Tuesday, October 16, 2012

15 Fresh Dishes On Avec's Menu Under New Chef

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Avec chef Erling Wu-Bower (Photo via Star Chefs)

Bon Appetit Restaurant & Drinks Editor Andrew Knowlton recently caught up with new avec Chef de Cuisine Erling Wu-Bower on his high-profile position at one of the West Loop's hottest restaurants.

Here are the highlights, including some of the 15 fresh new dishes he's added to the menu:

• "(T)his entire company is based on seasonality. ... It keeps things interesting, keeps chefs on their toes, and keeps customers coming back to check out what's new."

• "Avec is one of those restaurants that has some classic standing items that you'd have to be absolutely insane to change. ... The bacon-wrapped dates are a signature dish here, and the deluxe cheese focaccia, this sweeter flatbread we bake here with ricotta, taleggio, salt, pepper, truffle oil and some herbs."

• "Just today, right now, we're prepping a new hake dish. We're going to serve it skin-on, roasted in a pan, basted in a ton of butter, and with ajoblanco, which is basically grape and nut gazpacho. ... There's also a new squid ink pasta alla chitarra, with a kind of corn sofrito, rock shrimp, and tons of mint that I'm excited about."

• "Response from public has been very good. It's a crazy environment here, because it's a tiny dining room, you're so close to the people--you see them eat two feet away from you. That's also terrifying."

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