Microwave on HIGH until mixture comes
to a boil, about 2 minutes. Stir until sugar
is dissolved. Place onion in a small heat-
proof bowl. Pour vinegar mixture over
chopped onion. Let stand at room tem-
perature 1 hour; drain. Set aside^1 / 4 cup
drained pickled red onion for vinaigrette;
reserve remaining onion for another use.- Make the vinaigrette: Stir together all
vinaigrette ingredients and reserved^1 / 4
cup pickled red onion in a small container
with an airtight lid. Cover and chill at least
8 hours or up to 12 hours. - Make the tartare: Wrap beef in plastic
wrap, and freeze 2 hours. Using a sharp
knife, cut chilled beef crosswise into
(^1) / 8 -inch-thick slices. Working in batches,
stack beef slices, and cut into^1 / 8 -inch-
wide strips. Cut beef strips into^1 / 8 -inch
cubes. (Beef cubes can be wrapped in
plastic wrap and chilled in an airtight con-
tainer up to 2 hours.)
- Place beef cubes, vinaigrette, and salt
in a chilled medium bowl; gently fold to
combine. Press plastic wrap directly on
surface of beef mixture. Chill 15 minutes
to allow flavors to meld. Place a 3-inch
metal ring mold on a chilled plate. Spoon
a scant^1 / 2 cup beef mixture into ring mold;
smooth top, and, using back of a spoon,
make a small indentation in center of tar-
tare. Remove ring. Carefully place 1 egg
yolk in indentation. Repeat plating pro-
cess with remaining tartare mixture and
remaining 5 egg yolks. Sprinkle parsley
evenly over tartare. Serve with crostini.
MAKE AHEAD Pickled red onion can be
made up to 5 days ahead and stored in an
airtight container in refrigerator.
WINE Savory red Burgundy: 2017
Chanson Père & Fils Marsannay
BEEF TENDERLOIN TARTARE
WITH ANCHOVY-CORNICHON
VINAIGRETTE
ACTIVE 50 MIN; TOTAL 2 HR 5 MIN,
PLUS 8 HR CHILLING; SERVES 6Tenderloin is a lean piece of meat, without
a lot of marbling and connective tissue, so
it has a lovely texture when raw. Freezing
the beef chills the fat, making it easier to
make very thin, even cuts. Source a
prime-grade filet for the best flavor.PICKLED RED ONION
1 / 4 cup water
1 / 4 cup granulated sugar
1 / 4 cup rice vinegar
11 /^2 tsp. kosher salt
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
VINAIGRETTE
4 anchovy fillets, drained and finely
chopped
1 / 4 cup chopped drained capers
1 / 4 cup finely chopped cornichons
1 / 4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. sriracha chile sauce
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
TARTARE
1 (1-lb.) center-cut beef tenderloin,
trimmed
3 /^4 tsp. kosher salt
6 large pasteurized egg yolks
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for
garnish
Crostini, for serving- Make the pickled red onion: Stir
together^1 / 4 cup water, sugar, vinegar, and
salt in a small microwavable bowl.
N A QUIET STRETCH of road 140
miles north of Los Angeles, in
Los Alamos—a place that walks
the line between a small town
and a ghost town—sits one of
the most joyous and warm bistros in the country.
But don’t call Bell’s a French restaurant. Chef and
co-owner Daisy Ryan (who runs the spot with her
husband, Greg) is adamant that the food she serves
is “Franch.” Ask her what that means and she’ll tell
you that it’s French-inspired food, but more relaxed.
It’s cooking with fewer rules, swapping rigidity for
fluidity and forgiveness. “We always try to not take
ourselves too seriously,” she says. The name also
pays homage to the number of ranches in the area.
French plus ranch. Franch.
Franch means a savory crêpe cake layered with
swoops of crème fraîche and topped with pearls of
caviar and glistening mounds of uni from the waters
just off of Santa Barbara. Franch means moules frites
swimming in a broth kissed with saffron and garlic
(but not too much). Franch means a flavor-packed
steak tartare mixed with capers and crowned with
a rich yellow egg yolk, a menu of sides that includes
a generous serving of roasted mushrooms and bags
of Utz potato chips, and deeply discounted wine
nights. Franch means letting her mom experiment
with the dessert table and bake whatever satisfies
her whimsy, whether it’s a gâteau Basque or a rich
chocolate torte.
Bell’s is a return to cooking for Ryan. She grew up
20 minutes south of Los Alamos, enrolled in culi-
nary school at the Culinary Institute of America,
and upon graduation, she was hired at Per Se—but
in a front-of-house position. “I wanted to cook, but
you can’t really say no to Per Se.” She spent the next
several years working at prestigious restaurants in
New York City and Austin, like Brooklyn Fare and
McGuire Moorman Hospitality, where she would
often get scolded for spending too much time in the
kitchen, picking up tips and tricks by observing her
back-of-house colleagues.
So when Ryan and her husband decided to open
Bell’s, in a building they own with their families, it
only made sense for her to jump back on the line,
cooking food her way: simple but with incredible
technical skill.
Who needs fussy when you can have Franch?O
my hope is that, as an industry,
we continue to feed
and support our own
communities in ways that
aren’t just self-serving, that
we partner with nonprofits and
individuals with means to help
lift up other businesses and
other people.” —daisy ryan