My Birthday Dinner
Dyron’s Lowcountry menu is a gift-in-itself. And Chef Chris' execution wraps a bow around it.
By Jan Walsh
Birthdays that end with nine, as the second digit make me anxious. It means I have lived nine of this decade’s years. There is only one left to live, if I make it, to a new first digit and zero as the second digit. Typically, I use the last year to try on the next decade for size, saying I am almost… But this time I am determined to live in the moment each moment of the coming year starting now!
No better restaurant for “living to eat and eating to live” than Dyron’s Lowcountry. Executive Chef, Chris Melville makes everything from biscuits to desserts without seed oils, artificial ingredients, or processed foods. He vets all ingredients, foods, and cookware to serve the healthiest fare possible. Like me, Chef Chris aspires to live an organic lifestyle, especially food. And he practices what he preaches in Dyron’s kitchen. Chef and I often text each other with new sources for organic and sustainable food products, farms, and ranches. After welcoming us in tonight with birthday wishes, he asks me to remind him about the name of the crackers I recommended. And I won’t be surprised if they are accompanying Dyron’s Original West Indies Salad the next time we dine here.
Tonight, our server, Nick takes our cocktail before dinner order. As we nibble on Dyron’s beautiful house biscuits. Next month I will be featuring his biscuits recipe along with the Dyron’s famous fried chicken that is now fried in tallow at CleanCooking.com. Sign up there for its newsletter now so you don’t miss it. An Espresso Martini for Kev and a Rabbitini for me! Kev’s drink is mix of Kettle One Vodka, espresso, Khalua and BROWN SUGAR! As a child I would sneak in my grandmother’s kitchen and dig my little hands in the Blue Ball Jar of brown sugar and eat it by the handfuls. So, I must have a sip, and another… It is deep, dark, and delightful. Easter was yesterday, thus the Rabbitini offering. But this is not your typical Easter Bunny Martini. It is a bad bunny with “lots of dirt,” house stuffed olives, and Ketel One Vodka. Superb!
For starters, Kev has the Fried Crab Claws. I am excited to find Soft-Shelled Crab on the menu. When in season, it is my favorite seafood. And it is comforting to know these fried foods are cooked in tallow, not seed oils. Both are coated in a golden cornmeal crust and arrive crisp and hot. The generous bowl of succulent claws are served with lemon and house made cocktail sauce. The soft-shelled crab is crunchy on the outside and rich, buttery, and tender on the inside. Not only is it recommended to eat soft shelled crab with your hands, but I also don’t really find another way, as I have tried. Yet Chef Chris made it easier as the crab is cut in half in the kitchen, such as one would do with a large sandwich. So, I dip each half of the whole crab in black garlic ponzu sauce, bite by bite. This dark, thin, umami-rich sauce that is slightly sweet, and more complex than ponzu sauce. This dark, thin, and zesty sauce with hit of citrus gives the crab a Japanese twist, which is ironically where our son Ross is, celebrating his birthday. The entire crab is edible, and I do not leave a morsel of this sweet savory dish. Highly recommended! We pair our first course with our favorite, bottle of Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs.
Next Chef treats us to Seafood Gumbo. I know this gumbo well. Yet on first bite we taste an even better version with a bit more depth and heat. I ask Chef Chris about the new version and he explains. “More time and attention to the broth, using a double (overnight) chicken stock, reinforced on the day we make it with snapper frames and shrimp shells. Then our roux is with organic flour and half butter and half duck fat,” he describes. “In the Cajun trinity we use onions, celery, red bell and poblano peppers. And we are generous with the filé, bay, thyme, and smoked la Vera paprika. Quality andouille finishes the base of the gumbo, then shrimp, oysters and crabmeat are added to order. Lastly is genuine Carolina Gold rice.” A sensational synthesis! Don’t miss this new gumbo.
For entrees Kev debates the Iberico Pork Rib Chop and Prime Niman Ranch Grassfed Ribeye. I encourage the steak because I want him to share it. It is my birthday! He orders the steak. Difficult for me to come here and not order seafood…
I have the Lowcountry Cioppino. Kev’s steak arrives sizzling. It is accompanied by arugula, steak fries with parmigiano Reggiano, and guajillo butter. On first cut it is cooked to order, tender and juicy. The thick fries are meaty too with comforting, plump potato, which pairs perfectly with the beef. Cioppino originated in San Francisco with Italian immigrant fishermen, who created this seafood stew from the day's catch, served with crusty bread. My hearty cioppino boasts the prettiest jewels of the sea: delicate snapper, buttery lobster, bite sized rock shrimp, and briny mussels in a tomato broth with spinach, and accompanied by grilled bread. It is busting with freshness and among the best cioppino I have ever tasted.
For dessert we skip the candle and share Dark Chocolate Mousse. It is Valrhona,-Guanaja, Grand Cru, Maldon Sea Salt, topped with Chantilly cream.
Valrhona Guanaja is a legendary 70 percent cocoa dark couverture chocolate, which launched in 1986 as the world's most bitter chocolate. It is a complex blend of cocoas from Trinidad, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Madagascar. It boasts bitter cocoa notes with hints of fruit, coffee, and molasses. The English Maldon salt is prized by chefs for finishing savory dishes. Yet Chef Chris incorporates it into this dessert to balance its flavors. The flakes of salt soften the dark chocolate’s bitterness, enhance its natural sweetness, and adds texture to the creamy mousse. These flavors and texture bring back memories of my grandmother’s fried chocolate pies, overfilled with thick chocolate, she made especially for me anytime I asked, which was often. Ending this special night with chocolate and sweet memories, I could not wish for anything more.
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