Orchids: Treats from Two of Cincinnati’s Top Chefs - Todd Kelly and Megan Ketover!

Things often don’t turn out as anticipated. A truism I bump into frequently. I’d made reservations at Orchids for friend Cindie and me during Downtown Restaurant Week, then learned she had to drive to Indianapolis for work that day. Cindie was iffy about whether she would be able to join me Tuesday night, which I knew would likely turn into a no. But I stuck to the same line I used when I first asked her about going with me: “I am going to Orchids. Even. If. I. Have. To. Go. By. Myself.”

The high-ceilinged “Palm Court” where Orchids is located, in Cincinnati’s historic art-deco Netherland Plaza Hotel, is one of the most magnificent rooms in the city. Every time I walk into that space, I feel swept away to another time and can’t help but check my daily concerns at the door. It reminds me of another classic art-deco landmark, Radio City Music Hall, which I saw the inside of for the first time when my grandparents visited me in NYC and took me to the annual “Holiday Show.” As the house lights dimmed, my stern, straight-laced Nebraska grandma laid her hand on mine and uttered the most startling and endearing sentence I ever heard from her lips: “In my next life, I want to come back as a Rockette.”

The hotel, which has gone through more changes in ownership since it was built in 1931 than I can keep track of, is currently run by Hilton. I’ve eaten and had drinks there in a number of its iterations, but hadn’t been there since Chef Todd Kelly came on board, garnering Orchids “Best Restaurant in Cincinnati” designation from Cincinnati Magazine for the last two years and consistently glowing praise from Cincinnati Enquirer restaurant critic Polly Campbell, bloggers, and other media sources. Chef Kelly was also recently named the American Culinary Federation’s Chef of the Year.

When I learned one of the chefs competing on the upcoming season of Bravo’s Top Chef: Just Desserts is Orchids’ pastry chef Megan Ketover, my resolve was unshakeable. I’ve been a fan of the Bravo cooking competition show since the beginning, and last fall was invited to join the blogging team at fan blog AllTopChef.com. (Blogging partner The Minx does our “morning after” posts, rounds up links to the most entertaining recaps of the show from around blogosphere, posts preview videos of each episode, and more. Laura Kluvo, founder of Blogging Project Runway, has been contributing podcast exit interviews with the Top Chef contestants for the last several seasons and will likely continue to do so when Just Desserts Season 2 premieres this Wednesday.) My role is to wrangle the ATC email box and write (almost) weekly posts spotlighting news and info from around the web about the show and its contestants from all the seasons. I gather TC news via various avenues, but one of the most fruitful has proven to be friending/fanning contestants on facebook, where many post links about their appearances, events, and other press coverage.

When the cast of TC:JD2 was announced, I sought out all the contestants I could find on fb, and Orchids’ Megan Ketover was one of them. She was kind enough to reply to a couple of questions I asked, and confirmed the desserts on the Orchids Restaurant Week menu would indeed be her creations. She also recommended making RW reservations early, and I was glad I did. Orchids limits the number of RW reservations it accepts each night, and when I called to see if I might switch mine due to Cindie’s schedule, I was out of luck – they were sold out through the week. No problem. I wanted to taste the food of both Chef Kelly and Chef Ketover, and would stick with my original reservation, where three courses could be had at this premiere Cincinnati restaurant for a budget-friendly $35.

I’m not accustomed to approaching celebrities of any ilk, but I screwed up my nerve and asked Megan on fb if there was any chance I might be able to meet her while I was there. I thought it only fair to disclose my connection with AllTopChef, but assured her I would not ask anything that might violate the strict nondisclosure agreement Bravo contestants must sign, which carries a $1 million penalty. Megan replied that she would pop out into the dining room if she could, and my anticipation level edged up another notch.

Walking a block from my downtown office, I arrived at 6:00. Cindie hadn’t called to say she’d be able to join me after all, so I informed the hostess I would be a party of one. The restaurant wasn’t yet full, but I was pleasantly surprised when I was directed, not to a two-top in the middle of the room, but to a spacious corner booth with a great view of the entire room. I ordered a glass of wine, perused the Restaurant Week menu (which had some additions and changes from the version posted online), and told my server which options I’d like from the first course and entrée selections. I was torn between the two dessert offerings and hoped that if I was lucky enough to meet Megan I could ask her about them – a question that surely wouldn’t be prohibited by that Bravo contract.

Megan makes not only Orchids’ pastries but also their breads. Here are her three selections that evening, a thin, crisp grissini, an airy sesame-seed-topped roll, and her new favorite, she told me later, a wheat roll made with herbs grown on the 17th floor of the hotel. (She and Chef Kelly are also raising bees on the rooftop of the hotel and did their first honey harvest a few days later.)

Megan’s breads were served with this trio of stellar accompaniments: Paquillo pepper pesto made with garlic and almonds; an herb and garlic infused olive oil, and a thick European butter with topped with Maldon salt. Paquillo pepper is one of my favorite things, and this romesco-style dipping sauce was a delight.

Next up: this delightful amuse-bouche – a savory custard served in an egg shell with crème fraiche, chives, truffle oil, and dried local corn. The custard was cooked perfectly, and the other components added to the inviting decadence of this creamy opener.

I’m always tickled to receive an amuse, not just because these pre-appetizer tastes arrive unordered, but because I think chefs have fun with them too. As I saw plates of these perched eggshells being served throughout the restaurant, I appreciated that the kitchen was sharing them with those of us there for Restaurant Week.

My taste buds were piqued and ready for the Tuna Tonnato first course I’d ordered. But as my server set my second plate before me, I was in for a surprise, this stuffed squash blossom!.

I developed serious foodie lust for stuffed squash blossoms last summer, after reading lots of tempting recipes and gawking over squash blossom food porn. I hadn’t been able to find any to try my hand at until I visited my aunt in California last fall and spied some in her garden. That attempt turned out reasonably well for this home cook on my first try (the flowers are very delicate and tricky to work with). But the burrata and anchovy filling in Orchids’ tempura-battered blossoms and the skill with which they were fried showed me what can be done with them in the hands of a pro.

Not just one amuse, but two. I don’t frequent fine-dining restaurants as often as I wish I could, but this was new for me. Meanwhile, time was ticking away, so, basking in stuffed squash-blossom afterglow, I asked one of my servers if she would let Chef Ketover know I was there. My hope was that if I asked early enough, before the dinner and dessert rush, Megan might be able to find time to “pop out” and meet me in the dining room for a few minutes.

Served next was my “first” course, the Tuna Tonnato. Crisp haricot verts and garlic chips contrasted with the moist, succulent sashimi-grade tuna cooked sous vide. Tomato confit, kalamata olives, and the creamy tonnato sauce underneath brightened the dish and pulled it all together.

As I savored this dish, my hopes were answered when Megan stopped by my table. Warm, genuine, and down to earth, she is Top Chef: Just Desserts contender any Cincinnati fan of the show can happily root for. I was cautious about asking too much about the show, but she did give me a baker’s tour of the three selections on my bread plate. When I asked which of the featured desserts she would recommend – “unless that’s like asking you to pick your favorite child” – she described both the “chocolate option” and the “non-chocolate option” in detail, saying she finds two-thirds of customers opt for chocolate, while she herself prefers the non-chocolate side. (You can find more of my conversation with Megan on ATC here.) I didn’t want to keep her too long during service, and thanked her for her time. She completely won me over, and I must have been grinning from ear to ear as I finished my tuna and looked forward to my entrée of pork cheeks.

However, this whimsical plate was set before me instead. “The chef wanted you to taste his new heirloom tomato salad,” explained my server.

This was another of the first course options for Restaurant Week, described on the menu as Heirloom Tomato Salad with House Made Mozzarella, Tomato Gelée, Fennel Lavosh and Mizuna, and I had wrestled with the decision to forgo it in favor of the Tuna Tonnato. The menu didn’t mention that the mozzarella was not only house-made but also inflated into a balloon. I’ve read about this preparation elsewhere (it’s one Thomas Keller has done at the French Laundry), but had never had an opportunity to try it. What fun to pierce that delicate dairy balloon and watch it deflate while the crunchy teetertotter of lavosh, over tiny skinned heirloom tomatoes, remained in place. (It didn’t occur to me until later that the lavosh crisp was likely Megan’s creation as well.)

Among many things I appreciated about the top-notch service I received that evening was the delicate choreography between back of house and front of house. I appreciate a menu written with enough detail to provide a fair idea of what to expect as I decide what to order, without going into volumes about every element (and its source) in a complex dish. On the other hand, I am very interested in those details. The fellow who served the majority of my plates did a superb job of explaining what I was about to eat in a way that enhanced my appreciation of each dish without coming across as condescending or designed to impress.

It was also at this point in the evening that it finally sank in that not only was I dining at a place with the well-deserved reputation of being the best restaurant in town, I was probably receiving extra attention as a blogger interested in supporting Megan. “The chef would like you to taste this” had been used earlier in the evening in connection with my two amuses, but it was clearly more than a standard line used by well-trained front-of-house staff accustomed to delivering gracious service. By now I’d also been served two amuses and two “first” courses, although I’d walked in the door looking forward to just three courses total from the Restaurant Week menu, and the possibility of meeting Megan. For a moment I worried about the blogger ethics of receiving such treatment. But I was so won over by every morsel I’d tasted and every bit of stellar service I’d received that I decided I’d be a fool not to succumb to this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

On to my entrée at last: Pork Cheeks with Chanterelles and Roasted Garlic Gnudi. This wasn’t on Orchids’ online menu for Restaurant Week as I initially contemplated my course choices. But when I saw it on the menu that night, I was excited by the prospect of trying something new to me. The preparation for these savory pork cheeks reminded me of high-end beef short ribs, one of Cindie’s favorite dishes, and I made a mental note to add them to my list of reasons she should be jealous for baling on me that night.

My belly was pretty full by this point, having cleaned every plate set before me, except my bread plate (sorry, Megan). When my server asked if I was done with the bread, I didn’t quite hear what she said. I was sorry to bid those breads good-bye, but I needed to preserve my appetite to taste one of Megan’s desserts. The time had come to make my selection. As tempted as I was by the chocolate option, I elected to go with her preference from the non-chocolate side: Brown Butter Cake with Cinnamon Toast Ice Cream, Bourdon Blackberries, and Crispy Vanilla Tuile.

But I was in for another surprise when this stunning plate of Megan's Malted Chocolate Bavarian with Roasted Bananas, Peanut Streusel, and Dolce de Leche arrived instead.

“Megan wanted you to try both and thought the other would travel better,” said my server.

I was thankful to be able to taste Megan’s Brown Butter Cake at a later time, especially as full as I was. (You can read more about it, and my conversation with Megan, on AllTopChef.) But I couldn’t resist these mignardises that arrived with my check: dark chocolate and pistachio truffles, caramel hazelnut french macarons, and blackberry pate de fruit.

My deepest thanks to everyone at Orchids who gave me an experience that went beyond my wildest imaginings. And in case you can’t tell, I will be shamelessly rooting for Megan Ketover on Top Chef: Just Desserts!

APPLE ORCHARDS, AND VINEYARDS, AND SQUASH BLOSSOMS - AT LAST!

Lest anyone think I'm so lucky as to still be in California on extended vacation, alas, that's not the case. I've been home for three busy weeks, but am enjoying reliving the memories as I cull through my vacation photos, slowly getting up these posts now that "real life" once again has the upper hand.

Tuesday of my vacation week was my first chance to see some of surrounding El Dorado County. Marilyn had lots of great places in store for us. And I had a great time in the kitchen that night - finally making stuffed squash blossoms for the first time!

We started our morning in Apple Hill, a series of loop roads off Route 50 between Placerville and Lake Tahoe, boasting some 50 orchards, Christmas tree farms, and vineyards at a 3000-foot elevation. First stop: High Hill Ranch, with a lovely pond and view, plus crafts booths, apple baked goods, a farm market where we scored apples and some terrific Asian pears, and free apple juice (yes, the free tastings continue). We also received complimentary tastings of apple wine and mulled cider, but they were a bit sweet for me.

On our way “out” of the loop from High Hill, Marilyn wanted to take us past Madrona Vineyards and, well, it was such a lovely sight that we decided to go on in for their wine tasting at 11:00 a.m.

Unlike Napa, where I went on my last trip to California and found most wineries charge you for tastings and a guided tour, in this area, the norm seems to be free tastings of 4-7 of each vineyard’s standard wines, with a potential charge for its “select” offerings, and the assurance that anything you pay for, you’ll recoup if you actually purchase wines on premises. When we stopped at Madrona, we were the only customers in the place, and the fireball of a gal who served us offered well more than the standard 5 tastes, along with samples of some of the food items they sell. A fun morning. And yes, we bought several bottles of wine.

Afterward we stopped at several more Apple Hill orchards before deciding we were ready for our picnic. Again, Marilyn knew the perfect spot – Boeger Winery, with more great wines, beautiful landscaping, and lovely picnic tables. Plus they sold figs and other produce grown on the estate. Too bad we’d already bought figs at Ferry Plaza. But we enjoyed our picnic. While walking the grounds and seeing figs hanging from the trees, we Midwesterners put 2 and 2 together and suddenly understood where fig leafs come from.

Back at Marilyn’s house later that afternoon, I had in mind to serve a platter of grilled veggies from our Ferry Plaza purchases, as well as the abundant squash in Marilyn’s garden. While the grill was hot, it made sense to go ahead and cook the beets for an appetizer I wanted to make later in the week, along with the salmon I planned for an easy salad supper the next night after our day trip to Tahoe. We had plenty of salmon, so I decided to use it to augment what otherwise would have been an all veggie meal, unsure whether it would have been considered “enough” by everyone at the dinner table, including Marilyn’s husband.

We brushed the veggies with olive oil in which I'd steeped garlic and fresh herbs from Marilyn's garden. Jeanette was kind enough to helm the grill while I tackled something I’d been salivating for all summer.

Blogger friend Chef Dennis of More Than a Mount Full has been making me crazy for months with his tantalizing photos and recipes for stuffed squash blossoms. I hadn’t had any luck finding squash blossoms to stuff myself all season, until I took a closer look at Marilyn’s vegetable garden. When I asked if I could use the blossoms, I think she thought I was crazy.

I was able to delicately remove about five blossoms – far fewer than Chef Dennis’s “standing weekly order” at his farmers market for five bunches. I wouldn’t have the opportunity to test out all his variations (including this dessert version, squash blossoms filled with cannoli cream!). But I would do my best to make these five little blossoms worth the effort.

These are delicate things to work with, at least my specimens. So I gently washed them and patted them dry with paper towel. Thanks to Dennis's post about "zucchini pops," I felt empowered to keep the blossoms attached to the baby squash, to the extent I could.

I based my filling on Dennis's standard recipe here, adjusting for quantity (since - did I mention? - I only had five), and adding a healthy dose of fresh basil, rosemary, and thyme from Marilyn's garden to his suggested cheese mixture of ricotta, mozzarella, and romano, working with cheeses I had available.

Side note: I used Marilyn's mezzaluna (the curved knife/shallowly indented wood chopping block thingie pictured above) on quite a few occasions that week, and found it to be a great tool for cutting small-leaf fresh herbs. Apparently my mom gave it to her sister awhile back, and I think I should put it on my xmas list now that Mom is asking for mine.

Using a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off, I piped the cheese-herb filling into my little blossoms as best I could. This is a job where you need two hands, if not more - holding the blossom open, and keeping the cheese mixture pressed into the tip of the plastic bag while you do your utmost not to tear or overfill the blossoms. Which means you have no extra hands available to photograph your efforts. However, Marilyn was kind enough to snap this one as I worked.

Following Dennis's recommendation, I refrigerated the filled blossoms while I whipped up his light batter of eggs, milk, flour, and - best of all - a little romano (or parm) and more fresh herbs. After dipping the chilled, filled squash blossoms in the batter, I fried them in olive oil in a shallow pan, turning after about 2 minutes.

Fried till golden, here's how they turned out. I must confess I'm not sure how much I could detect the innate flavor of the squash blossom in my first try at making (or eating) this dish. But the filling was excellent, and the cheese and herbs in the batter are a definite plus. We're talking delicately fried foods here, and I enjoyed the heck out of these. As cook and hostess, I usually let my guests eat all they want first. But since we had five squash blossoms and only four at the table that night, I asked (politely, I hope) if I could take the fifth. I don't know whether my family still thought I was crazy after making this dish for them or just appreciative of my efforts. But I was glad to have one more taste of these goodies.

Not that I let my dining companions go hungry, of course. Here's what else was on the dinner table that night - grilled veg platter and salmon topped with tomatoes and basil.

No one left the table hungry. Although (typical of the way I cook when actually presented with the opportunity to cook for others instead of just myself), we did have a lot of grilled veggies left. No problem. The next morning we would head to Tahoe, and the leftover veg would make a great omelette before we set out.