I hadn’t been to the Cortex area in over a year when all at once, several media events brought me there. The place is evolving in all the good ways forecast years ago when it launched. As Vicia co-owner Tara Gallina put it, “The area is growing up around us.” Her restaurant was one of my stops. The vegetable-forward showplace for cutting-edge cuisine (chef-owner Michael Gallina was chef de cuisine at New York’s Blue Hill at Stone Barns) has unveiled a daily ‘midday meal.’ In common parlance, it’s an early happy hour, only cooler since Gallina has created the menu with his usual attention to detail.
No wings or pizza here. Well, there is an offering called potato pizza (and I highly recommend it), but the crust consists of potato chips, the cheese is whipped ricotta and the topping is soppressata with a little pickled green tomato. All the elements are lovingly made in-house—which is why foodies admire the Gallinas. They have set their sights at the pinnacle of the food world in terms of flavor, sustainability and innovation. Their bread comes with tomato peel salt, infused with dried tomato skins (because why waste the skins?), and their Naked Vegetables come with a dip of ‘vegetable top pesto.’ Again, why should perfectly edible plant parts go unused?
Less than a block down Duncan Avenue, The Chocolate Pig just opened in a new office complex that houses Microsoft. It’s the latest venture from the Bissinger’s folks. Chef Patrick Russell characterizes his menu as ‘elevated comfort food,’ and I can see why. I imagine the sweet potato stuffed with barbecue pork, white cheddar, crispy kale and buttermilk dressing would suit me just fine. Then, of course, there’s the ‘dessert show kitchen,’ where pastry chef Tyler Davis creates outrageous sweets before your eyes. His Peanut Butter Bomb is a mound of PB mousse and cookie crumbs encased in Bissinger’s chocolate; it imploded when Davis poured hot berry compote over it.
Chocolate Pig manager Stephen Bleisch echoed Gallina’s praise for this new, innovative business and dining complex south of Forest Park Parkway. “It’s a dynamic mix of young professionals, people who live in surrounding neighborhoods, companies and nonprofits,” Bleisch beamed.
