Chef And Menu Report: Week Of 9/14/14
Hong Kong
Chef Akrame Benallal is showcasing autumn's delightful flavours at Akrame Hong Kong, the first overseas outpost of his Parisian restaurant, which has earned him two Michelin stars. The seasonal menu introduces a variety of flavors which reflect the transition of summer to autumn, with dishes like raw lobster with hot consomme and celery, razor clams with grapefruit jelly to appeal to seafood lovers in the city, and pigeon with corn and popcorn curry.
National
On Tuesday, Jamba Juice launched its brand-new Energy Bowls. Each of the six varieties are made-to-order with soymilk or fresh Greek yogurt and topped with an assortment of dry toppings and fresh fruits, which provide vitamins, minerals, and fiber. For a limited time, customers can enjoy these new Energy Bowls at 50 percent off the normal retail value with a coupon. A few of the new bowls include an Açaí Berry Bowl, and a Chunky Strawberry Bowl, and a Mango Peach Bowl.
New York
LDV Hospitality and chef Marc Forgione will be celebrating the one year anniversary of their restaurant, American Cut, in Tribeca by offering a special menu from Monday, September 22 through Sunday, September 28. Chef Forgione has created the "Celebrating 52 Weeks with 52 Oz" steak special, which is prepared tableside with flambéed maître'd butter sauce and serves two for $104 ($52 per person). Many of the original dishes offered when the restaurant first opened will be available to order throughout the night, such as carrot-glazed carrot, and New York City Cut & Cracker Jack sundae.
Chef and owner of Toloache restaurants, Julian Medina, will offer a Rosh Hashana menu at all of his locations. Some of the dishes will be a quesadilla de salmon of salmon pastrami, tomato, and roasted red onion-jalapeño cream cheese, and pastel de miel, which is a honey-olive-oil cake with apple compote.
Eataly's chefs are so in love with Campania, the region in Italy known as the birthplace of both mozzarella di bufala and pizza, that they've dedicated their new menu at Pranzo to the cuisine of the region. The menu includes crostini with spicy baby octopus, gnocchi with buffalo-milk ricotta, and baba soaked in rum.
On Saturday, September 27, FarmOn! Farm Fest fourth-annual Hudson Valley Food Lovers Festival will celebrate the grand opening of Empire Farm, The FarmOn! Foundation's first Ag Entrepreneurial education center and working farm in Copake, N.Y. Alice Waters will be on hand for the ribbon cutting ceremony to announce the FarmOn! at Empire Farm community victory garden. The festival will also feature a number of activities for kids, free samples of locally grown produce, a shop at the locavore village farmers market, and food and spirits from around the region in addition to opportunities to meet with local farmers, CSA signups, and learn more about the agricultural community at the Future of Farming Tent.
For the third year in a row, Hearth will host a celebrity chef dinner to support A Life Story Foundation, a charity dedicated to the fight against ALS. On Monday, September 22, chef Marco Canora, along with Michael Anthony, Michael Symon, Bill Telepan, Jonathan Benno, Claudia Fleming, and Karen Demasco, will present a seven-course dinner to raise money for the cause.
The organization was started by Kevin Swan, a former server at Hearth who was diagnosed with ALS, so this is an issue very close to the team at Hearth. The foundation's mission is to help continue to raise awareness and create action to discover effective treatments and ultimately, a cure for the disease. A few of the dishes on the menu will be Anthony's marinated fluke with citrus, radish, and trout roe, and Benno's ravioli neri alla fra diavolo with scallop and lobster sausage, San Marzano tomatoes, Calabrian chili, and basil. Tickets are $325 for the dinner and beverage pairings.
Chef François Payard is launching his fall menu at his Salon de Thé, in the back of the Upper East Side FP Patisserie. Payard's menu will incorporate iconic French ingredients such as Gruyère cheese, Bordelaise sauce, and black truffle vinaigrette, as well as reintroduce his heartier fare with menu items including a fresh autumnal salad, harvest salmon, and a savory goat cheese tart.
As of September 19, Moe's Southwest Grill debuts the new Chile con Queso, on the menu for a limited time until January 12, 2015. The Chile con Queso is made with seasoned ground beef and fresh jalapeños and is featured in the Chili Con Queso Burrito, or can be added on the side to any other dish.
Miami
Pubbelly is teaming up with Jugo Fresh and going vegan. For one night only, on October 2, Pubbelly will transform its menu for two dinner sessions at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Chefs Jose Mendin (Pubbelly) and Paco Laszlo (Jugo Fresh) will create a special pre-fixe menu In addition, and mixologist Derek Stilmann will offer four different cocktails incorporating popular cold pressed juices from Jugo Fresh. Limited tickets for "Pubbelly Goes Vegan" can be found here.
Chicago
Chip Barnes has taken the reins at Coppervine and has introduced a few new dishes to the menu. A few of them are grilled kale salad with Sockeye salmon lox, housemade crème fraîche, pickled red onions, and housemade brioche croutons, as well as scallion pasta with parsnip butter, braised red endive / brown butter confit, crispy mushrooms, salsify root chip, and quail egg.
Kate Kolenda is the Restaurant/City Guide Editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @BeefWerky and @theconversant.