Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2023 i Bon Appetit

In April I announced my return to book publishing. I’m not leaving because this job hasn’t been a blast—how many people get to take daily trips to the BA test kitchen to sample delicious recipes like Frozen Cookie Dough Pie (page 90)? Rather, I could no longer resist the lure of books, my greatest professional passion. When I started three years ago, we were housebound, so many of us missing the theater and innovation of restaurants. To honor the people who power restaurants, we published a story called Heads of the Table (October 2021), our way of recognizing leaders striving to make the industry more equitable. It was one of my favorite features along with our “1971” story (April 2021) spotlighting the developments pertaining to food and culture in that…

Shabujin, the popular shabu-shabu counter at Lotte Department Store in Seoul’s Myeong-dong area, serves one of our favorite Japanese-style hot pots in town. Here, we spin it into a weeknight meal thanks to instant dashi and shaved beef (available at many butcher counters and Trader Joe’s), which provide deep flavor in no time at all. Keep the beef chilled until just before adding to the broth for easier handling 4 SERVINGS 5 scallions2 Tbsp. (heaping) instant dashi powder (preferably Hondashi)¼ small head of cabbage, cut into 1" pieces4 oz. shiitake mushrooms, stems chopped, caps thinly sliced2 cups trimmed bean sprouts8 oz. shaved beef, cut into 3x2" pieces, patted dry, chilled14–16 oz. fresh wheat noodles (such as udon)2 Tbsp. (or more) soy sauce2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¼ tsp. Morton kosher…

Taking cues from the grilled oysters topping at Chubby Fish in Charleston, SC, mellow cod (or other flaky white fish) gets a major glow-up thanks to a crispy breadcrumb crust packed with cured sausage, Parmesan, and garlic 4 SERVINGS 1 large lemon4 oz. smoked Spanish chorizo, coarsely chopped2 oz. Parmesan, rind removed, coarsely chopped1 tsp. fennel seeds5 garlic cloves, 4 whole,1 finely chopped3½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1¾ Morton kosher salt, divided, plus more½ cup panko½ cup (packed) parsley leaves with tender stems, plus more for serving3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided1½ lb. baby potatoes, halved if largeFreshly ground pepper1 2-lb. skinless cod, halibut, or haddock fillet⅓ cup mayonnaise, plus more for fish 1. Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 425°. Using a vegetable peeler, remove zest…

Nutritional yeast is that thing your vegan friend simply won’t stop talking about—an ingredient with its own cult following, awash in big “if you know, you know” energy. I mean, what’s not to love? “Nooch,” as it’s affectionately known, is a golden, flaky, nondairy dynamo with a faintly cheesy flavor that keeps you coming back for more. If you’ve only had it on popcorn (most people’s first introduction) you’re missing out on this sneakily savory seasoning’s full potential. But first: What is the stuff exactly? Nutritional yeast is, well, yeast, cultivated in large tanks of a sugar-rich liquid, fermented, rinsed, then deactivated with heat. (The unheated kind is “active” dry yeast, which you’ve likely used for baking.) While naturally high in protein and nutrients, some producers fortify theirs with vitamins…

A stone’s throw from Manhattan’s Chinatown, Kono is a universe where chicken is king. The centerpiece of the windowless 14-seat restaurant is a charcoal grill the larger-than-life chef and yakitori master (and former break-dancer) Atsushi “ATS” Kono presides over. Before the approximately 16-course show begins, servers direct your attention to a postcard-size anatomical diagram of a chicken, a guide of sorts—waiters return to it as they present skewers of delightfully juicy inner thigh meat, chewy main artery, rich belly skin. Without the schematic, the range of flavors and textures you experience from one skewer to the next is so profound you might forget what you’re eating. You’ll pay $175—not including drinks or supplemental skewers—for the privilege of slowly sampling chicken parts painstakingly prepared by a chef who wants you to…

CHICAGO, IL An expansive dining room lined with pastel pink banquettes. White tablecloths. Plates festooned with gold leaf and dramatic swooshes of sauce. The opulence of Chicago’s Indienne might make it suspect; in 2023 a traditional fine dining backdrop is not always the venue in which you expect daring, exciting cooking to happen. Yet every course of chef Sujan Sarkar’s tasting menu brings new thrills. In Sarkar’s rendition of yogurt chaat, tangy yogurt is transformed into both an airy mousse and wobbly panna cotta. Each element of the dish, which is topped with a wispy potato nest and dots of chutney, brings a surprising burst of flavor and texture. This inventiveness and attention to technique extend to cocktails: The Delhi, featuring mezcal, goat cheese, and apricot, is a revelation—enough to…

PHILADELPHIA, PA Google Maps lists Pietramala as a “Vegan Restaurant,” which is a shame, really. Sure, chef Ian Graye’s kitchen in North Philly is free of animal products. But with food this compelling, these sorts of tidy, constrictive labels seem beside the point, more distraction than anything else. Digging into a tangle of bitter greens punctuated with chewy roasted olives, you’d be wasting synapses in that precious moment wondering what gives that sultry, unctuous dressing its haunting, earthy funk. Or why exactly an ochre puddle of tender heirloom beans has a lip-smacking, mouth-coating quality you previously only associated with pork fat. Let Graye worry about that. Be here now, let the bold, confident flavors wash over you, and save your questions for the walk home. No bite will leave you…

Chilte’s lively pastel interior may match the renovation of its ’50s-era home, the Egyptian Motor Hotel, but the menu doesn’t offer the kind of lovable (but mostly boring) food typical of a hotel restaurant. Instead, owners Lawrence Smith (a former NFL player) and Aseret Arroyo serve an impressive, constantly changing roster of ambitious Mexican dishes. Hefty tacos arrive cradling toppings like butternut-stuffed chile capped with a rustic red chimayó mole or a thick slab of tender beef tongue on a lacy, crisp layer of cheese. Even more impressive is the mole flight, a trio of sauces accompanied by expertly charred lamb ribs. Yes, you’d be happy dipping the lamb in each sauce, but the true joy comes from eating them with chewy, colorful, fresh-made corn tortillas. Best among the moles…

How did you come up with the restaurant’s name? AN: The whole thing is a troll. There are so many Indian restaurants called “Something” Palace, and my Indian grandparents can’t really say the z sound in pizza. So pijja—pronounced “pee-ja”—is what a lot of brown folks say instead. Sports bars aren’t exactly known for their food. What made you want to open one? AN: I was born and raised in LA. This is the greatest sports city, and so many of my most memorable moments and meals were sports-related. I just wanted to do something that was for the homies. Then everybody ended up coming. Miles, you came up in fine dining and hadn’t cooked Indian food professionally before. How did you dive in? MS: It was really a crash…

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WA The serene 35-minute ferry ride from Seattle to Bainbridge Island gives you the distinct sense that you’re headed somewhere special—and you are. A short walk from the terminal, Seabird feels less like a restaurant and more like a fairy-tale cabin in the forest, complete with a wood-fired oven smoldering in the open kitchen. Focused cooks deftly shuck tide-tumbled oysters, and moody wallpaper in the dining room features the island’s iconic conifer trees poking through fog. Chef-owner Brendan McGill’s meticulously sourced menu is a heartfelt tribute to the Pacific Northwest. Earthy seaweed focaccia bounces like a sponge as you swipe it through whipped wakame-spiked butter. Fragrant leche de tigre clings to albacore ceviche. Yuzu-and-koji-marinated king salmon from the nearby Neah Bay arrives like a little gift, wrapped in…

SAN FRANCISCO, CA Everything in the front dining room at Shuggie’s—the floor, the stools, a cat-shaped wall clock—is banana yellow. And everyone at those yellow stools and yellow tables seems to be having the best night of their lives. They dig into beef heart meatballs laced with an emulsion of past-their-prime greens and stab into a Sexy Shroomy Hot Pocket stuffed with decidedly unsexy mushroom stems—the whole menu is built around a minimal-waste philosophy. In a back dining room (this one entirely green, because why not), more happy diners slice through pan pizzas whose crusts are made not with heirloom grains or sourdough starter, but the mushy by-product of oat milk. From floor to ceiling, Shuggie’s is a psychedelic, see-it-to-believe-it temple to the sorts of wilted odds and ends we…

QUINCY, MA In music the term rubato describes a performer taking liberties with a score—extending some notes, truncating others, expressing themselves freely while respecting the music on the page. Which describes precisely what chef Laurence Louie did when he took over Contempo, his mother’s beloved Quincy, Massachusetts, bakery, and transformed it into a sleek Hong Kong–style café. The focused menu still features excellent renditions of Chinese classics—homemade soy milk, delicately aromatic congee, crisp-tender you tiao—but Louie has plenty of room to do his own thing. Warm bolo baos, buttery fist-size buns with an irresistibly sweet crackly top, are wonderful on their own but sing louder when sandwiching slices of cold butter or craggy fried chicken thighs. Thick slabs of French toast gilded with condensed milk and cookie crumbs burst open…

The lahmacun—a popular street food in Syria, Turkey, and elsewhere in the Middle East—at St. Louis’s Balkan Treat Box served as our inspiration for this weeknight version. The meat mixture is spread over store-bought pitas, then baked in the oven, creating a juicy, well-spiced base for crunchy toppings 4 SERVINGS 4 medium pitas with pockets1 head of garlic (about 12 cloves), cloves separated, peeled2 jalapeños, halved1 Tbsp. ground coriander1 tsp. ground cumin¼ tsp. baking soda½ medium white onion, plus⅔ more sliced for serving cup (packed) parsley leaves with tender stems, plus more for serving1 Tbsp. paprika, plus more for sprinkling4½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 2¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt, divided1 lb. ground lamb½ cup plain whole-milk Greek or regular yogurtThinly sliced cabbage and lemon wedges (for serving) 1. Place racks…

The scallop crudo at LaRina in Brooklyn, where the shellfish is adorned with fresh citrus and fennel fronds, was the creative impetus for our seared scallop version here. Sautéed lemon slices and lots of shaved fennel get mixed into tiny pasta to make it a complete dish 4 SERVINGS 12 oz. small pasta (such as ditalini)Kosher salt12 sea scallops (about 1 lb.), patted dry3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil8 Tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided1 lemon, thinly sliced, seeds removed¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, plus more for servingFreshly ground pepper3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice1 Tbsp. fish sauce½ large head of fennel, fronds reserved for serving, cored, shaved with a mandoline or thinly sliced 1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Drain,…

When I was living in New York City, my little sister, Lydia, visited and told me that I looked really exhausted. She suggested I come down to New Orleans to stay with her a little while. “No pressure,” she said. That was seven years ago—and I’m still here. What drew me to New Orleans was the ease of the city. It’s a place that invites you to slow down to its speed, a pace that allows you to stumble into somewhere special whenever you smell something delicious. Now I’ve got Lengua Madre, a restaurant inspired by my Mexican upbringing, and a few James Beard Award nominations—and what keeps me here is the culinary scene. I love the classic spots that uphold tradition, resisting change at all costs; chefs and restaurateurs…

WASHINGTON, DC Few chefs know fire quite like Johnny Spero. At his brassy grill-focused ode to Basque nightlife, Bar Spero, the flavors of the hearth make their way into nearly every dish. Sometimes this is in profound ways, as with the delicately grilled whole turbot—that most Spanish of fishes is practically defined by the fuel it is cooked over, its succulent flesh made even sweeter by bold wafts of cherrywood smoke. But elsewhere fire is present in subtle, complex ways. You taste it in the gentle bitterness of a charcoal cream that dresses raw slivers of hiramasa, or in a beef tartare bound together with an earthy emulsion of ember-rendered tallow, or humming somewhere in the background of a spoonful of burnt cheesecake ice cream. There is a certain painful…

DETROIT, MI At Ladder 4, chef John Yelinek doesn’t traffic in the sort of predictable small-plates-meant-for-sharing menu we’ve come to expect of a wine bar. Case in point: A homemade chicken sausage arrives, beak and all, in a pool of glistening jus with islands of celeriac and potato purée. To create the links, Pennsylvania golden chicken necks are stuffed with a mix of pork fat and chicken meat until they blow up like balloon animals. Dishes like these make Ladder 4, which is housed in a century-old firehouse, feel like so much more than a wine bar. The food isn’t just delicious; it’s exciting and even a little cheeky. While all the plates are wonderful—the sweet potatoes cloaked in soft cheese and pumpkin seed dukkah, for instance, or the juicy,…

SAVANNAH, GA Though chef Andrew Brochu spent years in Chicago fine dining, he decided to open his first restaurant in Savannah, the hometown of his business partner and wife, Sophie Brochu. Friends and family rushed from near and far to help jump-start operations. That warmth is palpable at Brochu’s Family Tradition, where the food is distinctly Southern and full of playful nuance. The deceptively simple chicken dinner, for example, comes with three preparations, including sweet-tea-brined-then-fried thighs. The cheddar rillette is a delightful cross between an upscale cheese ball and cauliflower mac and cheese. The restaurant, situated in a former 1930s grocery store, is full of charming details, too, like bathroom wallpaper depicting fried chicken and biscuit characters with human legs or the restored boat motor (courtesy of Andrew’s dad) that…

SEDALIA’S OYSTER & SEAFOOD • ENSENADA • FISHMONGER • SEABIRD • MOËCA • ESTE…

ATLANTA, GA You could make the mistake of writing Fishmonger off as just another buzzy new restaurant. On the contrary: Chef Bradford Forsblom’s fish market and raw bar is the kind of place that feels like an instant institution, where classics get thrilling new spins. The peel-and-eat shrimp is spice-packed and succulent. The scallop crudo—enveloped in Thai chile vinegar and mango and melon juices—is tangy and bright. But the star of the show is an unassuming Caesar salad with blackened grouper. Perhaps it’s the salty tobiko topping or the kick of heat from the Calabrian chile–spiked dressing. Don’t be fooled by its simplicity; this is a dish you’ll want to enjoy again and again. (Even former president Barack Obama is a fan.) Eat your seafood feast on the patio, then…

CAMBRIDGE, MA Get the scallops at Moëca. At most restaurants a directive like this would require no further clarification. But at Michael Pagliarini and Pamela Ralston’s elegant nose-to-tail seafood restaurant, you really have to be more specific (which is a good thing). Order the Cape Cod scallop, and you’ll receive a plump puck of meat seared then swathed in a heady green crab americaine (a reduction made from the shells of a local invasive species). You also must order the custardy semolina gnocchi topped with “scallop trippa alla romana,” an ingenious take on the Roman classic that swaps beef tripe for the frilly, flavorful “skirts” that surround the bivalves’ prized adductor muscles. And the creamy riff on the fishy Greek dip taramasalata, shot through with salty bits of smoked scallop…

The only menu at Dakar NOLA is a $150 prix fixe, but what you’ll experience here isn’t stiff, overly formal fine dining. Chef Serigne Mbaye warmly greets diners at the door of a traditional New Orleans shotgun house, then brings around a kettle for tableside hand-washing (a Senegalese tradition, he notes). The dinner unfolds as Mbaye continues his storytelling throughout each course. He shares that a black-eyed pea stew with Louisiana crab, called The Last Meal, is inspired by the food enslaved Africans ate before they were forced onto ships. As he serves juicy gulf shrimp, he talks about his seafood purveyor, who can only be reached via flip phone. Mbaye intertwines moments of both levity and introspection throughout dinner, and manages to convey both a deep pride for this…

SAN FRANCISCO, CA Outside Noodle in a Haystack, there’s no signage. You’ll know you’re in the right place because of the handful of people milling around the nondescript corner storefront, waiting to find out what a $185 “ramen tasting menu” could possibly be. All will be revealed at the single dining counter, where chefs Clint and Yoko Tan prepare each of the eight courses with rapturous focus. The entire meal doesn’t consist of bowl after bowl of ramen—there’s just one (a stellar final savory course). Instead, the husband and wife duo deftly apply ramen techniques to a nightly rotation of dishes. Green chili oil and dashi season a piece of supple chicken breast. In a brothless bowl of bouncy noodles, creamy lobes of uni and a cured egg yolk swirl…

CÔTE DE BŒUF AU POIVRE 2–4 SERVINGS With a pan sauce punctuated by three types of peppercorns and the sweet-spicy kick of red pepper jelly, this hearty rib-eye steak beautifully captures the classic French cooking with Creole twists on offer at New Orleans’s MaMou (p. 58). Chef Tom Branighan employs a reverse-searing technique (starting the steak in the oven and finishing it on the stovetop) that ensures a precise internal temperature, reducing the risk of over-or undercooking. In our version the quick pan sauce is made using bouillon paste to mimic the restaurant’s house-made beef demi-glace. If you can’t find bone-in rib-eye, you can substitute with boneless; just be sure to start checking on it after 20 minutes in the oven since it will cook faster. 2 Tbsp. coarsely ground…

The Bon Appétit test kitchen team draws recipe inspiration from all over: vintage cookbooks, strolls through the grocery store, even mouthwatering scenes on TV. But nothing gets our wheels turning like dining out. These five recipes are based on great restaurant meals we ate this year, translated into weeknight-friendly dishes. You’ll find a San Diego restaurant’s Aleppo-spiced roast chicken transformed into a sheet-pan dinner, a Korean food court’s popular noodle soup given the one-pot treatment, and more. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, these are compliments you can eat.…

This fast and easy sheet-pan grain bowl is modeled after an Aleppo-pepper-seasoned roast chicken with yogurt and pickled red onion at Callie in San Diego 4 SERVINGS ¼ cup sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar1 tsp. honey1 small red onion, thinly sliced1 large bunch broccolini1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt, plus moreFreshly ground pepper1 tsp. ground cumin1 tsp. smoked paprika¾ cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt, divided2 Tbsp. Aleppo-style pepper, plus more for serving1½ lb. skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 6 medium), patted dry1 cup bulgur 1. Whisk vinegar and honey in a small bowl to combine. Add onion and stir to coat. Let sit, tossing occasionally, until ready to serve. 2. Place a rack in middle of oven;…

KONO • BAR • SPERO • NENG JR.’S • INDIENNE • MAMOU • PIETRAMALA…

ASHEVILLE, NC On a quiet dead-end street in Asheville, North Carolina, swooping letters painted on an outside wall signal you’ve reached your destination: The Fabulous Neng Jr.’s. If you step into the 17-seat Filipinx restaurant solely in search of the familiar, you won’t find it. Here, the flavors of adobo make their way into an ice-cold vodka martini, savory with soy sauce and humming with black pepper, garlic, and bay leaf. Pork belly as crisp as pork cracklings is served with a tangle of chewy hand-pulled noodles. And big, juicy oysters are dressed not with watery mignonette but a sunny quail egg yolk, pearls of seaweed, and fragrant black vinegar. Behind the chef’s counter is Silver Iocovozzi, sporting a chopped and screwed button-down with plenty of slits and cutouts (to…

NEW ORLEANS, LA French food in New Orleans isn’t exactly groundbreaking stuff, but MaMou makes the very strong argument that there’s still more of the genre to explore. Filled with hanging florals and velvet banquettes, the snug corner restaurant from seasoned local chef Tom Branighan and esteemed sommelier Molly Wismeier specializes in surprise, delight, and precise execution—right at the edge of the French Quarter’s hubbub. Soft, house-made pretzel bread is served with a smoky butter the texture of whipped cream. A plump quenelle of crab-and-celeriac rémoulade arrives on a slab of French toast. Cassoulet gets a NOLA spin with red beans and jalapeño cornbread crumbs. The wine-by-the-glass list is unexpected for a French restaurant too, with options from South Africa, Austria, and California. Fresh, lively, and sophisticated, MaMou is proof…

CHILTE • LADDER 4 WINE BAR • HEAVY METAL SAUSAGE CO. • BROCHU’S FAMILY TRADITION • PIJJA PALACE…

PHILADELPHIA, PA By day, Heavy Metal Sausage Co. is a friendly neighborhood butcher shop and sandwich joint. But on Thursday and Friday nights, it transforms—sort of. Tables and chairs materialize. Flowers are arranged. Mismatched china settings are laid on every inch of available space, prep tables and kitchen counters included. Zhuzhing complete, chef Patrick Alfiero and co-owner Melissa Pellegrino welcome a dozen or so diners for four candlelit courses of gussied-up trattoria fare that transcends its humble surroundings. An elegantly plated slab of lasagna is a study in fine dining precision: homemade noodles darkened with pig’s blood and layers of rich pig’s head ragù, all crowned with a wobbly slice of headcheese. You might forget where you are for a moment—before remembering that you’re pressed up against a humming deli…

LOS ANGELES, CA A sports bar tucked into a strip mall next to a motel is not, historically, where one goes in search of great food. But when you enter Pijja Palace, which shares a ground floor with a Comfort Inn, you’ll be rewarded for casting away any preconceived notions. Lit by the white light of approximately 10,000 TVs, you’ll eat onion rings coated in shatter-crisp dosa batter, pizzas dressed with chicken tikka and kadai paneer, and a plate of creamy malai rigatoni that is probably LA’s most sought-after dish—and rightly so. With their melding of Indian cooking and classic American pub grub, owner Avish Naran and chef Miles Shorey aren’t trying to “elevate” or fancify the idea of a sports bar; they’re simply expanding our idea of what one…

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK You’d never know a raccoon once lived in the storage space that now houses Oklahoma City’s most exciting new seafood spot. After the critter’s eviction and a winsome makeover, chef Zack Walters and general manager Silvana Arandia Walters launched Sedalia’s, their intimate neighborhood “oysterette.” Snagging a stool at the countertop feels like sidling up to someone’s home kitchen, where knickknacks and mismatch-y dinnerware add to the charm. The handwritten menu highlights a lively, oft-changing selection. Maybe you’ll arrive to pink scallop conserva with romesco-slathered house pumpernickel; buttery local paddle-fish caviar nestled atop pommes dauphine; or charcoal-grilled anticuchos skewers (a nod to Arandia Walters’s Bolivian roots). Always present is a raw bar that rivals those on either coast. The restaurant’s location, near a limo party bus company and…

MIAMI, FL Miami chef Valerie Chang is getting personal. After garnering acclaim for Itamae—the Nikkei restaurant she co-owns with her brother and father—she wanted to create a place where she could highlight Peruvian cooking traditions that honor her grandmother Maty. Chang is the driving force behind this new venture, serving up dishes that are warm and soulful, like a vibrant cebiche mixto with black grouper and crisp calamari or the fluffy tortitas de maiz. A fried snapper arrives curled dramatically around cornmeal-dusted fish nuggets, and a whole roasted dorade sits pretty on an ode-worthy ají amarillo beurre blanc. In the chic, airy dining room, you’ll find a gallery of family portraits and passed-down relics (like her grandmother’s school report card) adorning the walls. So while Maty’s might be the result…

This year marks chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s 50th year in the business, and with 60 restaurants worldwide, you’d think he’d be ready to slow down. But his latest venture, the Tin Building—a sprawling marketplace and food hall in Lower Manhattan—keeps him busier than ever. After a tour of the space (and a few fabulous banana cookies), we sat down to talk about the people who inspire him. You get to host up to four guests, alive or dead, real or fictional, for your fantasy dinner party. Who gets the invite and why? Deepak Chopra. I love his spirit. He always talks about food as medicine, and he’s the only person I know who is not afraid of dying. He would add a lot of deep insight. Design and architecture are my…