[UPDATED] Announcing Telepan Pizzeria Menu

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Update: The kids are pumped! Ellie and I visited Ms. Garcia and her Science Club at Phillis Wheatley on Thursday to draw a Thank You poster for chef Bill. Lots of veggies were ready for harvest in the garden so we picked all kinds of tomatoes and even a kohlrabi — something foreign even to the grown-ups! We hatched a plan to visit the following day in the cafeteria and brought along our secret weapon — sous chef Steve Martin from Harry’s. He quickly sliced and diced a fresh salad using a combination of the harvested veggies, some arugula and house salad dressing from the restaurant and the kids’ apples from lunch that day. A great morning! Fulfilling for the kids and for us in so many ways. Thank you for your support so we can sustain this program!

Bill is ready to rock South Florida, and we are bracing ourselves.  This may be Harry’s first pop chef to utilize local ingredients in every dish on the menu.  Ellie and I are off to Phillis Wheatley this afternoon to visit our school garden program students and snap their picture for this event’s take home gift. Proceeds from the dinner are going to seedlings so we can replant for the 2013-14 school year. Heard that! Get your tickets while they last and keep the garden growing!

Welcome
Florida Citrus Fresca

Passed
Eggplant Parm, local baby heirloom tomatoes & mozzarella
Pepper & Egg Pizzette, potato & oregano
Smoked Trout black radish sour cream & buckwheat blini
Liverwurst ‘Sandwiches’

First
Snapper Tiradito soft herbs & radishes, sour orange vinaigrette

Second
Shrimp & Pork Fried Rice, broccoli rabe, romanesco, garlic chives & coddled farm eggs

Third
Wood Roasted Lake Meadow Guinea Hen, lila onions & port sauce
Grits & Corn with guinea livers & gizzards
Kale & Cranberry Beans

Dessert
Macadamia Financier papaya or citrus mousse, tropical fruit with ginger & lime

Snail Mail: Slow Food Miami’s Snail of Approval Tasting Party & SWANK Table Lunch in Loxahatchee

Pastry chef Hedy Goldsmith serving up goat’s milk yogurt panna cotta with date leather and pickled dried fruit at Best of the Best on Friday night at the Fontainebleau on South Beach.

It was quite the eventful weekend with South Beach Wine & Food Festival making its annual splash drawing talent and visitors from across the globe, but the fun doesn’t stop there.  For us, it’s all about the local events over the next month, celebrating our farmers close to home in the field and on the plate.

You already know about our March pop-up with Bill Telepan (for the kids, baby!) and we’ll have that menu posted here tomorrow, but today is all about sharing some of the other happenings that may have snuck up without you knowing. See you out there!

Slow & Steady Wins the Race: When Michael was awarded Miami’s first Slow Food Snail of Approval in 2010, he was honored to be recognized for stewardship of all things local, but more exciting was the notion that in bringing the brilliant Snail program launched in New York to South Florida we had tipped a domino and set in motion a movement in which more and more awards would go each year to new chefs and restaurants that saw the bright future and value in a fresh, simple and pure approach to food and drink.  Further sustaining the support of slow foods and the farmers that make them possible for years to come was the hope. Fast forward to Friday, March 15 and the wish has been realized. Under the thoughtful watch of convivum leader Renee Frigo Graeff, the era of Snail is alive and well with its second annual Tasting Party honoring 2014 nominees Chef Kris Wessel of Florida Cookery and Chef Matt Hinckley of Boxpark from 7 – 10:00 p.m. at The James Royal Palm Hotel, South Beach.  After the event, the party continues from 9:30 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. hosted by Florida Cookery honoring our white chocolate slow-roasting, 2013 James Beard semifinalist, Hedy Goldsmith. Click here for tickets!

Genuinely Swank: We source their amazing baby veggies and greens for Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink and Harry’s Pizzeria in Miami, as well as 150 Central Park’s farm-to-ship menus aboard Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas (and soon to be its sister ship Allure!) As if it didn’t make it quick enough to your plate already in our restaurants, their freshly-harvested product will hit tables in the field on their turf when Michael joins pastry chef Hedy Goldsmith visit for one of their “Swank Table” luncheons on April 7 from 12 – 4:00 p.m. at Swank Farms Specialty Produce in Loxahatchee. A short hour drive from Miami, this hydro-natural farm is in full production mode right now. Calling on the best of our state’s farmers, ranchers, artisanal producers, micro-brewers, and organic wine makers, we’ll roll out a memorable, multi-course meal with what’s fresh and in season on the menu. Proceeds from ticket sales benefit the James Beard Scholarship Foundation.  Get them now!

April in February: Last Night’s Spotted Pig Pizzeria in Pictures

This little piggy went to… Harry’s Pizzeria! April Bloomfield’s pop-up was a smashing success, and we have the photos to prove it, thanks to the tag team papparazze duo of yours truly and one Ms. Ellie Groden. We finally got to exercise the newest addition to the photography department here at The Genuine Hospitality Group — a Canon D5 Mark II purchased from one of the best in the professional business, Andrew Thomas Lee, Altanta-based photographer extraordinaire with whom we became acquainted after seeing his gorgeous coverage of Empire State South’s Share Our Strength dinner hosted by executive chef Ryan Smith and guest cheffed by Michael and others. What’s old is now new. Please enjoy going behind the scenes with team #BloomfieldSchwartz including chefs Peter Cho (executive chef, The Breslin) Preston Miller (sous, The Breslin,) and Robert Flaherty  (sous, The John Dory Oyster Bar) and our crew including Manny Sulbaran (chef de cuisine, Harry’s,) Steve Martin (sous, Harry’s,) Bradley Herron (exec, MGFD,) and Roel Alcudia (chef de cuisine, The Cypress Room) during this extra special evening of good cheer and good company.  Follow along with April’s menu, inspired by her new cookbook, A Girl and Her Pig: Recipes and Stories.

Field Report: Farmer Dale Volkert’s Green Eggs & Lamb at Lake Meadow Naturals

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Spring is in the air at Lake Meadow Naturals in Ocoee, FL. Since 2010, farmer Dale Volkert has been our main source for eggs at Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink in Miami.  Since then, like us, the farm has grown from a small operation raising foul like feisty Rhode Island Reds, geese, ducks, and turkeys exclusively for egg production, with a few pastured cows, to a diversified, efficient operation serving restaurants like ours across South Florida with not only ample eggs but humanely raised and processed meat, including birds of all kinds like poisson and broilers, as well as lamb, goat and goose.

“Things are hopping here at Lake Meadows,” says farmer Dale Volkert. “All the animals are springing to life and in the reproductive mode for sure. The warm weather has made the turkeys and geese both start to lay early and we have a few turkey and goose eggs for sale before we start to incubate them for growing for Thanksgiving. We also got permission to harvest the livers from our Cornish hens, and these livers are hand harvested not machine harvested so they are beautiful lobes of chicken livers for appetizers and salads, pate and mousse…”

One thing new from Dale that we’ve been sinking our teeth into lately at Genuine HQ in Miami is lamb.  Specifically whole lamb. And Michael’s Genuine Food & Drink executive chef Bradley Herron is having a field day.

[UPDATED] Poppin’ Like It’s Hot: Tertulia Chef Seamus Mullen, Menu Changes & Beer, Glorious Beer at Harry’s Pizzeria

Update: Seamus will be popping on Tuesday, May 14!  Expect some Gluten free options on this menu, perhaps even a recipe for a gluten free pizza or flatbread. We’re super curious and excited for this one!

The Harry’s Pizzeria Tumblr archive.

Harry’s has got it goin’ on! Long overdue for some love on the blog, our little pizzeria that could is getting noticed nationally for its pies and turning out some killer new food and drink outside of the pizza box, both on its regular menu and at Sunday’s new brunch.   Here’s what you need to know:

Ay, que rico!  With April Bloomfield’s sold out dinner next week, our eyes turn to March’s event with Bill Telepan, and the rest of the season of chef pop-ups that Michael has so expertly lined-up. New to the list as of this week?  Seamus Mullen, New York chef and owner of Tertulia, will channel northern spain at Harry’s this season. We’re working on hammering down the month for his event and are really excited about this one.  Also, Joey Campanaro and Mikey Price’s Quality Clam Pizzeria date is now set for Tuesday, April 23.  Boom!

New on Harry’s menu this week in the beverage department are Victory Brewery (PA) Golden Monkey Tripel (respect the monkey!,)  Cigar City (FL) Hotter than Helles Lager which I am particularly loving for its grassy hue and crispy, toasty finish, as well as a vintage change (2011) on the Coppola Votre Santé Pinot  Noir (CA.)  The Genuine Hospitality Group Wine Director Eric Larkee would, however, have you chart a course first to the whites, specifically a Pinot Bianco blend which isn’t new new, but very delicious delicious: “The Vallarom. It’s a super fresh blend of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling from Northeast Italy near the Dolomite mountains.”

You can put this in print! One of our favorite things about Harry’s menu is that some of the best stuff happens on its chalkboard… These daily specials blaze in with a fury, emblazoned on the restaurant’s Tumblr and Instagram, and then poof they are gone in a flash!  So when printed changes happen every now and again, it’s almost a welcomed relief, like the new salad hitting today: Florida Starfruit and Cucumber with arugula, crunchy poblano pepper, and pistachios, all tossed in a bright and savory apple cider vinaigrette with shaved manchego cheese on top. It reads a little out in left field, but trust me… you might have a new favorite salad to enjoy, say, with the Vallarom!  Sous Chef Steve Martin, fresh from Michael’s Genuine down the street and an inspirational stage with past pop-up chef Jonathon Sawyer, is also helping our casual neighborhood joint kitchen and its front-of-house staff get educated on our local farms and how salads like this one come to be so fresh and seasonal.  Now that’s something worth toasting! TGIF.