Culture

Friends in the Industry

Last week I stopped by to say hi to my friend Chris Cosentino over at his restaurant Incanto.  You may have seen Chris; he’s been on the Food Network quite a bit in the last year or so.  If you don’t recognize the name, you should check out his website so you know what you are getting into with him - www.offalgood.com and  www.incanto.biz.  I thought I would sit down for a glass of wine and one, maybe two courses at the bar.  Sorry there aren’t any pictures, but I was just going out for a casual meal.  I wasn’t really expecting what followed.

Incanto is a favorite spot for me in SF.  It is a total neighborhood restaurant, tucked away down Church Street in the less traveled part of Noe Valley.  I like to drop by and say hi to old friends from other restaurants (there always seem to be a couple in that kitchen for some reason).  Its a place where I know I can go for a good meal, great pasta, and maybe a dish of something I have never tried before.  Such was a case this night.

For an app I kept things traditional and ordered the Veal Terrine with Goose liver mousse.  No joke, the portion size could have fed three or four people.  Since Chris is a friend though, I felt compelled to knock down the whole thing.  It was amazing, but left me wondering how I would ever finish another course.

I started chatting with the folks sitting around me and not surprisingly, every single person sitting at the bar (seven of us) were all in some way connected to the industry.  The two ladies to my left were the owners of a local produce company, the guy on my right is a founder of the local Slow Food chapter and he also had just happened to help Chris and his local 4-H group with a project the day before.  You know you are in a good spot when the majority of the people around you are professional foodies.

And then a dish arrived.  Duck legs and necks braised in Balsamic Vinegar.  If you haven’t had duck neck, you are missing the whole point of our time here.   Believe me, your grandmother used Turkey necks in that thanksgiving stuffing that was so amazing.  Really, I’m not making it up.

It may not be proper in most restaurants, but I ate with my hands. I understand how uncouth it may seem, but at Incanto it is a compliment, especially with Duck neck.  It’s impossible to pull all that goodness off the bone with a fork and knife.

After my duck dish I had to order a pasta.  All of the Pasta at Incanto is great, so you have to try at least one with your meal.  I had “Corzetti”.  These two inch rounds were glazed in pork jus and served with braised pork shoulder and foie gras.  Do I really need to say anything else?  I didn’t think so.

So back to that 4-H project.  It turns out, the 4-H chapter up in Sebastapol (just south of Napa) had a project this year of raising two hundred turkeys.  Mike, a.k.a. the guy to my right, and Chris had joined the 4-H club the day before to help them kill and clean the turkeys.  And so, unsurprisingly, Mike and I were presented with a few dishes to share, as a thank you to the birds that were dispatched.

I make no apologies for what we ate.  In fact, it is much more of an honor to the birds that we ate all of them.  Most of us are far more comfortable eating meat that arrives in cellophane.  I was the same way for many years.  But now my eyes have been opened to the realities of farming and sustainability.  For the perfect ethical discourse I have to point you to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstal.  He says it far better than I ever could - http://www.rivercottage.net.  His eloquent and thoughtful “Meat and Right” manifesto in the River Cottage Meat Book is a must read, whether you are a steak and potatoes carnivore or a tofurkey lover.

So by now you should have some idea of what is in the works.  Duck necks, goose liver mousse, seared foie gras…  If you haven’t guessed by now, Chris Cosentino is one of a few chefs around the globe actively working to elevate not just sustainability but a deep and abiding appreciation for all those animals we consume.  Chris is the unofficial west coast representative, Mario Batali has New York, Fergus Henderson London, and there are thousands of others around the globe.  Read their books, check out their websites, and make up your own mind.

So this is where things got really interesting.  After three obscenely rich and incredibly substantial courses, Chris sent out a turkey bouillon including the boiled fertile eggs that had not been laid yet.  I have to admit my first thought was, damn, I’m not sure about that.  But really, it was so comforting and perfectly simple, you couldn’t help but love it.

Having assuaged my initial doubts I was presented with another first, braised and seared Turkey lungs over grilled country bread and a fried egg.  I’m not sure what I expected, but they were lovely.  Texturally they reminded me of a frittata, that light, airy, Italian version of an omelette, but with a flavor that was subtly bitter.  The bitterness worked particularly well with the richness of the egg yolk.  I enjoyed it far more than I first thought I would.

Ok, I’m not afraid to admit it; at this point I was damn near hitting the wall.  There was just no more room in my stomach.  Rather sedately I called over the bar manager to ask for my check.  That’s when I noticed Chris in the kitchen trying to get my attention.  He was signaling me that he had one more course, and it was clear that it was nearly ready.  When a chef is so obviously pleased to be feeding you, the only polite thing to do is shut up and eat.  You know it is going to be good, really, really good, and with a little luck, you’ll live to eat like this tomorrow.

And so it arrived.  Sautéed turkey testicles with chunks of bacon and chanterelles.  This is an ingredient I have had several times before, always courtesy of Chris.  What can I say, the man doesn’t throw away anything.  It was delicious, the testicles providing a textural contrast more than anything.  I can’t really express how rich this dish was.  I had been drinking big wines throughout the meal, but none of them could really stand up to the intense flavors in this dish.

Mercifully, it really was the final course.  I went and chatted with Chris in the kitchen while he nursed a beer (and I had a triple espresso).  His cooks were winding down another busy evening, but it was obvious how much they enjoy being there.  It’s a testament to just what a crazy, intense and nurturing bastard Chris is.  Next time you are in San Francisco, check these guys out.  Don’t worry, most of the dishes on the menu don’t contain lamb knees or vampire spleen.

Oh, and as a point of courtesy.  If you should happen to know one of the cooks at your favorite local restaurant, when you go in for dinner, bring them a twelve pack of your favorite beer.  It’s a small gesture, but to a low level cook sweating their ass off behind the scenes, it means a lot.  And more often than not, it will confer lifetime VIP status on you.  Look what a reputation of bringing Racer 5 and Sierra Nevada has done for me.

© 2008 The Fresh Dish.