fennel | Mass Food & Wine

Armsby Abbey's Chef Damian Evangelous speaking about his journey as a chef and the menu for the evening's Chef's Best dinner experience. (Photo by Erb Photography)

The allure of the Chef’s Best dinner series is that it gives chefs the opportunity to cook what they want while giving us insight into their process. To date, chefs have interpreted this idea differently.

The reception course at Mass Foodies' Chef's Best: The Evangelous Experience. (Photo by Erb Photography) — The reception course at Mass Foodies’ Chef’s Best: The Evangelous Experience. (Photo by Erb Photography)

Chef Bill Nemeroff talked about a childhood memory of fried chicken. Chef Chris Rovezzi presented fan favorites. Chef Bill Brady let the wine pairings enhance every bite on the plate.

Chef Evangelous preparing the reception course in the kitchen of Armsby Abbey on Main Street in Worcester, MA (Photo by Erb Photography)

July’s event featuring Chef Damian Evangelous of Armsby Abbey came at the perfect time. In addition to showcasing local farm-to-table cooking with a Spanish influence, the Evangelous Experience fell a few days after the Boston Globe article claiming we Central Massers finally have a food scene in Worcester.

Armsby Abbey is not only considered one of the best places to grab a beer in the country, they are also celebrating their tenth anniversary next year. Without intending it, Chef Evangelous symbolized an important reminder that not only have we had a show-stopping food scene for longer than a year, our feasts rival the holy mecca of Boston—and maybe even King’s Landing.

This feast was certainly fit for lords and ladies. We arrived to find a reception of ten pre-meal bites. Highlights included the house-made charcuterie, seasonal pickled vegetables, gazpacho, and the Mushrooms en Escabeche with chevre, honey, and thyme.

Course 2: Lubina [Veta la Palma] a la plancha, phytoplankton “risotto”, radishes, herbs, pickled green strawberries at Mass Foodies' Chef's Best: The Evangelous Experience. (Photo by Erb Photography) — Course 2: Lubina [Veta la Palma] a la plancha, phytoplankton “risotto”, radishes, herbs, pickled green strawberries at Mass Foodies’ Chef’s Best: The Evangelous Experience. (Photo by Erb Photography)

Chef Evangelous expressed an affinity for preparing one ingredient many ways in the first course. Raw, charred and pickled tomatoes came out with onions, fennel, sheep cheese, and ajoblanco, a popular Spanish soup. Damian explained that a tomato and onion salad he had in Spain inspired the simple, yet flavorful, concept.

While the color and shock of the second course’s phytoplankton may have stolen the visual show, the perfectly cooked lubina, Spanish for sea bass, could have stood alone. The crispy skin and the light seasoning alongside the phytoplankton risotto made for a hearty dish. Bright green phytoplankton is a micro-organism drifting on the oceans’ currents, and recently it’s becoming a popular spicy new take on spice.

Course 3: Slow cooked lamb neck [Lilac hedge], summer squash and lamb marrow puree, local potatoes, lovage, celery, jus at Mass Foodies' Chef's Best: The Evangelous Experience. (Photo by Erb Photography) — Course 3: Slow cooked lamb neck [Lilac hedge], summer squash and lamb marrow puree, local potatoes, lovage, celery, jus at Mass Foodies’ Chef’s Best: The Evangelous Experience. (Photo by Erb Photography)

The decadent third course of slow-cooked lamb, summer squash and lamb marrow puree, local potatoes, celery, and lovage jus was fit for a coronation.

Chef Evangelous humbly warned us that he is not a pastry chef. However, the fourth course fruit tart filled with Tougas Farm cherries, blueberries, rhubarb, and strawberries topped with a hop and herb ice cream had everyone raving. This was no easy feat considering we lamented how full we were then inhaled our dessert while simultaneously asking if they had any hop and herb ice cream cones to go. The whole wheat crust (made using flour that was ground from grains at The Abbey’s new in-house mill) and natural sweetness of the fruit produced slightly less internal guilt for the indulgence.

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Fior de Latte Pizza from Volturno on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MA

Shrewsbury Street is a food mecca for those looking for variety, culture and good eats. One of the newest kids on the block is Volturno…an old school Italian pizzeria with a modern vibe that has found its home in the old Buick dealership next to 7 NaNa. The entrance is laid with stone fixtures that remind you of a nice summer patio and as you walk into the cavernous building, you see tasteful light fixtures hung from the ceilings. If you look closely, you will notice the old Buick glass pieces adorning the border of the restaurant. With several different types of seating available, it can accommodate any type of mood you are in family-style at large picnic tables with modern bar stools. There is a cozy square bar at the middle of the restaurant with TVs to catch up on your favorite Boston sports team, and small tables for two and four people. For our large group, we settled on the picnic table style.

With so much on the menu to choose from, I could have easily ordered a half dozen items just to start but I had to contain myself. To start, I decided to go with the duck prosciutto. It came with a small arugula salad with fennel, vin cotto, and a balsamic drizzle ($8). The duck was smooth and rich in flavor. The flavor that the duck fat imparts on this game bird is something that is hard to describe to someone who has never tasted it. It is truly something to be tried in order to comprehend. You will not be disappointed. The arugula salad was able to counteract the duck’s richness with a little bit of spiciness and tanginess that the balsamic lended. It was the perfect counterpart to the duck.

As my main meal, I decided to try one of the more simple pizzas on the menu. Instead of go with one of Volturno‘s many creative concoctions, I wanted to try a pizza that let to ingredients and the cooking style shine. I ended up picking the fior de latte pizza ($13). This pizza had san marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and pecorino Romano cheese. The pasta sauce was nicely seasoned with basil and oregano and had a slightly sweet taste to it. The fresh mozzarella was creamy, flavorful and evident in every bite. The pecorino Romano cheese is similar to parmesan but is just a touch saltier and added a good depth of flavor to the sweet pasta sauce and creamy mozzarella. Due to the dome wood ovens in the kitchen, the crust had crispy edges with a nice char on them, but the inside was fluffy and soft. Volturno’s pizzas tend to be slightly smaller, and a hungry individual would have no problem eating the whole pie…so if you are coming with a group, plan accordingly. After all was consumed, this is one of the more unique dining experiences that you can have on Shrewsbury Street. A combination of the setting, the atmosphere, the wood ovens at the end of the open kitchen and the food, I will be going back to Volturno in the near future for sure! –ED

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Chef’s Best: The Evangelous Experience

fior de latte pizza and duck prosciutto

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