Kerrytown is a hotly competitive lunch arena. Without leaving the market area, one can get a full service lunch (Eve, Yamato Japanese), hot counter lunch (Monahan’s Seafood Market, Kosmo Deli), walk-around-the-Farmer’s-Market lunch (Pilar’s Tamales, stuffed breads from Anatolian and Mill Pond Bakeries), or a coffeeshop and laptop lunch (Sweetwaters). But Taste Our Goods and A Knife’s Work manage to get notice, rising above the fray. What these places have in common is that they each feature dynamic, hard-working and fun-loving young pairs of chefs; they also defy easy description. Why they succeed is that they fill unique niches for the tough downtown lunch crowd.
we got the goods
Taste Our Goods is a completely autonomous operation of Bob Sparrow, owner of Sparrow’s Market at Kerrytown, and managed with high spirits by Suzy Lipton and Nora Feldhusen, recent UM grads who routinely finish each other’s sentences in conversation. “We have ESP,” says Suzy; and Nora adds, “We’re like twins with telepathic communication.” This shared wavelength allows them to work side by side in the space of a telephone booth, creating fast, healthy and delicious breakfast and lunch options from Sparrow’s fresh and seasonal produce. Suzy, whose passion for cooking nearly led her to culinary school, is drawn to the creative side of menu planning, using “whatever’s opportunistic” in the market. She says, “We get a box of tomatoes, eggplant, cauliflower – we use it.” Results include the best Cobb salad I have ever had — with free range Amish turkey, avocado, and Asiago cheese in a balsamic vinaigrette — to popular sandwich items like the vegetarian Spa Todd, with homemade white bean hummus, avocado, spinach, basil and a dash of cayenne, served on Zingerman’s sourdough. Many offerings, such as the “Gym Josh Approved” — “JJ’s Gym Club,” are named after friends and co-workers. Sparrow Gym personal trainer Josh Johnson was one who took advantage of “TOG’s” willingness to custom-make any lunch item. “I kept ordering the same sandwich and they finally put it on the menu,” says “JJ,” who likes their “clean” preparation, big portions, and reasonable prices (generally $7 an entrée — gym members get a discount, too).
TOG’s flexibility is precisely what makes them both popular and impossible to pigeonhole. They started as a special order bakery, and they will still happily provide delicious cakes and other goods for your event (look for their baked goods at Sparrow or Sava’s State St. café). With enough notice, they’ll also custom-grill any of the natural, grass-fed meats from Sparrow’s butcher shop, prepared however you desire. And on a nice day, they will personally bring your order to one of the outdoor tables at Kerrytown.
Their cheerfulness, and — let’s face it, the attractiveness of Suzy, Nora, and their employees “in a hot, sexy, but professional way,” observes Johnson — is an added bonus. The double entendre of their name was the product of a middle-of-the-night brainstorming session. Suzy and Nora were surprised when Bob Sparrow liked that name best. “They said that?” asks Bob. “I guess it took me a few seconds to figure it out.”
TOG recently transitioned to a fall seasonal menu with some new additions, including a fresh soup of the day, like “butternut squash and ginger, wild rice and lentil, and lots of vegetarian options,” notes Suzy; they will also be adding “three cool stools” for customers to sit at TOG’s counter.
knife’s sharp
A Knife’s Work fills a different need. Their carefully prepared, artisan dishes are strictly for take-to-the-office or take home. Their presence at Kerrytown is limited to a deli case at Everyday Wines, which holds a selection of about half a dozen items that rotates weekly. Partners Jay Haamen and Brendan McCall believe that the lack of set menus and recipes is liberating. They call it “free-form culinary.”
The challenge of cooking for take-away only was daunting at first. Dishes need to be visually appealing, remain presentable throughout the day, and most importantly, to remain tasty if consumed hours later or to withstand reheating. But Jay and Brendan saw this as a challenge to their creativity. Says Jay, “The hardest part is how it will be reheated, which takes it out of the chef’s hands. We have learned to adapt by favoring slow cooking like braises, that keeps in the moisture.”
The menu on a recent week was stimulating and unusual. “Herb Braised Fresh Bacon with Samfaina and Salsa Verde” features “thyme and oregano rubbed pork belly braised then sliced, and served on a bed of red peppers, zucchinis and summer squash, finished with parsley, oregano and garlic salsa verde.” Jay explains that “fresh bacon” – not raw – is “the new hottest ingredient, pork belly – the same place bacon is from, but not cured and smoked.” “Samfaina” is a Catalan dish, a late harvest tomato stew. Another Spanish-influenced offering was a Majorcan Summer Salad, with sliced sweet red and green peppers, tomatoes, and green onions “tossed in muscatel vinegar and garnished with pan roasted padrón peppers.”
The food is sold in compostable containers with transparent lids to show off the color and presentation. Brightly colored menu cards list the ingredients, and denote whether the dish is vegetarian and/or dairy free. All ingredients are from local farms and made from scratch (in the kitchen of Durham’s Tracklements smoked fish shop next door). Prices range from $4-9, with soups and desserts at the lower end.
The friends and chefs are strongly influenced by the cuisine of Spain, where Brendan lived for over a year. In fact, when I interviewed Jay, Brendan was back there visiting family. While they enjoy the challenge of take-out — as well as their thriving, full-service catering operation — they are eager to return to the restaurant business. Their last such gig, as chefs for the Kerrytown eatery “Lunch at Everyday Cook,” ended when that restaurant closed last summer. But in their brief tenure they created a buzz of popular acclaim, and that cache will serve them well in any new venture.
For our dynamic chef duos, Brendan and Jay in one corner, and Suzy and Nora in the other, this is not a head-to-head competition. Each pair fills a unique need. The public is certainly lucky to have so many amazing choices in Kerrytown, fit for every possible occasion.
