Nation's Restaurant News - January 5, 2009

CULINARY CURRENTS^®
DISH OF THE WEEK

Prosciutto di Parma pizza

Motorino, Brooklyn, NY

Chef Mathieu Palombino rolls out pizza dough and drizzles it with olive oil and pecorino cheese. He makes a slit in the center of the dough to keep it from rising too much and bakes it. He takes it out, plates it and drapes thin slices of prosciutto di Parma on it, causing some of the fat to melt. He sprinkles more pecorino on the pizza, drizzles it with olive oil and tops it with fresh oregano leaves.

WHAT’S HOT IN SARASOTA/MANATEE, FLA.

Big Sugar Restaurant & Rum Bar 1900 Hillview St., Sarasota. (941) 388-7679. www.bigsugarrestaurant.com. Seats: 180. Cuisine: Caribbean. Specialties: fritters three ways: coconut shrimp fritter with mango sauce, conch fritter with scotch bonnet marmalade and sweet-potato fritter with tamarind sauce; bouillabaisse; sugarcane-caramelized pork tenderloin with apple-rum mustard sauce; potato-crusted mahi mahi with asparagus and sweet-potato mash in a blue-crab lemon grass emulsion. Main courses: $14-$23. Chef: Eric Bein. Owner: Kas Iversen.

Ceviche Tapas Bar and Restaurant 1216 1st St., Sarasota. (941) 952- 1036. www.ceviche.com. Seats: 170. Cuisine: Northern Spanish and Catalan with tapas. Specialties: ceviche de la casa — shrimp, scallops, squid and fish with tomatoes, scallions, peppers and cilantro; ceviche de Vieiras — fresh sea scallops marinated in lemon, lime, cilantro, sweet pepper and onion; paella Valenciana — lobster, scallops, shrimp, squid, chicken and mild chorizo simmered with saffron rice; paella negra — black rice with squid ink, lobster and assorted shellfish, served with aïoli. Main courses: $18-$28. Chef-owner: Antonio Escobar. Owners: Jim Snyder, Andrew Wilkins and Pierre Dumaine.

Libby’s Café & Bar 1917 South Osprey, Sarasota. (941) 487-7300. www.libbys cafebar.com. Seats: 280. Cuisine: Floridian. Specialties: deviled eggs with American sturgeon caviar; organic prime beef tartare; cedar wrapped organic Alaskan salmon with maple-Dijon crust; grilled Colorado lamb chops with butternut squash risotto and minted natural jus; Maine lobster “bolognaise” with pasta and wild mushroom sofrito; Chilean sea bass “Oscar” with lump crab and asparagus hollandaise. Main courses: $25-$40. Chef: Fran Casciato. Owners: Steve, Joe and Patrick Seidensticker.

Mattison’s Forty One 7275 South Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. (941) 921-3400. www.mattisons.com/mattisons_ 41.cfm . Seats: 300. Cuisine: Mediterranean. Specialties: crispy artichoke hearts with a tomato, lemon and caper butter, sprinkled with Parmesan; saffron steamed mussels with fennel, mandarin and basil butter; New Zealand rack of lamb with a white bean cassoulet, garlic spinach and Shiraz sauce; Cajun lime blackened mahi mahi with tropical fruit and citrus beurre blanc Main courses: $17.95-$33.95. Chef-owner: Paul Mattison.

Polo Grill and Bar 10670 Boardwalk Loop, Lakewood Ranch. (941) 782-0899. www.pologrillandbar.com. Seats: 200. Cuisine: American “with a global soul.” Specialties: tuna tartare won ton tacos; Asian chicken sliders with slaw, hoisin barbecue and scallion brush; gaucho beef empanadas with spicy salsa; organic burger with cheese on a pretzel bun; slow roasted sirloin with garlic aïoli, arugula, tomatoes and onion jam on ciabatta. Main Courses: $9-$13. Chef: Damon Vogel. Chef-owner: Tommy Klauber.

Compiled by Catherine R. Cobb

FOOD & BEVERAGE DIGESTS
North Pond owner heads up Chefs Collaborative

Bruce Sherman

BOSTON — Bruce Sherman, chef-partner of North Pond Restaurant in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, has been named chair of the Chefs Collaborative’s board of overseers.

Sherman has been on the board of the organization, which advocates the use of sustainable ingredients, since 2005.

Two new members also have been appointed to the board: Thom Fox, executive chef of Acme Chophouse in San Francisco, and Chad Pawlak, president of Grass Point Farms, a dairy producer that uses only pasture-raised cattle.

Dallas Restaurateur named DiRoNA chair

NEW ORLEANS — William Hyde, Jr., owner of Abacus/Jasper’s Restaurant Group in Dallas, was named chair of Distinguished Restaurants of North America at the group’s 18th annual conference, held here recently.

Karen Olson, principal of Metropolitan in Salt Lake City, Utah, was appointed vice chair and is slated to succeed Hyde. Next in line is Joseph DiSalvo, owner of DiSalvo’s Station in Latrobe, Pa., who also is president of the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association.

Two new directors also were added to the board in industry

partner positions: James Chamberlain, senior vice president for

William Hyde, Jr.

U.S. field sales at Ecolab in St. Paul, Minn., and Hans Lindh, vice president for restaurant industry merchant services in North America for American Express.

Chefs on the Move

John Critchley, who was chef de cuisine of Toro in Boston, has moved to Miami to be executive chef of Area 31, a new restaurant focused on local seafood … Christopher Lee has left his post as executive chef of Gilt in New York City to head up the kitchens at Aureole, also in New York. Replacing him is his former executive sous chef, Justin Bogle … Dennis Samala, an 18-year veteran of the food industry who most recently was a research chef and culinary service manager for Ventura Foods, based in Brea, Calif., has joined Jack in the Box Inc. as its

John Critchley

senior culinary manager, with responsibility for developing and implementing new menu items as well as managing day-to-day operation of the chain’s R&D test kitchen and culinary lab.