The Veal Deal
Veal's appeal extends beyond fine dining
By Laura Yee, Special to R&I -- Restaurants & Institutions, 4/15/2004
Executive Chef Kris Wessel prefers the unexpected. Veal shanks, cutlets and chops all have their virtues, but the man who directs the kitchen at Elia in Bal Harbour, Fla., wanted to showcase something a little different, a veal cut that would intrigue yet not intimidate diners. His choices: herb-grilled veal filet mignon for dinner; and grilled veal flank steak for the lunch menu.
Wessel understands that veal has attributes that make it right for adding delicious twists to menus. Lighter in flavor than many other proteins, it also provides another way to satisfy the millions of diners who follow low-carbohydrate diets.
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"Veal has the kind of prestige that our customers appreciate and buy into," says Wessel, whose restaurant is in an upscale retail mall. Benefiting from the presence of shoppers, the 170-seat, Mediterranean-inspired operation serves 350 to 400 at lunch. Dinner brings in 200 to 250 diners.
Veal's appeal, however, extends beyond fine dining into more-casual venues as well. University, hospital and business-and-industry foodservice operators also are tapping the protein's cachet.
Change of Pace
Certain cuts command premium prices, but chefs such as Wessel
debunk the myth that veal can carry only a high menu price. Wessel
pays $5.65 per pound for veal flank, which he matches with mushroom-tomato
ragoût and fontina polenta in a $15 lunch entrée.
"Flank steak is cost-effective and cooks quickly," he explains. Wessel marinates the meat with roasted red peppers, roasted garlic, fresh thyme, olive oil and light red wine. It is cooked medium-rare to medium and sliced against the grain. He refrains from serving the meat more rare because the cut can be chewy.
"I balance the menu, so we went with veal filet as a change from New York strip steak," Wessel says. Priced at $30, the herb-grilled filet is served with sautéed forest mushrooms, mashed barlotti beans and wilted spinach.
Last fall, the chef experimented with mini-racks of veal. Though the cut was popular with guests, the preparation proved too labor-intensive to offer nightly, leaving Wessel to reserve it for specials.
As they do with other meat cuts, some chefs offer free-range veal and note the distinction on menus. "There are guests who will never eat veal, but as people become more sophisticated about food, their choices are dictated by flavor and curiosity," says Walter Leffler, executive chef at The Seelbach Hilton in Louisville, Ky. "Much also depends on the concept and the part of the country in which it is located." For example, diners expect to see veal at Italian restaurants, he explains.
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Multiple Personalities
Veal cuts are ideal for pairing, Leffler says, an approach that
can keep menu prices in a desirable range. He matches veal loin
with veal liver, and veal chop with cheeks. Among Leffler's best
sellers is roasted and sliced milk-fed veal loin served with liver
and onions, mushroom jus and parsnip-and-potato purée.
Grilled veal chop is accompanied by veal cheeks cooked confit-style
in duck fat, rosemary, thyme, garlic and bacon for three to five
hours at a low oven temperature. The protein duo is napped with
veal reduction accented with bourbon, which cuts richness and
plays to the restaurant's Kentucky location.
The best-known veal-shank dish has Italian ancestry: classic osso buco sprinkled with gremolata and accompanied by risotto Milanese. But the shank cut, which turns buttery soft under slow, moist heat, fits just about any cuisine.
At Genghis Khan Mongolian Grill in Kansas City, Mo., veal-shank pot roast is seasoned with soy sauce, five-spice powder and other ingredients and braised for several hours.
For Chef Roberto Santibañez at Rosa Mexicano in New York City, veal shank takes on a Mexican guise when the meat is marinated in tequila and chiles and cooked in parchment paper. In Boulder, Colo., The Greenbriar Inn braises veal shank tagine-style and serves the meat with thyme-infused root vegetables, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted potatoes and harissa.
Affordable Stature
Ground veal offers a smart way to add value and quality to a menu
and profits to the bottom line. Because of the meat's stature
with diners, ground veal has a high pricing threshold. Alex Urena,
chef at Marseille & Kemia Bar in New York City, uses ground
veal in ravioli, pairing the pasta with corn, baby carrots, savoy
cabbage and truffled Madeira sauce; the appetizer menus for $11.
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Tom Valenti, chef at New York city's 'Cesca, offers an appetizer of tiny veal meatballs with pastina en brodo (broth) for $8. At Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., Sodexho USA prepares meatloaf with honey-chipotle glaze using ground veal, beef and pork, a layering that results in deeper flavors.
"Veal is a protein that can take on great flavors but also has a light and appealing taste of its own," Leffler says. He mixes ground veal, fresh chopped savory, thyme and chervil with eggs and spreads the mixture onto sheets of cooked pasta. It is rolled then roasted for 40 minutes (covered for the first half). For service, rolls are sliced sushi-like and served with yellow-tomato coulis.
Leffler also makes a sophisticated veal-and-pork meatball. The ground mixture, which includes onion, milk, egg, salt and pepper, is shaped into quenelles and pan-fried. His version of Danish frikadeller has a big following, he says.
"People tend to overlook the fact that veal is a lean meat and has unique characteristics," says Frank Bonanno, chef-owner of Mizuna in Denver, who uses ground veal for a Bolognese sauce he serves with pappardelle. "There's a lot an operator can do with it."
Veal Chops With Roasted
Red Bell Pepper and Black Olive Relish
Chef-owner Cindy Pawlcyn, Mustards
Grill, Yountville, Calif.
Yield: 6
| Extra-virgin olive oil, divided use | 3 Tbsp. |
| Fresh cilantro, chopped | 3 Tbsp. |
| Honey | 3 Tbsp. |
| Sherry vinegar | 2 Tbsp. |
| Juice and zest of orange | 1 |
| Garlic cloves, minced, divided use | 4 |
| Red onion, thinly sliced | 1/4 |
| Dark soy sauce | 1 Tbsp. |
| Jalapeño, seeded, minced | 1 |
| Salt and white pepper | as needed |
| Veal chops, 10 oz., bone-in, pounded | 6 |
| Red bell peppers, roasted, seeded, peeled, diced | 2 |
| Oil-cured black olives, pitted, finely chopped | 1/4 cup |
| Basil, chopped | 2 Tbsp. |
| Red onion, minced | 1/2 |
| Freshly ground black pepper | pinch |
- Mix 2 Tbsp. olive oil, cilantro, honey, vinegar, orange juice and zest, 2 minced garlic cloves, sliced red onion, soy sauce and jalapeño; season with salt and white pepper. Marinate veal chops, refrigerated, 6 hours.
- To make relish, combine bell peppers, olives, basil, remaining 2 garlic cloves and minced red onion with remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Season with black pepper and salt if necessary.
- At service, remove chops from marinade and grill to desired doneness; top with relish.
Protein Power
For operators looking for alternative protein entrées to satisfy low-carbohydrate dieters, veal presents numerous opportunities. Even when a menu item includes a starch, most chefs expect hold-the-carb requests and gladly oblige.
Veal-pork-and-beef meatballs with ricotta
and tomato gravy
Apizz, New York City
Roasted veal breast with gnocchi, bacon
and asparagus
Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro, Boston
Veal sirloin with aged-Cheddar grits, rock-shrimp
bordelaise sauce and crispy parsnips
Emeril's Atlanta
Seared, sage-scented veal chop with sweet-and-sour
cipollini onions and roasted asparagus
Fiamma Osteria, New York City
Veal-sausage-stuffed pork chop with apple-brandy
wild-mushroom sauce
Finn & Porter, Alexandria, Va.
Grilled veal paillard with dried-cherry
demi-glace
Northwestern University (Sodexho USA),
Evanston, Ill.
Duo of veal: roasted veal tenderloin, slow-cooked
veal, ragoût of mushrooms, pancetta and watercress salad
Onesixty Blue, Chicago
Of Cheeks and Chops
CIn Executive Chef Jim Cohen's world of high rollers at Terrazza in Las Vegas, customers pay top dollar for a meal. That allows Cohen to serve a veal chop or loin instead of other cuts. They include simple approaches, such as veal Milanese—pounded, breaded, sautéed and served with potatoes, fried onions and balsamic glaze. Another popular guise is grilled veal chop with oregano tomato sauce and topped with melted mozzarella.
Cohen and other operators note that in recent years the chop has emerged as a strong seller, particularly at steakhouses and upscale casual restaurants. It has heft, but is more intriguing to those accustomed to steak.
The Inn at Little Nell in Aspen, Colo., menus roasted veal chop with pot-roast vegetables and ham-hock-sage demi-glace, while Fran O'Brien's Stadium Steak House in Washington, D.C., serves an Italian-herb-coated chop. Grilled grain-fed veal chop with potatoes and escarole makes the menu at Pricci in Atlanta.
Veal cheeks, an underutilized cut that rose to popularity a few years ago, continue to please guests. At Zealous in Chicago, Chef-owner Michael Taus serves Napoleon of braised veal cheek and celery-root latke with red-beet horseradish. Executive Chef Jamison Blankenship at Nectar in Washington, D.C., presents veal cheeks with lentils, masala-spiced butternut-squash purée and carrots. Braised veal cheeks with lemon, bacon and sweetbreads can be found at Anissa in New York City.
Brian Kenny, chef at Tsunami in West Palm Beach, Fla., includes both in one entrée: grilled bone-in veal tenderloin with braised veal-cheek-stuffed ginger-scallion pancake, porcini mushrooms, corn essence and ginger-cilantro purée.
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