It’s been a while. I’m on a new version of WordPress hosted by a new hosting company, so I apologize if things look or feel different. From a back-end perspective, the WordPress editor for creating a post has changed drastically. I imagine there will be a learning curve until I can get the hang of this new…system? I don’t know what you call it. Before the site got hacked I was not the best at updating WordPress so I got very used to the old functionality. Oh well.
Vespertine changed up their menu recently so we had to try it again. The new theme is Sicily. According to Chef Kahn, “Although its cuisine has a lot in common with Italian cuisine, Sicilian cooking shows traces of all the cultures that have existed on the island of Sicily over the last two millennia. It is a unique and fascinating cuisine filled with Greek, Spanish, French, and North African influences.” We read the menu the day it was posted and were so excited to try it we made a reservation for either the first or second night of its availability.
Once again, we ordered a dog treat for Theo from the Destroyer Marketplace. She’s a very spoiled pup, but also it’s way easier to focus on a meal at home when she’s distracted, and the bone provided a great and lengthy distraction for her. The treat is made using organic rolled oats, ripe bananas, and organic peanut butter. Theo’s no Michelin guide inspector, but she definitely enjoyed the snack.
I should get something out of the way quickly before I review the menu. When we arrived at Vespertine to pick up our order, our server told us that there were complimentary waters included with our meal. I thought, “Oh sweet.” I went to retrieve a bottle from the bag and noticed a black envelope sitting on top with our names printed in silver on front. I thought it was the menu, but quickly realized only one of us had made the reservation…so there was no way the restaurant could know both our names.
When I opened the envelope, I found a letter from Chef Kahn inside. Without delving into too many details, I will say that it referenced my website and my reviews of the previous meals (specifically Midsummer). I was completely awed and humbled by the gesture. I’m just one guy with a website who likes to write about food. Never in a million years would I think the chef responsible for some of the best meals of my life would reach out to say “Hi” in such a personal way. Hopefully my review of Sicily provides more useful feedback.
Aperitivo Blanco e Aperitivo Rosso. I will say that this time, the cocktails came with instructions stating that each kit should be watered down with the included water to make two drinks. In the past we just dumped all the booze and ingredients into a glass. That’s probably why I’ve commented in the past that the cocktails are on the boozy side. Anyway, Aperitivo Blanco was a sparkling, aromatic cocktail made using Moscato-based Italian “Vermouth” with cinchona bark, botanicals, and orange peels. Aperitivo Rosso was a dark sparkling cocktail made using amaro with dark fruit and burnt citrus notes, reminiscent of cola. I liked them both, but Christine preferred the Rosso to the Blanco.
Crudo Di Tonno. Raw Bluefin Tuna, Sea Salt from Trapani, Wild Fennel, 2018 Harvest Olio Verde, I.G.P. Cappero di Pantelleria, Spicy Breadcrumbs. Comparing Sicily’s crudo to sashimi in Japan or ceviche in Peru, Chef Kahn states that the simple dish is usually just the fish, olive oil, sea salt, and sometime acid and pepper. Here he tops his crudo with a couple extra items, but the resulting dish tasted as clean and fresh and simple as could be. The only gaudy element were the spicy breadcrumbs, which I absolutely loved. I want to add spicy breadcrumbs to everything I make at home now. We added a fair amount to the dish (they were packaged separately) and then we picked at the remnants to try and parse the different seasonings so it could be replicated at home eventually.
Arancini “Alla Norma”. Crispy Carnaroli Rice Balls Stuffed With A Ragu of Eggplant, Tomatoes, Basil, and Ricotta Salata. Even though I studied Italian in college, and had plans to visit Italy before I lost my ability to speak the language confidently, I’ve never been to Italy. I like to think it would be a gastronomical adventure unlike most other places on Earth. When I was in young and a picky eater, I knew if I went into Manhattan to meet someone for lunch in Little Italy, at least I could order a rice ball and be safe. As an unabashed Arancini glutton, I feel like I would put hundreds and hundreds of them away from every place that served them if I went to Italy. I’ve still had a lot in my day, but this one ranks as one of the best. The inclusion of eggplant in lieu of minced meat was a brilliant twist.
Sfincionedi Bagheria. Airy Sicilian “White” Focaccia made with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Caramelized Onions, and Pecorino Siciliano. Although not listed on the simple menu, the QR Code version mentions sfincione being dressed with EVOO, anchovies, fresh pecorino and breadcrumbs. I’m not sure if there were anchovies in this iteration, but it had a kind of umami and savoriness that I normally pick up from my mom’s homemade caesar dressings, which features liberal use of anchovies. We had a little bit of bread and meat leftover, which I happily enjoyed for breakfast the following morning.
Caponata. Roasted Eggplant, Garlic, Almonds, Chilies, Mint. Served with ancient pesto recipe dating back from the Benedictine monks of Catania. There are precious few complaints I could register regarding this meal. One would be that this dish did not travel well. It was smashed against a wall of the container, and we had to guess how it was supposed to be composed on a plate. That said, this turned out to be one of my favorite tastes of the meal if not one of my favorite eggplant dishes I’ve had that wasn’t…you know…an eggplant parm from an Italian deli back in New Jersey. With every bite we were picking up different flavors from different cultures. Was there cinnamon in here?! Honey? And that pesto was incredible.
We opted for the black truffle supplement for the Casarecce dish. This was easily the most opulent course of the meal. Casarecce “Del Gattopardo” is a neo-classical dish of baked casarecce pasta with pancetta, porcini mushrooms, marsala, swiss chard, and cacciocavallo cheese. Again, there were hints of cinnamon here that were totally welcome even though at first blush it seemed out of place. I was positively giddy as I tore through this course. Christine was starting to get full by this point, and I was not ashamed by my continued hunger for these dishes.
Zucca Agrodolce. Roasted Fall Squash. Garlic. Honey. Vinegar. Black Pepper. Mint. Translated to “sweet and sour pumpkin,” in Sicily the dish is made either with the “yellow” zucca gialla which looks a lot like a long island cheese pumpkin, or the “red” zucca rossa which has more of a jack-o-lantern shape and darker color inside and out. This was probably our least favorite dish of the night. I think it was an issue with transport/sitting, because by the time we got to it it was a little mealy. It nailed the sweet and sour elements but overall it was a bit underwhelming compared to the rest of the meal.
Polpette Dolci. Traditional meatball recipe from San Carlo Abbey, stewed in a spiced sauce made from tomatoes, onion and cinnamon. Again here, the addition of cinnamon transformed these meatballs into something totally unique and exemplary. I know it’s “just a meatball,” but seriously this was one of my favorite bites of the meal. All of the elements from the herbs and spices to the fantastic texture really made them special. Apparently these are made without eggs, and milk-soaked breadcrumbs were originally used because meat used to be scarce and the breadcrumbs helped increase yield. It made the balls have a slightly less firm structure than one might expect, but those flavors. Holy cow.
Cannoli. Crispy Fried Pastry Tube. Sweet Ricotta Cheese, Orange Blossom, and Sicilian Pistachios. If I told you I grew up in New Jersey just outside of NYC and this was the first cannoli I’ve ever had, would you believe me? Or would you instead pity me? What kind of East Coast Jew with no less than seven pizzerias and a dozen upscale Italian restaurants in his hometown never tried a cannoli! Well, if they’re all as good as this one I have a lot of lost time to make up for. The pistachio was the star here, the pastry dough was fried to perfection. I wanted more. This might have been the star of the sweet dishes.
Cassata. Lemon Sponge Cake. Sicilian Lemon Cream. Ricotta Mousse. The most iconic Sicilian cake, an elaborate dessert made with sponge cake moistened with liqueur and layered with ricotta, covered with marzipan and decorated with candied fruits and royal icing. I’m decidedly not a fan of jellied candies or jellied fruits or whatever, but the cake and the layer of tangy lemon custard made this into quite a delightful bite. When I saw the top layer I was a little nervous I wouldn’t like, but dig that spoon down deep and everything works together in total harmony. Delicious.
Pasticcini di Mandorla. Cookies. Noto Romana Almonds. Supposedly, everyone’s Sicilian grandmother made these two bite almond cookies. They are typically eaten at the end of a meal with an espresso. A perfect bite to end a near-perfect meal.
Much of our conversation following this meal was about whether it was our favorite Vespertine @ Home menu yet. Perhaps I’m biased (because it was my birthday, and I have an affinity for southern cooking since I only get to enjoy it when I visit mom), but I still think the Southern menu was my favorite. The other three all had some incredible bites that — were I making a Vespertine “mix tape” or “best of” would probably be equally represented. The Main Lobster and Peas/Carrots dishes from the French Laundry menu stand out in my mind as favorites. The Beet Tartare and Pea Gnudi and Lettuce Gratin from the Midsummer menu were equally fantastic.
I cannot speak highly enough of these meals from Vespertine. Precious few chefs have instilled such glee with their food since I moved to Los Angeles in 2007. I thought what Chef Miles Thompson was doing back at Alumette/Vagrancy Project in my Echo Park days was the pinnacle of Los Angeles Food until my first meal at Red Medicine. Now with Vespertine, Chef Kahn continually creates and executes transcendent, world-class cuisine.
I don’t need to expound upon the difficulties chefs (and all artisans, really) around the globe have faced this year. I’m not breaking any news when I describe the all-encompassing awfulness of our current reality. I’m sure the frustration and disappointment that chefs feel when they are unable to interact with diners is incalculable. On the surface, it might feel like sending food and a QR coded menu home with diners results in a one-sided conversation, or that dining at home is rife with opportunities for variables to affect what would normally be controlled in a restaurant space.
I’d argue that food is like music. For a songwriter, whether your audience is packed like sardines in a crowded club hearing you sing live, or packed like sardines on a crowded train commuting to work hearing you through headphones…the emotional response is the same. For a chef in 2020, your diners might be crammed at two-top table in their tiny kitchen struggling to control their puppy while reading your menu off their iPhone…but the emotional response is the same. That unexpected hit of cinnamon in a meatball…the excitement of discovering spicy breadcrumbs on crudo…it elicits the same passion and emotion a brilliant lyric or inventive guitar part does through headphones on a crowded train.
Dining in 2020, whether from Dominos or a your favorite local restaurant, is still experiential. It’s different in some very obvious ways, but it is only temporary. When this all ends and no more extreme adjustments need to be made, hopefully we’ll get to tell all the chefs who fed us through these difficult times — in person — just how much they helped.
