Majolica: Jack’s Farm Dinner

258 Bridge St., Phoenixville, PA

http://www.majolicarestaurant.com/

I haphazardly signed up for the Majolica e-newsletter on one visit or another and started receiving it soon after. Tangent: I think Majolica is doing something very smart with their e-newsletter, in that they are offering special options (like the dinner we just had), advance notice of special events, and other information. In addition, Chef Andrew Deery offers honest commentary on recent dinners and other news, including a great comment about making sure people cancel reservations they can’t make. It makes me more connected to the restaurant, and therefore more likely to visit. Very smart.

Anyway, a ways back the newsletter announced a special dinner featuring ingredients from Jack’s Farm, a local boutique farm that operates a CSA and sells at the local farmer’s market. It seemed like a unique opportunity and a way to support a restaurant I like, and a business who is doing something I want to be more supportive of (local food).

The dinner was different, in that we were at communal tables, and after some initial hemming and hawing, we settled on an empty one and were soon joined by six other foodies; we had great conversation with two ladies from the Main Line about food, travel, education, and, of course, cats. It turned out a lot better than expected.

On to the food. We began with a squash soup composed of butternut, acorn, and delecata varieties, adorned with herbed spaetzle and curry butter. If this was the beginning, I knew we were in for a good night: the soup was thick without being too heavy and just wonderfully seasoned. I love a good squash soup, and think I can make it: I can’t make it like this. Everyone sopped up every bit of it.

Next came a truly inspired salad of arugula. Atop the greens was shaved parmesan and some sliced radishes; underneath was a drizzle of black olive oil. Also slightly obscured was a fried oblong. When it first arrived, I thought it might be some fried goat cheese, which I’d had as an accompaniment to other salads. No, this was a fried poached egg. Um, Deery already had me at fried, but this was amazing. The egg itself was tasty, but as the yolk mixed with the olive oil, you had a wonderful dressing to the fresh arugula. Still light, but wonderfully tasty.

Next came roasted chicken agnolotti accompanied by peas, pea shoots, and pea tendrils, with chicken consomme drizzled on top to serve as something of a light sauce. I don’t know how he did this, but the chicken had the consistency of what one normally gets inside a cheese ravioli. This reads as gross as I write this, but it was wonderful: the chicken was so flavorful and everyone wanted to drink the consomme out of the bowl in which the dish was served. The peas, the peas: I think one can forget how good fresh peas are since we normally get them canned or frozen. Man, those were some fine peas.

A while back I attempted a cassoulet that was heavy on breadcrumbs and not much else. We all agreed after having Deery’s pork cassoulet that he needs to offer a class in making cassoulets, because this was a masterpiece: fresh out of the oven, the smokiness of the falling-apart pork melded beautifully with the turnips, carrots, and potatoes. If you didn’t know it was fall yet, you certainly knew after this dish. Somehow though, despite the smokiness and the earthiness of the ingredients, there was something light about the dish — even bright. I can’t really describe it better than that: the flavors weren’t heavy, but bright.

The cheese plate I heard referred to earlier in the meal didn’t do justice to the next course: a slice of goat cheese was perched next to a beet tartare upon which rested a nest of micro cilantro, all of which was drizzled with aged balsamic. I feel it’s a sign of maturity that I have grown to love beets, and this dish sealed the affair. Talk about brightness — I love how balsamic brings out interesting flavors in strawberries, and here it did the same, bringing out sweetness and tart in the beets. And the combination of beet and cilantro was inspired; I suppose the “micro-ness” of the cilantro mitigated the herb’s normal power, because everything was wonderfully balanced.

The dinner ended with duo of sorts: a poached asian pear drizzled at the table with caramel and a pistachio cake topped with star anise ice cream. The pear was the star here: though a little difficult to cut into, the pear made it worth my while as it was sweet without being sickeningly so and so juicy and flavorful. I normally detest anise, but here it gave just the right amount of bite, offering a wonderful companion to the pear.

Yeah, I liked it. The $65 price tag was a bargain. We all thanked Chef Deery for a wonderful meal as he chatted with the diners after the meal; it was also cool to acknowledge the two guys from the farm who were there — yes, even the pears were from the farm. I may have to sign up for that CSA now, if only to try my hand at beets.