Little More Classic

Going A Little More Classic

Recently as I was walking down the main artery of my neighborhood I stopped outside of a restaurant that had changed it's facade.  What use to be Charlie's Ale House is now Acre.  I like the name.  They are going with the local trend which should not be a trend at all and I hope it remains that way.  I grew up eating the vegetables and fruits from our garden, meats that we sourced locally and fish we caught, not always, but most of the time.  It seems only right to me that this is the way we try to be.  But that is not to knock anyone who gets things from overseas or elsewhere.  We just don't have certain things here and it's fun to have the variety.  Well anyways, I do a fair amount of reading and try to keep up with what's going on outside of my own kitchen, it's hard but it puts me to bed at night.  As I've been reading about the trends and curves and everything else I thought I'd go more classic with the Fall menu of One Sister Underground.  I was thinking of doing this anyways because it's been a little out there, not more than what some restaurants are doing but it's unique and I want it to be just a touch more approachable.  My last menu had brown spice cured lamb's brain that sometimes I interchanged with lamb sweetbreads, foie gras ice cream and goat's tongue.  But what really gave me the absolute push to change was that Acre had a section of their menu called odds and ends which had a lot of these offals.  So there will be no offals on the new menu (I will have the ice cream though because lots of guests have requested pints of it and it is tasty, different but tasty).  There will be more classic preparations and less use of new techniques.  I'm certain I will have a bubble here or there and maybe an agar agar set pudding, et cetera but those techniques will not be the showcases as they weren't before but they were more prominent.  I've also been reading how against the word "molecular gastronomy" some chefs are, either calling it Progressive American or Modern and so on.  I really try not to get to hung up on those labels.  It seems a little molecular to me (having quite an extensive background in chemistry) and it seems a little progressive and modern.  I think everyone might win in that situation.
This new menu will have the product which made the name for One Sister, pierogi.  Although this one you won't be able to find in the stores.  It will be smaller, to be had in one bite, filled with whipped yukon gold potatoes and specks of black truffle, topped with homemade truffled mascarpone cheese and chive.  It'll be yummy.  I'll also have a sea scallop ceviche with tomato water, lime, shallot, basil and mint; a hand-cut pasta with porcini and parmesan and chocolate souffle at the end.  Some other more twisted but still familiar items will be grilled cheese soup, French onion smores and a caramel apple apple pie "gobstopper."  I hope to see some of you there.