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The airy light-
filled dining room at
the Wolf’s Tailorthe Wolf’s Tailor really needs to chill out. Don’t get me wrong, I am
extremely into the fact that I can start my meal with a hot puffy disk
of chef Kelly Whitaker’s heirloom-grain piada bread straight from
the restaurant’s wood-fired oven. But don’t you think that the
binchotan-fueled Japanese robata grill, the one they use to sizzle
skewers—a juicy chicken meatball, or crispy-edged mortadella—
to succulent perfection is kind of gilding the lily? Just a little?
Another great example of way-too-muchness: the pasta program.
The toothy mafaldine I had one night—made from local grains milled
in-house and tangled up with morsels of grassy whey-braised Colo-
rado lamb and tender little peas—was the single most exciting plate
of pasta I ate this year. But did Whitaker really have to take the leftover
bran from milling that flour and use it to ferment all sorts of electric,
eyebrow-raising pickled vegetables? Again: I love those pickles. But
you have to admit it’s a little...extra, right?
And how is it even fair that Whitaker nabbed chefs Kodi Simkins
and Sean May, of Frasca Food & Wine fame, to make his whole
freaky vision come alive? Or that he brought on the Michelin-starred
pastry chef Jeb Breakell to whip up as-fascinating-as-they-are-lovable
desserts? (That red miso panna cotta!)
And the generous big-meat family-style entrées. And the tight, well-
curated natural wine list. And the Japanese highballs made with ice
so crazy-clear I could see through the cubes halfway across the room
(and nearly spilled half my drink trying to do so). And, and, and.
Enough is enough! Is it too much to ask that they save some of the
fun for everyone else? —A.S.
THE GRILL
A Japanese
robata grill turns
out an ever-
changing array of
skewers, from juicy
tsukune-inspired
chicken meatballs
slicked with tare, a
Japanese basting
sauce, to delicately
crosshatched oyster
mushrooms. The grill
is currently fueled
by clean-burning
binchotan charcoal,
but Whitaker is on
the hunt for a kiln to
turn leftover animal
bones into charcoal
for roasting meats.
Once the bones
turn to ash, they
can then be used
as compost. Call it
the circle of life.FOR DETAILS, SEE SOURCEBOOK
I THiNK WE CAN ALLA
g
REE THAT