Imagine yourself in a British pub, said
John Holl in Wine Enthusiast. The beer
you’d be drinking wouldn’t be a hoppy
IPA or thick stout but either a proper mild
ale or a bitter. American brewers who
make these sessionable styles “have a
respect for history,” and the best can be
“a welcome island of relaxation.”
Wallenpaupack English Pale Mild Ale
This Hawley, Pa., product honors mild-
ale tradition with its malty nose and
mildly bitter fi nish. “The world
needs more beers like this.”
Good Word Analog Life Brewed
in Duluth, Ga., this dark mild ale
proves that roast fl avors don’t
equate to bitter. It “leans heavily
into fl oral hops” and fi nishes dry.
Bonn Place Mooey Pub Ale “By
the third pint you know this is
a friend for life.” The beauty of
this English-style ordinary bitter,
brewed in Bethlehem, Pa., is its
simplicity.(^28) LEISURE
Food & Drink
Agnes Pasadena, Calif.
To appreciate why this five-month-old
restaurant and market has been such a
hit, said Bill Addison in the Los Angeles
Times, order the baked-potato dumplings.
Iowa-raised chef Thomas Kalb “uses a
populist sort of white Midwestern culture
as a springboard for his eclectic menu,”
and nothing captures the approach better
than his riff on a loaded baked potato:
pillowy gnocchi topped with sour cream,
hunks of lardon, roasted broccoli salsa,
and a tangle of thin shoestring fries. It’s
conceptual fun that also elevates deli-
cious familiar flavors, and such “skillful
larks” abound at Agnes. Scattered corn
nuts decorate the cheese boards. A savory
cornbread éclair comes topped with a thick
decorative piping of chicken liver mousse
and four dark preserved cherries. The
room, with its cathedral rafters and craggy
brick walls, has a “designer farmhouse”
vibe, and the open kitchen’s roaring hearth
produces entrées meant for sharing, such
as pork shoulder with picnic fixings. Kalb’s
wife, Vanessa Tilaka, stocks the market
side’s robust cheese counter, which affords
another indulgence: finishing with a wedge
of soft Brie-like cheese from upstate New
York. 40 W. Green St., (626) 389-3839
L’Ardente Washington, D.C.
The 40-layer lasagna gets most of the atten-
tion, but at David Deshaies’ Capitol Hill
Critics’ choice: Chefs who are cooking with wit and whimsy
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Beer: English tributes
In Japan, sweet potatoes are so beloved they are sold out of passing vans, like Good
Humor ice cream trucks, said Albert Stumm in Milk Street magazine. If you can fi nd
Japanese sweet potatoes, use them here. But we’ve taken the idea of daigaku imo, or
“university potatoes,” and developed a version that can be made with American sweet
potatoes and without deep frying. Ours are more a dinner side than a carnival snack, but
they still have the kind of bold, savory-sweet coating that makes daigaku imo so popular.
Recipe of the week
- In a 12-inch skillet, combine water, oil,
sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and
½ tsp each salt and black pep-
per; stir until sugar dissolves. - Add sweet potatoes and stir
to coat. Cover pan and cook
over medium, stirring and
turning potatoes about every
4 minutes, until a skewer in-
serted into largest piece meets
no resistance, 16 to 20 min-
utes. If skillet looks dry before potatoes
are tender, add 1 or 2 tbsp water as
needed and continue cooking.- Uncover, increase heat to
medium-high and cook, stir-
ring constantly, until potatoes
are glazed and sizzling, about
2 minutes. - Off heat, toss in sesame
seeds, then taste and season
with salt and pepper. Serves 4.
Japanese-style glazed sweet potatoes with sesame
½ cup water • 2 tbsp grapeseed or other neutral oil • ¼ cup white sugar • 1 tbsp
soy sauce • 2 tsp unseasoned rice vinegar • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil • kosher salt •
black pepper • 2 12-oz orange-fl eshed sweet potatoes or Japanese sweet potatoes,
scrubbed but not peeled, quartered lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 1½-inch
pieces • 2 tsp white or black sesame seeds, toastednewcomer, “every dish seems to include
something that makes you laugh, lap it
up, or both,” said Tom Sietsema in The
Wash ing ton Post. Deshaies and his trusted
chef de cuisine, Leena Ali, have split the
difference between casual and expense-
account Italian at L’Ardente, and the fun
factor is a crucial to the balance. One of
their starters—duck ravioli atop a froth
of truffled foie gras—has to be “the single
most indulgent bite in town,” yet it’s served
in a set of small cups that balance on smile-
winning toy duck feet. The pastas “all have
something to seduce you,” whether it be
the confit egg yolk in the bucatini alla car-
bonara or the bordelaise sauce that enriches
half of the layers in that sideways-servedlasagna. Chandeliers, sky-high ceilings,
and a bright wood-fire grill ensure there
isn’t a bad table in the house, and if you
choose to finish with the tiramisu, your
server will douse it with rum and ignite
it at the table. “All stunts should taste
so sweet.” 200 Massachusetts Ave. NW,
(202) 448-0450Shukette New York City
Manhattan finally has a chef who’s
cooking the kind of modern Middle
East ern fare that London, Philadelphia
and Los Angeles went wild for at least a
decade ago, said Pete Wells in The New
York Times. Ayesha Nurdjaja’s culinary
approach—“built around extremely fresh
produce, laced with smoke, and profligate
with herbs and spices”—turns every meal
into a day at a bustling bazaar. At her noisy
energetic spin-off of SoHo’s Shuka, the
hummus isn’t just super-smooth: It’s topped
with marinated whole chickpeas and a
“piercing” chile sauce. Finish the grilled
zucchini and you’ll be grabbing bread to
soak up the leftover puddle of olive oil,
sesame seeds, and chopped pistachios.
The kibbe “may be the best thing in the
restaurant”—their crackling crust hiding
lamb and beef stewed in tomato. You’ll
forgive the kitchen its occasional miscues
for one reason: “the extroverted, generous
spirit that the whole restaurant radiates.”
230 Ninth Ave., (212) 242-1803L’Ardente chefs Ali and Deshaies