A New Chef At Committee Makes His Mark

Last fall, one of my favorite restaurants, Committee, started off the fall season of their monthly wine dinners highlighting the cuisine and wines of the island of Cyprus. I previously wrote that the waters surrounding Cyprus were "...said to have once been the lair of Scylla, a terrible sea monster which is alleged to have possessed a serpent's body, six canine heads, and twelve limbs. Scylla was supposed to have taken six sailors from the ship of Odysseus."

This month, the wine dinner at Committee (at which I was a media guest) highlighted the cuisine and wines of Lamia and Central Greece, and there is an intriguing connection to the earlier Cypriot dinner. The city of Lamia may have been named after Lamia, the daughter of the god Poseidon, and she is said to have been the mother of the monster Scylla, as well as another creature, Acheilus the Shark.

The region around Lamia is very marshy land, so grape vines don't grow well there, though it is the home of Retsina, a Greek resinated wine which has a bad reputation in some circles. However, it is a reputation that needs redemption as there are a number of excellent examples of Retsina which can now be found. This is also an area which is very meat-focused and as there is little red wine in the region, they traditionally drink white wine with their meat dishes. That is certainly a more unique pairing.

This wine dinner also was intended to introduce Committee's new Chef de Cuisine, Theo Tsilipanos (pictured at the top of this post). Theo is a native of the city of Lamia, having owned a restaurant there for eight years before deciding to move to Boston. Locally, Theo has worked at restaurants including Sel de la Terre, La Brasa and L’Espalier. For this dinner, Theo collaborated with Consulting Chef Diane Kochilas and Wine Director Lauren Friel, who selected the wines for each course.

If you've never attended one of their wine dinners, you really should do so. They are usually held in a small, private room and the multi-course dinner will intrigue and delight your palate, as will the well-paired Greek wines. Chef Theo didn't disappoint, creating a delicious dinner which was evidence of his culinary skills. I've also been back to Committee since this wine dinner, trying more of Chef Theo's cuisine, and he impressed me once again. I continue to highly recommend Committee to everyone.

We began the evening with Babanatsa, homemade cornbread with greens, which is not a combination I usually would consider but it worked. The cornbread was moist and tasty, and the green added an interesting texture as well as a bit of bitterness in opposition to the sweetness of the corn. This type of traditional food was intended to be easy to carry, when farmers and others were climbing up and down the mountains of the region.

We then proceeded onto a Greens Salad with Winter Fruit & Grilled Formaella Cheese. The Formaella Cheese of Arachova is a traditional Greek cheese, a semi-hard cheese made of sheep's milk. It is commonly eaten as a table cheese though sometimes it is fried or grilled. I loved the taste of the grilled cheese and it was well balanced against the fresh greens and fruit. The cheese had a squeaky texture and I think it would be a nice substitute for cheese curds in a Greek version of poutine.

Our first wine of the evening was the Mylonas Savatiano, made of 100% Savatiano from 50+ year old vines. It was aged in stainless steel and was beautifully aromatic, fresh and delicious, with pleasant flavors of pear and lemon, and a crisp acidity. This would also work very well with seafood.

Our next course was Trahanopita with Shaved Bottarga Mesolongiou and Lemon Zest. Trahanopita, which roughly translates as "pasta cake," is made with trahanas, cracked wheat boiled with milk, which is then dried and preserved. It is a "farmer's breakfast," akin to Greek oatmeal. The bottarga is Greek caviar, Red Mullet roe. This had an interesting taste, almost like a potato cake but with more nuttiness, and an intriguing briny, earthy aspect. The lemon added a subtle acidity that helped to balance the dish.

Paired with this dish was the Harlaftis Attiki Chardonnay, produced by one of the oldest estates in Greece. It is made from old vine Chardonnay, with fermentation in French oak and then 4-5 months of aging sur lies. It is a Chardonnay of power, with big citrus and stone fruit flavors, some mild spicy notes, and a hint of caramel. Good acidity, a lengthy finish and a nice structure.

Our next course was a variation on a more traditional dish, Kontosouvli, which is usually spit roasted meat, commonly pork. Instead, we had Red Snapper 'Kontosouvli' with a Celery Avgolemono, and I didn't have any complaints. The fish was moist and tender, delicious with a nice touch of char. Seafood is always a good choice and fish grilled like this would appeal to many people.

The Domaine Vassiliou ‘Siban’ is a more traditional-style wine, made from 100% Savatiano. It was fermented in stainless steel and was crisp and elegant, with bright citrus notes and hints of almonds, especially on the finish. This was certainly an excellent seafood wine, and would love to try it with oysters.

Next up was Kelemia, a whole baked onion stuffed with ground meat and Kefalograviera (a hard Greek cheese). The stuffing was juicy and spicy, with a tang from the cheese. The onions were tender with a nice sweetness, balancing out the spicier filling.

The pairing for this dish reflected the uniqueness of the region of Central Greece, a Kourtaki Retsina. Wine Director Lauren Friel is a big fan of Retsina and was pleased she got to pair it with this dinner. The Kourtaki is made from Savatiano, is unoaked, and has a touch of pine resin, giving it a more subtle piney aroma and taste. I've enjoyed a few Restinas in the past and this one was food too, being more subtle and thus more amenable to wine lovers than some of the more prominent and resinous wines.

The last savory course was Kapamas, a lamb stew with warm spices, wine and tomatoes, which was served over Bobota (a cornmeal cream with Feta). What an alluring aroma from this dish, and the taste was its equal. The spicy lamb was tender and flavorful, with a mild earthiness and a complex blend of tastes. The Bobota was also delicious, a rich corn flavor with such briny elements. A hearty and compelling dish, this is excellent for the winter.

With the lamb, we enjoyed the Muses Estate ‘9 Muses’ Rosé, which is made from 80% Syrah and 20% Mouchtaro. And yes, Rosé is not just a summer wine, and should be enjoyed year round, especially as it is so food friendly. Mouchtaro is a very rare grape, which only grows in the area of Askri, and this winery was the first to revive this ancient grape. This dry Rosé had subtle and delicious tastes of red fruits, with a touch of white pepper and a mild herbal note. Very tasty and it stood up to the hearty lamb.

Dessert was a Pasteli (a sesame and honey bar) with Greek yoghurt mousse and topped by chestnut syrup. The pasteli was crunchy and nutty, with mildly sweet accents, topped by a slightly sour mousse and the sweet, nutty syrup. Our final drink was the Muses Estate ‘Zacharias’ Tsipouro, a strong Greek brandy, sure to warm you up on a chilly evening.

This past weekend, after a Saturday spent at the Boston Wine Expo, I dined at Committee with a friend who had never been there before. It gave me the opportunity to try more of Chef Theo's new dishes, and once again I was impressed, as was my friend. I just want to highlight a few of those new dishes, to showcase the new chef's talents.

One of the specials that night was a meat version of their Artichoke Moussaka. The bottom was a layer of pasta, topped by ground beef and with a potato layer on top of it all. The beef was spiced nicely and went with the pasta, while the thick layer of potatoes was like an excellent comfort food.

These are Cheese Loukoumades, which are basically Cheese Donuts! Who could refuse such a thing? These light and crispy donut holes were filled with three Greek cheeses, including Manouri, Kasseri, & Feta, and topped by a Greek honey-vyssino glaze. Superb! The cheese blend was bright and bold, a melange of compelling flavors, and the glaze added a nice sweetness to balance off the strong taste of the cheeses. I probably could have sat and ate these loukoumades all night with a bottle of wine. Highly recommended!

For dessert, we thoroughly enjoyed the Sokolata, which consisted of melted chocolate halva, crispy kataifi, pistachio powder, and mastiha ice cream. That chocolate was amazing, rich, creamy and with a nice depth of flavor. You'll want to lick the plate clean. The crispy kataifi added a nice textural element to the dish and the unusual ice cream added an intriguing flavor to the rich chocolate. I would stop by Committee just to have this for dessert again. Also highly recommended.

The new Chef de Cuisine, Theo Tsilipanos, is certainly making his mark at Committee and I continue to give the restaurant my highest recommendation.