Upscale Comfort Food
Withall theseVietnameseporkbuns, sliced sa-
lami, and local cornand chilepeppersbeing
servedat upscale restaurants, it’seasyenough
to see that therehasbeena seaof change in the
wayfine food isnowperceived.Whereonce the
idea involvedonly themost expensive ingredi-
ents, like foiegrasand truffles, now those ingre-
dientsare likely tobepart of a $75hamburger,
asat
dbBistroModerne
inNewYork.More im-
portantly, old-fashionedcomfort food isnowbe-
ing refined by some of the best chefs in the
world, demonstrating that even prole food can
be stunningly delicious. At the new
Society
Café
located inside EncoreatWynnLasVegas,
chefKimCateenwallaservesknock-outversions
of spicypigs inablanketwithsmokyhouse
ketchup,mac’ n’ cheesebiteswith truffledipping
sauce, and“lollipop”chickenwingswithblue
cheesedressing. AndNewOrleans’ best chef,
DonaldLink, at
Herbsaint
, featureswonderful
regional dishes like fried catfishwithgreen rice
and redonion chilesauce.
Desserts
Not longago,most restaurants didn’t even
make their owndesserts; insteadordering in
theusual slewof chocolate cakes, cheesecakes,
pies, and ice creams fromdependablevendors.
Maybe a cookwouldmake adessert soufflé, for
a surcharge, of course.With that exception,
almost noneof thedessertsweremade toorder.
Nomore: Evena small restaurantwith 50 to 80
seats, just about anywhere inany city, nowhas
its ownpastry chefwho turns out stunning,
original creations that often come hot to the
table, frommolten-centered chocolate
tortes
to
puff pastry
crostatas
filledwithbubbling fruit
and toppedwithhousemade ice cream. In fact,
one extraordinary restaurant inBarcelona,
named
Espai Sucre
, is devoted entirely to
desserts
as
ameal.Manyof thefinest contem-
porarypastry chefs arewomen, andnames like
SherryYard of
Spago
inBeverlyHills and
KarenBarker of
MagnoliaGrill
inDurham,
NorthCarolina, havebecome iconic inspira-
tionsandJamesBeardAward-winningchefs.
One of many desserts to choose
from at Espai Sucre
fALL 2009
celebratedliving.com
80
db BistroModerne’s hamburger
LEFT:
© JCbourCarT/dbbisTroModErnE;righT:CourTEsy Espai suCrE
CULINARYUPDATE
10 Trends In Food
