée. Vignarola is italian for “vitner’s style”: a type of vegetable stew. The dish is garnished with basil, fennel pollen and spring herbs and flowers. (Dairy*--butter only)

Pickup time on an order fire on any entrée is 15 minutes.

Spring Cocktails 2015

Hi Everyone,

As asked here are the spring cocktails that have been added. Study up!

Aperol Spritz 2 oz Aperol Splash of soda Top with sparkling wine Build and serve in wine glass (or pitcher) full of ice. Garnish with orange slice. Cherry Blossom 1oz Pisco .5oz luxardo .5oz lemon .25 simple Splash Campari for color Shake, served in highball topped with soda. Garnish with Luxardo Maraschino cherries when available. French Chameleon 1.5 lillet .75 yellow chartreuse .75 lime .25 lavender simple Shake, double strain, coupe, no garnish. Pimm’s Cup 2 oz Pimm’s No 1 ¾ oz Lemon Juice ½ oz Simple Syrup Shake, rocks, top with House Made Ginger

Bamboo 1.5 oz Amontillado Sherry 1.5 oz Dry Vermouth 2 dashes Orange bitters 1 dash Angostura bitters Stir, coupe, no garnish Western Twilight 1 ounce Gran Classico Bitter 3/4 ounce Lillet Blanc 1/2 ounce Averna 3/4 ounce Lime juice 1/2 ounce Black Pepper/Star Anise syrup dash house coffee bitters Shake, strain, coupe, no garnish. Americano 1 oz Carpano Antica 1 oz Campari Highball, rocks, top with Soda The Back Slider Miller High Life topped with Aperol (aka The Rose of Beers) and a shot of Fernet

New Desserts 5/15/2015

Goat Milk Panna Cotta

Strawberries, Angel Food Cake, Sweet Pea

Panna Cotta (cooked cream in italian) goat milk, goat cheese, buttermilk, heavy cream, honey, sugar, gelatin, xanthan gum, flavored with bay leaf.

Served with organic Harry’s Farm strawberries from Los Angeles, CA (lightly macerated with sugar, salt and pepper), angel food cake (egg whites, sugar, flour, vanilla bean) that is coated in sweet pea icing (powdered sugar, goat milk, goat cheese, peas and pea tendril that are blanched and pureed). The ends of the cake are dehydrated and used as a garnish

Allergies: Dairy, Gluten*, Egg*, Gelatin

Chocolate Mousse

Caramelized Milk Ice Cream, Urfa Chili, Peanut Ossi di Morti

Chocolate mousse is non-traditional (no cream or eggs), the chocolate is melted in a double boiler along with water and the urfa chili (a sun dried chili from turkey with a subtle smokey heat). The melted chocolate and water mixture is whipped while still warm to incorporate air bubbles into the chocolate as it cools resulting in a light and fluffy mousse. Caramelized milk ice cream (milk, sugar, baking soda, and salt is brought to a simmer and reduced to 2/3 it’s initial weight, during this process the sugars caramelize. The caramelized milk is then combined with egg yolks and this mixture is cooked on low heat to make an ice cream base. The base is then chilled overnight and spun in the ice cream maker.)  Ossi di Morti (italian for bones of the dead) are a traditional italian cookie commonly made with almonds or hazelnuts. We will be using crumbled peanuts mixed powdered sugar and egg whites to form a dough with a paste like consistency. The cookies are dusted with bitter cocoa power and baked.) Candied cocoa nibs garnish the plate. Cocoa nibs are the dried bean of the cacao tree that can be processed to make chocolate. The nibs are blanched in simple syrup and tossed in sugar to coat. Allergy: Nuts*, Dairy*

Patio Server Stations

Hi team,

Our patio service stations are even more visible than the indoor ones, so we need to be extra careful with the set up. As follows:

The green station should be for clean things only:

 In that station: 

- a box for roll ups (needs to stay there even if we are out of roll ups, as we bring roll ups back from tables after seating them and don't want the roll ups just seating on the rack.
- a box with "loosie" silverware. under the loosies: folded napkins for guests who need an extra!



- mise trays (not pictured)
- stacks of plates
- water pitchers (with the napkin folded over--not pictured)
- tray with glasses full of water. This is something we should be doing only during super rush hour. It doesn't look good, plus the water gets warm. I understand it needs to happen sometimes, but not always.

On the other hand, look what we've got!:

 Yep, that's an ice chest, full of ice (two buckets) and several water bottles with caps. The caps are re-used wine caps and should definitely not go to the tables. put them in the handy container to be re-used. Don't throw any out!

Also, there is a bucket under the ice chest to collect the melted ice. Needs to be emptied at the end of the night, and checked again in the morning.

Now for the "other station":

This is where all the less clean things go. Please make it as neat as possible, and make sure we always have:

- Trash can on the left

- Recycling on the right

- a bus bucket and space for boards

- sanitizer and a container for rillettes jars. 

- a stash of clean folded kitchen towels (on the left)

- one (or two) "in use" kitchen towels (on the right)

- one (or two) spray bottles

- a box for soiled linens

- a stack of check presenters, pens, trays

Also, one of these:

There is now one of these in every station. It should be self explanatory: it keeps signed receipts so that we don't loose so many, it also frees up more books to go to the tables. Do I even have to say this?: don't take these to tables!!

One more thing: please don't keep personal beverages in the patio server stations. A water bottle in the ice chest is fine, everything else should be in the inside station. It's hard enough to keep the space clean without a million starbucks cups. 

Happy Patio Season!