Chef's win is not chopped liver
Laura Frangiosa of Lansdowne's The Avenue Delicatessen won last week's annual Bubby's Cook-Off at Vie in North Philadelphia. Befitting the Jewish-Italian background of her restaurant, Frangiosa came up with chopped liver arancini with hearts of palm, celery and schmaltz-aioli. And it's now on the menu.
Chefs who enter cooking contests typically create dishes specifically tailored to the function - such as the recent "Cured & Crafted" event that sent a half-dozen chefs scurrying to come up with new ways to present Prosciutto di Parma.
Mostly, these one-off dishes allow chefs to stretch their creative sides but don't necessarily depict their restaurants' concepts.
Not Laura Frangiosa of Lansdowne's The Avenue Delicatessen. She won last week's annual Bubby's Cook-Off at Vie in North Philadelphia. (Yes, this was an anti-prosciutto event as the competitors had to keep everything kosher.)
Befitting the Jewish-Italian background of her restaurant, Frangiosa came up with chopped liver arancini with hearts of palm, celery and schmaltz-aioli. And it's now on the menu.
(Schmaltz aioli?)
The winner of the event's dessert matchup was Julia Deppe, executive chef at Pure Sweets & Co., who came up with cardamom macaroon cake layered with dark chocolate ganache and a pistachio rosewater coconut cream. Pure Sweets, a gluten-free, kosher, vegan, and organic bakery based in East Falls, is about two months from opening a retail shop at 17067 Locust St.