FEATURES
After multiple trips to Thailand, he decided
to open Kin Shop, as well, and although it is
Thai to its roots, according to Dieterle, “My
goal with this menu was to put my own spin
on the classic staples of Thai cuisine that I
love, and offer some original dishes inspired
by Thai flavors, as well.”
Kapur intentionally keeps the description
generic. “It forces the server and the guest
to engage,” he says. “I think it is important
for our customers to understand the story
of the goat, and the vagueness of the
description encourages them to ask the
server about the dish. That way, they know
we use the whole animal, and each plate
contains five different parts of the animal.”
make the kitchen’s job easy. “We like it
when the farmer says, ‘I have this, and this
is what you can you do with it.’”
Kin Shop uses 25-30 goats each week, but
only the necks, which come from a small
Pennsylvania Amish farm that is, Dieterle
says, “under the radar.” However, the entire
animal is spoken for, as the farm sells the
remaining meat to other restaurants.
Vincent sources goat from nearby
suppliers, usually young animals that are
still nursing. But with an adventurous
clientele, he has used goats as large as 80
pounds, a size most restaurants, even those
that regularly serve goat, would eschew.
Chef Ravi Kapur worked for eight years
with Nancy Oakes at Boulevard, San
Francisco, before taking over the kitchen
at Prospect, a sleek new venue in San
Francisco’s downtown financial district.
Goat, featured daily, is simply listed as
McCormack Ranch Goat (from McCormack
Ranch, Rio Vista, Calif.). Depending on the
season, it may be accompanied by English
peas, fregola, carrots and mint butter.
He purchases goats when they are about
40 pounds, and ages the carcass for about
a week. He braises the neck and shoulder,
and roasts the chops from the loin and the
rack. The belly is sous vide, then seared
and glazed with a coat of preserved lemon
and honey. Often, the legs become a
roulade, cleaned, seasoned, brined and
slow-poached in butter; to serve, just a
quick sear and a few spices. In winter, the
shanks become osso buco or are ground
and made into sausage for the bar and
happy hour. Bones become stock.
26
The National Culinary Review | September 2011
As with most chefs who use goat,
it is whole-animal utilization. He
poaches the brain and serves it on toast.
The necks are slow-roasted for about
eight hours, and the shoulders become
stew, soup or sausage. For parties of six or
more, Vincent bones a goat and spit-roasts
it whole. He peels, stuffs and rolls the belly
and loin, yielding about 12 servings; the
legs are simply roasted.
Prospect uses about four goats each
week. “Goat is definitely not a mainstream
menu item, so it does take some education
from the staff to tell people a bit about the
taste and why it is good to eat goat,” says
Kapur. “But it’s become pretty popular.”
“Nothing is a hard sell,” he says. “We are
very fortunate, and honestly, I have no idea
why. Ram, mutton, you name it. It just sells
out the door.”
Named 2011’s Best Neighborhood
Restaurant by the Chicago Tribune,
Nightwood represents chef Jason Vincent’s
paean to the Midwest’s growing network of
small producers. The menu changes daily,
and is handwritten to highlight ingredients
that come to the kitchen each day. “We
don’t have staples on the menu,” says
Vincent, acknowledging that it doesn’t
A GROWING BUSINESS
Will goat ever become mainstream?
From a purely practical point of view, it is
expensive, not easy to source, and with a
low bone-to-meat ratio. Purchasing goat is
most often a commitment to whole-animal
utilization. Dieterle’s good fortune to share
animal parts is the exception.
Not least, of course, is the common
perception that goat meat is gamey and,
therefore, often a hard sell. And this is
where purchasing decisions come into
Prospect
At Prospect, Ravi Kapur features goat
daily, sometimes accompanied by English
peas, fregola, carrots and mint butter.
