Chef Michael Phillips Charcuterie and Green Ox
As a lover of Chef Phillips charcuterie at the Craftsman, I was curious to hear that all of Kieren Folliard's restaurants now carry his plates, as Kieren is backing Phillips and the forthcoming Green Ox brand of his charcuterie, which will one day be available retail (and probably on other restaurants menus).
Having to go to a nearby event, we went to Cooper at the West End. I won't go into the whole menu (classic Irish) as we didn't try any of it, only the charcuterie. As the place was packed due to the end of happy hour, we were happy to get a spot at the bar. After we placed our order, the bartender told us "in case the server doesn't tell us what the selections are, they are a terrine, chorizo, and something else". Not much of a description, but having it before many times at Craftsman, I knew what to expect.
To start with the best, the breseola was wonderfully dried and perfectly seasoned as it would be from Italy. The pork terrine was just as I remembered it; full-flavored and spot on.
The chorizo was so-so; it could have benefited from a longer curing, but the sacred pork rillettes - sacrilege! It was served so hot we had to wait for 5 minutes, while constantly blowing on it to cool it down - it was still hot when we tried it again. For such a delicately flavored dish, it lost everything at that temperature, and the textured suffered a bit too.
Served alongside was a very crisply flatbread, pickled onions, and whole grain mustard, but I expect that they are no longer using Boetje's as they did at the Craftsman, though it was still nice.
It was certainly a bargain at $13, though I hope that Chef Phillips will direct them to serve it at the correct temperature, It might just have been Cooper's, as they really push out the food quickly. I will have to try it again at one of Folliard's other restaurants.
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Cooper Irish Pub
1607 Park Pl Blvd, St Louis Park, MN 55416
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LiaM
Jan 15, 2011 07:56 AM
I'm surprised to hear they heated the rillettes at all, not to mention to the point where you couldn't eat them right away.They should be at room temperature, shouldn't they? I'd have sent them back. It sounds like some staff education is needed.
›2 Replies -
Cookie,
Thanks for this posting.. I live near the craftsman and always loved Mike's Charcuterie plate. The man can really do magic with pig parts. This gives me a good excuse to try out Cooper next time I am in the neighborhood.
BTW, the Charcuterie plate at Craftsman is still pretty darn good. Last I was there I think a couple of items were still Mike's stuff. I believe they make their own terrines and then are buying in some of the other products.
Dale
