Anthology

Tartare with a Twist

By Casey Pukl

These tiny, peppery, pungent root veggies are one of the easiest ways to add a pop of flavor to any dish. From fish tacos to salads, radishes are a great way to give a little crunchy texture to your favorite summer dishes. This week, Executive Chef, Kristen Burman, and Director of Restaurant Operations, Marc Canzoneri, have teamed up to deliver a fabulous pairing featuring radishes!

Ahi Tuna Tartare
Shaved Radish Salad, Sliced Cucumbers, Fried Basil   

“A good tartare is a tasty and impressive looking appetizer. I love to serve it with some fresh cucumbers to scoop it up with to keep it light,” says Executive Chef Kristen Burman. To start, Burman recommends finding a super fresh ahi tuna. Chop the tuna finely and mix with minced shallots, ginger, basil, salt, pepper, and olive oil.

The salad on top of the tartare is starring today’s featured ingredient, radish. Thinly shave the watermelon radish on a mandolin. Add some julienned pieces of watermelon to add sweetness to balance the pepper flavors of the radish. Toss the mixture in fresh lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and micro radish.

Form the tartare into a rounded cylinder shape with a flat top. Top with radish slaw, and serve with sliced cucumbers seasoned with a little salt and pepper. Garnish with a little fried basil, and you’ve got a great appetizer.

Recommended Wine Pairing

Pinot Noir, Domaine Chandon, Carneros, 2009

Director of Restaurant Operations, Marc Canzoneri, recommends pairing your tartare with  Domaine Chandon’s 2009 Pinot Noir. “This pinot is light, and is the perfect complement to the richness of the tuna,” he says.

With aromas of lavender and thyme, the nose of this wine is intriguing. The flavors open up, and rich black cherry and vanilla is detected. Sandalwood is also noticeable as the wine continues to open up. The finish has a light flavors of toasted oak and more vanilla.

This pairing is available starting tonight and running through next week. Be sure to come on in and give it a try, or try this recipe at home and send in your photos!

An Interview with Monette Marino-Keita

By Casey Pukl

The local San Diego music scene has some pretty incredible talent. Among this amazing community of musicians, one of our longstanding community favorites is percussionist extraordinaire Monette Marino-Keita. Her extensive studies in percussion styles around the world have allowed her to share her talents with audiences and students across the globe. Fortunately for us, she continues to return to Anthology to share her music with our audiences. I had the chance to catch up with Monette last week, and she opened up about her introduction to drumming, her love of teaching, and just why she continues to call San Diego home.

CP: I’d love to get right into what you’ve been into since we saw you last in the fall!

MM: Yeah, it’s been a while. Traveling to West Africa, and working on new songs, and being a mom, and doing that sort of thing.

CP: That’s a busy schedule right there.

MM: (Laughs) Definitely.

CP: Where in Africa did you go and what was this trip? Was it writing? Touring?

MM: My husband and I bring students to our house in Guinea, West Africa. We bring groups to go and study traditional African percussions, specifically the djembe and the dunum. So we had a group of about 15 international students into our house, to study drumming. It is usually a three-week drum camp.

CP: That has to be so much fun! What’s the average age of your students? Read the rest of this entry »

An Interview with Ron Pope

By Casey Pukl

Singer/Songwriter, Ron Pope, gives hope to this latest generation of musicians. His success has largely been a product of viral success on various social media channels, and he only continues to gain more traction with every new release. His latest record, Atlanta, is perhaps his most ambitious to date. The album showcases Pope’s prolific lyrics, crystal clear vocals, and love of sweeping guitar soundscapes. Oh, and did I mention it’ll make you cry your eyes out? Just go listen to “A Wedding in Connecticut” and see if you can keep your composure. It’s a fun game to play with a bunch of girls.

I had the chance to catch up with Pope this week about his latest tour with American Idol album Josiah Leming and how his latest release has been received on the road. Read on to find out why Pope is so pleased with the latest record, and just why he’s actively trying not to write songs at the moment!

CP: I know you just released your new record, Atlanta. How’s that been going? Have you been on the road supporting that for the most part?

RP: Yeah! I’ve been on the road since April, and I’ve toured in America for a little while. Then I went directly to Europe and I did stay there. We did the UK and then we came back for a little while to North America and then went to Canada, and just stayed in Canada. And now we’re all over the U.S. Yeah, so I will have been out for all of May, and all of June, and some of April. That’s kind of what we’ve been doing, just touring non-stop promoting “Atlanta”.

CP: What has the response to the record been like? Read the rest of this entry »

An Interview with Russ Hewitt

By Casey Pukl

Nueva Flamenco guitarist, Russ Hewitt, has taken an interesting road to get to where he landed. Starting off as a rock guitarist, Hewitt spent more than 20 years of his career in the genre. However, once he discovered the nueva flamenco style of guitar, Hewitt found his true calling. Read on to find out how he got his start in the genre, what approach he takes to set himself apart from other guitarists, and just why recording his first record took almost 3 years!

CP: I’d love to just start off for people who are a little less familiar with your music, can you tell us kind of a little bit about how you got your start and developed your style?

RH: Well, I’d say that probably 90 percent of all the guitarists that play this nueva flamenco style actually started off doing rock guitar. I was no different (laughs). I spent my youth learning the latest Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Ozzy songs, I spent about 20 years doing the rock thing of cutting out a CD and so forth. While all of that was going on, I discovered, and actually I discovered it studying classical guitar in North Texas— I discovered this  nueva flamenco style, and I just enjoyed it. It was Ottmar’s first CD, and I thought, “This is very enjoyable,” and I started to gravitate towards it. Even after I graduated with a degree in classical and continued doing the rock stuff, I found that when I wasn’t out on the road and I was doing Duke’s locally, that restaurant, you know, they wanted a little more something that was upbeat, and the classical just wasn’t, but they all loved this nueva flamenco thing I was doing. So, I just started doing it at various restaurants in the early 90’s. It was good money, it was fun to do, and it was doing during a time when rock and the guitar solos were out of fashion. But ironically enough, doing this nueva flamenco style was all I did all night. So I was able to not only keep up my chops, but it was a different outlet of release from the rock things I was doing. So I had been doing that for a while, and then the producer of my last rock band album actually, I flew him out to Dallas to do some overdubs, and he went to a nightclub and heard me do my flamenco thing with my old band. He said, “Yeah, at some point, I would love to record the band.” At that time, my focus was the rock band, and trying to get it off the ground and going. Finally, when the rock band disbanded, my producer just felt that we should move forward with this nueva flamenco style. So, not only was he the producer of the rock band stuff, and both of my nueva flamenco CDs, but he played bass on them and is now currently my live band player. Read the rest of this entry »

Before They Were Prunes…

By Casey Pukl

Fresh plums are something that I’ve always had a hard time finding. Let me clarify; good fresh ripe plums are hard to find. But when you do finally find those delicious, soft, slightly sweet and slightly tart little purple gems, you’ve got to make something extra special. This week, Marc & Jamie really took advantage of some beautiful plums, and fortunately for you, we all get to reap the benefits of their culinary skill.  Read on to find out how to make an incredible dessert from poached plums, and an unexpected herbal take on the classic Old Fashioned.

Read the rest of this entry »