Pop-Up Dinner Round-Up, Part 1

Whether you call them “pop-ups” or “underground dinners,” these innovative one-off prix-fixe culinary events are blossoming more quickly than the daffodils in my front yard. Here's my first installment about some unique events to check out.

Last night I attended a Date Dinner, by Steven Shockley, who recently became Executive Chef at Cumin and previously worked at Pho Paris, Chalk, Jean-Robert’s Table, and Maribelle’s (when it was at its previous Riverside Drive/Eastern Avenue location). Steven takes thematic inspiration from a wide array of sources (the previous Date Dinner I attend was based on the music of Miles Davis). Although Steven is sometimes given to pun-filled constructs, last night’s dinner side-stepped the opportunity for April Fool’s Day jokes while, as usual, focusing on out-of-the-ordinary flavor combinations.

Lentil soup with pomegranate and sumac whipped cream

Flatbread with gorgonzola-potato puree and parsley

Braised lamb neck with grapes, quinoa, and cauliflower puree

Cardamom rice pudding

The schedule for Date Dinners varies, partly depending on Steven’s work schedule, and is usually limited to about 12 people, in an Over-the-Rhine apartment the location of which you learn after RSVPing (and, now, paying via Paypal). Like the Date Dinner facebook page to hear about upcoming events. Steven has a keen culinary curiosity, and I’m not going to try to guess where he’ll take Date Dinner next, although he says he’s switching the format to four courses for $35; still BYOB. He also occasionally pops up with snacks at Market Wines at Findlay Market and Neon’s. Steven has a personal proclivity for veggies, grains, hand-ground spices, and the occasional braise or venture into offal territory. I will definitely be curious to see where he takes Cumin’s spring menu, set to launch this Thursday. He will also be participating in the 1 Night, 12 Kitchens Midwest Culinary Institute April 21 on behalf of Cumin, in case you were one of the lucky folks who bought ticket before they sold out.

Steven recently collaborated for a dinner at Pallet23 in Northside with another young chef who is garnering a lot of attention for his pop-up dinners, Ryan Santos of Please. Ryan leaves tomorrow for a stage (internship) at Michelin-starred In De Wulf in Belgium and has another lined up at Castagna in Portland for September. I can't wait to see what inspiration Ryan returns with from his travels (for a terrific food-porn-filled blogger's-eye-view glimpse of In De Wulf, click here). After he returns from Europe, Ryan and crew will be shedding the "Arts and Lettuce" title for their pop-up dinners and taking them to Carriage House Farm for a new, rustic dining experience that will involve not only eating outdoors but cooking outdoors. No electric, thank you very much. Ryan has always cultivated close relationships with area farmers to source local and sustainably raised foods for his dinners. He has more intriguing collaborations in the works, with entrepreneurial aquaponics venture URBTank and a "beverage" partner.

Please: a Staff Pick for “Best Now-Above-Ground Underground Dinner Series 

Turned Into A Residency” in City Beat's Best of Cincinnati 2013 issue

Here are just three more pop-ups taking place in the next week. If you're interested, act quickly or they may be sold out.

Frances Kroner, the talent who created the marshmallow dress at The Art of Food, is doing her second "edible installation" collaboration with Modern Makers and Pones, Inc. this Friday, called "The Big Dinner." Details here. Her "food event design" company FEAST was just featured in the Business Courier (sorry I can't share a link that gets beyond the paywall). I was out of town last week and missed FEAST's pop-up last weekend, but heard great things about the event and the food from friends. Can't wait to check out what she's doing this Friday!

Another series I'm excited to finally get in on is "Underground - A Hen of the Woods Production," which is celebrating Spring with a dinner Monday, April 8. Join their facebook event asap, then await instructions and get your cash or check to chef Nick Marckwald by Friday for this wine-inclusive dinner with sommelier Kevin Hart of wineCRAFT, who collaborated on an amazing pop-up at the Mercantile Library with the fine folks from Dutch's recently. (The talented Gina Weathersby of 513{eats} documented that event in full photographic glory here.)

Nick, Kevin, and other talented folks are also doing a pop-up of heavy hors d'oeuvres and desserts at The Rookwood in Mt. Adams April 10 to benefit the Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America. Details here.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my Pop-Up Round-Up. Lots of exciting ventures coming up!

Arts + Lettuce Goes Out with a Bang!

I was working on a blogiversary post about all the things I’m looking forward to in 2013 on the Cincinnati food scene when I learned this news, which is too exciting not to warrant its own post. The monthly series of underground dinners known as Arts + Lettuce by chef Ryan Santos and his crew at Please is coming to an end – and transforming!

If you haven't been to an Arts + Lettuce dinner yet, this video will give you a glimpse. The January dinners are already sold out, with just two A+L series left, in February and March. Come spring, Ryan will be changing things up with outdoor wood-fired dinners at Carriage House Farm as Artist in Residence, similar to the one from November in this video via {513}eats. (Stay tuned for info on more pop-up dinners at Carriage House Farm from other local chefs.)

Meanwhile, Ryan has been accepted to stage at Michelin-starred in de wulf restaurant in Belgium, and will be offering some special dinner deals to help defray the costs of his trip. His pop-up dinners for just 10-12 people each have so many loyal followers – and continue to get so much buzz – that they often sell out in the proverbial blink of an eye. Want a guaranteed seat? Email him at ryan@pleasetoeatyou.com to get in on offers like these:

For the last two monthly Arts + Lettuce series in February and March (three nights one week each month, each with two seatings, in the Streetpops space formerly occupied by Fork Heart Knife in OTR), instead of the usual $55, for $80/person you’ll get extra special, double secret notice (my words, not Ryan’s) of the schedule and the opportunity to reserve which date/time you want to attend. (The additional $25 will go toward his travel expenses.)

Ryan also plans to pre-sell seats for his first spring dinner at Carriage House Farm in May for $100 instead of what he expects to be a usual $65. And in February or March he plans to do a dinner at the prior A+L location for $150/person, which will include beverage pairings for each course rather than the usual BYOB format. You can also make donations here.

Dining at several Arts + Lettuce dinners last year, I had the opportunity to taste what a talented chef truly focused on cooking locally and seasonally can bring to the table throughout the year.

Ryan Santos is one of the most exciting young chef/entrepreneurs in Cincinnati, and I can’t wait to see how he and his crew will grow to be next!

CHEESE Dinner at Local 127 Sunday Night

Chef Steven Geddes hasn’t changed his focus on local food, although he has changed up the schedule at Local 127 (now located in the former Jean-Ro’s Bistro space at 413 Vine St., across from the Westin). The restaurant is now open only one Sunday night a month, for a prix-fixe dinner shining a special spotlight on artisanal foods and nearby food producers. This Sunday’s dinner will feature Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheeses: Here's the four course menu for $45 (wine pairings available for an additional $20):

1st course: Potato Skins, Reserve White Cheddar Cheese Whiz, Crispy Pork Belly

2nd course: Havarti Soup, Heirloom Tomato, Pistachio Pesto

3rd course:
Chicken Saltimbocca, Smoked Gouda, Prosciutto and Sage Jus

Short Ribs, Kentucky Rose Fondue, Red Onion Jam

Potatoes Au Gratin, Tomme de Nena, Preserved Lemon Gremolata

Roasted Corn, Norwood, Lime Juice, Herbs

4th course: Barren County Blue Cheesecake, Apricot Mostarda, Whipped Cream

The seeds of the new Sunday schedule grew from a June event co-sponsored by Local 127 and Slow Food Cincinnati. In the afternoon, Chef Geddes and the ubiquitous Justin Dean did a pig-butchering demo in the restaurant’s dining room. (Yes, dining room.) It drew a substantial crowd of local foods enthusiasts, as well as Cincinnati chefs including Jose Salazar of The Palace, Julie Frances of Nectar, and Brendan Haren of Orchids. It took a couple of hours for Justin and Chef Steve to break down the heritage pig provided by Napoleon Ridge Farm. (Anyone who wanted to stick around could also watch them dispatch a pig’s head into its useful components.) At 6:00 the doors reopened for a sold-out pork-centric dinner, at which Slow Food Cincinnati presented Local 127 with its first “Snail of Approval” award.presented Local 127 with its first “Snail of Approval” award.

Chef Geddes was on the advisory board for this year’s “Made in America” American Treasures Awards. Although the website spells our city’s name with too many n’s and t’s, Geddes is getting the word out about some of our region’s best food producers – and, he says, taking his own stuffed local pig faces wherever he travels as a food ambassador. Two of his nominees, Carriage House Farm, in Northbend, Ohio, and Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese, in Austin, Kentucky, received awards this year. That's such a big honor that Richard Stewart of Carriage House Farm traveled to D.C. to accept his on the 4th of July.

Chef Geddes is committed to working with local and regional food producers in everything he puts on a plate at Local 127. But the format of these Sunday dinners gives him a unique opportunity to share his passion, acknowledge local food folks, and just plain have fun. On these Sunday nights, diners are seated at communal tables and food is served family style (in dishes to be shared by everyone, not individually composed “restaurant” plates). You never know who you’ll meet, or who you’ll want to meet again.

Before dinner Geddes speaks to the group about how and why he came to be in Cincinnati. In his booming voice, he is happy to share the story of his early days in the flatlands of Colorado, where his grandparents farmed. After spending much of his life in arid Las Vegas, he found what he’d been seeking when he discovered the bounty of the Ohio River Valley foodshed (which includes both sides of the Ohio River). He introduces the evening’s menu, then opens the floor for the featured guest to talk about what they do, like Richard Stewart of Carriage House Farm at the second dinner in this series.

And then you eat. Oh, my, do you eat! Many of the “courses” at the previous two dinners have included multiple, generous offerings, like these from the Carriage House Farm dinner last month.

Chef Steve always likes to start with a sampling of pickled and cured items. And I always dive right into them without taking notes about the culinary details.

Smoked trout

Pork terrine with potato salad

Chicken wings

This appetizer, featuring pickled nasturtium seed pods from Carriage House Farm

 that taste like capers, was one of my favorites of the night.

Those four dishes were just the first course. Here's the second.

Potato soup with salsa verde and nasturtiums. Velvety and delicious.

The fourth, or entree, course was another bounty of dishes featuring Carriage House Farm offerings and other local goodness.

Confit chicken with Sheltowee mushrooms and thyme jus

Roasted pork from the "Porkopolis" plate, 

a constant but always changing feature on Local 127's regular dinner menu 

featuring Chef Steve's love of heritage pork and pork preparations

Sides included a risotto made of Carriage House Farm wheatberries, a collaborative dish of wilted greens, and an amazing cheese-filled Johnny Cake that was another of my personal favorites. 

And then there's dessert.There's always dessert.

Buttermilk panna cotta over spiced bush berry brumble.

That’s Carriage House Farm’s bee pollen on top.

I'm a cheese lover who isn't going to pass up the opportunity to taste what Local 127 will do with Kenny's Farmhouse cheeses this Sunday night. I discovered Kenny's Farmhouse Cheeses a couple of years ago at Kentucky Crafted, and am delighted to find they are now available at many Greater Cincinnati farmers markets (including Bellevue Farmers Market in front of the Party Source) plus Picnic + Pantry in Northside and on restaurant menus at Bouquet and Virgil's.

Call Local 127 to make a reservation at (513) 721-1345. I'd love to share a table with you.

Pig Roast Report + Sunday Market Preview: Ohio Valley Greenmarket

Ohio Valley Greenmarket, one of multiple events this year replacing Farmers Fair, began Friday night with a pig roast at Winton Woods. Growers of all stripes, chefs, sponsors, and just plain interested folks like me filled four long tables like this. The Daly Shelter at Winton Woods was a great setting for the kick-off of the three-day event, billed as "a celebration of community and sustainability." It had been years since I'd been to Winton Woods, but it reminded me how lucky I am to live in an area that offers so many urban oases within the I-275 beltway, thanks to our fabulous Hamilton County Park system.

As the crowd arrived, we had an opportunity to do a tasting from Middle West Spirits, a micro-distillery based in Columbus that uses Ohio-raised grains and fruits in its vodkas and whiskey. Josh Daly shared lots of information about the company's products, and the realities faced by small local food/beverage businesses. He also offered up cocktails made from the distillery's OYO Stone Fruit Vodka with lemonade and pomegranate juice (in that elegant glass container in front of the Ford Fusion, which was available for test drives, courtesy of sponsor Ford Motor Company). A refreshing beverage indeed. Here it is with a wedge of lemon, next to some of the gorgeous table flowers provided by Adopt-a-Plant.

I'm not going to attempt to cite all the sponsors of Ohio Valley Greenmarket for fear of leaving someone out. I wasn't an organizer, although I am looking forward to volunteering a couple hours of my time Sunday morning to help Market vendors load in. I tip my hat to what clearly is a large group of dedicated individuals who pulled together resources and sponsors to make this first-ever event happen.

The team from Edible Ohio Valley magazine was among the key players and publicizers. While we were waiting for our pig to finish cooking, EOV's Julie Kramer and food writer Bryn Mooth gave us the opportunity to hear from Iowa farmer Paul Willis about the road he's traveled to become part of the Niman Ranch "brand" of humanely and sustainably raised animals, a darling of many chef's menus.

Starting out by accepting an offer to "buy one sow and receive five pigs for free," Willis later visited a lamb farmer friend in the San Francisco Bay area. Which led to meeting Bill Niman, and opportunities for Willis's pork to be tasted at the likes of Chez Panisse and Zuni Cafe. With thumbs up from those restaurants (Willis says he thought he had a good product, but didn't know it was THAT good at the time), Niman asked for more. In 1995, Willis shipped his first 30 pigs to Niman. But he knew he couldn't supply the quantity Niman was looking for, especially year-round. So he turned to neighboring small farmers who shared his commitment to raising their pigs in pastures or bedded pens, not the confinement bins and gestation stalls used by Big Ag producers. There were lots of logistics to figure out. Willis has now assembled a consortium of some 500 like-minded farms in 12 states, and together they've reduced their shipping rates to California to 10 cents/pound (less than the cost of shipping conventional feed there from the Midwest to feed CA animals). As someone who was born in Nebraska, I am astonished to learn raising pigs outdoors is a rarity. A lot has changed in the last 50 years. Between Paul Willis's talk and his Q+A with the audience, I learned more as well. But I'll spare you the gory details (for now).

Because you might be here for some pig roast food pics. So I'll move along.

Where there's Q, there's sauce . . . And I went with Carolina mustard . . .

Continuing to move along, Sunday's market for the Ohio Valley Greenmarket will be held at Glenwood Gardens (another urban oasis) and runs from 11:00 to 5:00, featuring more than 50 vendors. Here are just a few: Carriage House Farm, Napoleon Ridge Farm, Marksbury Farm, Green BEAN Delivery, Fab Ferments, Mt. Kofinas Olive Oil, One Small Garden, and Ohio Farm Direct.

I'm also really eager to try out a couple of new food trucks: Cooper’s Crepes and Robinson’s Roaming Pig (featuring Bill Dean Family Farms chicken).

Sunday's schedule also includes speakers I'm looking forward to checking out:

12:00p: Todd Shock + Amber Gallihar: Chipotle – Cultivating a Better World

12:30p Steven Geddes: Heritage Breed Pigs

1:00p Braden Trauth of This Land: Permaculture: The Path into the Next Millennium

1:30p Kathy Charvat of The Greater Cincinnati Master Gardeners: Achieving a Big Harvest from Little Plants in Pots

2:00p Brad Rogers of Urban Harvest: High-Yield Urban Aquaponics

2:30p Juliann Gardner of One Small Garden: Growing Four Seasons of Veggies in One Small Garden

3:00p Heather Curliss of Greener Stock: Holistic Approach to Green Design and Building

3:30p Jennifer Bartley of American Potager: Sizzle! Cooking Fresh from the Summer Garden

4:00p Matthew Kennedy of Sustain Brands: Local and Sustainable: Working within the Current Business Structure

As much as many of our local farmers could benefit from rain, let's hope the weather cooperates for this event. I'm looking forward to seeing familiar faces, meeting new friends, and learning more, as I always do when I back away from the computer, get out of the house, and discover more from the great people in my food community!