As soon as finishing your meal at David Santos’s new West Village restaurant Louro, you want to just give him a giant hug. The creativity and care of chef Santos is brought to life in each dish he creates. I had the pleasure of dining with a few members of the team from Underground Eats, my absolute favorite place to find the chicest, most innovative food events. Enjoying a five-course black & white truffle meal was beyond decadent; amazing food and passionate people, what more could you want. This was a special kind of dining experience that Santos is very familiar and fond of where the whole restaurant is served the same meal at the same time. He calls this: Nossa Mesa supper club. Dining this way heightens all of the senses, forces you to get close to your neighbor and observe everyone’s reaction to the same flavors.
When I was young before I was allowed to start cooking my Dad always had one thing to say, mise-en-place. This is a French culinary term meaning: everything in place. Spending more time in the kitchen than at my table, the collective organization of Santo’s kitchen epitomized the term and brought me right back to my childhood. Louro is the Pourtuguese word for bay leaf and reminds the chef of his late uncle who nurtured a bay plant in his Parisian garden. A fond memory in David’s childhood and the reason that bay leaf is one of his fondest ingredients. Memory thrives in many family meals and the comfort of family is what you feel in the dishes from the kitchen of Louro.
all images, except where noted, by Alice Gao
Nossa Mesa Black & White Truffle Menu:
Amuse: Uni, grapefruit, white truffle oil
Course 1: Hamachi tartare, quail egg, grilled scallions, white truffle aioli
Course 2: Celery root soup, black truffle pudding, celery in textures
Course 3: Risotto, lardo parmigiano foam, white truffles
Course 4: Chicken Two Ways: black truffle, corn bread, wild mushrooms
and polenta, confit ragu, wild mushrooms
Course 5: Foie gras beignets, truffle sugar and glaze
