I have a new fermentation crush. My love for you will never wane, Sandor, but High Street on Market is here and accessible to me for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. I was first lured there by the promise of some lacto-veggies; exciting enough, you’ll agree. How many top-rated restaurants are touting their fermented flavors? When I got there, though, I found so much more than lacto-veg: levain breads that forced me and my dining companions to take a beat between bites to fully experience the pleasure (I’m not exaggerating. Sorry, beloved boulangers of Bourdeaux and Besançon, you’ve got Alexandre Bois of High Street to compete with now), house-cultured butter, crème fraîche, misos and so many other fruits of the microbes! Truly, High Street makes beautiful ferments and uses them in ways that bring new meaning to the “art of fermentation.”
Given my extreme adoration for the flavors of High Street, I’m so proud to say that I’ll be collaborating with Chef Eli Kulp and his team on a series of geographically-themed fermentation dinners. Chef Kulp has rightfully been heaped with honors including, most recently, being named a Food & Wine Best New Chefs in 2014. Chef Kulp fully embraces the spirit of fermentation, which is to say, the spirit of collaboration, creativity, exploration and curiosity and I could not be more excited to be collaborating with him.
The team at High Street does regular fun and funky collaborations (the wonderful Madame Fromage has one of the cheese variety on the books for May 6th) on Tuesday nights at 9pm. It’s a single seating meal and costs only $25 for 4 courses. Madame’s dinners sold out extremely quickly, and if the menu preview I’ve seen for these fermento dinners is any indication, these will too. For reservations, call High Street at 215-625-0988.
Russia, Eastern Europe and the Balkans | April 22 | 9pm | $25
The inspiration for the first dinner comes from the ferments of Eastern Europe, the Balkan Peninsula and Russia. Chef Kulp & Co. have created an amazing menu, adapting the ferments of the broad but fermentationally-linked region into inventive dishes that will melt your brain in the most amazing way. We’ll talk lacto and yeast fermentation, eat, drink and be so incredibly merry.
More to come on the next two dinners which will feature East Asian (5/13) and South Asian (6/17) ferments, respectively. You can also make reservations for those by calling 215-625-0988.
Becky says
These sound incredibly fun. Maybe I’ll actually make it Philly for one of these!
David says
High Street makes beautiful ferments and uses them in ways that bring new meaning to the “art of fermentation.”
It would be great to see !