Heads Up, Catholic Clergy: Illuminati To Le Virtu

O draconian devil! O lame saint! On Monday, September 28, Passyunk ristorante Le Virtu will host Azienda Agricola Dino Illuminati, a cutting-edge vintner in Teramo’s burgeoning Controguerra wine country. Chef Luciana Spurio—who served us a simple but mesmerizing tagliolini with lemon and prosciutto the other night—is doing five courses for $75 per person (see menu below), including wine pairings by Anna Illuminati, who’ll be on hand to discuss the family juice. Peep the menu below, but on the drinking front expect Costalupo Controguerra DOC, a regional Trebbiano blend; Campirosa Cerasuolo Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC, a signature rosé; Riparosso Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC, Illuminati’s take on Montepulciano, the wine rated by Wine Spectator as one of the "top 25 best-value red wines in the world"; and Zanna Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC, the award-winning Montepulciano powerhouse chosen for the recent G8 summit in L’Acquila. Call for reservations.

Antipasto
Olive all'ascolana, pizza fritta, bruschette miste, formaggi artigianali di Anversa degli Abruzzi con carpaccio di pere, miele abruzzese, marmellate di radicchio (breaded fried olives stuffed with braised beef, pork and chicken from Ascoli Piceno, fried dough stuffed with mozzarella and sage, mixed bruschetta, Marcelli family artisanal cheeses and honeys - also served at the G8 summit - from Anversa degli Abruzzi served with our own radicchio marmalade)

Zuppa
Zuppa di lenticchie di Santo Stefano di Sessanio (a traditional soup made with the prized lentils of Santo Stefano di Sessanio in Abruzzo's L'Aquila Province)

Primo
Chitarra alla frentana al ragù del macellaio ("guitar" cut pasta - Abruzzo's signature style - in a "butcher's" ragù of pork, chicken and lamb with meatballs of pork, beef, chicken and lamb)

Secondi
Porchetta e Pollo alla Franceschiello (roast pork seasoned with garlic and hot pepper and chicken sauteed in garlic, wine, rosemary, salt and pepper and served with olives and pickled vegetables, a specialty of Civitella del Tronto in Teramo and named in honor of Francesco II, last ruler of the "Kingdom of the Two Sicilies")

Dolci
Pizza dolce e tozzetti al limone e mandorle (a traditional Abruzzese sponge and chocolate cream cake made with the liqueur Alchermes -made from a blend of vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange peel, coriander, cloves and jasmine and traditional cookies flavored with lemon and almonds)

Photo: LeVirtu

Laces Out, Elevation In On Walnut Street

The grass-fed burgers from Elevation might be better for the environment, but driving way up 76 to Wynnwood is not. Such is the catch-22 of the eco-minded burger connoisseur living in Philly proper. But hark! Word comes today from general manager Dan Marino of the Main Line outpost--we interviewed him for our awesome upcoming Burger Smackdown in PW--that the company is six to eight months away from a Center City location. Marino (the Overbrook native and former GM of Il Portico, not Nutrisystem spokesman and vendetta obsession of Ray Finkle) says a Rittenhouse address is locked down "on Walnut Street," though he wouldn't go more specific than that. Par for the course for Elevation; they're also all CIA about the provenance of their beef. Ironic considering sustainable eating was founded on the notion of transparency.

Photo: blogalicious

Cooling Off: Aguas Frescas

It was one of those weeks all too typical of the food writer’s life. Too many lunch-eclipsing afternoons at the computer. Too many evening spent eating out. Too much of Sunday’s Headhouse booty in the fridge, wasting away like so many Project Runway models. Specifically, a big-ass bowl of sliced yellow watermelon we could never hope to finish before it turned to seed-speckled Highlighter-colored mush. We considered granita, but the freezer was too Tetris-ed with vestiges of June (strawberries, black raspberries), July (garlic scape pesto), August (sliced doughnut peaches) to accommodate the sizeable pan making granita requires. Instead, we turned to aguas frescas, those peerlessly refreshing fruit-flavored waters indigenous to Mexico and Latin America. Not only are these elixirs easy to blend up, they’re also endlessly customizable to whatever you’ve got in the fridge.

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Our basic recipe: H2O + fruit + citrus + accent flavor (herb or spice) + sweetener. Cucumber + lime + mint + brown sugar… Peach + tangerine + basil + honey… The possibilities are, quite literally, endless. In general, we prefer agave nectar as the sweetener for our aguas; it lacks the dimension of flavor that honey or maple syrup will lend, but it dissolves better than anything else in cold liquid and precludes having to make simple syrup. Aguas frescas were the ideal way to use up the extra yellow watermelon staring us down every time we opened the fridge. Here’s the formula:

4 cups watermelon, chopped and seeded unless you have a choking fetish
4 cups cold water
1 stalk lemongrass, finely chopped
1 lemon, juiced
2 tbsp. agave nectar

Zip everything together in a blender and strain through a fine sieve into a pitcher. Straining removes any rogue seeds, as well as the fibrous pieces of lemongrass. (Don’t worry, the exotic, floral citrus flavor will still be there; the blending releases all the stalk’s essential oils.) Taste, adjust flavor (more water, more citrus, more sweeneter, etc.) and chill well. Serve over ice and consume, preferably outside.

Photo: blogalicious