Dish of the Week: The Lazar Lissitzky Side Salad..... In the Gallery: Fashion for a Cure......

Dish of the Week

Filet Mignon & Ricotta- Egg Yolk Ravioli with "just a salad on the side"

Lazar “El” Lissitzky was one interesting dude, an architect, designer, photographer and typographer who lived between the Czar’s downfall and the rise of Communism in a little window of time when a humanist approach to the arts in Russia was allowed to flourish.  Though he played a role in some of the most revolutionary art movements catching wind in Europe at the time ~ developing Suprematism with Chagall, teaching in Germany with the Bauhaus ~ his lasting contribution was a unique visual language which considered the power of geometric form when projected into the third dimension. Alive today he’d probably be rich and famous at Pixar or Apple.

He was not, to my knowledge, ever a chef, nor does anything you read about him (except perhaps the fact that he once walked across Italy) indicate any interest in food beyond eating it. Yet I think about El a lot these days as I watch our dishes leave Barndiva’s kitchen.

How important is the way food looks to our enjoyment of eating it? Ryan is fond of saying we eat with our eyes first, but do we actually taste things differently depending on the way we perceive them? If a great landscape painting has the power to wake us up to the beauty of nature, does a beautiful plate of food help connect us ~ even subliminally ~ to the place where it was grown, the people who raised or grew it?

Pretentious looking food isn’t what I’m on about; a plate of “beautiful food” that makes no connection to taste ~ and through taste to a field or meadow or body of water ~ is as lost an opportunity as a painting appreciated for its technical prowess that does not have the power to move us toward a love of nature and from there, a desire to protect it.

Over the past year shooting Ryan’s food for Dish of the Week, while I’ve enjoyed writing about all the tricks and clicks that separate the amateur from the professional cook, I find I keep coming back this question. Lazar's language for art had a social context which for him ~ given the times ~ made it relevant. His theory posed that if the right connections were made between the components of "volume, mass, color, space and rhythm," the eye would make an emotional connection to the work which supplied a meaningful narrative, even when the work was 'abstract.' That was art, this is food, but in a curious way the sensory connection we bring to cooking and eating is also the dominate force that defines our relationship to it. We eat to live, but we also live to eat. And the vibrant life of vegetables, the texture of proteins, the delicate colors of edible flowers, the filigreed edges of herbs have all the same compositional resonance we respond to in a work of art. What's more, we don't experience food in a fine dining setting from the prescribed museum distance; we are an essential part of the process, bringing to the experience a crucial interactive piece.

Fine dining is a hybrid art using the physical picture plane of a small 3D canvas with the repetitive timing of a theatrical production. It takes an enormously disciplined aesthetic. As a performance art it starts with sourcing, moves through the precision of cutting, prep and a range of cooking techniques (with and without heat) to the minutes before presentation. Only then are the final 'colors' added 'backstage' in a moment of intense choreography that can make or break ~ within seconds ~ everything that's come before.

Think I'm crazy? Perhaps, but check out the visual appeal and the production values of what Ryan calls "a simple side salad" which we serve with the Filet Mignon and Ricotta-Egg Yolk Ravioli on the lunch menu: slivered dark heart carrots, red and gold beets, tiny toy box radishes, spicy micro sprouts and pineapple sage petals follow a sinuous line that transitions from raw to cooked ~ garlic confit, steamed baby carrots, artichoke hearts and pearl onions ~ halfway across the plate. What's interesting beyond the visual delight of the plating is the narrative arc of the dish, which manages to give equal billing to the salad and vegetables (and for crunch, two house-made lattice potato chips which look like they drifted onto the plate on a breeze) without upstaging the star of the show: a perfectly cooked Filet Mignon.

There are few things in life as satisfying to a carnivore as a forkful of charred steak flooded with glorious golden egg yolk, but the umani seduction we get from eating animal proteins does not necessarily need to rely on the amount of it we consume. Ryan's plating, beyond its visual appeal, also reflects this evolving consideration, and choices that stretch from the plate all the way back to how and where we source our food.

As much as I respect (and try to adhere) to Michael Pollen’s #1 rule: “eat food, not too much, mostly plants", I don't believe any directive ~ no matter how sensible ~ can teach us as much as an actual experience we feel connected to. Dining is a journey, the more visual the better. Our appreciation and joy should be something we build upon, one which grows with every bite we take. Barndiva was created from a desire to feed people delicious food, sourced sustainably, leaving them wanting to eat with us again. Like Lazar Lissitzky, who believed in transformative art ~ the idea that beyond the experience of looking lay connections which could effect a society of change ~ I’d like to think we are also part of a transformative food movement.

Art first, food first, or for us, any thoughtful combination in between.

Tour de Cure

Studio Barndiva is thrilled to be working with our good friends David and Nicole at Brush Salon to help host their Couture for the Cure Fashion Show on Sunday, April 22 in support of the American Diabetes Association. Entertainment for the evening will be an exciting runway show courtesy of four of Healdsburg's most popular shops: Susan Graf Limited, M Clothing, Outlander Men's Gear and Clutch. Before the show Barndiva will provide cocktails and hors d'ouvres, Vin Couture will be pouring wine ~ so don't be late. A live and silent auction will augment the runway show which will star local and professionals models with hair and make-up by the talented folks at Brush. Space is limited for this very special evening. Great night, important charity. We hope to see you here.

To make reservations for dinner after the show, call us at 707 431 0100, and mention the show. For tickets to the event, see below.

All text Jil Hales. All photos Jil Hales(unless otherwise noted).

Dish of the Week ...... In the Gallery....... Introducing the Barndiva Winter Brunch Special.....

Dish of the Week

Preserved Meyer Lemons

I love apples, but truth be told if Eve had been any kind of cook when she was flirting with being thrown out of Eden, she would have given some thought to reaching for a lemon no matter how puckery that first bite might have been for Adam. Why? Because when it comes to cooking the things we comfort loving heathens love, citrus is all but indispensable. Without acid producing fruits like lemons and grapes (for vinegar), we’d drown in a sea of rich fatty flavors. Ryan’s a big fan of all things acidic ~ when we talk about food the words ‘brighten’ and ‘lift’ always go hand in hand with ‘rich,’ ‘buttery’ and ‘redolent.’

He’s not alone in recognizing the merits of the humble lemon which has been around since biblical times, coming  to the new world with Christopher Columbus. The recipe for preserving them ~ surely the simplest ways to extend their season ~  also hasn’t changed in centuries. In Elizabeth Raffield’s “The Experienced English Housekeeper,” written in 1769, she has a version of “lemon pickle” almost identical to one penned by an anonymous ‘Lady’ in  Shakespearean times: 

The lemons should be small, and with thick rinds: rub them with a piece of flannel; then slit them half down in four quarters, but not through to the pulp; fill the slits with salt hard pressed in, set them upright in a pan for four or five days, until the salt melts; turn them thrice a day in their own liquor, until tender.

Meyer lemons, thought to be cross between a Lisbon lemon and a Mandarin (or a Eureka and an orange, take your pick), are perfect for preserving owing to their thin skins, which are shiny, smooth, small pored and edible. The pulp has a mild sweet flavor. Here in Sonoma, our season for them is early spring, but thanks to crazy ‘new’ weather patterns, when Myrna and Earl Fincher from Early Bird's Place showed up last week with their first crop, besides a quick of the head, no one was really surprised.

Meyer’s are best when medium sized (in general they are less ellipsoidal than true lemons) and ripe when they turn a beautiful golden yellow color. To preserve, start by simply cross slitting through the skin until 1/2 to 3/4 a way down the body of the fruit.

Position the fruit on a bed of large grain salt, a thumb's distance between each one. Kosher salt, made by compacting granular salt to produce larger irregularly shaped flakes, is the least expensive option, and perfect for preserving because while it dissolves easily, its wider surface area won't overwhelm the flavors of the fruit as it softens.

Sift salt over the cut end of the lemons allowing it to fill every nook and cranny until they are covered.  If you have a ceramic terrine lying around it’s shape makes the perfect preserving vessel as its thick walls keep the fermenting temperature constant.

When the lemons are covered, replace the lid and store  in a cool larder or at the back of the fridge. For a quick lemon pickle you can blanch the fruit to get the process started.  Preserved lemons, sliced or cut into chunks, makes a delicious addition to any stew, especially those with poultry. They figure heavily in Indian and North African Cuisine. In Morocco they like to leave preserved lemons or “leems”  for months before using them.

But preserved lemons aren't just for savory dishes; they add a j’ne sais quois to sweet desserts, especially where you might expect a candied citrus peel. Perfect case in point is Octavio's newest winter dessert ~ Meyer Lemon Tart with house-made lightly spiced graham cracker crust. This week he's serving it with a gorgeous huckleberry sauce, crème frâiche ice cream, and, in pride of place on top, a translucent flourish of thinly sliced preserved Meyer lemons. Eat your heart out Eve.

In the Gallery

The first pieces of Jordy Morgan's work we represented in the Studio were steel cage stone-filled sculptural pieces of sofas, chairs and standing vases. These monumental outdoor pieces played off a use of common indoor shapes and materials which took them to a new place.  Extremely comfortable (though you don’t expect them to be), Jordy's stone sculpture/furniture manages to be both corporeal yet highly imaginative ~ physically heavy but spiritually light,  if you follow my meaning.  Rare is the day we don’t find guests from the restaurant migrating over from the main gardens to sit in these Flintstone looking armchairs, taking them in with childlike joy.

Two new pieces of Jordy's which arrived in the Gallery last week speak to yet a new direction for his work.   The first is a bar-height table and four stools that look like they stepped out of Toy Story.  Fabricated from a 1950’s steel shelving unit, with John Deere tractor-orange distressed skewed legs, the pieces work as a wonderful breakfast set or just as happily as an idiosyncratic desk for the office (whether or not you work for Pixar).

The second piece, though not without a tongue in cheek nod to the game of Tic Tac Toe, is a serious dining table, one of the most elegant pieces Jordy has ever done for us. Starting with a reclaimed 13" diameter heavy steel pipe, the artist has fabricated (perfectly pre-rusted) four-piece X casing legs. The dining surface,  1.5” thick, is satin finished Doug Fir.

Breakfast/Office Table  56"X 24.25" X 35.75" With four stools,  $3600

XO Dining Table   8'  x 24.25" wide x 30" $4200

Introducing... the $20 Barndiva Winter Brunch Special

This Week begins a series of Winter Brunch Specials. First up  a languorous Barndiva brunch that starts with a Bloody Mary (ok, or Mimosa),  followed by our classic Barndiva Benny made with Costeaux Brioche Toast, two Early Bird's Place Organic Eggs, spinach, crispy pancetta and the yummiest (and possibly lightest) Hollandaise around. While this Benny was photographed solo, rest assured if you come in to claim it this coming Sunday, yours will come with roasted potatoes and a toy box salad. Say the magic words, "I eat the view!", and we'll throw in coffee as well.

All text Jil Hales. All photos Jil Hales and Dawid Jaworski (unless otherwise noted).