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Recap: June 11 Chocolate Dinner at Zahav
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Recap: June 11 Chocolate Dinner at Zahav
Photo | Jason Varney
Steve Cook and Michael Solomonov are busy, sure. They're right in the middle of a year of benefiting from getting Esquire's best-of accolades for Zahav (247 Saint James Place, 215-625-8800, zahavrestaurant.com). They're selling off their interest in Marigold Kitchen to chef Robert Halpern, but not before Solomonov and Marigold's past co-pilots host a bang-up six-course meal on Aug. 1. Hell, they're planning to open Percy Street Barbecue on the 900 block of South Street in October, with current Marigold chef Erin O'Shea at the helm. But that�s not stopping chef Solomonov from dropping some dangerous monthly wine-paired dinners in The Quarter within Zahav.
Last night, Solomonov hooked up with French artisanal chocolatier Michel Cluizel's representatives (Charlotte Deveaux-Jallerat) and the importers at Boutique Wines for something I haven�t had in 10 years: a chocolate feast.
Since I'm a low-carb live-r, no chocolate has touched these lips in a decade. But there was something about the Zahav seal of approval that made me want to approach the cocoa bean for this night. Cluizel's five plantations, from New Guinea to Sao Tome Island, were represented. Importer John Toler's choices are always apt. What could be better? That�s where my dining partner and wife Glamorosi came in. It was the perfect date night.
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Kobe Beef Tataki with milk chocolate and shiso, paired with Celler el Masroig�s 2008 "Les Sorts Rosat," a Grenache-Carignan blend from Monstant, Spain? The pink-ish wine seemed an odd choice for the Kobe � until you took every bite with a smidge of shiso leaf, a member of the mint family grown in India and East Asia. Combined with the hearty sprinkling of chilled, powdery milk chocolate (yes, I licked the spoon it came on) and a secret ingredient (peppercorns), this was a heady, light, sensual treat. For both me and the missus, this was the favorite course of the evening.
Poached lobster with white chocolate and local corn, paired with Prieler's 2006 "Sinner" Chardonnay from Neusiedlersee-Hugelland, Austria? Remember, white chocolate is man-made � cocoa butter, baby. Now, team the tenderest lobster I ever ate with a gentle, decidedly un-soapy white chocolate (that�s what lousy cocoa butter tastes like, soap) and a sauce of hazelnut. Toss in fresh local corn and the delightful splash of Chardonnay. This gave the kobe a run for its money in the sensation stakes.
The pork belly al Ha�Esh with smoked shrimp, urfa peppers and 72 percent mole sauce paired with Huarpe�s 2006 "Winery Selection" Malbec-Cabernet Sauvignon from Mendoza, Argentina? This was a dense, smoky finale, through and through. A tall, wide chunk of slightly charred belly, gooey fat in the center, tender pork at the bottom � it�s a heady piece of meat combined with the morsels of baby shrimp around it. You need a strong wine to get to the psychic heat, of the pork. The poignant but bold Malbec-Cabernet Sauvignon did the trick.
Rounding off this meal was a Tasting of Chocolate featuring the five plantations of Cluizel � with pitted cherries, ricotta cheese and coffee bean cr�me � paired with Jean Milan's NV Sec "Tendresse" Blanc de Blanc from Champagne.
I may not eat chocolate again for another 10 years, but I�m glad this is how I chose to break that particular fast � with perfection.
Low Carber myself for what seems like forever.. (less than a year) I think it's good to jump out of rhythm once in a blue moon. Good for you...and it sounded divine.
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