A Recipe From the Newly Relaunched Aldea

Inside

    The chef George Mendes. Huge Galdones


    On Aug. 24, the chef George Mendes’s ultramodern, Iberian-inspired restaurant, Aldea, shut its doors for 10 days. Six years after its opening (and five years after receiving its first Michelin star), the time had come, he explains, for some long-awaited updates. “The relaunch itself has probably been on my mind for the past year and a half to two years,” he says. “I wanted to take this on full force — what started out as a need for wear-and-tear renovations became an opportunity, in the summer months, to close down, do a complete renovation from head to tail, make changes at the bar and revisit the menu.”

    For those who already love Aldea, there’s still much to appreciate in the newly relaunched restaurant, which opens Sept. 4. “We will still have our signature dishes as verbal specials, like the duck rice, but we’ve spread our wings and evolved from a creative aspect. We hit a point where it was a constant menu of signature dishes that left little room for evolution,” Mendes says. Now, he’s offering a new structure with a focus on tasting menus. “I think a tasting menu is a chef’s story. It’s what the chef is presently thinking. It’s an art and a craft and the ability to have a dialogue, while experiencing drastic creativity,” he says. He’ll emphasize new flavors, new ingredients and even new cooking styles — and tend more toward simplicity. The wine list and signature cocktails will also receive an overhaul. However, the kitchen will remain visible to the dining room, something Mendes feels strongly about. “I have always liked that openness and the ability to communicate with the customer,” he says. “It’s more than transparency, but the shared experience with the cook, observing reactions.”
    Among the options on the new menu — from salt cod with potato, egg and black olive to a fat rice featuring duck sausage, clams and squid — is a superb veal sweetbread. “I have always loved the crunch of pan-fried sweetbread,” Mendes says. “I also enjoy using innards and parts of animals that are less popular. This is going to be something that people will relate to and something people have never tried.” While pork has received a lot of attention lately, veal has been all but forgotten in haute cuisine; in Mendes’s sweetbread, it comes to life in an entirely unexpected way. “The way I have approached the Aldea menu is very personal and present — that’s really what the restaurant has been and continues to be,” he says. “Now, as I have matured in the kitchen and my personal life, it carries over.”

    Mendes's veal sweetbreads with piquillo pepper and sunchoke. Jackie Gebel

    Veal Sweetbreads With Piquillo Pepper and Sunchoke

    Yield: 4 servings
    Sunchoke Miso Purée, recipe below
    Sweetbreads, recipe below
    Candied Meyer Lemons, recipe below
    Seasonal baby lettuce
    Oil, salt, pepper and strips of piquillo pepper, to taste
    1. Place a dollop of the purée in center of the plate.




    2. Arrange the sweetbreads on top with a few thin slices of the candied Meyer lemon peels on each side.
    3. Garnish with seasonal baby lettuce dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper and a few strips of piquillo pepper.

    Sunchoke Miso Purée

    1.6 pounds sunchokes
    1 bay leaf, torn
    5 thyme sprigs
    Salt, to taste
    Extra virgin olive oil, to taste
    112 grams or ½ cup white miso
    Lemon juice, to taste
    1. Wash and scrub the sunchokes. Toss them in olive oil, salt, bay leaf and thyme. Place them in a roasting pan, wrap in foil and roast at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until tender.
    2. Drain off the oil and cooking liquid. Purée until smooth.
    3. Reserve the purée and add the miso. Season with salt and lemon juice.




    Sweetbreads

    1 pound sweetbreads
    Wondra flour, as needed
    Salt and pepper, to taste




    1. Blanch the sweetbreads for 3 minutes in simmering water. Plunge into an ice bath to stop cooking.
    2. Pat dry and dust with Wondra flour, salt and pepper.
    3. Pan-fry until golden brown and crispy.

    Candied Meyer Lemons

    10 pieces of Meyer lemons
    Sugar
    1 star anise
    1. Peel the zest, remove the pith and juice the Meyer lemons.

    2. Blanch the zest in boiling water and plunge in ice bath. Repeat twice.
    3. Make a simple syrup by mixing Meyer lemon juice, equal parts sugar and star anise and simmer until dissolved.
    4. Simmer zest in simple syrup until tender.