Bolsa execuchef Jeff Harris shows what he can do when you put him in a box. He comes out fighting! The mandate: prepare a vegetarian meal for 20 to be served at Bolsa Mercado’s communal table as part of their ‘Meet and Eat’ series that takes place on Friday evenings. The result? A menu that even a carnivore could love. Check out Melisa Oporto’s pictures for a feast for the eyes.
Harris came out and described each course and a representative from Republic Distributing, who supply these wines in the Dallas market, gave the wine background and included the fact that the Prosecco was made from organically grown grapes.
There were many taste highlights. Check out the pressed cucumber in the first course. (That means compressed – as in sous vide – cooking.) The cucumber is dried by a powerful vacuum, which then concentrates the flavors. The sweet corn ravioli (second course) burst with the sweetness of corn as your teeth pierced the just al dente pasta. The green pea soup ached with the unmistakable taste of peas as well. Some of the preparation is very subtle. For example, the dressing on the heirloom tomato salad had sumac dressing.
I heard someone say, “I don’t like mushrooms” just as the hen of the woods arrived. I put that down to the magnificent grotesqueness of these roasted examples set atop homely mashed potatoes. The taste was an ‘umami bomb,’ as they say, but modulated by reduced red wine sauce and accompanying sweet onions.
This is not the last Bolsa Mercado meal. Every Friday night during the summer months, Jeff Harris is serving a five-course dinner. The “Meet and Eat” dinners take place at Bolsa Mercado’s community table, with seating limited to only 20 people. Cost is $75 per person, and guests must email [email protected] or call 214.942.0451 to reserve a spot using a credit card. Dinner is served at 7:30 and also includes wine pairings.
Some of these meals will be vegetarian if there is the demand (this was a pilot), so make your voice heard if that’s what you want.
