Scardello Dinner Hints at Campo Menu

by Steven Doyle

Last night Rich Rogers, cheesemonger and owner of Scardello, rolled out the red carpet and polished the house silver as he hosted his first guest-chef dinner at the cheese boutique. Rogers says that he will be doing these special dinners every few months and spotlight a popular area chef to pair cheeses with their particular style of cooking.

Last night’s dinner sold out in mere minutes after Rogers sent out the information to his customers via the store’s email list. Scardello hosts many events through out the year, including chocolate and cheese pairings, cheese classes and other food-tainment themed evenings at the Oak Lawn shop.    

Last evening guests were treated to a look at chef Matt McCallister’s upcoming menu for his new restaurant, Campo Modern Country Bistro, as he prepared a five course dinner infused with some of his house-made charcuterie and signature imaginative plays on a variety of dishes.

Here is a first sneak preview to what you might expect at Campo.

Flounder Tatare with shaved radish, Caprino Royale feta, watermelon and ground Costa Rican coffee.

A selection of Matt’s home-made salumi’s with his own pickles and mustard paired with a selection of Scardello cheeses that included Cana de Cabra (a Spanish soft ripened goat cheese), two-year aged Beehive Butter Bound (an Irish-style Promontory cheese that is nutty and buttery and one of the last existing wheels available on the market), Berkswell (a nutty English sheep’s milk cheese).

The Garden: Roots, Leaves and Soil which was a base of bacon braised lentils with twenty different herbs and vegetables accompanied by a country ham vinaigrette.

Braised Goat Tamale made with duck and bacon fat stuffed with Paula’s Goat Cheese and cabrito, served with a red pepper puree and fermented carrot and cabbage slaw.

The dessert was a play on caramel-cheddar popcorn. He served a buttermilk caramel cake topped with Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, Kecap Manis (a sweet soy sauce), toasted sesame and a buttered popcorn ice cream.