September 2023

Food & Drink DMWFF PREVIEW

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GEORGE’S AT THE COVE STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING CAKE

ARLO BRICK OVEN BOLOGNESE Arlo’s Josh Mouzakes has the chops to do fancy- innovative dishes, and he does. But

Most restaurants peak, then ride that hype into a long, slow decline.

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After 40 years, George’s is still sitting pretty at the top. Exec chef Trey Foshee deserves credit, but talents like

pastry chef Aly Lyng should also get their due. Lyng’s sticky toffee pudding cake is a more interesting cousin of the molten-lava classic. A deep, rich sweetness comes from date paste, and the amaretto toffee sauce is so good, it’s an emotion.

his bolognese, inspired by his grandpa, is one of the best bites in the city. A combo of beef, veal, and pork with fennel seed are simmered in a creamy, pink tomato sauce, then served in a semolina bread bowl and snowed in with pecorino and basil.

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COWBOY STAR ROASTED PACIFIC HALIBUT “Indie steakhouses” are rare things. Most dry-aged specialists have been hooked up to their chain motherships by now. That’s why C-Star is so loved. I judge steakhouses by how

they cook non-beef, like chef Victor Jimenez’s Japanese-inspired halibut. It’s cured in koji and served with garlic scapes and roasted maitake mushrooms, wading in a bacon dashi.

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CIVICO 1845 RAVIOLO AI GAMBERI

It’s time America realized butter is merely the raw ingredient destined to become brown butter: butter heated until the milk solids are toasted and caramelized and form one of the best flavors on the planet. And this ravioli—stuffed with local prawns and ricotta, tossed in brown butter-thyme sauce—is like

a documentary film of its charms. 4

KINGFISHER SNAKE RIVER FARMS WAGYU SKIRT STEAK It’s not a Kingfisher dish without a spark of fish sauce. When it comes to this steak (Snake River does phenomenal beef), exec chef David Sim smartly treats it hands-off, just upping its ante with a flavor-cranking beef jus. The salad cuts through the richness with corn, tomatoes, and—you guessed it—fish sauce. The fried squash blossom is stuffed with Kingfisher’s own tofu mixture, a riff on the Vietnamese dish dau hu thit.

80-ish of the city’s top restaurants will cook at DMWFF. Here are 14 of them and the knockout dishes you need to try on their menus right now.

24 SEPTEMBER 2023

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