Almond And Channing Daughters Plan Dinner With Dishes From Countries Subject To Trump's Travel Ban

Apr 11, 2017 10:46 AM

Almond Restaurant and Channing Daughters Winery are partnering on a wine dinner Wednesday, April 19, at the restaurant in Bridgehampton that will feature food from countries that are subject to President Donald Trump’s travel ban.

Almond executive chef Jason Weiner and new chef de cuisine Jeremy Blutstein will prepare the five-course dinner, and each dish will be paired with a rosé wine from Channing Daughters.

“Cuisine, cooking—so much of that is cultural interchange,” Mr. Weiner said Monday, explaining the inspiration behind the dinner. “Us chefs, we’re basically anthropologists at this point. In light of things going on in the world and people being a little—for lack of a better word—xenophobic, I thought it would be a good time to highlight some food from other places. And it just felt like a good way to do it.”

The countries subject to Mr. Trump’s executive order issued March 6 are Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

“All six countries on the ban will be represented,” Mr. Weiner said.

He and and Mr. Blutstein are tentatively planning to serve a falafel/fattoush from Syria and Iran; salaat jazar, which is a spicy carrot salad; mafaiya, a Yemeni fish stew; lamb and chicken kebab from Libya; and kac kac, a Somalian beignet.

“What we do as chefs is we play around with so many different kinds of authentic cuisines, and sometimes twist them and bend them and combine them into something entirely new,” Mr. Weiner said, but he noted that, for this event, the dishes will be “super classic and traditional.”

He said Almond tries to do a wine pairing dinner in partnership with Channing Daughters every spring, and it happens that rosé goes very well with Middle Eastern cuisine.

The dining room will be set up with long tables, and most courses will be served family style.

The chefs plan to feature a wide variety of products sourced on the East End, such as chicken eggs from Browder’s Birds, quail eggs from Feisty Acres, microgreens from Good Water Farms, and other ingredients from Pike Farms, Quail Hill Farm, Amber Waves Farm, The Milk Pail and Balsam Farms.

“It’s not really about us, it’s about the ingredients,” Mr. Weiner said of their attitude.

He added that he is enjoying preparing the menu with Mr. Blutstein, whom he said he shares sensibilities with, such as the desire to work with local producers, farms and fishermen. He added that Mr. Blutstein, who formerly worked at East By Northeast in Montauk, also gravitates toward street food and peasant food.

The cost is $85, plus tax and gratuity. Call 631-537-5665 for reservations.