Paulius Musteikis
Chefs from Madison College took over Heritage Tavern's small kitchen Monday night to produce a 1950s-style Italian-American meal, complete with candles in wicker wine bottles, red checkered tablecloths and Dean Martin music.
This Madison Area Chefs Network (MACN) Week event was the brainchild of Dan Fox, chef/owner of Heritage Tavern, and Joe Gaglio, co-owner of Gotham Bagels and a member of the culinary faculty at Madison College.
Four to eight kitchen staff members usually work in Heritage Tavern's cozy kitchen, but Monday the space was loaded with 12 eager first-year culinary students.
Both chefs agree the evening was a collaborative effort, not only between the two of them, but also among the students, who each provided touches. "Dan would give me some amazing chops, and I would give him a great sauce, everyone had their fingers in the pot and made some great additions" says Gaglio.
Fox's heritage farm provided all the evening's pork, and most other ingredients were sourced locally, such as a last-minute substitution of local watercress for some travel-weary arugula. "The watercress was much more vibrant and more peppery than the arugula we could source," says Gaglio.
The chefs decided to serve the meal "Italian family style," with staff placing the dishes on the table and patrons serving themselves. Each table sat six to 10 people, so every table was breaking bread and engaging in lively conversations with a new "family." This decision simplified the service and helped the rookie staff control the flow of dishes out of the kitchen.
1 of 7
Paulius Musteikis
2 of 7
Paulius Musteikis
3 of 7
Paulius Musteikis
4 of 7
Paulius Musteikis
5 of 7
Paulius Musteikis
Joseph Gaglio confers with Dan Fox.
6 of 7
Paulius Musteikis
7 of 7
Paulius Musteikis
The first course was Wagyu beef and Mangalitsa pork meatballs in a tart tomato sauce. Wagyu (also known as Kobe) beef and Mangalitsa pork are both heritage breeds, selectively bred for generations to mature with large quantities of high-quality fat. The acidic tomato sauce cut through the fattiness of the meatballs and provided an excellent counterpoint.
The second course was divided into four parts. First was a lightly dressed salad of shrimp, calamari, octopus and olives. Each ingredient was fresh and perfectly tender, with a light, lemony flavor and a few chilies providing an occasional bite. Second was a bowl of roasted piquillo peppers with a sharp cheese, Provolone or gruyere, and a touch of Wisconsin honey. Third was an onion and cauliflower giardiniera, sour with just a hint of spice. Finally was a plate of baked clams, half filled with Mornay sauce and ham, the other half a traditional Clams Oreganata, filled with fresh Italian herbs. Each was phenomenal. One patron declared the roasted piquillo peppers the best dish of the night.
The third course included a pair of salads. Lightly charred half hearts of romaine lettuce dressed with an anchovy dressing added a delightful caramelized smokiness to a relative of the Caesar salad. A salad of watercress, Parmigiano-Reggiano and lemon balanced out the course.
The fourth course consisted of two pastas. First was a potato gnocchi with a Ligurian pesto. The gnocchi were light fluffy clouds, and the Ligurian pesto was a perfect foil. Liguria is the home of the original recipe for pesto: basil, olive oil, pine nuts, garlic Parmigiano-Reggiano and lemon juice. The second pasta was a classic spaghetti cacio e pepe. This dish is a study in simplicity. Perfectly cooked pasta, pepper and Parmigiano-Reggiano are the three perfectly balanced ingredients used to create one of Italy's most beloved dishes. Patrons who requested leftover meatballs to eat with the spaghetti were gently told that "sometimes pasta just needs to be by itself."
The fifth course was in two parts. First was a huge platter of pork: rosemary crusted bone-in pork chops; fried coppa, pork shoulder aged like a prosciutto; medallions of fried headcheese directly from Fox's Heritage menu; and a truffled white Biroldo sausage, reminiscent of a Southern-style boudin blanc. The second part was a plate of chicken Parmesan, made from Nami Moon chicken brined and dried over four days, then breaded, fried and covered in fresh mozzarella. The tender and flavorful chicken was cooked bone-in and served sliced for the table.
For the sixth course, patrons enjoyed a bowl of crispy fried potato wedges dressed with salt and lemon and a plate of scalded spinach and sweet cippolli onions.
The final course was a tiramisu heavily loaded with rum and covered with a caramel-flavored chocolate sauce. It arrived with a selection of local cheeses.
After the meal, Gaglio and Fox brought the student chefs into the dining room to thank them for their hard work, creativity and devotion to a great meal. Dan Fox later commented, "These are really some great chefs; I may just have to hire some of them."
