Friday, February 4, 2011

Don't Have A (Young) Cow, Man

Bella Vista at the Biltmore Four Seasons is taking part in Film Feast, which means you've got till Sunday to get yourself there for a true feast, plus one of the most stunning vegetarian meals you'll ever have. It's pictured above--an eggplant ossobuco. You see what's supposed to look like the veal's shank is a heart of palm, and what would be the veal is a perfectly roasted slab o' eggplant. About it first is a circle of the richest mushroom Bolognese you might imagine--who needs meat when the sauce can be this flavor-thick? The second circle is a perfect  polenta--I didn't say this was a low-fat dish, I simply said it was meatless--all corn and cheese and creamy goodness. There's some broccoli rabe looped about, too, adding just the right touch of green to lighten the other colors, to provide just a bit of crisp, to make up for the lack of gremolata (not that the dish needed gremolata, but it is an ossobuco staple).

The rest of the meal was faultless, too, and the room is elegant romantic perfection (it doesn't hurt to get a table fireplace-side, of course), and the service was attentive without being aggressive.

But then there's this brilliant dish, and the rest sort of falls away.

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