PATIO SERVER STATION SET-UP

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!

- stacks of plates
- mise trays (not pictured)
- 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/torta 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!

New Spring Items (Dinner)

Burrata
Burrata is a stuffed mozzarella, ours is being made in house using mozzarella curd, that is stretched, and then stuffed with a house made ricotta cheese (milk, cream, citric acid, salt), and then soaked in a brine made from salt, heavy cream, and buttermilk. The burrata is plated with grilled asparagus, grilled spring garlic, and a fava bean gremolata (Fava Beans, Hazelnuts, Mint, Parsley, Rosemary, Garlic, Olive Oil, and chili flake). Finished with olio verde and sea salt.

Fettuccine
Fettuccine is a long thin flat noodle (00 pasta flour, durum flour, eggs, and egg yolk), the cooked pasta is tossed with a lamb ragu (lamb shoulder, lamb stock, buttermilk, white wine, garlic, rosemary, sage, black pepper, coriander, black & white anchovies). The pasta is tossed with grilled pea greens, butter, lemon, olio verde and pecorino cheese.

Foie Gras Garnish 

Rhubarb Conserva made from rhubarb, poached in riesling, white wine vinegar, salt sugar, bay leaf thyme and black pepper, thickened with pectin. 

Project X $8

This cheese is a collaborative effort between Murray’s cheese in NYC and Spring brook farm in Vt. Spring Brook Farms is a non-profit project that teaches urban children about “where food comes from”. Project X is a raw cow’s milk cheese made in a tomme style (low in salt, and fat, pressed).  The unaged cheese is then shipped to Murray’s in NY where it is rubbed with fennel pollen and then washed repeatedly with gewurztraminer. The cheese is then aged for 4 months in Murray’s caves. The result is semi firm, and moist with notes of walnuts and anise. 

Hudson Flower $7

Inspired by a classic corsican cheese this is another collaborative effort, this time between murray’s and Old Chatham Sheepherding company in Old Chatham NY. The pasteurized sheep’s milk cheese is again shipped unaged to Murray’s where it’s rubbed with fragrant herbs from upstate NY, including ( hop flowers, rosemary, elderberry, and lemon verbena. The cheese is aged for 4-6 weeks where it developes a bloomy rind and a creamy paste near the exterior. Herbacious and bright, perfect spring cheese.

Bucheron $7

This classic french goat’s milk cheese from the loire valley is one of the first french goat cheese ever imported to the US. This is a classic chevre style cheese that’s aged for 6-10 weeks. The bloomy rind creates an oozy texture near the exterior, but the inside remains fluffy and lemony. 

Lunch Menu Changes 4/12/2016

Beer Braised Pork Belly
Pork Belly is seasoned overnight with salt, sugar, juniper, and mustard, then braised for 9 hours with trillium IPA, bay leaf, and thyme. The Belly is seared to order and glazed with some of the braising liquid. Also on the bread is camembert cheese (a french bloomy rinded cheese), and a salad of quick pickled fennel (fennel, salt, sugar), sliced spring onion tops, red frill mustard greens, dressed with a pickled mustard seed vinaigrette (pickled mustard seeds, malt vinegar, olive oil).

Lamb Porchetta
We’re using lamb shoulders, deboned, brined for three days, then seasoned with a middle eastern spice blend (including, coriander, cumin, caraway, thyme, paprika, aleppo, and mustard). The seasoned lamb is trussed into log shape and cooked in the combi oven, then grilled to order. Also on the bread is a chickpea passata (dried chickpeas, grilled lemon, greek yogurt), and a salad made from quick pickled cucumber and radishes (cucumbers, radish, salt, sugar, garlic, chili flake, dill, and coriander), and pea greens, dressed in a harissa vinaigrette (grilled lemons, harissa, water, olive oil, white wine vinegar, honey).

Pizza Fratelli
This pizza has an olive oil base and is topped with house italian sausage (pork, beef, pork fat, garlic, fennel, aleppo, smoked paprika, oregano and red wine), provolone cheese, mozzarella, roasted mushrooms, red onion, and pizza sauce. The cooked pizza is garnished with oregano, parmesan, and olive oil.

Pate Provencal
This is made in the style of a pate de campagne, and spiced with provencal flavors. The pate itself is pork shoulder, ground with roasted shallots, Garlic, salt, pepper, herbes de provence (rosemary, thyme, lavender, savory), rose wine, and house rose vinegar). The pate is wrapped with ventreche, a french style bacon made from pork belly seasoned with salt, sugar, and herbes de provence, allow to rest for 1 week before cooking. The pate is cooked, pressed overnight, sliced, and seasoned with citrus salt and olio verde.

Baby Kale Salad
Baby kale, along with tarragon, basil, and parsley, is dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. Garnishing the salad are pickled ramps (red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, water, sugar, salt), grilled asparagus, a 6 minute egg, a pecorino dressing (pecorino cheese, water, olive oil, pepper), and a oat and walnut crumble (oats, flour, walnuts, salt, sugar, butter, and walnut oil)

Chef’s Choice Board
This is intended to be a rotating board, with a selection of two house made meats and one cheese, plus seasonal pickled vegetables and mesclun greens. This will change daily.

New Spring Items Part 2

Chicken Primavera

We’re using green circle chickens from D’artagnan. This is a partnership between d’artagnan, a group of amish farmers in Pennsylvania, and restaurants in NY. Essentially the restaurants set aside their vegetable scraps, which are then used to feed the chickens. A portion is one breast and one thigh, the breast is brined, seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked in the combi-oven. The thighs are brined and then confit’d in schmaltz (chicken fat rendered with onions), then pulled from the bone. To order the breasts are grilled, then glazed with a puree of dates and harissa. The thighs are made into a quick sugo along with fresh garbanzo beans, confit baby artichokes (baby artichokes, olive oil, mirepoix, lemon, garlic, thyme), parsley, mint, garlic and preserved lemon. The base of the plate is a chickpea puree (dried chickpeas cooked with charred lemon then pureed and mixed with greek yogurt). Also on the plate is grilled little gem lettuce and crispy chicken skins. 

Polenta Spin Rosso 

This is a really cool polenta brought to us by Anson Mills in Columbia SC. Spin Rosso means red point or red thorn in Italian and refers to the pointy shape of the kernels of this red corn. This polenta is traditional to Val Sugana, a valley in the Trentino region of northern Italy. The exterior bran of the corn is red, but the interior is yellow, resulting in a classic deep yellow potenta with red flecks throughout. the Polenta is cooked in water, then finished with olio verde and parmesan cheese. Also on the plate is a slow poached egg (cooked at 64 degrees celsius for 1 hour), morel mushrooms, both pan seared and poached (white wine, white wine vinegar, marsala wine, orange zest, garlic, bay leaf, shallots), english peas, fava beans, grilled ramp bottoms, and pea tendrils dressed in lemon juice and olio verde. The plate is garnished with parmesan cheese, sea salt, and olio verde. 

Bucatini

Bucatini means little hole, and it is a long spaghetti like noodle with a hole through the center of the noodle. Inspired by a classic roman pasta made with garlic and chili the sauce is a green garlic passata (confit green garlic bottoms, blanched green garlic tops, green garlic broth, parsley, lemon zest, green garlic oil and pecorino cheese) the sauce is finished with a little bit of butter, lemon juice, olio verde and additional pecorino cheese. Garnishing the pasta is a calabrian chili paste (calabrian chilis, mirepoix, lemon juice and zest), a garlic and rosemary breadcrumb (breadcrumbs, garlic, rosemary, olive oil, salt), and pecorino cheese

Pizza Bianca 

This pizza has an olive oil base and is topped with shaved raw potato, goat cheese (goat cheese, salt, heavy cream), grilled spring onions, sliced spring onion tops. The pizza is finished with parmesan, salt, oil, and a romesco sauce (roasted peppers, almonds, hazelnuts, pimenton, parsley stems, garlic, sherry vinegar, and olive oil)

Asparagus Pizza 

The base of the pizza is a prosciutto cream sauce (ground prosciutto, milk, sour cream), it is topped with sliced green asparagus, ramp tops, roasted garlic, and a fried egg. Finished with parmesan, salt, and oil. 

Pigs Head Mortadella 

We are getting in whole pigs heads, removing the ears and cooking them for 12 hours in the combi until tender, then dicing the ears. The rest of the head is deboned and deskinned, seasoned and allowed to rest overnight. The meat is ground twice through a fine die, during the second grinding ice is added. The ground meat is then placed in the stand mixer along with the diced ears and some diced pork fat. This is then whipped vigorously until it reaches a temperature of 60 degrees fahrenheit to ensure a smooth emulsion of meat and fat. The mixture is then stuffed into artificial sausage casings and cooked in the combi. Crushed toasted pistachios garnish the meat.

New Prosciutto Sandwich and Roast Chicken Sandwich

Prosciutto Sandwich
Stracchino cheese is melted on the bread, on the other side of the roll is a apricot conffetura (dried apricots, riesling, champagne vinegar, olive brine). Along with the prosciutto there is arugula dressed with a taggiasca olive vinaigrette (taggiasca olives, lemon juice and zest, organo, chili flake, anchovies, and olive oil).

Roast Chicken Sandwich
Chicken is brined, seasoned and cooked, then pulled. The cooked chicken is tossed with fines herbs (parsley, taragon, chives), lemon zest, olive oil and aleppo chili and warmed along with provolone cheese. Also on the bread is a green garlic aioli (green garlic oil, egg yolks, water, salt), and a salad of confit green garlic, baby kale, and artichoke barigoule (artichokes cooked in white wine & water, along with mirepoix, and lemons).

2014 Joan d’Anguera Altaroses

2014 Joan d’Anguera Altaroses

Where: Monstant, Catalonia, Spain

Who: Joan and Josep d’Anguera (brothers)

What: Grenache (Granatxa Fina)

Tastes like: Big without being oaky, dark fruit, pretty restrained wine

What to pair with: Grilled meats, oxtail, bone marrow

More facts

Vine age: 10 to 35 years

Soil: Limestone and clay

Farming: Demeter certified biodynamic and EU certified organic

Vinification: Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in concrete vats using indig-

enous yeasts. Aged for 12 months in old oak barrels. Naturally cold stabilized by winter’s chill and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Even more facts:

Josep d’Anguera the elder had made a name as the man who introduced Syrah to the region. After he passed away, his two sons Joan and Josep took over, under the guidance of their mother Mercè. Since then, they have been working on defining their own style and putting their unique mark on the wines.

This process has led to numerous developments. One is the conversion to biodynamics: the 2012 vintage was the first to be certified by Demeter. Others include the introduction of techniques such as crushing by foot and de-stemming only partially. There are also changes in aging vessels: the use of new wood is being dramatically reduced in favor of older barrels, foudres, and cement tanks. And the brothers are focusing less on Syrah and more on Garnacha (or “Granatxa,” the old Catalan name for the grape), a grape with a longer history in this region.

The greatest statement of this new direction can be found in the Altaroses, a wonderfully restrained and elegant expression of the Montsant terruño. With great purity of fruit, it is much lighter than what you might expect from a Montsant Garnacha, a true everyday drinking wine.

In Altaroses, the two brothers seem to have truly found their voice, and we can expect great things to come out of this estate in the future as the Angueras move forward with the implementation of their vision.

What is biodynamics?

At its most basic, the biodynamic approach to grape-growing sees the vineyard as an ecological whole: not just rows of grapevines, but the soil beneath them—an organism in its own right—and the other flora and fauna in the area, growing together interdependently.

Where biodynamics differs from other forms of organic or sustainable agriculture is in its idea that farming can be attuned to the spiritual forces of the cosmos. This might mean linking sowing and harvesting to the phases of the moon or the positions of the planets; it also might mean burying cow manure in a cow's horn over the winter, unearthing it in the spring, diluting a minute amount of the substance in 34 liters of water, "dynamizing" it by stirring it by hand in alternating directions for an hour or so and then spraying the mixture over one's vineyard.

New Spring Items Part 1

STARTERS

Pea Green Salad
Pea greens are the vine of the pea plant. They're tossed with shaved fennel, snow peas, and preserved lemon, and dressed in marcona almond vinaigrette (almonds, sherry vinegar, olive oil, whole grain mustard, honey, shallots). Garnishing the salad are shaved breakfast radish, torn mint, and sheep's milk feta.

Roasted Bone Marrow
The marrow bones (beef shin bones) are soaked in water for 48 hrs to purge them of any blood, then seasoned with salt and pepper and roasted in the pizza oven. When almost finished they're crusted with a parmesan crumb (breadcrumbs, parmesan, oregano, salt, and pepper) and returned to the oven to crisp the crumb. On top of the marrow bones is a salad of shaved raw artichoke, basil, parsley, and taragon, garnished with shaved parmesan and nasturtium petals the bone marrow comes with a side of crostini.


PASTAS

Fazzoletti 
Fazzoletti (handkerchief shape pasta, eggs, egg yolks, durum flour and 00 pasta flour). To make the sugo, rabbit legs and thighs are brined and braised (mirepoix, garlic, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, white wine, pork stock.) The braised bunny is shredded and mixed with the crushed carrots from the mirepoix, and topped with a bit of the braising liquid. Fennel is sliced thin and confit in olive oil with lemon zest, black pepper, thyme and bay leaf. Picked up with castelvetrano olives, then tossed with the pasta, butter, black pepper, lemon juice, parmesan and fennel frond. Topped with a rosemary breadcrumb (bread crumbs are toasted in rosemary scented olive oil) (Gluten*, Dairy*, Pork)


SIDES

Crispy Brussels Sprouts
Brussels  Sprouts are halved and deep fried until brown and crisp, then tossed with onion agro dolce (onions, salt, olive oil, and rice wine vingar), and sliced chives

Fiddlehead Ferns
Fiddleheds ferns are young fern plants that have yet to fully unroll. They're blanched in salted water then finished in the pizza oven along with roasted mushrooms, once cooked they're tossed with pickled mustard seeds and olio santo (olive oil, chili flake, fennel fennel pollen, and oregano)