Press Pass: Opening Night at Saint Germain

Article and photography by Joshua Fitzwater

Short of the obligation to spend Easter weekend with your Conservative folks, if you love food and were not at Saint Germain’s grand opening last Saturday then your foodie card is officially revoked. Shit, even if you were tied to your folks on Zombie day, you should have persuaded them to go eat with you at Saint Germain. You could have given them some bullshit line about Ted Nugent digging it, and considering the taxidermy lining the walls, you could have easily sold it. Hell, tie gun rights into it if you have to. I don’t care. You should have been there. It is the most progressive food experience you can have right now in downtown Norfolk.

As I entered Saint Germain and found my seat beneath the taxidermy gazelle head, my waiter set in front of me an amuse bouche beet tuile with carrot creme fraiche, smoked pecan, crispy potato, and an apple gastrique. The bite was delicately composed in a quaint white cup. The most amazing thing about this amuse is how the taste profile developed throughout the process of consuming the petite bit. As I first put the amuse in my mouth, the initial sensation was an apple sweetness with a creamy consistency on my tongue. That taste profile went away once I actually started chewing; It was replaced by a citrusy explosion, and I do mean explosion- think like gushers candy but without the off putting goo texture of that candy. Towards the end of the amuse being chewed, and as I swallowed, my tastebuds gave way to a nutty smokiness which was truly unlike anything I had tasted before. The smokey nuttiness had a pecan element, but just comparing it to pan baked pecan pie would not do it justice. Perhaps imagine the best bite of pecan pie infused with the best burnt end of smoked brisket made at the deepest most southern barbecue pit manned by a fourth generation barbequer. Oh, and before I get emails about how I am ‘ on head chef and owner Dave Hledik’s nuts,’ go try his fucking nuts and tell me they aren’t amazing.

While still relishing the memory of the amuse bouche, I ordered the beef tongue pastrami as an appetizer. It’s always funny to me how people get weirded out by parts of the head of an animal. My friend Anna, who was joining me for the opening night, just simply wouldn’t try it. I guarantee she would have loved it if she hadn’t known it was tongue. Is it honestly that much stranger to eat tongue than say meat from an animal’s gut? I bet she likes brisket and doesn’t stick her own tongue out to it. The beef tongue was cut paper thin and marbled beautifully. It simply tasted devine. It came accompanied with an assortment of pickled sides that were all exquisite and a house made mustard. I couldn’t have asked for a better appetizer. It was at this point that I knew I was going to order the pig ears. I had never had pig ears before and I love trying new food experiences. The asshole in me also kind of wanted to give Anna something else to squirm over.

Served with a hot sauce that tastes of honey, the pig ears were more than I could have hoped for. Gelatinous and richly sweet on the inside with a wonderfully crispy outside, I found myself spontaneously breaking out into a clothed Truffle Shuffle in my seat before the disapproving gaze of my friend. I would find out later that the secret to inducing my Gooniness starts with Hledik employing a twelve-hour confit process, cooking the pig ears in pig fat. Then, after drying the ears out overnight, he deep fries them for crispiness and applies a Louisiana cracklin style seasoning.

The food at Saint Germain excites me, but my excitement is not rooted in the social oddity of some of the items on the menu. Shock value motives are not what Saint Germain is about. Hledik is a culinary artist working with these not commonly found off the beaten path components because he is trying to elevate food here in Hampton Roads. If the thought of tongue or sweet breads makes you scrunch up your nose a bit, but you want to expand your palette, remember that any competent chef can make a good steak. It’s only the artists in the culinary world that can take the throw away bits and transform them into something delicious and memorable.