San Diego Food & Travel

Food & Culture from San Diego to the Ends of the Earth

  • By Region
    • Africa
      • Ethiopia/Eritrea
      • Morocco
    • Americas
      • North America
        • USA
          • Regional American Cuisine
            • California
            • Southern
              • Cajun-Creole
              • Low Country
            • Mountain
          • Tailgate Food
        • Mexico
          • Baja
            • BajaMed/New Cuisine of Baja
        • Carribean
      • South American
        • Argentina
        • Brazil
    • Asia
      • China
      • Japan
      • Korea
      • Thailand
      • Vietnam
    • Europe
      • France
      • Germany
      • Italy
      • Poland
      • Spain
      • UK
    • Middle East
      • Afghanistan
      • Israel
    • Travel
      • USA
      • Europe
      • Middle East
  • History, Styles, Etc.
    • Culinary History
    • Modern Gastronomy
    • Slow Food
    • Fusion
    • Kosher
      • Kosher Fusion
    • Vegetarian
    • Fine Dining
    • Street Food
    • Comfort Food
    • Holiday Food
  • Publications
    • Articles
    • Reviews
    • San Diego CityBeat
      • The World Fare
    • L’Chaim San Diego Magazine
  • Recipes
  • News
  • Commentary
  • Other
    • Restaurant Reviews
      • San Diego
      • Baja
    • Food Truck Reviews
    • Market Reviews
    • Other
  • Video
  • Contact Me
    • About Michael A. Gardiner

Nothing Succeeds Like Excess: Heavenly Hog Fall Pig Out

October 15, 2015 MAG 1 Comment

Nothing Succeeds Like Excess

It may be more central to America’s self image than the notion of “American Exceptionalism” itself: nothing succeeds more than excess. Of course, when you go to a dinner called the “Heavenly Hog Fall Pig Out” restraint is one item that is not likely to be found on the menu. And, true to form — and gloriously so — it was not.

At its best the Heavenly Hog Fall Pig Out at Chef Daniel Barron’s Blush Ice Bar + East-West Kitchen was, indeed, exceptional. It was never less than delicious. The overall quality was high and the tone was uniformly adventurous.

Chefs

Chefs are competitive types and that might be an understatement. The professional kitchen is very intentionally modeled on the units of the armed forces and just as professional sports is highly modeled warfare. The locker room mentality is nothing foreign to anyone who’s had a cup of coffee in a restaurant kitchen.

Jeff Bonilla at plating

So when you get a ten chefs together to present ten dishes, one each, there can be no surprise that they will do anything and everything they can to outdo one another. And the draw did not exactly help. One pig – from the superb Cooks Pig Ranch – with each chef drawing at random to determine which part of the pig they got. The individual chef’s degrees of pleasure with the picks, like your mileage, varied.

Hanis Cavin's Ham Shank with Squash Bisque, Crispy Ham Marrow Risotto Cake, Juniper Smoked Shank, Pickled Pear, Mache and Spiced Ham Oil

The marathon began like a sprint with Hanis Cavin’s dish of ham shank with squash bisque, crispy ham marrow risotto cake, juniper smoked shank, pickled pear, mache and spiced ham oil. It would be very difficult not to consider the dish to be one of “the competition’s” winners. It was, of course, not a competition and there were, of course, no winners. But of course there were on both counts. Cavin’s dish hit all the beats: smoky, rich, and savory with just a bit of sweetness in the bisque it nailed the flavor profile.

Pork Loin, 5 Spice Horchata, Charred Green Apple Romesco, Marcona Almond Gremolata, Fennel, Pickled Mustard Seeds

Perhaps the most gorgeously plated – and creative – dish on the evening was Mikel Anthony’s pork loin with five Spice “Horchata,” charred green apple Romesco, Marcona almond gremolata, fennel and pickled mustard seeds. Beyond the beautiful plating the punches of flavor from the pickled mustard seeds and the Romesco perfectly framed the star of the dish: the pork loin.

Sisig -braised Ears. Crispy Ear. Calmansi. Chili. Liver

You’d think the chef that got “stuck” with the pig ears would have been the big loser in the draw. You’d be wrong. In the seemingly bizarre logic of Chefo-BizarroWorld getting an ingredient like pig ears may be the coolest draw of all. And Ami Cisneros – chef de cuisine at Blush– nailed it with a combination of creativity, technique and a wonderland of texture. The pig ears two ways – one crunchy, one supple – was a nice etude, but it was the pig liver terrine sauce that spanked the luxury button.

There were many other good dishes; frankly, there were not any that were bad. But at the end of the day there were just too many of them and they were just too big. By the break between the fourth and fifth courses all four people at my table uttered variations on the theme of “we’re not even half way through.”

Chai-spiced Head Cheese, Toasted Chestnut Dacquoise. Smoke Chocolate Persimmon Gelato, Orange Honey Brioche, Citrus Brown Butter Powder

If you have the opportunity to taste the essence of what a high-end restaurant chef has to offer – his or her tasting menu – what you get are a large number of small dishes that are carefully calibrated to work, one with the other, yielding a satisfying experience that has some chance not to totally overwhelm you. The defining factor of these multi-chef diners is different: without the coordination and (chance for) restraint of a single chef organizing the culinary experience the competitive instincts of the chefs dominate.

And that is both the success and the excess of it. And I will be back.

 

Comfort Food, Fine Dining, Fusion, Modern Gastronomy, News, Restaurant Reviews, Reviews, Slow Food

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search

  • Email
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Join the Mailing List

RECENT POSTS

  • MODERN KOSHER: Cookbook Cover Reveal
  • SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE: How Bánh Mì Stacks Up
  • WORLD FARE: The Taste of a New Generation
  • WORLD FARE: Delicious Opulence at Animae
  • SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE: Unrushed Rice

Tag Cloud

All Forked Up All Forked Up Podcast Anthony Bourdain Art of Spooning Badass Kosher Baja Baja California BajaMed ceviche CityBeat Convoy Convoy district Davin Waite Deckman's en El Mogor Eater San Diego Ensenada farm-to-table Hot Pot Javier Plascencia Kosher L'Chaim San Diego Magazine Mercy Baron Michael Gardiner Patrick Ponsaty Podcast Progression Magazine ramen rosarito San Diego San Diego CityBeat Sheen Fischer Sichuan Specialty Produce Specialty Produce Network Sushi tacos The Art of Spooning The World Fare THRILLIST Tijuana Valle de Guadalupe World Fare Wrench & Rodent Wrench & Rodent Seabasstropub Year-End Wrap Up

RECENT COMMENTS

  • mgardiner on SAN DIEGO RESTAURANT REVIEW: Lefty’s Chicago Pizzeria
  • Heather Baziotes on SAN DIEGO RESTAURANT REVIEW: Lefty’s Chicago Pizzeria
  • Top 10 Vietnamese Local Food on WORLD FARE: A different bowl of noodles at Mi Quang Mien Trung
  • M on The Most Expensive Seafood on the Rock: Percebes | Chorizo | Peas
  • mgardiner on BADASS KOSHER — Jewish Mexico: It’s not an Oxymoron

SD Food & Travel on Google+

------------------

©2020 San Diego Food & Travel · All Rights Reserved