Just in time for Thanksgiving dessert comes this baking demonstration video from Gracie’s Pastry Chef Melissa Denmark, produced by the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau. You can watch it above and if you click through to YouTube you can find the recipe . Thank you to Gracie’s and the PWCVB. Happy Thanksgiving!
Gracie’s Executive Chef Matthew Varga plating rosemary roasted chicken, new crop potatoes, green beans & natural juices
On Wednesday, September 12, the Gracie’s team moved from Providence to Portsmouth for a spectacular evening with the Outstanding in the Field tour. This year’s dinner was held at Aquidneck Farms on what could only be described as a picture-perfect setting with the table for 150 guests extending down to the western bank of the Sakonnet River. Gracie’s Executive Chef Matthew Varga’s menu managed to far surpass the wonders of the location in it’s perfection, and Pastry Chef Melissa Denmark’s fruit tart may have been one of the best desserts I’ve had all year (I was invited to sit for dinner as a guest of Gracie’s).
Farms represented by Varga’s menu included Blackbird Farm, Pat’s Pastured, Matunuck Oysters, Schartner Farms, Saltwater Farms, Aquidneck Farms and Shy Brothers Farm. The menu was paired with Napa Valley wines from Jonathan Edwards Winery, based in North Stonington, Connecticut, and included the debut of Gracie’s two private label wines, one based around Jonathan Edwards Connecticut Cabernet Franc and the other on Connecticut Pinot Gris.
Here are twenty-eight select photos from the evening. You can also view photos from the 2010 and 2011 Outstanding in the Field dinners. For the full set of 181 photos from this year’s event, please see this Eat Drink RI Facebook album.
Chef Matthew Varga with the Outstanding in the Field table overlooking the Sakonnet River
musk melon, Blackbird Farm prosciutto
Matunuck oysters on the half shell, cucumber mignonette
Pt. Judith lobster profiteroles, tarragon aioli, pickled ramps
Chef Matthew Varga
Danielle Lowe and Melissa Denmark preparing salads
Danielle Lowe plating the heirloom tomato, mozzarella cheese, garden flavors & verjus
Peter Kachmarsky and Matthew Varga grilling chicken
Cucumbers and radishes in verjus for the salad course
Matthew Varga plating the salad course
Aquidneck Farms chickens on the grill
The finished heirloom tomato, mozzarella cheese, garden flavors & verjus
The Outstanding in the Field table
The Outstanding in the Field table with guests
Saltwater Farms mussels on the grill
Matthew Varga in a haze of mussel steam
Saltwater Farms mussels, Aquidneck sausage, grilled onions, sweet basil
Plating the rosemary roasted chicken, new crop potatoes, green beans & natural juices
Plating the rosemary roasted chicken, new crop potatoes, green beans & natural juices
Rosemary roasted chicken, new crop potatoes, green beans & natural juices
Melissa Denmark plating her dessert
Matthew Varga photographing Danielle Lowe plating dessert
Late summer fruit tart, honeyed Cloumage, lavender caramel (to come)
Matthew Varga preparing watermelon
Late summer fruit tart, honeyed Cloumage, lavender caramel
Gracie’s owner Ellen Gracyalny
The Gracie’s and Outstanding in the Field group enjoying the spoils of victory. Thank you to everyone involved in the wonderful evening.
Gracie’s Rainier Cherry dessert: Almond Nougat Semifreddo, Dark Chocolate Mousse, Balsamic Rainier Cherries, Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Cherry Ganache and a Chocolate Balsamic Drizzle
For the second year in a row, Northwest Cherries has commissioned Gracie’s restaurant in Providence to represent Rhode Island while celebrating the Rainier cherry. As part of the annual Northwest Cherries’ Tree-to-Table event one restaurant in each state is asked to create a unique menu offering featuring Rainier cherries. The cherry is regarded for its “crisp bite and pale yellow flesh bursting with exceptional sweetness.” Gracie’s is incorporating Rainier cherries into a specialty cocktail as well as two dinner selections, all of which will be available for the month of July and through August, as long as this year’s Rainier cherry crop lasts.
Gracie’s Executive Chef Matthew Varga loves using the Rainier cherries, calling them, “little pieces of sun-kissed perfection.” Varga added, “The Rainier cherries are excellent. We’re really honored to be selected again for this year. We were thinking about how were we going to use them again. Last year we used them on one of the entrees, the duck. I really wanted to work them into a first course. Typically we do a tomato salad first course this time of year. I thought I could play around with the same flavors with the cherries as with the tomatoes. So I went backwards. I started with what would I do with tomatoes and then I switched it.
“So we have arugula, which Jeffrey grows just for us, the stracciatella cheese is from Fiore Di Nonno in Somerville, Massachusetts, Marcona almonds and balsamic vinegar add that acidity and nuttiness. I like the play of the Rainier cherries and the Bing cherries. You get the sweetness and crunch from the Rainier cherries and you get that really nice soft texture, sweet and almost tart from the Bing. They really play well with each other and as you can see the colors are just amazing. The almond butter is Marcona almonds and milk, cooked in a pressure cooker and pureed. The balsamic pearls and balsamic gel are set with agar, a seaweed gelatin, and they act as the vinaigrette. There are whole Marcona almonds toasted in olive oil, and also on the plate as a nougatine, cooked in a little bit of sugar and corn syrup. It sets like a brittle and then it’s blended.
“You’ve got creaminess, sweetness, acidity, nuttiness and nice pepperiness from that arugula. You don’t need a lot of it because it is really spicy, but when you pick it up with the sweetness of the cherries and the creaminess of the cheese it really works well. I use a single estate extra-virgin olive oil from Tuscany, not too spicy, a little grassy.”
Gracie’s owner Ellen Gracyalny also offered this about the Rainier cherry event, “It’s such a great time of year to promote Rainier cherries in Rhode Island because it’s Providence Restaurant Week. We have had so many people coming through the doors who love Rainier cherries. One table the other night ordered the cocktail and both dishes as part of their three-course dinner.”
Gracie’s Pastry Chef Melissa Denmark created the Rainier cherry dessert pictured here (above and below). It’s a beautiful plate composed of Almond Nougat Semifreddo, Dark Chocolate Mousse, Balsamic Rainier Cherries, Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Cherry Ganache and a Chocolate Balsamic Drizzle.
Jason Wessel, Gracie’s Wine & Spirits Director, has used the Rainier cherries to create the Mt. Rainier Cocktail. “Classic flavors of caramelized apricot in the Cognac complemented by the subtle sweetness of a dash of Herring cherry liqueur and cherry bitters. Stone fruit flavors fortified and softened by a slightly sweet portion of apricot liqueur. All fruit spirits invigorated by fine bubbles generously added with Cava, a dry sparkler from Spain.”
Wessel’s cocktail recipe follows at the end, after these photos of the Gracie’s dishes. You can find photos of last year’s Rainier cherry dishes from Gracie’s here.
Gracie’s Rainier Cherry Salad featuring Stracciatella cheese, wild arugula, aged balsamic, and Marcona almonds
Gracie’s Rainier Cherry dessert: Almond Nougat Semifreddo, Dark Chocolate Mousse, Balsamic Rainier Cherries, Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Cherry Ganache and a Chocolate Balsamic Drizzle
Gracie’s Rainier Cherry Salad featuring Stracciatella cheese, wild arugula, aged balsamic, and Marcona almonds
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Gracie's Chocolate Cherry Tart 1
From Northwest Cherries, part of the Washington State Fruit Commission, comes a National Rainier Cherries celebration called Tree-to-Table. Northwest Cherries commissioned one iconic restaurant in each U.S. state to create a unique menu offering featuring Rainier cherries. “This famed cherry is regarded for its crisp bite and pale yellow flesh bursting with exceptional sweetness.” Gracie’s was chosen to represent Rhode Island, alongside such nationally renowned restaurants as Chez Panisse, Commander’s Palace, No. 9 Park, and Untitled, the new restaurant at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.
Gracie’s Executive Chef Matthew Varga’s Pan Roasted Duck Breast with Toasted Farro, Red Russian Kale and Rainer Cherry Mostarda was featured during Providence Restaurant Week. Pastry Chef Melissa Denmark’s Chocolate Cherry Tart, pictured here, will be available through the end of July. Get to Gracie’s and try it before the Rainier cherries are gone. Gracie’s, 194 Washington St., Providence, RI 02903.
Gracie's Chocolate Cherry Tart 2
Gracie's Chocolate Cherry Tart 3
Gracie's Chocolate Cherry Tart 4
