McDuff's Food & Wine Trail: Talula's Table

Showing posts with label Talula's Table. Show all posts

Monday, February 1, 2010

Winter at Talula's Table

This, the fourth and final installment of "What We Did During the Big Bachelor Party Weekend," takes us almost all the way back to the beginning, back to the lowest key, highest toned night of the three-day fest. The big splash. Dinner for four in the kitchen at Talula's Table.

Four guys (including me behind the lens), representing three time zones and four regions of the country, formed the core group of the weekend's revelers. You may recognize the man of honor, Steve Litvin (at right), from my fall adventures in Northern California. Steve came all the way from Monterey, where he is a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station, to celebrate his impending nuptials. Joining us were his old college water polo pals Carleton Yoder (at left), who's now based in Vermont, and Todd Dolan, who flew in the day before from Denver, Colorado. Carleton and Steve had both eaten with me at Django when it was under the purview of Talula's owners, Aimee Olexy and Bryan Sikora, but Todd was a virgin diner.

While the rest of the weekend may have revolved primarily around some of Philly's best spots for beer, tonight it was all about good food and wine. Though late in January 2010, the Winter 2009 menu at Talula's was (and still is, as of this writing) in full swing.

Hors d'oeuvre
with
Vouvray Brut, Foreau (Clos Naudin) NV
Since my last visit, the kitchen has changed things up just a bit, sending out a series of small bites to the diners lingering in the market area rather than plating a single amuse bouche at the dinner table. I'd left my camera back in the kitchen, so you'll have to do without pics, or any real details for that matter, of the three nibbles we were served. Suffice it to say they were as tasty, artful and soulful as is most everything done at Talula's. With them, we toasted a fine start to the evening with Foreau's Vouvray Brut, which, though not on the same plane as Huet's vintage Vouvray Pétillant, was still pretty darn good.

Short Stack, House-Smoked Smoked Trout, Shaved Pickled Carrots, and Pennsylvania Maple Syrup
with
Mittelrhein Bacharacher Riesling Kabinett trocken, Ratzenberger 2006
There seems to be a mini-movement of late to pair fish eggs with something sweet. It may sound odd but it works on the same principle of "sweet and salty" that makes chocolate covered pretzels so good. And, when done right, it works. Here, the sweetness was delivered ever-so-subtly by the essence of maple syrup that permeated the "short stack" of tiny little pancakes. Along with excellent quality smoked trout, this was a standout first course — even if the Vermonter among us was perturbed that it included maple syrup from PA — that paired quite nicely with Ratzenberger's dry Riesling.

Winter Kale Soup, Burgundy Snail Tortellini, Toasted Garlic, Rich Tomato Fondue
with
Touraine "Les Trois Chênes," Domaine Ricard 2008
The snails may have hailed from Burgundy but the combination of hearty greens, garlic and tomato made me think of Sauvignon. So, with no St. Bris in hand, to the Touraine we went. The wine was delicous, tropical at first whiff then quickly morphing toward citrus oil-laced, sappy fruit and an intensely mineral finish; a real head-turner for Carleton and Todd who are primarily red drinkers. The soup was in turn delicious, the kale preparation itself taking center stage, cooked, as Steve put it, in such a way as to retain all of the kale's flavor while subduing its bitter, tough tendencies.

Winter Squash Crème Brulée, Cranberry Influence, Chocolate Dipped Chester County Bacon
with
Coste della Sesia Rosato "Rosa del Rosa," Proprietà Sperino 2007
Reactions to this course were mixed, a couple of the guys listing it among their faves while I wasn't so sure. The squash soufflé was delicious in and of itself, but I wasn't entirely sold on the chocolate covered bacon. I know it's another iteration of the sweet and salty principle but, for me, it can be too much of a good thing. There's no question that it was done well, though.

As for the wine, I've been thinking, since it was first produced a few years back, that Proprietà Sperino's rosato should hold up to a little cellaring. While this was hardly old, at two-years plus of age it was indeed showing very well, still full of the watermelon rind essence of its youth but also having developed a rich core of cured meat and vanilla cream flavors, along with a classically Nebbiolo-driven nose of rose petals. Very vinous, too.

Saffron Marinated Monkfish, Lemon Scented White Beans, Chorizo and Fried Herb Panada
with
Touraine "Le Clos de Vauriou," Domaine Ricard 2008
Yes, it's that wine. Again. Blame it on Chef Sikora, who brought it out and insisted on sharing it with us when he saw we'd brought another wine from Vincent Ricard. It was hardly a natural match with the food (the rosato might have been the way to go) but it's a versatile enough wine that things still worked out just fine. The fish dish was another of my favorite courses of the night, not just for the deliciousness of the monkfish itself but even more so for the interplay between the white and black beans, the chorizo, the fish, the saffron overtones and the way that the dish's seasoning, handled incredibly adeptly, tied everything together.

Confit of Canadian Goose, Cider Glaze, Cheddar Polenta, Smoked Onions, and Goose Juice
with
Chinon "Les Picasses," Catherine et Pierre Breton 2004
Though not the evening's last savory course, this was without doubt the heavy hitter of the evening, full of rich, heady, meaty flavors. The polenta is from Anson Mills, the cheese crisp topping made with Cantalet.

I got a kick out of Brooklynguy's recent potluck post and thought he was dead-on when associating good Chinon with the rich, fatty, salty flavors of confit (duck, in his case). The Bretons' 2004 "Les Picasses" was, for me, the most natural, satisfying pairing of the night, its own richness offset by the naturally vibrant acidity and tongue-cleansing texture of well-structured, well-balanced Chinon. I'd planned to save this, my last bottle, for several more years but the bachelor of honor has been on a C&P Breton groove ever since I turned him on to both versions of "La Dilettante" at Terroir back in the fall and I wanted him to try one of their more intensely structured wines. Hey, why save when you can share?

Venison Tenderloin, Potato-Turnip Purée, Caramelized Brussel Sprouts, Raisin-Red Wine Sauce
with
Alexander Valley Marlstone Vineyard, Clos du Bois 1995
Another killer course. I've probably said it here before, in fact I'm sure I have so I'm not even going to go back and look... Bryan has a gift when it comes to cooking game. The venison was meltingly tender and incredibly flavor intensive, infused with the exotic influence of pâté spices and balanced by the subtle sweetness of the wine reduction sauce. Those brussel sprouts didn't suck, either.

The wine? This one might surprise some of my regular readers. Yes, it was highly polished and not loaded with clear sense of place, but at 15 years, Clos du Bois' Marlstone Vineyard cuvée, a Bordeaux blend, was still fresh and vibrant. Plenty of life left to go, in fact. I don't have much experience with more recent bottlings, so I can't say where the wine has headed since, but this was made back in that turning point era between 1994-97, when California Cabs were just starting the leap into their high alcohol, high extract, not-so-food-friendly era. At 14.2%, this was balanced and played just fine with the deer.

Got Goat? A Goat Cheese Collection with Roasted Chestnut Jam
with
Coteaux du Layon "Cuvée S," Château Soucherie (Pierre-Yves Tijou) 2001
In the last few months, the cheese course at Talula's has moved away from the traditional tri-milk mixture toward a single-milk theme, still with a classic progression from mild to more pungent flavors. Soucherie's "Cuvée S" was still a baby. Very fat and honeyed. Even though delicious with the cheese, it turned out to be a better match with the dessert course.

Organic Champlain Triple from Champlain Valley Creamery
On top of being an all-around great guy and huge beer and wine lover, our friend and fellow diner Carleton Yoder is the owner and head cheese(maker) at Champlain Valley Creamery. Though he started his business with a focus on producing fresh cream cheese, which is still one of his primary products, his triple cream cow's milk cheese has quickly become his best seller over the past couple of years. We brought along a few discs of it for the crew at Talula's to try and Kate Stroh, Talula's resident sous-cheese monger, plated one up for us as a surprise course.

Clementine Chibouste, Lemon Curd, Citrus-Champagne Sauce
and
La Colombe espresso
After such a hearty, wintry meal, it was a smart choice to serve a dessert course that was only lightly sweet, its focus more on tangy, refreshing seasonal flavors. That light hand with the sugar helped it to pair so well, as mentioned above, with the sticky Loire Chenin from Soucherie. The coffee was just a digestive. Decaf for me, as I can't handle caffeine much past noon any more, that is unless I want to be staring at the ceiling at 4:00 AM.... As the espresso cup indicates, Philly-roasted La Colombe is now the coffee of choice at TT.

C'est tout! Thanks, Steve, Carleton and Todd, for providing the impetus for such a great meal. See you again in March, my friends.

Talula's Table
102 W. State Street
Kennett Square, PA 19348 [map]
610-444-8255

Previous visits:

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Wines at the Spring Table

One of the most enjoyable aspects of my day job on the retail wine sales floor is helping people select wines to pair not just with their Monday night pizza but also with really specific dishes. It can be an overly fetishistic process, I know, but when the stars align, the end results can also deliver an amazing amount of pleasure. That’s exactly what I shoot for, and exactly why I enjoy the challenge.

One of my favorite challenges in that context is recommending the wine pairings to accompany the seasonal menu at Talula’s Table, something I’ve been doing on a more or less monthly basis ever since the inception of their farmhouse table dinners. When I have the opportunity to eat there myself, I’ll sometimes take exactly what I’ve recommended. The occasional self-test is always a good thing. Just as often, though, I’ll pull wines from my own cellar, always with an eye to the food but also with an eye toward fun and exploration as well. On this trip, it was mostly the latter….

Nahe Riesling halbtrocken, Schäfer-Fröhlich 2006
$19. 11.5% alcohol. Cork. Rudi Wiest Selections, Cellars International, San Marcos, CA.
Very approachable if somewhat muted, and definitely a good starting point for the meal. There’s a subtle vegetal sense at the wine’s middle but overall it’s driven by flavors of orange oil and red slate spiciness… I’m guessing there’s a measurable dose of Frühlingsplätzchen fruit included. Its acidity is slightly lower than usual (most likely a vintage signature) but not in a bad way; it made the wine gentle and beckoning rather than flat. A still lingering dash of residual CO2 helped keep things lively.

I’ve heard great things about the ’07 version – which I believe follows the current fashion of dropping “halbtrocken” from the label – but have yet to have the opportunity to try it. (As a matter of trivia, winemaker Tim Fröhlich is a member of the VdP’s Junge Generation.)

Wachau Unterloiben Ried Loibenberg Loibner Grüner Veltliner Smaragd, Weingut Emmerich Knoll 2002
$26. 13% alcohol. Cork. Vin di Vino, Chicago, IL.
As much as there is to detest about Pennsylvania’s state controlled liquor and wine system and as much as I’m prone to gripe about it (here’s a recent example), I can’t say it’s not without the occasional accidental merit. You just have to have patience and do a little foraging to find it. Case in point, I stumbled upon this ’02 Knoll Smaragd GV not long ago. It was priced at an already reasonable $33 – the current vintage goes for upwards of $50 – then marked down further to $26. There being no visible suggestions of damage or foul play, I rolled the dice and grabbed a bottle. Good move.

Weingut Knoll is unquestionably one of the top producers in the Wachau. The wines are made in a non-interventionist fashion, with the emphasis always being on quality of fruit and expression of terroir. Most of their wines are fermented in steel, aged in wood (purely for oxidative effect, not for oaky flavors of any kind) and are built to last.

At seven years, this Loibenberg Grüner Veltliner has assumed an almost day-glo yellow color, like classic Gatorade diluted with Pilsner. The inherent flesh of a Smaragd wine has come out with rest in the bottle; its acidity totally resolved and mellow. Immediate impressions were of lemon confit, white peaches and truffled minerals. The typical peppery character of younger and/or lighter styles of GV, if ever present in this wine, had completely dissipated. On day two – leftovers are usually “handled” by the crew in the kitchen but some of this was definitely coming home with me – the wine improved if anything. The peach fruit took on a spicy nuance while the minerality became more profound yet simultaneously more delicate. Aromas were of heady white and yellow blossoms, followed on the palate and down the gullet by light marmalade, clover honey and a suggestion of malted mocha. As delicious as it is now I’d drink up if you’re holding any, though if you have more than a couple of bottles it could be academically interesting to hold one for a few more years.

Saint-Joseph “Lautaret,” Eric & Joël Durand 2005
$30. 13% alcohol. Cork. Fruit of the Vines, New York, NY.
This was my first encounter with the wines of Domaine Durand, so a little research is in order. Brothers Eric and Joël took over their family estate in 1991. Their farm comprises a total of thirteen hectares (eight in Saint-Joseph and five in Cornas) planted to mostly granitic soils. They grow only Syrah and produce solely red wines in, by their own admission, a fairly modern style.

They didn’t need to tell me that, though, as this comes out of the gates with a dense, rich and developed fruit attack, all wrapped up in a sash of spicy oak. There’s definitely some good raw material here but the wine, for me, came across as dull, muddied by overly concentrated fruit and lacking the hothouse flower and pepper scents I associated with more transparent expressions of Saint-Joseph rouge. In its defense, it did gain interest with some time in the glass, developing a little earthy, mushroomy nuance. But not enough to send me scampering back for more.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Spring at Talula's Table: The Food

As promised, we’re back in action today with a few words to add background flavor to yesterday’s foray into photojournalism.

It’s been more than a year now since Franz Lidz’s story for Condé Nast Portfolio and Alex Chadwick’s feature on NPR brought Talula’s Table – the country’s toughest reservation, according to Lidz – to seemingly worldwide attention. The year that’s followed has seen the demise, among other things, of some of Philadelphia’s top restaurants as well as of Portfolio. But Talula’s is still going strong. Reservations are still being taken a year out to the day for that elusive spot at their farmhouse table.

Suffice it to say that I’m not a guy who plans much of anything, especially not a meal, a full year out. So the kitchen table at Talula’s, which seats two-to-six people rather than the eight-to-twelve in the main room and is more of a locals-only or by-invitation affair, has been a bit of a blessing in allowing me to sneak in for the occasional short notice meal whipped up by one of the most talented kitchen crews around.

A few weeks back now, only a day or two after thinking it had been way too long, I got the call-up letting me know there had been a last minute cancellation. I jumped.

Amuse Bouche

A new twist since my last visit, hors d’oeuvre have been added to the array of courses, ostensibly to provide guests with something to tame their bellies during the 30-40 minute period between arrival at 7:00 (market closing time) and seating for the first course. Tuna tartare with queso fresco and parmiggiano frito (at left) and Toscana salami with taleggio and pickled peppers. The salami was chopped and lashed with a mustard-rich sauce. Addictively good.

Spring Radish Maxime, Sweet Butter, Balinese Salt, Chives and Smoked Local Rockfish Salad

When preparing the same menu six or seven nights a week for a month at a time, it’s only natural that there will be – and should be – an evolution of certain dishes, whether due to shifting availability of ingredients or to refinements in preparation. Given the menu description, I’d expected radishes to play the starring role. Apparently they did in early April, but by the end of the month this course had morphed toward a reversal of the dish description, with lightly smoked rockfish filet taking center stage and radishes serving as seasonal accent.

Shaved Scallops, Our Bacon, Creamy Anson Mills Heirloom Polenta and Lettuce Sauce

I love scallops. The huge specimen you see above is a Barnegat Light sea scallop – local and about as fresh as it gets unless you’re eating them on the boat. I love bacon. This was house made, then frozen, micro-planed and air dried for 24 hours to form “bacon dust” as a seasoning for the dish. I loved the anise overtone provided by a sprig or two of chervil. But it was the supporting player, the polenta from heirloom grain specialist Anson Mills, that stole the show. Cooked with nothing more than water and a pinch of salt, it was freakishly delicious, a textbook example of why it’s so important to work with quality ingredients.

Goat Cheese Gnocchi, Morning Picked Mushrooms, Sherry Scented Butter Sauce

In one preparation or another, goat cheese gnocchi have been a core element in Bryan Sikora’s arsenal ever since the early days at Django. In one of their more refined presentations, they served here as a grounding base for the bright, seasonal flavors of sherried butter sauce, snappy local mushrooms and quick-pickled spring vegetables.

Catalan Seafood Stew, Preserved Lemon and Spanish Saffron

For whatever reason, I’d expected a zesty, sausage-laced stew. Instead, full flavored tuna, squid and sea bass were the clear focus of this dish, backed up by saffron infused fish broth and hearty tomato fondue.

Tender Poussin and Crisp Veal Sweetbread Sauté, Fingerlings, Fiddleheads and Verjus

As much as I loved the scallop course (did I say “love” enough times?) and even though the sweetbreads were over breaded, this was my favorite plate of the night. Great depth of flavor; perfectly organic and harmonious.

Composition of Chester County Grass Fed Lamb

The poussin and potatoes were both done two ways in the previous dish. Here we had a lamb triple play: lamb loin cooked sous-vide and seasoned with harissa; lamb confit; and a lamb meatball with a breadstick handle (a play on the classic lollipop lamb chop, just in case you hadn’t figured that out). And yes, that’s a ramp atop the loin. (Lest you think I’ve already broken Sunday’s promise, this meal actually preceded my adventures in ramp acquisition and preparation.) The meatball recipe would be great scaled-up to make meatloaf. Absolutely killer comfort food.

Sheep Milk Cheeses from Near and Far

From left to right: Fleur du Maquis (Corsica); Caña de Oveja (Murcia, Spain); Queso de la Serena (Extremadura, Spain); Pecorino Mugolano (Tuscany, Italy); Blu di Langa (Piedmont, Italy); Benedictine (Carr Valley Creamery, Wisconsin).

Meyer Lemon Egg Cream and Springtime Confections

Clockwise, starting with the egg: Meyer lemon egg cream, with meyer lemon custard, candied ginger, citrus zest, candied mint and yogurt crema; lemon pound cake with lemon curd; white chocolate macaron; vanilla snap cookie. Delicious stuff all around. Pastry chef Claire Shears, who’s rarely if ever on hand for the dinner shift, doesn’t get the attention she deserves. Patent that candied mint and sell it by the pound, guys, and people wouldn't have to wait a year to get a taste.