Daily Loaf

Although chef/owner Zack Gross has dished up fine food at Z Grille for years, this year saw such a quantum shift in the downtown St. Pete restaurant that it deserves rookie status. First, a move down the street and around the corner to beautiful digs in the Signature Place building, where artful interpretations of Gross’ love for tattoos and skateboards give the place a casual but refined vibe. Then, the food, which has morphed from Baja-Mex to imaginative, modern American cuisine that ranges from elegant to playful. With those changes, Z Grille has become the destination for foodies in the crowded St. Pete restaurant market.

104 Second St. St. Petersburg, 727-822-9600 or zgrille.net.

He’s been profiled in Southern Living, garnered the highest Zagat food rating in the Bay area, and owns three restaurants and a chocolate-making facility. But have you ever heard of David Miller? He is a humble culinary wunderkind still in his 20s who produces exceptionally beautiful and tasty fare at his high-end prix-fixe Savant Fine Dining and the more casual Cities Restaurant next door in Clearwater. Check him out and you’ll start singing his praises, too.

Domenica Macchia is on the move. Again. This week, my favorite fast-talking, passionate chef will take over the kitchen at Bella Brava, replacing outgoing chef  Trevor Lyman at the modern Italian restaurant on downtown St. Pete’s Central Avenue.

New Bella Brava co-owner Mike Harting (fresh from a long career with Outback Steakhouse), started looking for a new chef a couple of months ago. Macchia — who’s first generation Italian, and tried to get a job at Bella Brava in the restaurant’s early days — was the right fit. She left Diner 437 this past weekend, after opening the gastro-diner to pretty much universal local acclaim a few months back.

So, of course, I woke her up this morning to get her thoughts. She’s worried about people thinking she’s switching jobs too much, and doesn’t want to say anything bad about her previous employers, but most of all she’s happy. Excited. Even when she’s groggy from sleep, talking to Macchia is like talking to a culinary machine-gun:

Why’d you leave Diner 437? Read the rest of this entry »

Risotto is like a white canvas. It’s a creamy and satisfying base which allows itself to be painted by a chef’s imagination. It’s not something I like to have too often, but it’s certainly a dish I look forward to making. And each time, I like to re-create it, as I would a painting, with a new combination of ingredients. Dried mushrooms develop an unmistakable earthy flavor which I think is perfect for flavoring a creamy risotto. In this one I added a creamy, garlicky boursin cheese just before serving it!

Risotto cookery is not hard – but you do have to follow a few rules. 1) You must use a very starchy rice (arborio) that will develop that typical creaminess that risotto is renowned for. 2) Don’t walk away from your risotto. You must be able to stay with it through the cooking process. Those of you with commitment issues might want to try an easier dish! 3) Risotto should be served immediately for best texture. I wouldn’t serve a risotto to guests that is older than 15-20 minutes. (although I have found that microwaving the next day with a little water, does bring it back a lot of its creaminess… but don’t tell anyone!)

Recipe after the break: Read the rest of this entry »

Epoisses – photo courtesy of artisanalcheese.com

Still to this day, one of my most memorable dining experiences revolves around cheese. It occurred in Tuscany, where my local friends Giulio and Pierre-the-herb-shepherd prepared an ultra-simple, 6-course dinner made only of local, rustic cheese, Super Tuscan wine, along with Pierre’s spices and a drizzle of olive oil. Absolutely nothing else. No other ingredients. A minimalist culinary tour-de-force.

I was born, raised, and trained as a chef in a country that General De Gaulle once described as an ungovernable nation because of its 246 varieties of cheese. Vive la France!

But really, cheese is not a French invention, nor is it any more French than wine. In fact, some of my favorite cheeses come from Spain, Italy, and yes, the US. We’ll see that in a minute.

Note that I’m quite an oddity. I hated cheese as a kid. My mom can’t help herself to remind me that every time I hummer over Munster or St Marcellin. But what saved me from missing out on what I call the “heavenly trilogy” (wine, bread and cheese) is artisanal cheese. Note the emphasis on “artisanal”, because that, and that only, is what we’re talking about here. Forget about supermarket dairies, stupid factory-produced Camembert and other condom-looking, odorless rubber-tasting cheese that looks dead tired and plain boring.

There is a huge difference between cheese and artisan cheese. An artisan cheese has been hand-crafted in small batches according to time-honored techniques, recipes, and traditions. In other words, farm- (or micro-factory-) produced cheese made by locals. Why is that a good thing? Read the rest of this entry »

Obviously, a top 10 list is — by definition — a big generalization. But it is fair to say that the following is pretty accurate in the restaurant industry. And of course, the assumptions in the following list vary with the kind, location and standards of the restaurants, as well as the level of professionalism of the chef.

• There is no such a thing as ‘fresh fish’.

Let’s define “fresh fish”. I remember the days when I worked on a Mediterranean island in the south of France. I’d walk down to the harbor in the morning to meet with fishermen just back from the sea. They’d show me the catch, I would buy whatever I liked and I’d walk back to the restaurant. And I’d served the fish. That’s fresh fish.
I’ll take an educated guess and say that 80% of the restaurants in your town buy previously frozen fish. “Frozen”, not “fresh”. While we’re at it, Read the rest of this entry »

(Editor’s Note: This recipe comes from CL Sarasota’s next-door neighbor, nationally recognized chef Derek Barnes of Derek’s Culinary Casual. It’s another part of CL Sarasota’s Summer of Pig coverage.)

CRISPY PIG EAR SALAD
with house cured bacon, frisée, local radish, poached Will’s Farm egg,
creamy whole grain mustard vinaigrette

FOR THE PIG EARS:
6 pig ears
1 gallon water
12 sprigs thyme
3 bay leaves

1. Blanch the pig ears in ½ gallon of boiling water for 20 minutes, then remove ears and discard the water.
2. In a medium size stock pot, add the remaining water, thyme, bay leaves and pig ears and simmer for an additional 90 minutes. Pull the ears from the water and chill in the refrigerator. Reserve for marinating.

PIG EAR MARINADE:
2 cups buttermilk
12 ounce lager beer
2 tablespoon Crystal hot sauce
2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Cut the pig ears into 1 inch strips. Marinade the pig ears 1 hour before frying.

PIG EAR BREADING: Read the rest of this entry »

When MJ’s Martini and Tapas opened last year, I didn’t expect much. It was billed more as a jazz club than a restaurant, and the location — tucked behind a defunct Bennigan’s on St. Pete’s North 4th — was terrible. One visit changed my mind about the place, thanks entirely to chef Domenica Macchia.

Then, soon after the place opened, Macchia was fired by the owners of MJ’s. After a few months of looking, and some concern over her mortgage, she hooked up with Dan Soronen with plans to create a gastropub menu at his soon-to-open Shackleton’s Folly in south St. Pete. “Soon” became months, and finally Macchia left to find another new opportunity. Fortuitously, Greg Pugh — owner of Ringside Cafe — was interested in opening a new place. Fast.

Tomorrow, Diner 437 (check out the full menu) opens in the former space of Grillside Central, with Macchia in the kitchen, back doing what she does best. She is one of my favorite chefs — or even people — to just gab with, thanks to her unedited, machine-gun delivery. So I decided to give her a call and ask her about the past few months.

I talked to her this morning, much too early in the morning for most chefs to be awake.

Why up so early?
I’ve never done lunch or breakfast, so I’m trying to get used to this. The concept [at Diner 437] for me is why not get great eggs all day long?

What went wrong at Shackleton’s Folly?
I started in February. We planned on two weeks afterward I’d get on the payroll, construction was going well, and planned on opening on St. Patty’s day. I’ll tell you everything, I was heartbroken. After four and a half months [Soronen] had no money to pay. I believed in the place, and believed in him, but I realized in the beginning of April I had to move on. I couldn’t lose my house over his dream. He’s kind of mad at me, I wish him the best, but love is not enough. You have to pay your bills.

How did you hook up with Greg Pugh (owner of Ringside Café and now Diner 437)?
I don’t think of myself as spiritual, I think it just sounds good when you’re meeting people, but it all seemed to work out for the best. I left Shackleton on Thursday, in worse shape now than ever before, then Friday I got a call from Greg. He said, “Can I come get you?” I didn’t know him, thought maybe I should bring my knife. But hey, in desperation I’ll get in anyone’s car these days.He showed me a space and I thought, “Wow, right back on Central, kind of where I started down at Redwood.” After a five-minute walkthrough, I said, “I think a diner would work there.”

He asked me to work up a menu and I said, “it just so happens I have one right here.”

What is Diner 437 going to be like?
Well, there’s the counter so I have to learn not to drop f-bombs. My inside voice is, uh, really …
I took the menu from Shackleton’s and made it fit. Read the rest of this entry »

After the surprising departure of chef Pedro Flores from The Table — he originated The Table’s Atlantic Rim cuisine in its previous incarnation — current owners Michael Stewart (717 South) and Linda and George Rahdert (the owners of the building The Table occupies) have brought in some local names to helm the kitchen at this downtown St. Pete restaurant.

Steven O’Brien, formerly of the TradeWinds, Saint Petersburg; Jay Ward, formerly of Mise en Place and Michael’s Grill, Tampa; and Antonio Guevara formerly of the Renaissance Vinoy and Snappers have joined Table’s new Chef corps.

The menu will stay the same, although The Table plans on adding new items based on the expertise of the new chefs. Full press release after the break. Read the rest of this entry »

The St. Petersburg Times reported that Atsavinh had been on a diet over the past two months and lost 40 pounds. After going to the emergency room a few days ago, he died Monday from an unknown infection.

Sad news, especially since Atsavinh — who worked at a number of Bay area sushi joints before opening his own place — was by all accounts quite an interesting character. I also quite liked Hook’s.

Unsurprisingly, Mario Batali was talking to fellow debauched food guy Anthony Bourdain when he uttered the following:

“There’s a couple of ways that you make someone happy by putting something inside of them, and that’s food and that’s sex.”

From Serious Eats’ Chewing the Fat series.