A Scaled-Back Meal From A Low-Keyed Chef
Joey Campanaro's modest Greenwich Village restaurant, The Little Owl, has garnered some very major reviews from New York newspapers and national food magazines (in fact, he's on the cover of the September issue of Bon Appetit). Its 40 seats are packed every night and it can take weeks to get a reservation.
The reason? Campanaro's delicious cuisine comprised of simple ideas with complex flavors. One of his best-known dishes is listed on the Little Owl menu as "gravy meatball sliders" — golf ball-sized burgers made of beef, pork, veal and pecorino cheese, served on mini-brioche buns. If you make the trek, be sure to get your own order; you're not going to want to share!
An Italian-American from South Philadelphia, Campanaro studied restaurant management at Penn State. During a semester studying abroad in Italy he realized he wanted to be a chef. Upon graduating, Campanaro worked in restaurants in Los Angeles and New York, where he cooked alongside well-known chefs Joachim Splichal and Jonathan Waxman. He later became chef de cuisine of Universal Studios' Executive Dining Room, and then the owner of his own Hollywood-based catering company.
In 2001 he was recruited by Jimmy Bradley to help open The Harrison in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood, which was awarded two stars by The New York Times. He then went on to become executive chef at Pace, another Jimmy Bradley venture. And little more than a year ago, he took over the small bistro space on Bedford Street (in the ground floor of the building where the fictional TV "Friends" lived!) and made his little corner a must-try for New York foodies.
MARINATED CUCUMBERS AND TOMATOES
Ingredients:
1 hot house cucumber (sliced skin on)
1 tsp brown sugar
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 shallot (finely diced)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 bunch of cilantro (chopped)
1 large heirloom tomato (large dice)
Directions:
Mix all ingredients 10 minutes before serving.
Prep time: 4 minutes
Yield: 4 appetizer servings
FLOUNDER WITH BOK CHOY AND CRAB BUTTER
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1-1/2 pounds of flounder fillet (skinned)
1/4 cup whole butter
1/4 lb. lump crab meat
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 lemon (juiced)
1/4-cup chopped Italian parsley
2 heads of baby bok choy
Directions:
1. For the bok choy: cut into quarters length-wise. Thoroughly wash the vegetable. In a large skillet heat the olive oil. Begin to cook the bok choy on medium heat, cut side down, until slightly browned. Remove the bok choy from the pan and reserve; keep warm.
2. In the same skillet (do not clean), slowly melt the butter, lemon juice and the mustard together. This should take about 1 minute to melt fully. Carefully place the flounder fillets in the skillet. Poach the flounder for 3 minutes on 1 side. Gently turn over the fillets, top with the crab meat. Sprinkle the fish with chopped parsley and sea salt. Cover the pan for 1 minute to heat the crab meat.
3. To serve, divide the reserved bok choy between four plates. Carefully scrape the crab off of the fish and into the sauce. Remove the fish and place a fillet alongside bok choy. Mix the crab with the butter mixture and spoon on top of the fish.
Prep time: 12 minutes
Yield: 4 entree servings
POACHED PEACHES WITH FIG GELATO
Ingredients:
1 pint fig gelato (or your favorite flavor)
2 freestone peaches
1 16 oz. can ginger ale
1 tsp butter
1 tsp brown sugar
Directions:
1. Cut the peaches in half to remove the pit and any extra stem.
2. Combine soda, brown sugar and butter in a pan over medium heat. Poach the peaches in the liquid for four to five minutes.
3. Place a peach half on each plate and serve with 1 scoop of fig gelato.