Whither Pithivier? Why Chefs Are Buffing Up Their Puff Pastry Skills
Underneath this pastry from Boulud is a decadent consommé with duck, savoy cabbage, and black truffle cream.
Photographer: Liz Clayman for Bloomberg Businessweek
Even by the standards of time-intensive, retro food trends such as baking bread, the resurrection of elaborate savory pastries is remarkable. Dishes like beef Wellington were last seen dominating conversation in the Mad Men era, but chefs today are back to wrapping crusts around ingredients in a manner that would make Henry VIII hungry. With restaurants currently restricted in the ways they can wow diners, a grand-looking, belly-filling presentation that attracts attention on social media is a smart business model.
At his New York City flagship, Daniel Boulud puts a towering crown of puff pastry on consommé studded with chunks of braised duck leg and foie gras. Quail baked in brioche and then presented tableside is a specialty at the Nicolett, which opened in November in Lubbock, Texas. “It’s a culmination of key regional ingredients, classic French cooking, and a little nostalgia that transports you to a simpler time,” chef-owner Finn Walter says.