You may have seen the huge billboard with the words “Farm-to-Table” while driving on Kirby towards the Rice Village. I know I certainly have, and every time I see it, I look on it not just as an advertisement, but as a sign of the times. To me, it’s proclaiming a mandate to provide fresher, more healthful food to consumers, and restaurateur Benjy Levit and his partner Dylan Murray are planning on fulfilling it with a new walk-up counter concept called Local Foods, which will open soon next to Benjy’s in the Village.
Three weeks ago, in anticipation of the Local Foods opening, chef Mike Potowski at Benjy’s on Washington debuted a new farm-to-table themed fall menu. One of the dishes, called simply a “composed salad,” perfectly illustrated what farm-to-table should mean. Made with Oak Hollow Farm greens, fall vegetables, poached egg and carrot juice, the composition was perfectly harmonious. When you pierced the poached egg and watched the runny yolk seep through the leaves, you could see all the colors – yellow from the yolk, green from the leafy greens, red from the bits of radish and bright orange from the carrot juice – playing together beautifully in the dish. But it was the marriage of flavors – sweet but slightly bitter, acidic but with an egg-y creaminess – that gave everyone at my table that “oh my God, this is good” look in their eyes.
On the protein front, there were several standout dishes as well. Potowski’s Japanese roots make him particularly adept at handling Japanese-style dishes. A chef’s special sashimi of okoze, or stonefish, with konbu (a kind of kelp), white soy and garlic kept things simple and delicious. A moist piece of barrel grouper served with braised celery, Black Hill Ranch pork, forest mushrooms and tomato oil garnered strong praise from around the table.
Broken Arrow Ranch wild boar, braised until tender, was cleverly served in a cast iron skillet with gnocchi, celery root puree, shiso and Pola cheese, the effect almost like a hearty pot pie without the crust. And pan-seared Texas Akaushi beef, with butter turnips, roasted cauliflower and pickled grapes was served atop a divine garlic potato puree, so fine and delicate it could have been mistaken for a cream sauce.
Personally, I’m ecstatic about the coming of age of Houston’s farm-to-table movement. In addition to supporting area farmers, it’s about more flavorful fruits and vegetables, the freshest eggs and wholesome, humanely raised meats. It’s about eating to live and respecting your body by giving it the nutrients it was meant to have. Potowski’s new fall menu delivered on all these fronts, and soon, Local Foods will do so, too.
LOCAL FOODS, 2424 Dunstan at Morningside. Opening Soon.
BENJY’S ON WASHINGTON, 5922 Washington Ave., 713-868-1131, benjys.com
Chef Mike Potowski shared his recipe for fried Brussels sprouts with our readers in the current issue of My Table (October-November 2011) and we’ve posted it here.