A number of food writers, myself included, were at Grace on Friday night at the invitation of restaurant owner Anne Verrill to experience the restaurant’s new Whole Beast Feast tasting menu prepared by chef Pete Sultenfuss. Also participating in the lambcentric meal were Phillip and Lisa Webster from North Star Sheep Farm where the lamb for our meal was raised.
Edible Obsession and Meredith Goad from the Press Herald have now published their reports on the meal. For me the most memorable parts of the meal were the lamb tartare in the first course, and later on the fresh corn polenta and tempura-fried milkweed pods.
The amuse brought over by the Chef to start the evening was a lamb tartare, The raw lamb was blended with a smokey and spicy harissa paste, sesame seeds and cucumber. The flavor was much more assertive, both because of the harissa and inherent flavor of protein, than your average tartare and I appreciated the spice the harissa lent to the dish. The flatbread, served to the side, added salt to the main component purposefully and the combination made for a delightful start to the evening.
Next came smoked lamb shoulder served in an individual cast iron pan with the house rigatoni, Castelventrano olives, sungold tomatoes and a touch of ouzo. The dish was topped with a creamy goat’s milk ricotta. This course was paired with a Teira zinfandel.