I'm fairly certain that the tomato, a thin slice demurely tucked beneath a dainty pile of meticulously diced vegetables, was intended to be nothing more than a quiet grace note. But to my taste buds it was nothing short of a fanfare.
Finally, here it was, the tomato that I impatiently wait for every summer. That I was enjoying it at Corner Table came as no surprise, because chef/owner Scott Pampuch has a nose like a truffle-sniffing sow when it comes to finding worthy local ingredients. When Midwestern farms are harvesting like crazy, this is one place this diner definitely wants to be: front and center.
Like that night. We took a perch at the restaurant's short bar, ordered the tasting menu and watched chef de cuisine Lisa Hanson calmly work her considerable magic at the stove. She's got the goods -- and the big-league New York City résumé to back it up -- and together she and Pampuch are cooking with discernment and grace.
Much of our dinner was inspired by dishes already on the menu, but Hanson seemed to be inserting just enough spontaneity to keep us guessing. First came chicken two ways, with sumptuous livers over brioche, and then a smooth, mellow rillette topped with sprightly microgreens. Spears of asparagus were nicely grilled and seasoned with a smoky bacon vinaigrette.
That was followed by one of one of their great standouts: shredded pork, slow-cooked in fat so that it rather luxuriously melts in your mouth. That night, Hanson was serving it over creamy grilled polenta and finished her thought with just the right tang, a handful of skinny sweet-and sour pickles. I didn't miss a morsel.
With almost every dish, Pampuch and Hanson remind their customers that workaday ingredients can and should be celebrated with gusto. A crackling piece of pan-roasted chicken, a crispy-skinned salmon fillet with a mellow garlic broth, a house-made fettucini adorned with fennel and chunks of hearty pork-garlic sausage, a sizzling steak exploding with deep beef flavor. Disarmingly simple, abundantly delicious.
Another plus: the pro-vegetarian mindset. The lovingly composed salads are little victories of fresh, just-picked bounty. Soups pop with garden-fresh flavor, and the ever-changing menu always features a few meat-free lovelies, from earthy morel- and chèvre-filled buckwheat crêpes to a creamy risotto flecked with peas and asparagus. There's joy in the daily specials as well, whether it was delicate little pillows of semolina-dried mushroom gnocchi or a luscious sweet pea flan.
A steamed artichoke -- chopped in half and finished with bits of soft-cooked egg -- is an artful reworking of the ubiquitous artichoke dip. Succulent scallops are lovingly caramelized and paired with spinach and mushrooms. A wild salmon's supple texture and cool flavor play well against pistachios and little peppercorn jabs.
There are inconsistencies. The restaurant's neighborly aspirations get yanked a bit when a delicious open-face burger goes for $16, a rare misstep on an otherwise get-what-you-pay-for menu. Seasonings can occasionally fall off kilter, and desserts aren't always up to their savory counterparts.
The restaurant doesn't serve lunch, but Pampuch partners with nearby Rustica, using its phenomenal breads as foundations for first-rate grab-and-go sandwiches. The selection isn't huge, but Pampuch culls from the same locally raised proteins he uses at the restaurant and keeps the final results simple, so their bred-for-maximum-flavor qualities come shining through. It's a swell demonstration that eating locally doesn't have to require a reservation.
