Eleven months out of the year, I am a “minus tomato” kind of gal. I don’t need them gunking up my sandwich or adding any complications to the perfect bite of salad.
In August, though, I have a completely different attitude because tomatoes are at their best: ripe, red and sweet. While there are many ways to enjoy tomatoes at home, it’s also time for restaurants and chefs to shine with this versatile ingredient.
Chef Mauro Querio says he keeps his garden tomatoes at room temperature, not refrigerated, for the caprese salad at his Mangiabevi Urban Italian restaurant in Sterling Heights. He also has a caponata on the menu right now featuring fresh tomato.
“We describe it as a Sicilian relish,” he said of the latter. “Capers, green and black olives, celery, red onions, carrots, garlic, red wine vinegar, brown sugar and fresh tomato sauce. This one is baked. Traditionally they fry all the vegetables. I preferred baked … it’s healthier and less heavy.”
Try one of these dishes Thursday night at Mangiabevi’s Festa Frizzante, a summer celebration with music and a spritz cocktail menu, plus pizza from Two Fat Guys and a Pizza Oven. Tickets are $35 at the door and include pizza.
On the other side of town, chef Ernesto Antopia at Cafe Cortina has a new summer menu with features from the restaurant’s garden. This includes a Maine lobster pasta with vine-ripened summer tomatoes. This Farmington Hills favorite also has a dedicated vegan menu featuring a bruschetta with fresh heirloom tomatoes, grilled artichokes, arugula, and basil oil on grilled crostini. No tomato here, but I want to point out that right now chef Antopia is also doing an interesting version of cacio e pepe with handmade ravioli instead of long noodles.
Elsewhere in Oakland County, the new Cardoon Cafe and Provisions in Sylvan Lake has a lot of ingredients from local farms. This is a sister business of Sylvan Table, which has its own farm right on site. For fans of bakeries and Italian markets, walking into Cardoon can make your head spin. Pizza? Sandwich? Pastry? Wine? Everything?
I decided on the panzanella, a recent addition to the salad menu, joining the classic Caesar and their take on an antipasto called the fratello.
This is the kind of tomato-forward dish I’ve been dreaming about all summer.
Cardoon’s panzanella has juicy, locally grown red and green tomatoes that are coated in a generous portion of creamy stracciatella cheese, plated with garlic croutons softened by the roasted garlic vinaigrette and sweet juice from the tomatoes and cucumbers. Sliced olives and fresno chilis give the salad depth and a little kick while fresh basil and oregano offer some earthy notes. I may go back tomorrow and get it again.
For more Tuscan panzanella while the season lasts, check out Clarkston Union’s “tomato bread salad” which has locally grown tomatoes, olives, basil, cheese cubes and big croutons. It’s on their menu for a limited time.
Over on the east side, Detroit’s Coriander Kitchen & Farm has some new summer menu items, including a beautiful tomato toast. The vegan dish starts with sourdough bread from Crispelli’s, and is topped with tomato and garlic confit from Coriander’s farm, plus basil.
The only thing better than eating tomatoes in the summer may be drinking them. Forget a Bloody Mary, Rudy’s Prime Steakhouse in the Village of Clarkston has a more sophisticated tomatini, which returned for the summer season last month. It’s made with Petoskey, Michigan’s Gypsy vodka, tomato water, white balsamic vinegar with notes of lemon, scallion and thyme. It’s a savory cocktail that reminds me of a boozy salad dressing, and I mean that as a compliment.
Let’s end on a sweet note with Louisiana Creole Gumbo’s new tomato cobbler. A popular treat in the south, we rarely see this blend of savory fruit and dessert this far north. It’s made with baked-down tomatoes and has a flaky, buttery crust, warm spices, and just a hint of acidity from the tomatoes. Find it on the newly updated menu at their Gratiot Avenue location.
Melody Baetens is The Detroit News restaurant critic
mbaetens@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tomato time: These restaurant dishes are bursting with summer flavor
Reporting by Melody Baetens, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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By Melody Baetens, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
