Sauce and Bread Kitchen - Foraged Feast

Having gone to several of Sauce and Bread Kitchen's monthly supper club dinners, I am starting to become a regular and become known by the staff.  It is very cool to see what they come up with for each of their dinners.    They do rearrange the space somewhat from dinner to dinner.  Usually my seat of choice is at the counter, but this evening, all of the seating was at two communal tables in the rear of the space.  As they are very creative and it is a BYOB, I try to come up with something interesting to drink.  This time I went with the Double Jungle Boogie American Double/Imperial IPA with notes of Mango, Pineapple, Tea, and a slightly bitter finish that I thought would go well, with what I expected to be the bitterness that would come from the foraged plants that we would be eating. 

For our first course, I did guess correctly on the bitterness because we ate Dandelion Greens which are pretty bitter.  Called a Dandelion Bacon Tartine, the greens were served with Crispy Bacon, a Cherry Tomato, and a light Vinaigrette on Toasted Brioche.  It was crispy, salty, and bitter from the greens and was a lot of fun.  While I did take a few bites of everything together, for the most part, I ate the individual pieces separately which were all good.

For our second course, we had a very interesting salad. It was a Spring Radish salad with Wild Watercress/Mustard Green Seed Pods, Chive Blossoms, and Green Goddess Dressing.  It was very fresh, crisp, and crunchy, with a little spice, and the Green Goddess Dressing added a salty and spicy creaminess.

 

I was not sure what Kuku was or what it was supposed to look like, but what we were served next, an Herbed Kuku with Stinging Nettles, Cattail Stems, Basil, Wisconsin and Michigan Mushrooms, and Radical Root Eggs.  After having the dish, I thought that I had had a Kuku and a Fritata, still not knowing what a Kuku is.  It is apparently an herbed Iranian egg dish similar to a frittata.  It was served with the Mushrooms and Cattail Stems, and the Stinging Nettle Leaves served on the side.  The kuku was very interesting, a little more dense than a frittata, and the mushrooms, cattails, and nettles, added flavor and texture.  It was very good, even if I didn't exactly know what it was. 

For our final savory dish we had Nashville Style Hot Fish and Chips with Wild Caught Catfish and Peruvian Potato Chips.  The catfish was lightly breaded and was very tender.  The hot sauce was spicy and tart, and the crisp dill pickles that were served on the side were crisp and cut the heat of the hot sauce.  There are over 3000 breeds of potato in Peru, although those potatoes that are generally referred to as Peruvian potatoes are purple as were the potatoes used for the very thin and crisp chips.

To finish things off, we were served what to me was very similar to a Strawberry Shortcake.  Called a Strawberry Romanoff, it started with Angel Food Cake and Strawberries.  Served with it was Strained Yogurt, Rhubarb Syrup, and Violet Flower.  The Angel Food Cake was very light and spongy.  The strawberries were fresh, sweet, and tart.  Both yogurt and rhubarb are sour and they were combined together although the flavors were distinct.  It was all light, sweet, tart, and a great finish to another fine meal.  I enjoyed both my meal and my company both, and I will continue to return.