We had a fascinating meal Saturday (March 26) evening at Ralph Smith Photography Studio prepared and presented by chef Justin Yu, one of the chefs who put together the much-talked-about Just8 Project pop-up restaurant last August.
The eight courses were each paired with a Belgian beer selected by Justin Vann of Central Market. Karen Man, a pastry chef and wife to Yu, prepared the pretzel bread (served with mustard butter) and dessert. What made this dinner so memorable was the level of intellectual creativity that the chefs brought to the table, the offbeat ingredients (e.g. Gulf sea snails cooked in “snail broth infused with pig parts”) and the joyous celebration of local foods. For example, course #3 was “Carrots ‘cooked well,’” which consisted of carrots from several local farms, including Knopp Branch Farm, Atkinson Farms and Utility Research Garden. Each variety of carrot was cooked to a different degree of doneness and served with a puree made from the carrot tops. It was served with De Koninck, a Belgian pale ale. Cabbage prepared two ways (fresh and dried) with red miso and pickled potato was paired with the farmhouse-style Saison Dupont. The sea snails (aka oyster drills) came with a glass of Lindemann’s Cuvee Rene, which, despite its wine-sounding name, is a Chimay-like beer. Another course paired beef tongue, cooked sous-vide, with corianders and smoke; we washed it down with Orval, another Belgian pale ale. The culinary team was also assisted by Seth Siegel-Gardner (chef at Kata Robata), Adrienne Byard with the photo studio and barista David Beuhrer (Greenway Coffee & Tea).
Ralph Smith, who is internationally known for his commercial food photography and work on cookbooks, has made his sprawling Bellaire-area photo studio the go-to location for these kinds of adventurous dinners. We’ll post the details about the next event here in SideDish. A special thanks to Chuck Cook who took these beautiful photos and shared them with us. Check out Chuck’s flickr stream here.
