The Dish: Chef Kevin Adey

Born in upstate New York, Kevin Adey started his food career in Florida, before joining the kitchen team at one of the world's most acclaimed restaurants, seafood mecca Le Bernardin.

Later, he headed to the borough of Brooklyn as executive chef of Northeast Kingdom.

Then in 2015, he and his wife opened Faro in Bushwick, focusing on house-made pastas, and an enlightened approach to ingredients including organic produce, sustainable sourcing and whole grains. A comfortable local place, it still earned notice winning a coveted Michelin star a year after opening.

In September he'll open General Debs specializing in spicy Sichuan noodles.

Here are some of Adey's signature recipes: 

Scarpinocc with pork and fennel ragu

Ingredients

Olive oil

1 quart high quality ground pork 

2 oz ground cured pork- prosciutto or pancetta

1 quart small diced Spanish onion 

1 pint sofrito: carrot, celery fennel, equal parts pulsed in robot coupe till its super small or micro-planed with 1 calabrian chili and 6 cloves of garlic 

1 tablespoon  each toasted and ground black pepper, coriander, and fennel seeds 

1 cup white wine 

1 cup chicken stock   

1 cup tomato paste 

2 oz each chopped parsley, basil, chives

Salt 

Paper cartouche

2 cloves sliced garlic

2 sliced shallots

1 cup sliced baby fennel

3 oz cream

2 oz butter

Directions

1. In a large rondeau add a good amount of olive oil and heat add in pancetta and ground pork spread it out and brown properly, remove from pan 

2. Drain off most of the pork fat and add in a good amount of olive oil. Add in sofrito and cook slowly until it starts to caramelize, add in diced onion and ground spices and cook slowly until it starts to lightly brown.

3.  Add in tomato paste and cook a bit. Add in the browned pork and stir to combine. Deglaze with the wine and reduce by 1/2 add in stock season a bit with salt add in the chopped herbs stir and cover with the cartouche. 

4. Place in a 325-degree oven for an hour and a half

5. Re-season and chill properly. this is more ragu than you will need 

6. For pick up: sweat the 2 cloves garlic, shallots and fennel, add in some ragu and heat, add in a bit of pasta water the cream, pasta and mount with butter and finish with a toss of the reserved fresh herbs season taste and plate

Marinated tomatoes with avocado puree

Ingredients

Heirloom tomatoes

brunoise 1 red onion 

Finely-minced chives 

Good extra virgin olive oil 

Good aged sherry vinegar 

Fresh basil 

Pepper   

Sea salt 

3 avocados 

Juice of 2 lemons 

Champagne vinegar 

White pepper

Directions

1. For the puree combine all in a high powered blender, puree and season and store in a piping bag

2. For tomatoes, wash and core tomatoes and slice about 1/4 in thick and cover a serving platter with the slices.

3. Sprinkle with red onion, chives, salt pepper, olive oil, vinegar, and set aside for an hour, pipe avocado in small 1/2-ounce dabs over the tomatoes. Tear fresh basil over the top and serve. 

Cauliflower salad

Miso cauliflower puree ingredients

1/2 cauliflower, cut small  

1/4 cup pine nuts 

1 clove of garlic 

1 sliced shallot 

2 tablespoons butter 

1 tablespoon white miso

Kale

Directions

1. In a sauté pan heat butter and add garlic, and shallots and sweat a bit, add in cauliflower and pine nuts and cooked until caramelized remove from heat and add miso.   

2. Transfer to a blender and puree till smooth season with salt if necessary and reserve.

3. Trim florets into bite sized pieces and blanch until tender crisp it is good to use multiple types or colors of cauliflower (romanesco, purple, or orange) along with the white. 

4. Strip a few branches of kale of their leaves toss with EVOO and salt and lay out on a baking sheet, bake at 350 degrees for about 10 min or until crispy. 

Charred scallion relish ingredients 

5 bunches of scallions

Small knob of ginger (1/2 oz or so)

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 tablspoon sesame oil

Mix all together and let the flavors blend

Directions

1. Trim the ends off and char scallions, chop by hand till small (relish size). Peel and brunoise ginger. 

2. Add soy sauce and sesame oil

3. Mix all together and let the flavors blend

To plate: Dress the cauliflower use pickled onion vinegar or white wine. Put blanched cauliflower in a bowl and season with salt and vinegar and olive oil. Spoon cauliflower-miso puree on a platter and spread out, place cauliflower on the platter and spoon the relish over, top with crispy kale. 

Tuna tartare

Ingredients

1 pound tuna cleaned and small diced 

1 ounce harissa 

Salt 

Pepper 

3 oz each, small diced cucumber, scallion, and chives 

Extra virgin olive oil 

Juice of 1 lemon 

Mix all together adding the lemon right before serving so it does not turn grey

1 English cucumber sliced long ways thinly on a mandolin

4 ounces mayonnaise (kewpie)

Directions

1.  Mix all together (except cucumbers and tuna) adding the lemon right before serving so it does not turn grey

2. To plate, lay the sliced cucumbers on the platter and season with salt and pepper and a bit of olive oil. Top with tartare (fully seasoned) and drizzle with the harissa mayo and garnish with sorrel 

Chocolate olive oil cake 

Ingredients

400 grams extra virgin olive oil 

600 grams sugar 

9 eggs 

340 grams water 

150 cocoa powder 

60 grams vanilla extract 

375 grams AP flour 

10 grams baking soda 

Directions

1.  Combine water and cocoa

2. Cream oil and sugar then add eggs one by one. Add in cocoa water and vanilla. Add in dry and mix until combined. 

Pepper ice cream ingredients 

2 cups sugar

1 quart milk

2 quarts cream

1 tablespoon cracked black pepper

12 egg yolks

Directions

1. Caramelize the sugar with the cracked pepper in a pot until it's the color of Newcastle brown ale add in the milk and cream and scald. 

2. Temper eggs and then whisk back into pepper cream and cook until nape'.  Strain, chill and follow instructions of your ice cream maker.