Shaina Loew-Banayan should have made the bologna last night. Alas, there was no time in the rush of the once-weekly dinner service, as plates of jellied pork terrine and fingers of buttery shortbread next to hunks of soft goat cheese landed on each table. So at 7:30 a.m. on a scorching Saturday in May, before the brunch rush and while most of the small riverside town of Hudson, New York, is still asleep, Shaina is blending beef.
This is how mornings often begin at Cafe Mutton, a warm cottagelike restaurant that has proven, on each of my many visits, to be one of the country's most delightful, unpredictable, and consistently delicious new restaurants.
By 8:30 a.m. Liz Malatesta and Feather Krein, the restaurant's two other cooks, are baking orange muffins and whisking crepe batter. Bettina Loew-Banayan, Shaina's wife and the smiling face that greets you at the register, stacks vintage china plates and polishes silver. Bologna now setting in the fridge, Shaina has moved on to grinding and stuffing sausages that will be served with crisp medallions of potato and onion, all drenched in the silkiest hollandaise.
Shaina's confidence is mesmerizing as they perform the acrobatic feat of stabilizing a small sausage stuffer and twisting the crank with one hand while using the other to guide the stuffing into a long sheath of casing. It's hard to imagine Shaina working anywhere other than this narrow kitchen, boiling bologna and turning chunks of meat into sausages so supple and juicy that the first time I tasted one I turned to my partner totally speechless, mouth agape. On one wall there's a faded photograph of the chef's great-grandfather and assorted distant relatives from Hungary.
Denne historien er fra October 2022-utgaven av Bon Appétit.
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Denne historien er fra October 2022-utgaven av Bon Appétit.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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The Bargaining Table
To face her toughest critic, chef Michelle Bernstein of Miami's Cafe La Trova empowers her kid with choice
Into the Woods
The only thing standing between me and a perfectly executed faux sick day was...a cake
Built to Last
California design studio Commune outlines sustainable strategies for kitchens
In the Limelight
At Este in Austin, pastry chef Derrick Flynn's Oaxacan crema semifreddo is like a Key lime pie that went on vacation to the Mexican coast
VEGAN FOR EVERYONE
This one's for the vegans, and the sometimes vegans, and the never vegans, and anyone who wants a fast, filling, and delicious weeknight dinner that also happens to be vegan
Trash Talking
At Shuggie's in San Francisco, everything is garbage and that's a good thing
DIGGING AT THE ROOTS
In her latest book, Ever-Green Vietnamese, beloved teacher and food writer Andrea Nguyen takes a closer look at the plant-centric origins of her culinary heritage
DO YOU KNOW YOUR WATER FOOTPRINT?
You’ve heard of a carbon footprint. But hinking about its lesser-known counterpart is becoming ever more urgent
Take It Slow
For Pierce Abernathy and environmental art collective Aerthship, mindful eating is a way of life
Soufflé for Seder
Claire Ptak, owner of London bakery Violet, makes a lofty molten chocolate cloud that's kosher for Passover