En Papiawesome
Not to be confused with the famous version, at Erato on Main last night, while Kevin Willmann was away at the STL Mag A-List awards claiming his Reason to Take a Drive victory, sous chef Jon Olson was serving up Gulf Pompano en Papillote with shaved fennel, local baby onions, Oregon white truffle & farm butter.
I’m sure the majority of you are familiar with en papillote, but for those that are not, it is a French method for cooking delicate foods inside parchment paper. These days you will see some people cheat by using foil instead, but traditionally you cut a heart shape out of parchment, place the contents on one side (generally fish; vegetables; and some sort of oil, butter or sauce to keep it moist), fold it in half, fold over the seams to seal it, and bake it in the oven. The gist is that the food actually steams which results in an extremely moist outcome.
I have had three en papillotes that Willmann has made. This was by far the best.
When the bag was cut open table side, and the steam quickly escaped, I was immediately hit by the mild scent of licorice rising from the fennel. Drawing closer to fully take it in the next punch was a pleasant mixture of fish and bubbling hot butter that begged me to pierce the pompano’s moist flesh. It practically fell apart as I carved out a portion, and its taste: a gentle harmony–a delicate sweetness of sea; rich butter; a mild onion bite; a fennel twang; and the umami-heavy earthiness of white truffle.
It was an uncomplicated dish that was as near to perfect as I can imagine and embodied everything I love about Erato’s food and Willmann’s best skill of allowing the flavors of his impeccably procured fish and produce to truly shine.
I assume it will make the menu cut tonight, so maybe you should go see why they got that award.
Full disclosure: As always, please keep in mind that while I believe my opinion to be correct, there are some establishments where my opinion is personally biased. This is one. Kevin Willmann has become a close friend because of my regularity in his restaurant. That does not, however, make his food any less good.
4 Responses to “En Papiawesome”
Sounds interesting. I’m headed to Erato tomorrow night so I will have to check it out.
By Michael on Jun 27, 2008
ROTFL…..the full disclosure is a hoot Bill.
By Julie on Jun 27, 2008
Our wine group has been clamoring to have session at Erato. We had it all planned out for last night…then we found out about the A List party and Kevin being nominated and decided to change our dinner date at Erato once again…plus…there was an open bar at the A List party and that’s always a fun thing to watch.
By Annie on Jun 27, 2008
We were there, too. Enjoyed the people watching.
Nadoz won for Best Brunch and our chef did a table.
By kathy on Jun 28, 2008