Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand are cooks for whom the cutting edge isn’t confined to the stove. The husband-and-wife couple, along with a third partner, recently opened Trio, a new restaurant in Evanston on the site formerly occupied by Cafe Provencal, 1625 Hinman Ave. (The third member of the trio is Henry Adaniya, who served as maitre d’ of Cafe Provencal and, more recently, Va Pensiero.) Once they have adjusted to the lighter, Mediterranean-inspired setting, longtime customers will be startled to realize that many of the menu items are being presented on objects-“surfaces”-that bear no resemblance to traditional plates.
These surfaces include but are not necessarily limited to slabs or pieces of granite, glass, marble, glazed ceramic tile and glazed terra-cotta tile. “I’d love to try wood,” Tramonto says, adding that Gand and he are considering putting each serving or “face” plate on a table made of a different material.
In part, this departure and the urge for novelty and diversity stems from the food they are serving. Tramonto calculates he has spent six years cooking Italian cucina, five preparing French cuisine and three doing what he calls “miscellaneous.” So, he says: “For the first time I’m on my own and can let loose and use everything I’ve learned. There are just too many influences for me to restrict myself to a single style.”
Thus, he presents prawns with a trio of aioli on a black Impala granite, poses lobster salad on black Cambrian granite and pours a porcini mushroom soup into a Rosenthal cappuccino cup with a white Italian marble underliner. Gand, meanwhile, serves a wild and a tame rice pudding with fresh fruit on Italian splattered marble.
Gand, a talented dessert chef who specialized in metal sculpture and mixed-media art at college, is a willing accomplice. She talks about the artistic pleasure of working with natural colors on ceramic surfaces.
“Plates are familiar ground for people. This is a push toward a new form. The surfaces and shapes we are using go outside the confines of a plate and encourage expectation of something different. It’s not meant to shock or exclude. For someone like me who’s a playful person and pretty imaginative, it’s an expression of artistic freedom.”
“But,” interrupts Tramonto, “the food must taste delicious. That comes first.”
“Yes,” Gand agrees, “we want to do justice to each ingredient in the kitchen, then do a presentation that shows it off at its best.”
Plates are not banned, however. Handsome examples from establishment producers such as Mikasa, Limoges and Wedgwood are being used, though the Wedgwood includes the famous Peter Rabbit pattern, which Gand uses for some of her more whimsical desserts.
There are impracticalities to be overcome as well. Like other young chefs in tune with the times, both chefs use broths, flavored oils and fruit-juice emulsions instead of thick sauces. When serving on flat, lipless surfaces, they’ve learned, it’s wiser to add the liquid after the dish has traveled through the dining room and been placed in front of the diner.
Tramonto says his experiments in using different surfaces for presentation began at the short-lived Bella Luna in Chicago in 1987. “After the construction, I found some beautiful terra-cotta tiles. I checked with the health department, and they said I could use them as long as the surfaces were sealed. I began to present some food on them, and it opened a door.”
He and Gand continued their explorations during three years in England, working for former Chicago resident and restaurant entrepreneur Bob Payton and winning a coveted star in the Michelin Guide for his Stapleford Park Hotel.
At Trio, they expect that their experiments with surfaces, as with the food presented on them, will evolve. Gand reports that a number of local artists already have expressed interest in creating various surfaces for them. Here are a pair of their recipes; serve them on whatever surface suits you:
GRILLED PRAWNS WITH THREE AIOLIS
Four servings
12 ( 3/4 pound) prawns or extra-large shrimp
12 small, very thin slices prosciutto ham
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 tablespoons red aioli (see recipe below)
4 tablespoons pesto aioli (recipe below)
4 tablespoons roasted garlic aioli (recipe below)
Chopped fresh chives, for garnish
Toasted sesame seeds for optional garnish
1. Peel and devein the prawns. Wrap each with a strip of ham. Sprinkle with pepper. Place a tablespoon of each aioli on 4 plates, spreading each aioli into a swatch with the back of the spoon.
2. Grill or broil prawns on both sides until ham and prawns are cooked through, about 4 minutes.
3. Place 3 prawns across aiolis on each plate. Sprinkle chopped chives and optional sesame seeds over all. Serve at once with a dry white Rhone wine such as La Veille Ferme or, Rick Tramonto’s choice, a rich red such as Barolo or merlot.
THE THREE AIOLIS
18 ounces (2 1/4 cups) mayonnaise
7 cloves garlic
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
1 red bell pepper
1/2 cup pesto sauce, homemade or bottled
1/4 cup olive oil
1. Combine the mayonnaise with 1 clove peeled and minced garlic; add lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
2. Make roasted red-pepper aioli: Roast the pepper over a gas flame or under a broiler until charred all over. Scrape off charred bits, remove seeds and cut the pepper into chunks. Puree in a food processor. Combine red-pepper puree with 3/4 cup mayonnaise and set aside.
3. Make pesto aioli: Combine pesto with 3/4 cup mayonnaise and set aside.
4. Make roasted-garlic aioli: Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a small, heatproof pan, combine remaining 6 cloves garlic (unpeeled) and the olive oil. Bake until garlic is lightly browned and soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove garlic from oil to paper towels. When cool enough to handle, pinch each garlic clove out of its skin. Puree garlic in a food processor. Combine garlic puree and remaining 3/4 cup mayonnaise and set aside.
Note: Mayonnaise mixtures may be made ahead. Cover well and refrigerate until needed.
CRISPY RICE PUDDING
Six servings
1 cup Japanese sticky rice
1/2 cup milk
2 strips orange peel
1 tablespoon wild rice
3/4 cup whipping cream
3/4 cup half & half
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 vanilla bean, split, or 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Fruit of choice, such as fresh raspberries (or cutup mango, kiwi or figs), dried cranberries or golden raisins; allow 3/4 cup fresh or 1/2 cup dried fruit
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1. Rinse sticky rice in cold water until water runs clear. Place rice in a saucepan with 1 cup water, milk and orange peel. Bring liquid to a boil, turn heat to low, cover and cook until liquid is absorbed, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat but leave covered 5 additional minutes.
2. Spread rice in a baking pan and fluff with a fork to cool it. Remove and discard orange peel.
3. Place wild rice in a small saucepan with 3/4 cup water. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until tender and grains split open, about 20 minutes. Toss with sticky rice.
4. In another saucepan, scald cream and half & half with vanilla bean. Meanwhile whisk yolks with sugar in a bowl. Gradually whisk scalded liquid into yolk mixture, stirring continually. Return mixture to saucepan and stir gently over low heat until custard mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (180 degrees).
5. Pour custard into a bowl, metal preferred, and place it in a larger bowl partially filled with ice and water. Stir gently until custard is chilled.
6. Add chilled custard to the rice until mixture is creamy and slightly loose. Fold in fruit of choice and pack mixture into 4-ounce heatproof ramekins or custard cups. (Recipe may be done ahead to this point. Cover ramekins with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.)
7. When ready to serve, sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar atop each ramekin and caramelize under the broiler.
