Chef shift: Spiaggia
Good news for New York City, bad news for us: Missy Robbins, executive chef at Spiaggia (under chef/partner Tony Mantuano) has departed to become the executive chef at A Voce in New York City.
A Voce (“by mouth,” as in word of mouth) is a three-star (New York Times) restaurant best known for its first (and up ’til now, only) chef, Andrew Carmellini, who previously was Daniel Boulud’s right-hand man at Cafe Boulud. In other words, she’s got some big chef clogs to fill.
Robbins, the former executive chef at Spiaggia who starts Monday at A Voce, has known about her new position for three months, but has kept it under her toque until now. “It’s been very challenging to keep it a secret,” says Robbins. “It was really important for me to leave Spiaggia in great shape, and to give Tony [Mantuano, Spiaggia’s chef/partner] proper notice. I was very committed to Spiaggia until the last minute.”
So, how much of Spiaggia will we see in A Voce? “Certainly Spiaggia has greatly influenced my philosophy of food and style of cooking,” says Robbins. “A Voce is a more casual space than Spiaggia, but not as casual as the cafe [Cafe Spiaggia], so I think it’ll fall somewhere in between the two.”
For his part, Mantuano couldn’t be happier for his one-time protege. “I’m really, really proud — we all are,” says Mantuano. “She’s been busting her butt for the last five years. We’re best friends.”
The extra notice has given Mantuano and Spiaggia time to arrange a replacement. Sarah Grueneberg, who has been with Spiaggia for three years, has been named chef di cucina, and has been training for her new role for the last three months. In January, Grueneberg will travel to Italy for additional work.
“It’s been an incredible five years working with Tony and the rest of the team,” Robbins says. “But New York is home to me, and it’s time to return home.”
— Phil Vettel
Meal deal: Frog legs
Phil Smidt’s is no more, sadly, leaving hundreds of area diners scrounging for sauteed frog legs and pan-fried perch — two of that Hammond restaurant’s specialties. Into the breach steps Room 21 (2110 S. Wabash Ave.; 312-328-1198), which has added Spicy Frog Legs (a $9 appetizer) and Lake Erie perch (a $21 entree) to its menu. This isn’t exactly food the way Phil Smidt’s made it. The frog legs are pan roasted and served over blue-cheese grits; the sauteed perch is served over a wild-arugula salad tossed with lemon vinaigrette. And there’s no all-you-can-eat option. But you can get them at lunch or dinner, and that’s something.
— P.V.
First bite: More
The uber-fancy-pants cupcake shop (nay, salon?) More (1 E. Delaware Pl.; 312-951-0001) has opened alongside Starbucks. More has been promised since last winter, when a press release heralded its imminent arrival as nothing less than the arrival of the cupcake craze in Chicago — forgetting Cupcakes on Briar (since 2005) and Molly’s Cupcakes and Swirlz Cupcakes and Sweet Mandy B’s and … well, on and on. More, however, boasts an impressive pedigree — Gale Gand (of Tru, and Food Network fame) is consulting pastry chef and Henry Adaniya (owner of the late, lamented Trio) is chief business consultant and the pastry chef is Todd Maturatai, most recently of Powerhouse. The owner is Patricia Rothman, better known not as a culinary chieftain but the owner of Hinge Studios, where Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco have recorded. Anyway, that said, as you enter More, you notice the cupcake case, which takes up a chunk of its real estate and resembles a Clinique stand crossed with a modest bakery that sell $4 cupcakes.
We bought four (of the 15 available), and we didn’t dislike a single one. More specializes in a mix of sweet and savory. We were anxious for the fig, blue cheese, and port cupcakes we’d heard about. They weren’t available. Same with Madras Curry cupcakes, and Creme Brulee. But the BLT was available, and holy ranch dressing, we really liked it, a tiny mountain of a dish — an almost biscuit-like base sprinkled with real bacon chunks, capped by a saucer of ranch dressing and four tiny slices of red and yellow tomato. “That’s interesting,” we said. And “That’s lunch,” we said. And “It’s not that different from a sandwich,” we said.
Next up, the bacon-brown sugar maple cupcake, which tastes like pancakes, rather dry pancakes, and the bacon (nestled on top, and spread throughout) has the rough consistency of beef jerky. But it is compelling. The signature cupcake is simply the More, and identical to a Hostess Cupcake (chocolate, marshmallow-filled) but the chocolate is richer and the base moist without being airy. (More marshmallow, please. But otherwise it works.) Lastly, the salted caramel which elicited gasps as we cut into it. It appears staid, then the standard-looking base breaks apart in a flood of light brown caramel lava that’s salty without being harsh. “Wow,” we said. “Really, really rich,” we said. “Worth it,” we said. What we meant was, at $3.50 to $4.25 a cupcake, they make a pretty satisfying snack. Or an impulsive-buy dessert. It also had us wondering about those recent rumblings from Manhattan, from the New York Times’ Jennifer 8. Lee, who asked if the cupcake thing was about to go the way of Krispy Kreme, and from New York magazine (commenting on Lee), which admitted to feeling lately like a bunch of “cupmudgeons,” sick of the lines outside Magnolia Bakery and such.
— Christopher Borrelli
———-
For more dining and food news, head to The Stew at chicagotribune.com/stew
