15 July 27 - August 2, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents It’s All About That Fold We make the omelet from Season 2 of The Bear. BY CHRIS WOLFGANG T he second season of FX’s The Bear started streaming on Hulu on June 22. When we left Carmy Berzatto in Season 1, he and his staff had decided to close The Original Beef of Chicagoland, his late brother’s struggling sandwich shop, and rebrand as the titular The Bear restaurant. Season 2 picks up as Carmy and his sous chef Sydney develop the menu, while Carmy’s sister Natalie manages the renova- tion. Meanwhile, the rest of the staff take in- dividual journeys to expand their culinary and hospitality skills with the goal of trans- forming a modest sandwich shop into a fine- dining restaurant with Michelin-star aspirations. We also get another look back into the Berzatto family’s often volatile his- tory around family meals. In the first season, we were given a flash- back of the Berzattos gathering together as they tell stories and make braciole, which inspired our own Hank Vaughn to make a braciole of his own. In Season 2’s penulti- mate episode, “Omelette,” the staff are scrambling as opening night approaches. Natalie is busy following up with everyone’s pending tasks while in the last trimester of her pregnancy. In one scene, she admits to Sydney that she hasn’t found the time to eat. Sydney offers to make her something, and Natalie asks for an omelet. Much of The Bear’s appeal has been its re- alistic portrayal of restaurant kitchens, and the scene of Sydney preparing an omelet is no different. Over a two-minute montage, we watch Sydney as she sets to work whisking eggs, filing the omelet with cheese and plat- ing the dish with a casual flair that showcases her skill in the kitchen. Natalie is blown away at the omelet and the gesture behind it, de- claring after her first bite, “I could cry.” Watching some of Sydney’s techniques in making a simple omelet inspired me to head to the kitchen to try to duplicate her efforts. With no formal training of my own, it was off to the internet to learn the ins and outs of Sydney’s dish. The first thing I noticed was that Sydney whisked her eggs with a fork in a strainer, instead of directly into a bowl. There are two benefits to this approach: any bits of shell are filtered out and the strainer keeps the stringy bits of albumen out of the whisked eggs. Albumen is part of the egg white that cooks faster than the rest of the egg, and straining this out results in a more consis- tent and creamier omelet. Sydney pours her whisked eggs into a skillet coated in plenty of melted butter, then shakes the pan vigorously as the eggs cook. Using a spatula in her opposite hand, she loosens the edges of the omelet as it starts to set, then pipes in a spine of creamy cheese for the omelet’s filling. It’s not mentioned at the time, but Syd- ney describes the omelet to Carmy later in the episode and tells us the cheese is Bour- sin. You can buy Boursin off the shelf, but it’s easy enough to make on your own, and the results are spectacular. In my mixer, I blended two parts cream cheese and one part softened unsalted butter, along with freshly grated Parmesan, fresh parsley and dill, plus some dried Italian seasoning and black pepper. Again, the internet is your friend here, chock full of similar recipes for you to try. I stuffed a zipper storage bag into a glass, then scooped the cheese into the bag. After sealing the bag and cutting off one corner with a pair of scissors, I had my own amateur piping bag to add cheese to the omelet. Naturally, Sydney makes folding an om- elet look like second nature, but this is where rank amateurs like me will struggle. With a line of cheese extruded into the up- per third of the omelet, I used a spatula to fold over the short side onto the cheese, worked the lower third over the top and in- verted the omelet onto a plate. The timing here is key: too early, and the unset eggs will run, and too late, or with too much heat, and the underside of the omelet will brown and break apart when folded. Thankfully, eggs are getting cheaper, so trying again isn’t a dealbreaker. Sydney’s omelet finishing technique is easier to nail. I rubbed the plated omelet with a little more butter, then sprinkled diced chives and crumbled ridged potato chips on top. In recalling the omelet to Carmy later, Sydney tips off that she used sour cream and onion chips, so that’s what we did, too; the opportunity to experiment with other flavors of chips could be fun. While perhaps not as picture-perfect as Sydney’s, I think my omelet deserves an Emmy for flavor. I stumbled into near per- fectly cooked eggs on my second attempt, and the Boursin cheese is creamy, herby and tangy in a way that makes a perfect omelet filling. The crunchiness of the po- tato chips on top is a unique and playful touch. Later in the episode, Sydney admits to Carmy that the best part of her day was making the omelet for his sister. “You love taking care of people,” Carmy says. As our man Vaughn noted when he made braciole, the food itself is a conduit for connecting with people. As delicious as our omelet turned out, I felt better about serving it to my girlfriend who had been under the weather for a few days. As she ate, I could tell the eggs and the effort lifted her spirits, just as Sydney was able to make Natalie feel better on screen. And that kind of connec- tion is the real kitchen magic. ▼ FIRST LOOK DELIZIOSA QUARTINO, AN ITALIAN RESTAURANT AND WINE BAR FROM CHICAGO, LANDS AT THE GRANDSCAPE. BY HANK VAUGHN Q uartino opened on State Street in Chicago in 2005, promising an au- thentic neighborhood restaurant, wine bar and pizzeria in a slightly upscale yet casual environment. Recently, a second location has opened at The Grandscape in The Colony. There, you’ll be rewarded with freshly prepared Italian fare where quality and flavor contrast with the relatively low prices on the menu. It’s a rather large space located right at the heart of The Grandscape with two levels of dining areas, both inside and out. The in- terior beckons with refurbished subway tile, glass, wood and mirrors. The tables are plentiful but not too close together, and the many windows fill the dining area with warm, inviting light. There are also several open culinary sta- tions. You can watch fresh pasta being kneaded, rolled and cut at the pasta station, peer into the large open-flamed pizza oven and see Neapolitan pies being fired up, or look at all the salumi, cheese and spuntini behind an old-fashioned deli case in the back. A bread-slicing machine is promi- nently displayed, which can be a bit noisy. The freshly sliced product it produces is worth it, however. Quartino is also a wine bar with several varieties of light, medium and full reds and whites available in quarter-, half- and one-li- ter servings as well as by the bottle. We vis- ited recently for lunch and opted for a grapefruitcello martini, which swaps out li- moncello for house-made grapefruitcello along with Absolut ruby red, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and Aperol liquor. Light and refreshing. For a starter (called “wine bar plates”), we decided on the white bean garlic dip. Coming in at just under $10, this was pre- pared with cannellini beans, garlic and olive oil and came with several pieces of hearty toasted sourdough for dipping. Other op- tions include veal meatball sliders, polenta fries and fried calamari, the last of which the party seated behind us proclaimed the best in Dallas. There are also several varieties of cured meat and a salumeria-tasting plate that in- cludes two salumi and two cheese choices as well as an assortment of olives. We wanted to try the duck prosciutto but, alas, it was not available that day. Next, we ordered a margherita pizza, a 12-inch thin pie that more closely resembled a cheese pizza with shredded basil on top rather than the more traditional version. Still, it had a good chew/crisp ratio with a cheesy topping and the right amount of spice. For our mains, we went with a couple of pasta dishes. Quartino offers both made-in- house pasta and imported varieties. All are meant to be shared (each table has an ample supply of plates to use throughout the meal), and all are affordably priced at just under $15. But what we really love is that you can ask for half-orders of all of them, so we were able to sample two different house-made pastas: the tagliatelle alla Bolognese and the pappardelle al sugo di manzo. Both were wonderfully fresh and cooked al dente as well as being perfectly portioned for sharing. The pap- pardelle was especially good; the wide pasta ribbons were covered in a braised beef sauce that was rich and complex enough to evoke memories of my nonna. Other house-made pastas include gnoc- chi, fettuccine and tortellini, and imports in- clude orecchiette, linguine and a gluten-free fusilli. Next time we’re ordering four half- orders. For dessert, we chose the torta al ciocco- lato, a take on a chocolate lava cake: a still- warm chocolate creation served in a ramekin topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, dusted with powdered sugar and filled with a rich, warm chocolate sauce. Again, it was just enough. Quartino is still in the phase between soft opening and officially announced grand opening. The friendly staff, afford- able and fresh pasta, decent wine list and warm and inviting dining space make this a no-brainer for those in or near The Colony. Quartino, 5754 Grandscape Blvd., No. 200, The Colony. Sunday – Wednesday, 11 a.m. – 11 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – midnight. Chris Wolfgang The Bear has inspired us again, this time with a Boursin and potato chip omelet. | CITY OF ATE | ▼ Dish >> p16
