Among its many wonders, The Chanticlair, opening on West De la Guerra Street, brings two acclaimed chefs together in one kitchen, offers three different concepts in uniquely and charmingly designed spaces, but more than anything, it is rooted in a true market menu bursting with surprises. White pineapple guava. Chinotto tangerines. Exotic shelling beans. Sikkim cucumbers. White blueberries. Chilacayote squash, roasted over pecan wood, served aside a stuffed squash blossom, and kicked up with mole amarillo and sprouting pepita crujido.
During my interview with chefs Jeremy Tummel and Jake Reimer, Tummel disappears out the kitchen’s door only to return with a few blackberries plus basil growing out back so pungent you smell it before the door shuts. “It’s Greek columnar basil,” he says, handing me a dime-sized leaf of the exotic herb so I may join in the munching. It hits with Wonka-big basil flavor. For reference points, Reimer talks about his grandfather’s garden, Tummel his mom’s. “This is stuff not sitting in a box or refrigerator,” Reimer says, after running through a list of purveyors —Tom Shepherd, Milliken, Earthtrine, Garden of…, Tutti Frutti — they will work with when items can’t come from just beyond the kitchen. “You’re going to taste the difference,” they promise.
The two even say they have plots at local farms that must go unnamed where they get to plant whatever their creative hearts desire.
