Anticiplate

So, whew! A LOT of news. Tavolata is like plunging a baby (me) from a warm, sudsy bath into a rough, ice-cold ocean. I am going to learn a ton. A shit-ton. But, it is not my comfortable environment I have been used to since June. The chefs are a whole new set of personalities and talent, the kitchen itself is like learning to navigate around a new city, and the food, although similar in Ethan’s style, is like hearing a person speak English but with an accent.

The first couple of days, I mostly prepped in the basement of the restaurant. I was given a long list on the back of a 4X11 menu that was filled to the brim with tasks that I had to do before I could come up to “the line”. The first two days, I cooked one dish. One. And, then after I cooked it, I was told to go downstairs and clean the prep-kitchen.

But, now I am getting to cook more, and getting used to the groove of the restaurant. And actually, I kind of like it.

Shh…don’t tell Anchovies & Olives.

There is no downtime. Whatsoever. You can constantly be doing something. There is always a task to get ahead on: making a lamb stock, prepping lemon zeppoli for the next day, cleaning the walk-in, scrubbing mussels, or picking flat-leaf parsley. There is no family meal and there is no drinking during service: it is all serious. And, right now, I need serious. I am so behind that trying to play catch-up chef could almost make me go insane.

There is this double pork chop dish that I learned last weekend when I worked the grill station at Tavolata. It sits on a bed of grilled radicchio and cippolini onions, drizzled with currants in a pork broth, and topped with a bread-crumb gremolata. It is a stunning dish and one of the chefs taught me tons of  little tricks to make it perfect every time: how to cook pork to the perfect temperature by using a cake tester to check the temperature on your lip; basting the chop in olive oil infused with garlic and rosemary so that the oil that is covering the top of the pork is creating tiny bubbles will create the perfect crust ; and learning how to plate the dish so that there is always white on the plate and it has height. I am thinking of making a version of this dish for a dinner party on Wednesday that I am having, but I’m considering using the last of the season’s huckleberries instead of currants.

The idea came from my sous chef at A&O asked me to pickle some huckleberries for him last Saturday and his recipe might have convinced me to change my classic pickle recipes so that it is not as sugary. I usually do equal parts water, sugar, and champagne vinegar. But, he cuts the sugar in half. We have been serving the huckleberries at A&O in a salad of  sliced sushi-grade octopus, corona beans, and arugula.

So, what do you think? A double cut pork chop served with grilled radicchio, cippolini onions, pickled huckleberries, a ham broth, and topped with a bread-crumb gremolata? Sounds good to me!

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Prep time: 5 minutes

Marinating time: 15 minutes

1 c. champagne vinegar

1 c. water

1/2 c. vanilla sugar (put a vanilla bean in sugar and let it sit for 12 hours)

1 pint of huckleberries

Bring the vinegar, water, and sugar to a boil until the sugar has dissolved. Pour it over the huckleberries and leave it, uncovered, in the fridge for 15 minutes. Serve, strained, over ice cream, salads, or in my case, a pork chop. It is as simple as that!

* These will keep for about 3 days in the fridge and then they will start to break down from the vinegar.