Thank you so much for the oppurtunity to work with you and your staff. I can’t begin to tell you how much I learned. It was what I expected and more. My experience in your kitchen allowed me to open up my restaurant even more to offal.

When I got back to my restaurant I came back with a new energy. I saw some amazing food at Incanto during my time there. From cutting edge food with the warm blood mousse to the peasant stlye porridge, an impresssive the combination, I feel a new push for myself and my staff to be the best we can. It was an experience I would not trade for anything and would love to do it again. It you ever need any help in anything I would love to be a part of it.

Thank you again for opening your kitchen to me.

Michael Hudman
Chef/Owner Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen.

Guts, Fame, and Exciting Tripe

While Lessley was off investigating vegan Mexican food in the Mission, I was on the polar opposite journey, going to Chris Cosentino’s manly meat temple Incanto. Now, it would be easy to get all cynical and dismissive about the restaurant since the chef (and Food Network star) was in the dining room signing autographs and taking photos with some fans while I was eating, but why get all petty when the food can speak for itself, and it’s saying loud and clear: AWESOME.

Case in point: a tripe stew. I’m not a tripe hater. I like it in pho, since it sort of acts, texturally, like a meat noodle, but I’m not excited about it. I ordered the grilled trippa appetizer for that reason, since Cosentino has really done a lot of work toward making offal more accepted (and even glamorous), and I wanted to see if it was possible to get excited about tripe. And it was. A bowl showed up with a deeply savory broth, tender slices of grilled tripe that tasted and chewed like a meaty mushroom, crunchy pieces of bacon, and a pile of ancho cress thrown on top that, when mixed in, wilted perfectly into the soup, giving it a nice peppery flavor. I was going back to it to sop it up with the bread.

Wine-wise, a fun idea was the “mystery flight” on the menu. Three generous pours arrived for $15. And I appreciated that the restaurant put a little paper tag around the base of each glass with the wine info printed on it, so you could actually take it home to remember it.

Over the top but delicious: a big slice of seared foie gras served on—wait, that wasn’t toasted bread—a breaded, fried trotter. Ridiculous, yes; delicious for sure. And the side of sliced strawberries, crunchy rhubarb, and tiny purslane leaves with a sweet/salty/tangy rhubarb mostarda showed a lot of love put into the nonmeat items, too.

Another game-changer for my prejudices: the stinging nettle and morel risotto. I think I’ve just had a lot of terrible, gluey risotto and now I avoid it. But in the spirit of the tripe, I ordered the thing I thought I’d like the least. It was the right move. Bright, bright green risotto arrived with a handful of morels on top. The nettle flavor was strong, giving the risotto a deep earthiness, which was intensified by the mushrooms. It was really, really rich and creamy. I will be going back for that dish.

The other thing that I was curious about was a mysterious “hayoli.” It was just what it sounded like: aioli made with oil that had been infused with hay. It tasted like extremely grassy olive oil, sharp and peppery. It was served dabbed on tender braised beef cheeks, which came with a tangled mass of salad made with shaved tongue, rucola greens, and peas … oh no, not peas at all. They were tiny, sour green grapes, which burst with a crazy intense acidity in the mouth: exactly what the rich dish needed, delivered in an unexpected way.

Incanto is a restaurant that can change your mind about foods you don’t think you like, and that’s a good thing. And really, who am I to judge things anyways, since I was the jerk shoving a camera into the risotto in a crowded restaurant? (Sorry, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn the flash on and be a real ass, so the pictures are not the best.)

Posted on Monday, July 5th, 2010 by Roxanne Webber

As you all know i have a long standing relationship with upper playground, and this is the final segment of our cooking art collaboration videos. Its perfect timing for the release, with valentines day being this weekend. I had the opportunity to work with n8vandyke, a great bay area artist with an honest interest in food. Take a look at the video below it was fun as always these guys have passion for their art like chefs do for their food.

I have decided to do something a little different for this year’s head to tail dinner, inspired by the constant requests for knowledge about how to cook offal. Now’s your chance to learn. I will be accepting 2 volunteers to help with the event this year. You get to come into my kitchen and help cook 2 nights of head to tail dinners. You will work your ass off, have some fun and learn a ton, but there are rules to this game. This offer is open to professional cooks only. You will be an unpaid volunteer. You must commit to working in my kitchen for 5 days, from Friday, March 19th through Wednesday the 24th except for Tuesday, which you’ll have off to recover. You must submit your resume and a short essay on why you should be one of the chosen ones. This is a busy time and I don’t have time to be baby sitting. The Head to Tail dinner is a multi-course menu with a shit load of detailed work..

Here is the pay out; you get both of my t-shirts to take home and you will be able to sit down and enjoy the head to tail menu in the dinning room on the last night.

Email your resume and brief essay to me at chris@offalgood.com by sunday February 28th. I will make a final decision and contact the 2 lucky winners on March 3rd to confim your participation. Ultimately, this is a fun opportunity to be a part of a great team for a week and learn how to cook some innards.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This didnt make the cut for No Reservations, but just the ability to see him drink FU2012 was priceless. The ability to work on such a special project with lance at hanger 1 has been great. He is a mad scientist and genius with distilling Enjoy the video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A few years ago Anthony Bourdain came to Incanto for dinner and my buisneess partner Mark Pastore wrote a great letter called “when royality comes calling”. It was a crazy day when he came for dinner a few years back nervous and star struck I cooked and cooked, hoping not to blow it. Now fast forward to this march an I get a phone call from zero point zero production that they want to film No Reserations. I am honored to be part of such a great show which has been stacking up the emmy nominations. Thanks to my team and all staff on hand the restaurant looked great on the show. Thanks!!

Click on the image to hear the show.

My Day on a Plate: Chris Cosentino

Incanto’s Chris Cosentino (right) and Mark Pastore examine the wares at their Boccalone salumi factory in Oakland, California.