Rich Landau - V Street: 100 Globe-Hopping Plates on the Cutting Edge of Vegetable Cooking

BE GOOD.

DO GOOD.

EAT GOOD.

CONTENTS

One of our favorite questions we ask each other is, What will be the next big food trend? We arent alone in this curiosityyou see it tackled in top food magazines around New Years when everyones predicting what will be the hottest ingredient or latest fad. Think kale and sriracha or smoking and pickling. But on a more personal level, we like to test our own culinary inspirations, asking ourselves, Whats next for us?

After a few years of gorgeous plates served in sophisticated dining rooms, between sips of age-worthy natural wine and intricate Dirt List items on our restaurant Vedges ever-changing vegetable-driven menus, we felt a little tugging inside. The edgy vegetable restaurant we had opened took on a life of its own, one where we showcase our skills and creativity with elegant compositions and careful pairings, poised service and polished hospitality. The little tugging grew stronger. Vedge has become a serious dining experience where we challenge ourselves to jump new culinary hurdles and set new standards for vegetable cooking. We began to feel a need to express the other side of our culinary spirit.

What about the fiery dan dan sauce and kung pao? How could we introduce zaatar and harissa? Could we get away with a fried tempeh taco at happy hour or an ais kacang for dessert? So when we asked ourselves whats next in restaurants and whats next for us, we found ourselves drawn to street food. We were booking flights to Hong Kong, choosing hotels near night markets in Munich, passing on the fancy restaurants in the Caribbean in favor of the taxi drivers favorite lunch spots. We love a good white tablecloth, but the excitement wasnt being served on china. We found ourselves drawn to lawn furniture and picnic benches, little stands and shacks with smoke billowing out the roof, and sand floors and dirt floors, where you can pick up the food with your bare hands, douse it with hot sauce, and wash it all down with a cold beer sipped right from the bottle. It was a natural progression for us, and its what gave way to V Street.

This is our new playground, a street food bar where we draw inspiration from some of the greatest culinary traditions all over the world. Yes, we still highlight vegetables, putting their flavors and textures front and center in every dish, but we draw our inspiration from iconic dishes that define everyday foods across the globe, celebrating cultures from Southeast Asia to Northern Europe, from the Middle East to South America.

There will always be a place for fine dining, a little pampering and celebration. But the dining evolution toward quick and casual goes hand in hand with our insatiable appetite to learn more about the world around us. The world is just a screen away, but we still crave the authentic experience of eating the food. What better way to get to know a new place, its people, and its traditions? We love to travel because we love to expand our culinary experience, and were most energized these days not by the stuff people learned in gourmet kitchens with a big brigade; we want the stuff that a little older lady is frying up in her sundress and flip flops; the messy, saucy sandwich that guy is eating from a foil wrapper; and whatever is twirling around in that big bowl with chili peppers and fresh herbs chopped up on topyeah, well definitely have what hes having!

So heres a glance into what has been making us tick over the past few years, a collection of recipes weve experimented with, run as specials, and run on our menus since we opened in the fall of 2014. The journeys will continue and the menus will evolve, but the spirit remains the same. Happy travels!

Shopping in ethnic markets at home or abroad is a favorite pastime of ours. But even for seasoned travelers and restaurateurs, it can be a little intimidating at times. These days, you can find so much online, and mainstream markets are increasingly reaching out to broader audiences with new ingredients and product lines. But you want to feel like you can hang and be the cheffy chef who struts into obscure markets and knows whats up, right?

Well, we cant flip a switch and make that happen for everyone, but we can prep you with a few tips that will help. Remember, the recipes in this book are inspired by humble dishes from rich food traditions all over the world where the emphasis is on feeding people a quick mealnot impressing someone in culinary school or a fancy dining room. Learning about a different culture through food is a beautiful thing, and weve been fortunate to find many ethnic markets Stateside that reflect the experiences we seek out when we travel. So capture that spirit, and be just as respectful in the market as if you are visiting the country itself.

Many of our recipes will take well to some substitutions and experimentation. These simple go-to shopping lists cover several ethnic markets, and if you use these as a springboard, youll have a nicely stocked pantry to get you through much of this book. Good luck!

THE MARKET: INDIAN

As chefs, we are never so uncomfortably out of our element as when in an Indian market. The spices alone are mind-boggling. And when you consider that any self-respecting Indian chef blends all curries from scratch for each and every dish, its even more humbling. But play around just a little bit. Learning to appreciate each spice both individually and when paired together is a fun culinary exercise; this is a great place to start.

THE BASKET

Basmati rice

Cardamom pods (cook in your basmati rice, then remove)

Fenugreek (critical in curry blends and excellent secret mystery spice ingredient)

Garam masala blend (great warming spice)

Papadums, dry or pre-fried

Poha rice

Tamarind paste

Turmeric (fresh)

Yellow lentils

THE MARKET: MEXICAN

Props to the Mexican markets here in Philadelphiaour city has a strong Mexican population, and it shows. Just take a walk through the Italian Marketthe same one Rocky made famous in his training montagesand youll find at least one Latin market stall for every Italian shop. The shop owners are always so friendly, and they play the best music. And we can never resist all the great serving pieces (we have more salsa dishes than we care to admit).

THE BASKET

Adobo spice blend