2025 Rust Belt Kitchen Notebook
An in-depth look at some of our favorite dishes and cocktails from our time on the ground in the Rust Belt.
Argentine Almendrado
When Pastry Chef Ginger Fisher Baldwin started planning the dessert menu for Balvanera in Pittsburgh, she knew the restaurant needed a house-made ice cream program. “For me, it was a no-brainer,” says Baldwin. Soon, however, she was asking herself, “What can we do with this?” That’s when Owner-Executive Chef Fernando Navas told Baldwin about the almendrado, one of his favorite childhood treats. The simple, yet cherished Argentine dessert is traditionally made with ice cream and nuts, and served at special occasions. It has “that childhood nostalgia,” says Baldwin. Plus, “Pittsburgh is known for this burnt almond torte from Prantl’s Bakery. It's sugar, almonds, and then a yellow cake with traditional buttercream and custard filling. So for me, this is an interesting play on it.” She started testing recipes to find the right flavors and textures for her take on the almendrado. Baldwin eventually settled on a churned frozen ice cream—instead of a softer semifreddo—with a “wonderful, classic, fresh-bean vanilla” flavor. Then, she turned to the nuts, landing on whole, skin-on roasted almonds. Baldwin blitzes the nuts in a food processor and folds them into a “very smoky caramel.” After she pulls and stretches the brittle-like mixture, she hand-chops the caramelized nuts into breadcrumb-sized pieces. To shape, Baldwin fills a loaf pan halfway with the ice cream, sprinkles the nuts over the top to create a ribbon, and then adds the rest of the ice cream. The whole loaf is coated in more of the nut mixture and sliced for service.
Pickle LOAF
Is it love, or is it dill pickles? For Baker Ian Herrington, it’s likely both, and it comes loaf-shaped. A trip to Long Island, New York introduced him to the serendipity of pickle-flavored rye bread, and while it satisfied his hankering for pickles, Herrington thought, “I can probably do this in a way that fits the Cleveland market a little better.’” His hometown answer to the pickle rye? “I really, really increased the pickle flavor.” It took about a month to get Herrington’s idea from paper to the bread racks of his bakery, Leavened. Herrington feeds his years-old sourdough starter twice a day, and begins with a three percent inoculation for his levain. He uses a blend of King Arthur Sir Galahad and Stutzman Farms stone-ground whole rye flour. “We use the Stutzman rye because it interacts wonderfully with our sourdough starter.” When incorporating kosher dill pickles and their brine into the dough, Herrington uses slightly less water and salt than he would for a traditional sourdough to accommodate for the extra hydration and salinity. The loaf gets shaped and tinned before baking in a steam-injected deck oven. Right as the loaf begins taking on a light caramel color, it’s baked dry the rest of the way. The result is a super moist and even-crumbed loaf flecked with caraway seeds, ideal for spreading and sandwich-making. Now, Herrington says, he likes to keep a sliced loaf in the back of his freezer, just in case. “I love making a good grilled cheese on it. It’s divine.”
BONN ME BUrger
Ever since Chef Bonn Rassavong started dreaming up Doinks Burger Joint, one thing about the menu was certain: it would have a bánh mì in burger form. “I ate a lot of bánh mì growing up—it’s one of my favorite sandwiches—so I knew it was going to be one of the burgers I put on the menu,” Rassavong says. With two two-and-a-half-ounce smashed beef patties, American cheese, cucumbers, pickles, shredded lettuce, and fresh herbs stuffed between a Turano Baking Co. brioche bun, the sandwich has the flavors and textures of something you’d find on the streets of Saigon. A little extra punch is piled on with the addition of Doinks Sauce: mayonnaise, ketchup, relish, horseradish, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, and a splash of soy sauce, all quirked up with a healthy dose of sriracha and chile powder. But, Rassavong tilts the scales even further with the addition of a little piece of nostalgia: kimchi. “My favorite thing to eat with a traditional burger is kimchi,” he says. Rassavong sources his kimchi from Cleveland Kitchen. “We try to put at least one local business in each menu item,” he explains. “I really like it, one, because of how approachable it is for people [who haven’t tried kimchi before], and two, because it’s cut smaller.” Since you won’t find kimchi on a traditional bánh mì, Rassavong thought it only right to tweak this burger’s name to make it a little more personal: the Bonn Mi Burger. “It really shows who I am as a chef and a burger maker.”
Killer Tofu
“We wanted to call it killer tofu,” says Chef Mike Finsilver, after the song by the fictional band The Beets from Nickelodeon's animated series Doug. “So, we needed beets.” At Finsilver’s Tall Trees Cafe, beet flavor is on full display in this vegetarian sandwich by way of marinated extra firm tofu. Sliced a quarter-inch thick, the tofu is coated—but not fully submerged—in a mixture of tomato paste, maple syrup, tamari, and liquid smoke. For an added boost, he incorporates a beet concentrate as well as a borscht seasoning packet into the mixture. “You get this marinade that is so intense because the tofu soaks it all up.” The tofu is marinated overnight and then baked at 400°F until the edges just start to dry out. Eastern European flavors have steadily made their way onto the menu at Tall Trees thanks to Finsilver’s Polish chef de cuisine, Małgorzata Bitel, but there’s a bit of local influence, too. Along with the borscht tofu and some maple- and sherry vinegar-marinated roasted carrots, Finsilver adds a nostalgic feta-garlic spread to the sandwich, based on a whipped cheese dip he ate while growing up in Waterford, Michigan. Topped with red wine vinaigrette-dressed kale, the components are stacked in layers in between Proof Bakery focaccia. The result is a “very grid-like” and “weirdly sculptural” sandwich, says Finsilver, that is “comforting but doesn't weigh you down.”
Aka Ebi
Over the past four years, Chef Cameron Rolka has rarely repeated a single dish on his monthly rotating tasting menu at Mink. To keep inspiration flowing, Rolka is always on the hunt for exciting products to add to the lineup. For a late March menu at the seafood-centric Detroit restaurant, Hawaiian aka ebi, or red shrimp, caught his eye (recipe on pg. 93). “These shrimp come from a single-man, single-boat operation off the coast of Hawaii, caught 2,000 feet down,” explains Rolka. “[They’re] the shrimpiest shrimp I've ever had.” To ensure the crustacean takes center stage, he gently poaches them in white wine, salt, and lemon for under a minute to add a touch of body while preserving the shrimp’s natural flavor. Rolka wanted to pair the more obscure shrimp with something familiar, opting for a “shrimp cocktail” direction. He ferments tomatoes, salt, and horseradish for about a week, yielding a mild tomato water that brings “more umami and backs up the sweetness of the shellfish.” After flipping through the Manresa cookbook—by Christine Muhlke and David Kinch—for ideas, Rolka decided on a savory cultured milk panna cotta made from buttermilk, yogurt, whole milk, and crème fraîche to introduce “a little bit of texture.” He finishes the dish with a few leaves of miner’s lettuce, blanched hearts of palm, and dots of olive oil for a clean, shrimp-forward bite. “Our guests love to hear what we’ve sourced, why, and how it came to be. This dish is surprising to people. You don’t really know what to expect when it’s set in front of you.”
Rhubarb Tart
Rhubarb is a spring and summertime staple for many, but Pastry Chef Carla Spicuzzi didn’t become a fan until later in life. “Rhubarb was never really an ingredient I grew up eating,” says Spicuzzi. “But, once I spent some time in New York at Per Se and Bouchon Bakery, I became a convert.” To celebrate the vegetable, she created a layered rhubarb tart for the spring menu at Ferndale’s Coeur. A ginger sablé cookie acts as the dessert’s base. The buttery, spiced cookie lets the texture of the rhubarb shine while adding contrast to its sweet-tart flavor. The star of the show, the rhubarb, is poached in a syrup of sugar, pomegranate juice, lemon and orange juices and peels, vanilla, hibiscus, elderflower, and rose—intensifying its bright pink hue. “I like to maintain the crispness of the rhubarb. It’s spring, and everything is blooming and nice. [The syrup] really evokes that.” Spicuzzi tops the rhubarb with honey-vanilla mascarpone for a "mild cheesecake vibe.” Wanting to "keep it light and bright,” Spicuzzi garnishes the dessert with mint, candied lemon peel, and toasted almonds to “round out the sweet-tartness and give some mild bitterness.” Finally, she finishes with more rhubarb pickled using the poaching liquid, which is reduced down and acidified with red wine vinegar. The comforting, floral tart is Spicuzzi’s ode to the warm weather perennial. “It’s delicious and pink! There are only a handful of vegetables that are used in desserts, so it’s fun to incorporate it when I can.”
