Dinner reviews from our Casa SaltShaker evenings
Isn’t that purty? The new plate of the week, and a pretty much wow hit all around. Chipirones, baby squid, cleaned and quickly sauteed in smoked paprika oil and finished with just a touch of sea salt. Accompanied by a sous vide (63°) egg. The sauce underneath, slow cooked onions, garlic, chili, and the squidlet… Read More Plate o’Squidlets & Egg
Acelga is the Spanish name for Chard. Chard, in turn, goes by a variety of names, Swiss chard, silverbeet, perpetual spinach, spinach beet, crab beet, bright lights, seakale beet, and mangold – and in South Africa it’s generally just called spinach, despite being a different vegetable entirely. Chard is a member of the beet family,… Read More “A” is for Acelga
A trio of main courses, the principales, from the last week or so of dinners, with public and private events crossing our threshold. Let’s begin at the fish. As you might have noticed over the last month or so, I’ve been on a little bit of a kimchi kick. Having tried a few different versions,… Read More Main-Lining
I get asked, a lot, for “coaching” or whatever the current buzzword is on opening a closed door restaurant. While it’s hard to distill the nearly 10 years of Casa S and all the dinners I used to do in NYC, plus a couple of decades of restaurant experience, down to anything that resembles the… Read More You Think You Deserve a Tip? Here’s a Tip…
Back last Wednesday and back to work on Thursday with a trio of dinners into the weekend. Just a quick round-up…. Fresh calamari and prawn salad, cherry tomatoes, celery, dressed with lemon, miso, celery leaf, rice vinegar, mirin, salt and white pepper; served over a pureed medium spicy rocoto sauce and garnished with cilantro. A… Read More Back to Work!
Books tend to start or end with acknowledg-ments, dinners rarely do. This pop-up event that I’ve been teasing you with over the last week or so started off as the glimmer of an idea in the mind of a chef turned hospitality consultant, Jon Hochstat. Jon and I were active in the New York restaurant… Read More The Jacó Pop-Up
Not our last dinner forever, but for a couple of weeks, as I’m off to Costa Rica. For those who’ve missed the various announcements, I’m doing my first “pop-up” dinner, in Playa Jacó, Costa Rica, on Valentine’s Day. But, before heading out, a quick look at the new dishes of this last week – both… Read More One Last Dinner
Playa Jacó, Costa Rica Menú Tentativo Ceviche de Pámpano con Trés Salsas Causa de Remolachas Asadas Parihuela de Mariscos Mahi-Mahi con Matbucha y Salsa Picante de Cilantro Adobo de Chancho, Puré de Berenjena Ahumada Cheesecake de Chocolate y Anís Estrellada