Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1125082
left, Davio's culinary director Rodney Murillo. Below, Davio's Baked baby eggplant, parmigiano and calabrian chili sauce Opposite page, Rooftop honey gelato with honeycomb crunch and honey drizzle. Beekeeper is Andrew Morelos 90 lahan. "They cut them so early in the morning and the shelf life is great. They also do a super job with cherry tomatoes, which we like to get green and pickle to serve with [arctic] char." Tendercrop Farm in Newbury provides the raspberries Callahan plans to tumble over a goat's milk panna cotta with candied fennel and teaberry syrup. "Teaberry grows wild," says Callahan. "Remember teaberry gum? It's the same thing and has this liquorish-cinnamon taste." Last year Callahan made 25 pint jars of teaberry syrup to use as a mystery ingredient in desserts, as well as cocktails. He also taps birch trees to make a molasses-like birch syrup to lac- quer duck and spike drinks. "We have so many young kids in the kitchen and I like to teach them about these ingredients that you wouldn't normally use," he says. It's fun for them and fun for the customers, he adds. Rodney Murillo, vice president–culinary director for the Davio's Restaurant Group has an unlikely source for the local produce at Davio's in Lynnfield: the Whole Foods rooftop garden across the street. "It's about 4,000 square feet and sits on top of the market building," says Murillo. "They have raised beds of dirt with ir- rigation and it's all organic." Murillo will use those veggies on the lunch- eon menu in Lynnfield, serving the tomatoes with mozzarella and micro basil and baking baby eggplants with tomatoes and fresh ricotta. For the Romano beans, Murillo plans to braise them with onions and baby carrots to accom- pany pork belly. "It's fun for the surprise factor we get to give our customers. We tell them their vegetables were grown across the street on the roof of that building. Talk about farm-to-table!" At L'Andana in Burlington, executive chef Nick Panagos has rooftop workers churning out a treacly treat for the restaurant—thick, golden honey. "We have six rooftop hives, and in prime honey season (summer) we make rooftop honey gelato," says Panagos. "It's our top-selling des- sert and served with a drizzle of honey, honey brittle, and a honey tuile." The bar also uses the honey, both in a lime- tequila cocktail and as a bar snack, served in the comb alongside grilled ciabatta and fresh ricotta. "We'll probably make a honey-garlic sherry vinaigrette for salads this year," says Pan- agos, and "maybe grilled pork belly glazed with honey chili glaze served with onion marmalade as an appetizer."