Passing along compliments to Melillos

DD just called to report that she had the loveliest lunch at Melillos. She's a vegan remember-no animals products at all. She arrived a few moments early, as she was dining with a group and talked privately with the hostess. The hostess conferred with the chef who came out and went over the menu with Darling Daughter dish by dish, discussing ingredients and possbile substitutions. When the server came to the table, he had already been alerted to her special diet needs. When bread and butter were brought to the table, he brought bread with olive oil and pepper for her. She is still raving about no only the wonderful food but the graciousness of Melillo's.

She's a vegan remember-no animals products at all.

This must be quite challenging, and I will remember Melillos if we ever need somewhere vegan friendly.

I am curious, though, how do you know whether or not the bread at a restaurant had an egg or milk in the recipe? Or if your green beans were sauteed in bacon grease (which is the way I do it)? I know this might be a little off-topic, and I am not trying to hi-jack your post, but I am honestly curious. I know someone who only eats whole foods which have not seen temps higher than 150 F, and I think I would go insane trying to manage that.

Thanks for the insight, Leah.

When eating out, vegans tend to ask a lot of questions. French bread tends to be OK, and there are a few restaurants in town where vegan isn't too terribly difficult. Sometimes you do have to trust what the kitchen tells you, though. We find that all restaurants are familiar with vegetarian cooking (me), but vegan frequently causes confusion.

A raw food diet, like your friend is doing, I find particularly challenging. There is at least one restaurant in California, I believe, but it might be New York that does raw exclusively.

Both Melillo's and Mojitos (at a previous meal) went out of their way to identify and prepare foods that DD would enjoy and to make her feel comfortable.

A raw food diet, like your friend is doing, I find particularly challenging. There is at least one restaurant in California, I believe, but it might be New York that does raw exclusively.

The restaurant i believe you refer to was Roxanne's in Larkspur, CA.

Chef Roxanne Klein co-authored 'Raw' with Charlie Trotter.


'Charlie Trotter's Vegetables' very much embodied Trotter's love of vegetables , but 'Raw' took it a step further. It's pretty much the definitive gourmet raw food cookbook, and the fact that he was one of the first chefs of that caliber to offer equally well-thought out vegetarian options (in his restaurant's case - the vegetable tasting menu), that rivaled that of his omnivorous tasting menus. By partnering up with Roxanne Klein (who is one of - if not the first - to take raw foodism to haute cuisine), The book's content and insight is powered by the juggernauts of raw foodism.
The book itself is a sublimely interesting read, especially from a chef's perspective... never cooking food above 118 F presents interesting challenges to create dishes, often time 'tongue-in-cheek'. Super-thinly sliced vegetables become faux pasta (one i recall was a 'lasagna' dish).
the act of crafting Sushi becomes interesting, since one cannot cook the rice properly at such low temperatures... instead they craft a sushi-rice like mixture made from a base largely composed of ground nuts.

I don't advocate or practice any sort of vegetarian lifestyle - but to each their own. That said though: the techniques, ideas, recipes and careful creating of 'faux' substitutes make this book truly groundbreaking from a culinary perspective.


Gretchen - If your friend doesn't own this book, i'd encourage you to get it for them as a 'just because' gift.

to those who are vegetarian/vegan or are entirely engrossed in the culinary arts... you owe it to yourself to just browse the book at least once.



on another note: Roxanne's closed in 2004 - a victim of divorce (the chef and her husband owned the restaurant in addition to a raw food take-out business).




On a personal note:
I'm always glad to hear of chef's taking the time to go that extra mile and make a guest's dining experience memorable. Dietary restrictions (by choice or otherwise) can make dining out difficult - especially if the staff 'doesn't get it' or simply doesn't care or can't be bothered.
I myself have been lactose intolerant since i was an infant; and while i can stomach dairy products in small doses, i reacted rather violently with even trying to swallow even the smallest amount of cheese (there are a few exceptions).
People rarely realize how much simple things go into all kinds of food products until you run across someone who cannot (or chooses to) not eat them.
Because of this; i have a soft spot in my culinary heart for vegetarians, vegans, diabetics, the lactose intolerant, gluten allergies, corn allergies, soy allergies, nut allergies, religion restricted diets, those on sodium free/reduced diets... the list could go on forever.
I even have a book i found at a used bookstore called 'the Special Guest' which covers all sorts of food allergies and restrictions. I've yet to use it; but as a chef, i couldn't resist owning a book that could be indispensable should the need arise and 'a special guest' have a special request.




...now back to Melillo's.
(sorry for the rant. )

Ethan if I had never met you, the previous post speaks volumes about the person that you are. One of your best posts ever, that allows people into the brilliant mind you possess. Very informative. And I will concur that is one hell of an eye opening book. When I first read it two years ago I guess, I wanted to go raw for a summer. Unfortunatly I could not find a bacon to satisfy the requirements and all was lost.

Ethan if I had never met you, the previous post speaks volumes about the person that you are. One of your best posts ever, that allows people into the brilliant mind you possess. Very informative. And I will concur that is one hell of an eye opening book. When I first read it two years ago I guess, I wanted to go raw for a summer. Unfortunatly I could not find a bacon to satisfy the requirements and all was lost.

I think the world over is waiting for realistic tasting vegetarian bacon; though i think i remember seeing someone post about something like that on here.


Thank you Blake.
I'm gonna miss you man.

who else am i gonna do bourbon induced forum nonsense with from across town?


That aside, i'm halfway considering taking up food writing (knowing me - more rambling and ranting nonsense than anything) as a hobby.
I've been doing a ton of serious food reading lately... and whether or not anyone cares or reads, i've got a lot i want to say.

I'm halfway thinking about actually (finally) writing my objective-short on 'Proliferation of upscale casual restaurants in the Louisville-metro area: oversaturation of select markets; and finding new niches'.



i'm probably in way over my head anyway...

Thanks Ethan, for such a detailed answer! I really appreciate the time you took to be so elaborate, and it was a very interesting read. I wish you the best of luck with your writing aspirations!

I will ask my friend if she has that cookbook, and if not, I will take your advice and get a copy. Sounds intriguing!

Cheers!

Thanks Ethan, for such a detailed answer! I really appreciate the time you took to be so elaborate, and it was a very interesting read. I wish you the best of luck with your writing aspirations!

I will ask my friend if she has that cookbook, and if not, I will take your advice and get a copy. Sounds intriguing!

Cheers!

...it was my pleasure.

now to find time, and motivation to get off my ass and get typing!

Thanks Ethan! This vegetarian is glad to hear your culinary heart has a soft spot for folks with dietary restrictions - sometimes I do get worried about that.

As someone who has been eating this way for over 16 years now, you get pretty knowledgeable about the things that are usually "safe" to eat vs. things that are just NOT. For example, the earlier mentioned green beans. I RARELY will ever order green beans out. Same with soups. Soups are challenging because if they don't have hunks of ham in it, the server will frequently deem it vegetarian but many times the stock will NOT be vegetarian. Of course it gets more confusing still when you run into things like, "What do you mean the fish chowder isn't vegetarian?? My cousin is a vegetarian and she LOVES it!"

I think the world over is waiting for realistic tasting vegetarian bacon; though i think i remember seeing someone post about something like that on here.

Morningstar's breakfast strips are pretty darm close. They look kind of like playdough versions of bacon, but if you stick them in the microwave they get all nice and crispy. Even my non-vegetarian 16yo son likes them better than real bacon.

Ethan, who is going where?

Thank you Blake. I'm gonna miss you man.

Ethan, who is going where?

I was kinda wondering that myself.

Also, I understand The Oakroom wine guy, Will Pullem, has departed to work for a distributor or importer, so I'm interested to know if that position will be or has been filled.

Thanks Leah, for the kind words. We will always try to accommodate any requests for special diets, vegans, etc. at Melillo's. We even have customers that bring in items and ask us to add them to their dishes. No problem. I don't have much call for whole wheat pasta but have 3 or 4 customers that bring their own and we boil it for them. We pride ourselves on hoping that you feel like you are at our home when you visit us and try to make it a pleasant visit for everyone.

Thank you Blake. I'm gonna miss you man.

Ethan, who is going where?

I was kinda wondering that myself.

Also, I understand The Oakroom wine guy, Will Pullem, has departed to work for a distributor or importer, so I'm interested to know if that position will be or has been filled.

my apologies for the belated response (i've been out of town with family):



Blake is leaving for Spain in a few weeks, for a 3 week stay.
Last i heard - When he returns state-side; he is planning to be hopping around and doing stages around the US, and letting the wind carry him...

Will Pullem's last day was NYE, and you're correct that he's since left to work as a wine distributor.
As I understand it, the sommelier position is available - Seelbach Director of Restaurants, Jerry Slater will be covering Will's duties in the interim.



That said, we've got a lot of little and large changes happening in the Oakroom - from staffing, to a reinvigorated focus, to menu format changes.
I'd say more - but quite frankly, i don't have any specific details.




...and to address Jackie's inference:
I'll still be handling the pastry duties at the Oakroom on hands-on, daily basis.


hope that addressed any questions you guys might have had.