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Community Corner

A Lesson Outside the Kitchen

After months interning in the kitchen at Uproot, Teddy DeVico treated his mother to a dinner there...seeing a different side of the work.

Editor's note: Warren resident Frank DeVico has been following his son, Teddy, 15, as Teddy learns about gourmet cooking and fine restaurants. Teddy launched his own blog at teenchefteddy.blogspot.com, and he and Frank will be sharing their experiences in this column.

Readers with questions about cooking, restaurants and new flavors for Frank and Teddy to explore are welcome to email them to john.patten@patch.com, then check back every Friday for the DeVicos' Culinary Quest.

Below, Teddy shares is first experience dining at the restaurant where he'd been working and his perspectives on the meal from the other side of the kitchen's swinging door. 

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"The first time I had a chance to dine at Uproot came three months after I began working in the restaurant. I arrived with my mom at 6:45, seconds before a pouring rain began.

"We were greeted with a smile, and the wait staff made us both feel very welcomed and relaxed. We were asked what we would like to drink and I got water, while my mom got a chardonnay. She said at first that her wine was not great, but she said it grew on her and she ended up loving it.

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"After our drinks were served, Executive Chef Anthony Bucco came out into the dining room to greet us. Because he knew I had some food allergies, he asked if my mom if she had any dietary restrictions, which she doesn't.

"We were asked if we would like bread and, of course, we said yes. The bread was the perfect temperature, just warm. Not too hot so the butter would melt, but still warm. The bread was crisp on the outside and doughy and soft on the inside. The bread is brought to Uproot par baked from an artisan bake shop in the area, and served with butter that is whipped with honey and salt. This gives the bread a nice sweet, salty and nutty contrast.

"Now it was time to choose our dinner choices: for first courses, my mom decided on pan roasted day-boat scallop, with an English pea puree, melted leeks, and pea tendrils. She decided on this first course over a crudo of salmon served with beets, Lime Crème Fraiche, and micro herbs because she wanted me to be able to try her course (I am allergic to all flat fish, but no shellfish).

"I decided on Agnolotti with English peas, fava beans, wax beans, confit tomatoes and fresh ricotta because I wanted to taste spring for the last time before going to a camp where the food is nothing close to good. For entrees, my mom decided on a Maine lobster carbonara with Angel hair, Pancetta, and an Americano Sauce and I decided on a roasted Lamb Loin with Crispy Lamb Shoulder, sautéed spinach, and red cabbage.

"Then, amuses arrived for the table, two pitted olives topped with tuna, a play on a tuna nicoise.

"Next, the first courses arrived. My agnolotti was beautiful to look at, with many contrasting colors on the plate. My first bite contained favas, peas and an agnolotti. When I started to taste my first bite, I was surprised because it was pretty bland—I knew the kitchen staff was better than this; they always seasoned their food perfectly. My next bite contained some of the confit tomato and now I realized why the other components of the dish were not salted heavily: the confit tomato added the salty component to the dish, and it burst with tons of flavor.

"Since there were only three chunks of confit tomatoes that were fairly big, you had to cut the confit tomatoes into smaller pieces so you got a piece of them in each bite. Next, I tried some of my mom's scallop dish, also very beautiful to look at with four seared scallops on top of a pea puree that was garnished with some pea tendrils. The white, golden brown and green colors all looked great together. The scallops themselves were cooked perfectly, golden brown on the outside and very tender on the inside. The scallops tasted like the essence of the sea, salty, sweet and buttery. The pea puree was rich, creamy and delicious.

"My mom was obsessed with the fleur de sel sprinkled on the scallops—that was her first time ever tasting that variety of salt.

"Next our entrees arrived. My lamb was not as aesthetic as the other dishes of the evening, but still looked great. My lamb loin was cooked perfectly, with a nice crust was developed on the exterior and the interior was cooked to a tender medium rare. The cabbage was a purple reddish color and it contained a lot of flavor and added some nice texture to the dish. The lamb shoulder was wrapped in feuilles de brick—it was very flavorful and the crisp dough added a great crunch.

"Then, I got to try my mom's lobster—this was the best dish of the night. The lobster is shelled then put in a bag with lots of butter and seasonings. Next the lobster is put in the cyrovac and all the air is taken out. When an order for the lobster is called in the kitchen, the bag is placed in a water bath temperature controlled by an immersion circulator. The lobster is cooked very slowly at a low temperature in tons of butter so the lobster is extremely tender and very buttery, which is a great thing. Each serving includes a claw and a tail with the dish; by far the best lobster I have ever had in my life.

"And it’s served with a buttery angel hair pasta that again was by far the best pasta I have ever had in my life. The pasta was rich with parmesan cheese and spiked with lemon juice to add some nice acidity. The crispy pancetta added a nice textural contrast to a great dish.

"Now it was time for desert. My mom and I were going to split one desert, so this decision was very challenging. All of the deserts were very playful and exciting.

"The Uproot’s pastry chef, Mark Farro, says, “I like to have fun with my desserts. I think they are very playful.” The offerings range from a Banana Tempura with Rum Gelee, Chocolate Ganache, and Banana Ice Cream, or a tasting of strawberry, which consisted of a gelee, shortcake, soda, and vanilla cream, and a few others. I ultimately decided on the strawberry because there were nuts I’m allergic to in the banana tempura and in the majority of the other deserts.

"When we received the tasting of strawberry we also received a tasting of house-made sorbets and ice creams, including pineapple sorbet, blackberry sorbet, banana ice cream, and mint ice cream with chocolate crisps. Both sorbets were extremely refreshing, light, and tasted exactly like the fruit they were derived from. The banana ice was very smooth and rich. The mint ice cream was rich and refreshing at the same time and had a nice textural contrast with the chocolate crisps.

"The tasting of strawberry was extremely appealing to the eye. First, the shortcake was very tender and slightly crisp. A gelee added moistness to the dish. The strawberry soda tasted like the pure essence of strawberry—it was one of the best drinks I have ever tasted but I did not detect any "bubbles" that would classify it as a soda.  I know that the drink was carbonated, but maybe it was not carbonated enough. There were also compressed strawberries on the plate that tasted like very intense strawberries. The whipped cream was delicious and there was a basil garnish in top of the whipped cream. The basil added a nice herbaceous and peppery flavor to the desert.

"Overall the service was nearly perfect and friendly. The atmosphere was very comfortable. The music that was being played was at the perfect sound level so that it would not disturb your conversation. Also, my chair was very comfortable to sit in. The lights were dimmed, but there were candlelights that provided to the perfect amount of light.

"After dinner I took my mom to the kitchen to show her around. While we were there, we chatted with Executive Chef Anthony Bucco.

“'At Uproot, we cook very seasonally and regionally,' he said. 'Our goal is to cook respectfully and ultimately very tasty food in a non-pretentious environment.'

"Even though I had been working in the kitchen, I learned a lot by dining at Uproot. And for those who haven’t visited the restaurant, be prepared to learn about a whole world of flavor combinations when dining at Uproot."

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