Food Lovers' Guide 2015

48 | JACKSONVILLEMAG.COM SEPTEMBER 2015
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SEPTEMBER 2015 JACKSONVILLEMAG.COM | 49
k
is an ODE to LOCAL CUISINE and
the places at which to indulge in
it. The following pages highlight
some of the SIGNATURE ITEMS
of First Coast eateries—from
house-made CHARCUTERIE to
icy cold POPSICLES and fried
CHEESE CURDS. In short, there’s
something from every part of the
FOOD PYRAMID, plus an essay on
going VEGAN, the latest class of
the First Coast dining HALL OF
FAME and even a guide to diffi-
cult-to-pronounce INGREDIENTS.
Dig In!
OUR ANNUAL
Food Lover’s Guide

1. 13 Gypsies’ house-cured
meats are a signature of the
cozy, eight-table “peasant
kitchen.” Selections range from
$8-$9 and include bresaola (air-
dried, salted beef that’s been
aged until it turns almost pur-
ple in color), fennel salami,
adobo ham, garlic-pressed pork
loin, banger-flavored sausage,
spiced bologna and prosciut-
to—just to name a few. “Small
batch charcuterie is a dying art.
You don’t see a lot of it done in
restaurants anymore,” says
proprietor and chef Howard
Kirk. “I have complete control
over the flavor profile. We have
a cured pork shoulder that’s
flavored with Asian five spice,
which you don’t really see. We
do another pork sausage that’s
flavored with our own blacken-
ing spice, which you don’t see
on the market either.”
2. Restaurant Orsay’s oys-
ter selection changes every
night, but expect to find a
selection that spans the coun-
try—including cold water oys-
ters from Washington and
British Columbia and oysters
from across the Eastern
seaboard. The tasty bivalves
are served with house-made
mignonette, horseradish and
cocktail sauce. Pictured here
are Kumamoto, Shutoku,
James River and Blue Point
oysters ($3-$4 per oyster).
3. That beef tripe is made from
the chambers of a cow’s stom-
ach is enough to make some
recoil in discomfort, but it’s a
popular ingredient in
Vietnamese cuisine. Pho, A
Noodle Bar adds it to heaping
bowls of pho ($10), a soup con-
sisting of slow-simmered sea-
soned beef broth, rice vermi-
celli noodles and meat and
garnished with onions, bean
sprouts and herbs. Taste- and
texture-wise, it’s a hotly debat-
ed protein, but one that takes
well to the salty and spicy
(depending upon how much
sriracha you add) soup.
4. Though its appearance is
intimidating, properly cooked
escargot (AKA snails) have a
chewy but not unpleasant tex-
ture. At Eleven South, the
gastropod molluscs are sautéed
with tarragon scampi butter
and melted parmesan and
served with toasted baguette,
which is ideal for sopping up
the luxurious sauce, making
for a French-influenced appe-
tizer ($11) that’s as aesthetical-
ly pleasing as it is delicious.
5. Goat is a tough meat to pre-
pare—literally, as it requires
slow cooking in strong spices
to tenderize. At Stars
Caribbean Restaurant, curry
is just the thing to temper the
tough cut. Here, the goat curry
($14 for a large order) is served
alongside peas, cabbage and
rice—perfect to soak up some
of the flavorful sauce. Though
it’s a somewhat exotic dish for
North Americans, goat curry is
one of the most popular dishes
in Indo-Caribbean cuisine.
6. Come lunchtime, hungry
locals line up for one of
Pinegrove Market & Deli’s
signature sandwiches, which
are stuffed with meats from
the on-site butcher shop. Only
USDA choice beef is used in
the dry-aging process, which
occurs while meat hangs in a
refrigerated cooler for 10 to 28
days prior to cutting. Once it’s
been aged, Pinegrove’s butch-
ers hand-cut steaks from each
loin. Pictured here is a rib eye,
one of the richest cuts avail-
able ($27/pound).
7. The fishmongers at seafood
market Fisherman’s Dock
have been filleting fish for
more than 35 years. Everything
is fresh-off-the-boat and the
selection is vast—think shrimp,
oysters, salmon and lobster
(both Florida and Maine, pic-
tured). The staff is passionate
about water preservation and
partners with a number of
other seafood companies
(including Boston Lobster
Company and Cape Cod
Shellfish Company) to ensure
the freshest selection.
“Between retail and wholesale,
we probably sell 35-50 pounds
of lobster a day,” says retail
manager Andrea Greene. “The
Florida lobster season recently
opened and we will easily go
through 60 or 70 pounds of
those per week.”
8. Both the menu and the inte-
rior décor at Clark’s Fish
Camp are full of exotic meats
and game. The dining areas
are a veritable who’s who of
the animal kingdom, with
stuffed lions, zebras and mon-
keys lining the walls. The
“taste for the adventurous”
menu is similarly gamey and
includes ostrich, fried snake,
charred camel, gator ribs, tail
and toes ($11 each, pictured
here) and charred kangaroo.
Meat

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1. Taverna knows that the
best cheese boards are those
overflowing with plenty of
stuff—crackers, nuts, honeys,
dried fruit and several varieties
of the good stuff. The cheese
selection at Taverna changes
periodically but expect region-
al favorites like manchego,
Humboldt Fog and gorgonzola
(priced individually or five for
$20). No matter the type,
spread it on a crisp crostini
with a little honey and you’ve
got a match made in cheesy
heaven.
2. Glades Ridge Goat Dairy
(located in Lake Butler, Florida)
raises its goats the old-fash-
ioned way—here, the animals
graze in pastures free of fertil-
izers and herbicides. The
resulting goats’ milk products
for which the farm is known
come in a wide range of fin-
ished products such as: goat
milk kefir, goat cheese truffles
and goat milk yogurt among
them. Pictured here is one
variety of goat cheese: sun-
dried tomato chevre ($8 per
eight-ounce package at
Riverside Arts Market).
3. Turns out Little Miss Muffet
was way ahead of her time in
eating her curds and whey.
These days, cheese curds—the
solid parts of soured milk—are
a pretty trendy food item.
Hoptinger Bier Garden &
Sausage House serves its
“cheeseheads” ($5, beer-bat-
tered Wisconsin cheddar
cheese curds) alongside lager
yellow mustard and black wal-
nut aioli for dipping. Deep fried
cheese paired with a strong
German-style brew is about as
“Bavarican" as it gets.
4. Buttered bread is pretty
great on its own but add
homemade cheese and it
becomes otherworldly. That’s
the recipe at MOCA
Jacksonville’s Café Nola,
where chef Kathy Collins
makes from-scratch lemon
ricotta for the restaurant’s
ricotta toast ($7). “The bread
that we serve the toast on is
also made in house,” says
Collins. “It’s a semolina bread
with a little bit more of a
dense, chewy texture, so it
holds all the butter we slather
on it perfectly. Then it’s driz-
zled with a house-made citrus
dressing and sprinkled with
micro-arugula grown in Mount
Dora. Crunchy, chewy bread,
the smooth, creamy ricotta, a
little citrus and the peppery
arugula make it a dish with a
great balance of flavors and
textures.”
5. Paneer, popular in Indian
cuisine, is a fresh cheese,
meaning it’s un-aged, acid-set
and non-melting. The fact that
it doesn’t melt makes it an
ideal vehicle for hot, saucy
dishes such as saag paneer
($7), a vegetarian curry made
with greens (in this case,
spinach) at India’s
Restaurant. The fluffy
cheese, which is typically
made from curdling heated
milk with lemon juice, vinegar
or another acid, pairs well with
the myriad of spices in the
dish.
6. The Happy Grilled Cheese
food truck serves up several
varieties of the childhood
favorite, but the most popular,
the Mac Melt ($6), is a double-
whammy of cheesy goodness.
The Mac is stuffed with
American and cheddar
cheeses, grilled onions and—
wait for it—a pile of mac-and-
cheese. Order a $1 dipping por-
tion of freshly made tomato
soup for dunking and you’ve
got a comfort food classic.
7. The Blind Rabbit’s S’more
Brownie Milkshake is a deca-
dent concoction of vanilla ice
cream mixed with Belgian
chocolate brownie, peanut
butter, graham cracker
streusel topped with a house-
made, brûléed marshmallow.
The milkshake is $6 but for an
extra $2, you can get a grown-
up version, spiked with
Catdaddy Moonshine. ”It’s our
take on a campfire classic,”
says head chef Jason Swank.
“Adding a caramel-flavored
moonshine enhances the fla-
vor even further.” We’re
singing campfire songs
already.
Dairy

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1. Fresh, made-from-scratch
pasta is lightyears away from
the dried and boxed stuff. But
unless you have a lot of
patience, extra kitchen smarts
and a pasta-roller, it’s not the
easiest thing to make at home.
That’s where Mezza comes in.
The cozy restaurant makes its
noodles from scratch before
combining them with robust
sauces, like the chef’s ragù
($23), a stick-to-your ribs, meat-
based sauce. At Mezza, house-
made pappardelle (wide, flat
noodles) provide the perfect
base for the comforting dish.
2. Think of focaccia as the
love-child of pizza and bread—
the flat, oven-baked loaf often
comes topped with herbs and
other ingredients. The French
Pantry’s focaccia ($6) is stud-
ded with sun-dried tomatoes,
chunks of goat cheese and a
hefty dose of rosemary. It
turns a traditional sandwich
into something deliciously dif-
ferent but it’s equally tasty
when served on its own. Just
try not to devour the entire
loaf in one sitting.
3. Lentils are one of the
world’s oldest crops and a
healthy source of protein, fiber
and folate. They’re also rela-
tively easy to prepare and
readily absorb flavors from oils
and seasonings. Native Sun
Natural Food Market’s
lentil salad ($7 per pound)
combines the legumes with
liquid aminos, collards, red
bell pepper and almonds.
4. Fewer smells are as enticing
as that of fresh-baked bread.
Village Bread has been
hand-forming and baking tra-
ditional loaves since 1992,
including its whole wheat vari-
ety ($2.25) which is available
sliced or un-sliced. “Most of
the bread we bake today is
delivered tomorrow,” says Nick
Chaput, sales manager. “We
only use fresh yeast to rise our
products, which gives the
bread a distinct taste. Many of
our artisan products require
benchwork, where you’re
forming loaves almost entirely
by hand.”
5. Middlins, a by-product of
milling rice, are the South’s
answer to risotto. The broken
pieces of rice take on an
almost creamy consistency
when cooked and pair well
with hearty sauces. They’re
one of the most in-demand
products from Congaree and
Penn Farm & Mills, a rice
farm and mayhaw orchard
located on the Northside. “The
difference between our prod-
uct and what you find in a
store is that we’re milling it
fresh—we harvest it, dry it,
and store it in small batches
every week,” says Congaree
owner Scott Meyer. “Out at the
farm, we’ve got a really thick
layer of clay below our sandy,
loamy soil, and it retains the
water really well. We have the
right climate and the right soil
to grow rice. It’s close to what
they do in Japan.” The mid-
dlins ($10 per 12 ounce-bag)
can be purchased by home
cooks and also feature promi-
nently on the menus of restau-
rants including 29 South and
Orsay.
6. Soft and warm, doughy and
slightly salty—few can criticize
the breadstick, an ideal appe-
tizer before taking on even
more carbs in the form of
pasta or pizza. Trasca & Co.’s
panino sticks ($5) are a basket
of freshly baked, seasoned
mini breadsticks, made with
the eatery’s secret panino
dough recipe. “My grandmoth-
er invented the dough in 1974,”
says Trasca owner Sara
Trembath. “It has been passed
down from my grandparents,
to my parents and my aunts
and uncles and now to my
cousins and me. For the pani-
no sticks we use the dough to
make mini breadsticks, then
top them with seasoning salt,
bake them and serve them
with housemade marinara and
housemade ranch dressing.
They are pretty exquisite.”
7. Gnocchi—small dumplings
made from wheat flour, egg
and potato—are an Italian spe-
cialty. Though often served as
a side dish, the pillowy concoc-
tions are flavorful enough to
shine on their own, as they do
in Moxie Kitchen +
Cocktails’ iteration ($21.50)
with heirloom tomatoes,
smoked mozzarella and toma-
to and basil purée. “Our gnoc-
chi is handmade with pota-
toes, flour and local farm eggs
from Cognito Farms,” says chef
Tom Gray. “As a versatile back-
drop for many flavors, we can
prepare seasonal versions.
Later, when the seasons
change, we’ll incorporate more
hearty flavors with ingredients
like braised oxtail and creamed
leeks. It's a perennial favorite."
Grains

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1. The rustic fare on offer at
Knead, A Bakeshop is the
very definition of artisan.
Customers won’t find trendy
cupcakes or donuts here, but
they do find goodies such as
baked French toast ($4) and
cherry hand pies ($3.50). “I’ve
always been drawn to the
more rustic style of pastry,”
says Knead owner Adam
Burnett. “Tearing into a fresh-
baked croissant and having it
flake all over you is probably
one of the best sensations.”
The fruit atop the baked
French toast changes with the
seasons for a the freshest and
most flavorful treats.
2. The macarons at Motion
Sweets ($18/dozen) marry
flakey French sandwich cook-
ies with all-American flavors
(think Cap’n Crunch, banana
pudding and Earl Grey). The
result is a sophisticated riff on
the airy Parisian treat. “We
have over 75 flavors,” says
owner Megan Suggs. “They’re
hand made and each batch
takes about two-and-a-half
hours.” Watch the bakery on
social media to find out which
flavors are available each day.
Get there early, however,
because the best ones disap-
pear fast.
3. For many Americans, pop
tarts conjure up images of
early mornings in college,
when a toaster was the fanci-
est appliance within arm’s
reach. At Murray Hill’s
Vagabond Coffee, the pre-
baked pastries made famous
by Kellogg are all grown up,
made from scratch and even
tastier than the originals. “We
make croissant dough daily,
rest it and hand roll it so it
takes on a crispy, flaky tex-
ture,” says Vagabond owner
Will Morgan. “The fillings are
made from fresh ingredients
and the icing is made by hand.
They’re fun, they’re light and
they’re perfect for someone
who’s looking for something
quick.” Pictured here is the
banana Nutella ($3), but fla-
vors change periodically.
4. You’d be hard-pressed to
find a more vibrant dish than
halo-halo, a Filipino dessert
that combines shaved ice,
evaporated milk, boiled sweet
beans, jello, nuts and fruits. At
Maharlika Hall & Sports
Grill, the hodgepodge of
ingredients ($7) is just the
thing to combat the hot Florida
climate. A heavy, fudge-laden
sundae it is not. In fact, halo-
halo (Tagalog for “mix-mix”) is
surprisingly refreshing and
meant to be mixed before it is
eaten.
5. The hand-pulled delectables
at Sweet Pete’s come in a
variety of flavors (cherry, lime
and banana among them) but
they all have one thing in com-
mon—the shop’s confections
are made from just a handful
of natural ingredients and fla-
vors. Of course, lip-smacking
treats like this giant lollipop
($20) and rock candy ($2) con-
tain ample sugar, but the old-
school candies look so sweet,
it’s hard to feel guilty
indulging.
6. Turn a drinkable treat into
something spoonable and you
have a smoothie bowl, the lat-
est breakfast star of the
healthy food world. Nourish
Juice Cafe’s mixed berry
superfruit bowl ($8.75) com-
bines acai, strawberry, blue-
berry, banana and almond
milk and tops it with granola,
banana, strawberry and
coconut flakes. Nutritious,
tasty and highly Instagram-
worthy.
7. The ingredients in The
Hyppo’s popsicles ($3.50 a
pop) are pure and simple: fresh
fruit and herbs and spices and
evaporated cane juice. The fla-
vors available at the brand’s
namesake shop in downtown
St. Augustine (and now at gro-
cery stores across the
Southeast) are surprisingly
complex: strawberry basil,
pineapple cilantro (both pic-
tured), mango habanero...You
get the picture.
8. Truffles are kind of the ulti-
mate chocolate confection—
combine ganache, cocoa pow-
der and exotic flavors like pas-
sionfruit and espresso and it’s
hard to go wrong. A box of
truffles ($18 for 12 pieces) at
Claude’s Chocolate includes
an assortment of milk and
dark chocolate bonbons filled
with ganache, nut and caramel
centers. Claude, a classically
trained pastry chef, utilizes
Belgian chocolate and sources
his nuts, spices and fruits from
around the globe.
Sweets

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