Manifest VI: MAZE

Thanks to everyone who came and participated in Manifest VI.  It was epic! Thanks especially to Mel Benson for the beautiful photos!

Cinco de Mayo came early to Ninth Street as Zeke Firestein and Adam Sobsey hosted our sixth Manifest Dinner.

The chefs gave guests a small taste of Maze Taco, their current pop-up.  Sobsey kicked off the celebration with specialty sangria and margaritas.

Our gratitude also goes out to our partners for this dinner, End Hunger Durham, an action circle of the Durham Food Farm Network that strives to create a food system in the community that provides healthy food for all.  Not only did End Hunger help to introduce new guests to the dinner series, but their willing volunteers stayed until the last plate was clean.

And finally, thank you to the Ragweed Brass Band who were able to provide the group with lively entertainment before the storm!

If the Manifest menu sounds too tasty to miss, check out the Maze Taco pop-up hosted at Ninth Street Bakery Wednesday through Saturdays beginning at 5:30pm and going until late night until May 5.  If you don't want to miss the next Manifest, email info{at}ninthstbakery.com to be added to our mailing list.

MANIFEST VI

15 April 2018

to benefit End Hunger Durham

by MAZE TACO

Zeke Firestein & Adam Sobsey

Music by Ragweed Brass

DRINKS

“The Margie”: a White Wine Margarita

House Made Red Sangria

MENU

Beef Liver Pate (Sangria, Ancho, Caramelized Onions)

Pozole Verde (vegan)

The hominy for the pozole was made from Chalqueno Cremoso landrace corn from Mexico. We got the corn from Masienda, who help supply heirloom corn from local Mexican farmers with top restaurants around the world. The corn went through a process called Nixtamization, an ancient Mayan technique, to turn the corn into hominy. 

The “Tijuana Caesar” Salad (Romaine, Hard Boiled Egg, Parmesan, Anchovies, Lime Vinaigrette)

The Caesar salad was invented in Tijuana by an Italian immigrant who owned restaurants in The United States and Mexico. After a large Fourth of July rush in 1924 they were out off almost all food so they used what was left to create a salad table side to add some extra flair.

***

Beef Barbacoa  •  Pork Carnitas  • Chile-Roasted Pollo  • Black Beans (vegan)

Salsa Roja, Salsa Verde, Salsa Habanero

***

Dessert by Mel Benson:

Tres Leches Cake

Tortillas provided by La Superior Tortilleria.

Dave Henderson

Adam Sobsey

Zabar's Coffee

Kadeau: Epic Gluttony and Gastronomy

Manifest V: Pour

What a menu! Thanks to all our guests who joined us at Pour Taproom for Manifest V. The performances from Dan Enarson and Grace Henley were especially moving. We were able to raise $850 in one night for JusticeMatters. Please email info at ninthstbakery.com if you would like an invite to our next event in April.  Extra shout-outs to Andrew, Andrea, and Anne for being super-volunteers.

Manifest

Menu 11 March 2018

A Benefit for Justice Matters

Beers, Wines, Ciders as Selected by Pour Taproom

*****

Sprouted Wheat Miche with Olive Oil

Roasted Vegetable and Greens Salad with Lime Citrus Vinaigrette and Green Chickpea Hummus

Fingerling Patatas Bravas

Greens, Garlic, Stock

Sliced Steak with Fermented Black Bean Sauce 

Meringue with Cinnamon Cream

Brandied Raisin Couronne

Sour Cream Apple Honey Tea Cake 

*****

The 10 Commandments of Manifest

1.     Communal tables

2.     Prix Fixe: A Planned, Rather than Selected, Variety.

3.     Priced So All Can Afford to Eat

4.     Health, Freshness, and Real Foods

5.     Facilitate Culinary Creativity via (Ingredient) Deconstruction

6.     Less Waste

7.     No servers, No Tipping

8.     No Cult of the Chef

9.     Use the Venue for Performance

10. Good Hospitality is Not a Service to Rendered but a Gift to be Shared

next level sliding-scale

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/food/wp/2018/03/02/one-chefs-social-experiment-charge-minorities-12-white-people-30/?utm_term=.d58b867c5108

Via AS

g-d I love pizza nerds

https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=10237.0

Knife Skills

Manifest V

Manifest V is coming and it's going to be epic.  100 tickets, hope you can join us!

Check out the pics and writeup from our last event.

All proceeds to benefit Justice Matters.

Online ticket sales are here.

Team Spotlight: Maury

No conozco bien a Maury. En este caso, parezco ser el valor atípico. Durante su año y medio como parte del equipo de Ninth Street, Maury aparentemente ha contribuido a cada parte de la panadería. Él es el panadero detrás de las galletas, muffins, brownies de NSB, y la lista podría continuar. Cada bien horneado representa a otro miembro del equipo al que Maury ha trabajado, entrenado y alentado. Cuando sus compañeros de equipo se refieren a él, no hay nada más que palabras amables (y tal vez una historia divertida). Ahora, como gerente del café, Maury es responsable de una "comida familiar" para cada turno, asegurándose de que después de un largo y agotador día de pie, sus colegas puedan esperar una comida caliente y nutritiva antes de salir por la puerta. Si le preguntas a Maury, este es su pan y mantequilla, literal y figurativamente, su lugar favorito es el café, en la estación de emparedados, y está orgulloso de poder brindar un beneficio inesperado al resto del equipo. Por todas estas razones, Maury y su tranquila sonrisa se pueden agregar a la lista profunda de colegas que hacen de NSB la panadería que a todos les encanta visitar.

I don't know Maury well.  In this case, I seem to be the outlier.  During his one and a half years as part of the Ninth Street team, Maury has seemingly contributed to each part of the bakery.  He's the baker behind NSB's cookies, muffins, brownies, and the list could go on.  Each baked good represents another team member that Maury has worked beside, trained and encouraged.  When his teammates refer to him, there are nothing but kind words (and perhaps a fun story).  Now, as the cafe manager, Maury is responsible for a 'family meal' for each shift, ensuring that after a long, tiring day on their feet, his colleagues can look forward to a hot, nourishing meal before heading out the door.  If you ask Maury, this is his bread and butter - literally and figuratively - his favorite place to be is in the cafe, at the sandwich station, and he is proud to be able to provide an unexpected benefit to the rest of the team.  For all of these reasons, Maury and his quiet smile can be added to the deep roster of colleagues that make NSB the bakery that you all love to visit.

Team Spotlight: Rachel

Rachel's mantra: "keep doing what you love.".  Putting this advice into practice, she has been part of the Ninth Street team for a year, and does not expect to depart any time soon.  Rachel is no stranger to food service.  Throughout her career, she has worked as a relief cook and in a variety of other roles within the industry.  However, arriving at NSB, she was new to bread baking and relied on bakery owner, Ari, to teach her everything she knows.  Now a knowledgeable baker, Rachel has earned her place at the bread table, where she lends a hand to each step in the process.  Her favorite?  The challenging brioche.  Beyond bread, what keeps Rachel doing what she loves at Ninth Street?  Without hesitation she points to her colleagues on the team.  Unlike her past teams, she compliments the work ethic, pride in product and attitude of those around her.  Having witnessed the energy and enthusiasm that Rachel brings around the table, I'm sure the compliment is mutual.

Team Spotlight: Felix

Most days you will find Felix in the back pastry room at NSB crafting any of the pastries enjoyed at the bakery - bear claws, danish, cinnamon rolls, croissants - Spanish tunes playing in the background. In fact, Felix trained me in pastry preparations on my first day at the bakery. For hours he laminated and cut dough while I formed and trayed. He may not be a man of many words, but when I requested a change to a Reggaeton station, he obliged, and teacher and student quietly bonded over Latin dance beats. Having only joined NSB 7 months ago, Felix has already seemingly mastered his craft, knowing the distinct process of each pastry by heart. He represents one more example of how our each individual makes the Ninth Street team special - kind, patient and willing to teach.

If you have time this weekend, come sample some of Felix's fine work at the bakery or at either of Durham's Saturday Farmers Markets.

Pete Wells Takes to the Pulpit

"Some of the mythology of food culture died last year, I think. The chef as avatar of sensual indulgence; restaurant work as a demimonde where rules dissolve in a pleasurable after-hours haze..."

From: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/dining/sexual-harassment-restaurants.html

"The Sandwich is the Supreme Form of Life"

Team Spotlight: Taylor

Author's note: In celebration of a successful year and in anticipation of a new year full of growth and camaraderie, we want to begin 2018 by introducing you to the members of the NSB team.  From our 'family' to yours, we look forward to seeing you soon.

Taylor never planned on becoming a baker.  However, three years ago when she received an unexpected job offer in the bakery at a local specialty store she accepted  and hasn't looked back.  In the years following, a string of fortunate opportunities have allowed Taylor to learn and grow across the spectrum of bread, flaky pastries and cakes (you can check out her creations on Instagram - @taylorsbakedgoods).  In August 2017, Taylor's journey led her to the Ninth Street team.

To say that Taylor has her hand in a majority of the baking at NSB is not an understatement. Taylor fills her weeks with responsibilities ranging from prepping dough to forming pastries to slicing bread.  Most recently, she has been appointed the principle cruffin baker.  If you are new to the cruffin concept - a flaky croissant dough baked in a muffin tin, rolled in sugar and filled with pastry cream - I suggest you do your research at the bakery or farmers' market ASAP.

As if her weeks weren't full enough, on Saturdays you can also find Taylor at one of the Durham farmers' markets.  It has been during these early weekend mornings at the NSB stand on Hunt Street that I've gotten to know Taylor.  While she has taught me the secret touch needed to set up the tent and the best method to display the bread, she also served as my introduction to the culture of the bakery.  Taylor told me that far more than at her past positions, she enjoys the good team and friendly coworkers at NSB.  Ninth Street is a bakery that accepts individuals at all levels and allows them to work at their own pace - as long as they put care into a quality product. With those traits in mind, I can't think of a better ambassador for the team.

Here's to you, chef.

Team Spotlight: Ronnie

Author's note: In celebration of a successful year and in anticipation of a new year full of growth and camaraderie, we want to begin 2018 by introducing you to the members of the NSB team.  From our 'family' to yours, we look forward to seeing you soon.

INTRODUCING RONNIE

"Treat your coworkers like family," Ronnie told me when I requested advice on the best way to integrate into the Ninth Street team.  We were walking through the process to open the bakery's cafe on an unseasonably warm Sunday morning - one of my first days.

As a one-year veteran of NSB, Ronnie has become the primary closer for the cafe.  You can find him there most days. It didn't take long for me to witness Ronnie acting on his own advice. He exercised patience, leading me to the back-up stock of napkins, and then to sugar and then reminding me to keep an eye on coffee levels.  There was only kindness as he answered and re-answered my questions.  Ronnie extends this same willingness and enthusiasm to our other colleagues - taking on whatever additional tasks need to be accomplished during down-times at the cafe and even filling in for delivery drivers when needed.  This is what Ronnie says he likes best about Ninth Street - never feeling stressed because the team is willing to help accomplish whatever needs to be done.

While soft-spoken, there should be no doubt that Ronnie has become an expert in all things related to the cafe.  He can gracefully and succinctly compose any sandwich order before I can even find the listing on the menu.  Ronnie shares his knowledge to offer suggestions and guidance based on dietary preference or craving.  Looking for something sweet?  Ronnie's favorite is the blueberry cream cheese danish.  And next time you stop in for lunch, be sure to catch Ronnie behind the sandwich counter and ask him to whip you up another favorite - the Italian.

On Lucky Peach Design

https://www.eater.com/2017/4/10/15240054/lucky-peach-design-illustration

Oysters and Barbecue: Joseph Mitchell

“It’s hard to believe nowadays, the water’s so dirty,” he [Mr. Hunter] continued, “but up until about the year 1800 there were tremendous big beds of natural-growth oysters all around Staten Island—in the Lower Bay, in the Arthur Kill, in the Kill van Kull. Some of the richest beds of oysters in the entire country were out in the lower part of the Lower Bay, the part known as Raritan Bay. Most of them were on shoals, under ten to twenty feet of water. They were supposed to be public beds, open to anybody, but they were mainly worked by Staten Islanders, and the Staten Islanders considered they owned them. Between 1800 and 1820, all but the very deepest of these beds gradually petered out. They had been raked and scraped until they weren’t worth working any more. But the Staten Islanders didn’t give up. What they did, they began to bring immature oysters from other localities and put them on the best of the old beds and leave them there until they reached market size, which took from one to four years, all according to how mature the oysters were to begin with. Then they’d rake them up, or tong them up, and load them on boats, and send them up the bay to the wholesalers in New York. They took great pains with these oysters. They cleaned the empty shells and bottom trash off the beds that they put them on, and they spread them out as evenly as possible. Handled this way, oysters grew faster than they did all scrouged together on natural beds. Also, they grew more uniform in size and shape. Also, they had a better flavor. Also, they brought higher prices, premium prices. The center of the business was the little town of Prince’s Bay, over on the outside shore. There’s not much to Prince’s Bay now, but it used to be one of the busiest oyster ports on the Atlantic Coast.

And once a year, to raise money for church upkeep, we’d put on an ox roast, what they call a barbecue nowadays. A Southern man named Steve Davis would do the roasting. There were tricks to it that only he knew. He’d dig a pit in the churchyard, and then a little off to one side he’d burn a pile of hickory logs until he had a big bed of red-hot coals, and then he’d fill the pit about half full of coals, and then he’d set some iron rods across the pit, and then he’d lay a couple of sides of beef on the rods and let them roast. Every now and then, he’d shovel some more coals into the pit, and then he’d turn the sides of beef and baste them with pepper sauce, or whatever it was he had in that bottle of his, and the beef would drip and sputter and sizzle, and the smoke from the hickory coals would flavor it to perfection. People all over the South Shore would set aside that day and come to the African Methodist ox roast. All the big oyster captains in Prince’s Bay would come. Captain Phil De Waters would come, and Captain Abraham Manee and Captain William Haughwout and Captain Peter Polworth and good old Captain George Newbury, and a dozen others. And we’d eat and laugh and joke with each other over who could hold the most.

“All through the eighties, and all through the nineties, and right on up to around 1910, that’s the way it was in Sandy Ground. Then the water went bad. The oystermen had known for a long time that the water in the Lower Bay was getting dirty, and they used to talk about it, and worry about it, but they didn’t have any idea how bad it was until around 1910, when reports began to circulate that cases of typhoid fever had been traced to the eating of Staten Island oysters. The oyster wholesalers in New York were the unseen powers in the Staten Island oyster business; they advanced the money to build boats and buy Southern seed stock. When the typhoid talk got started, most of them decided they didn’t want to risk their money any more, and the business went into a decline, and then, in 1916, the Department of Health stepped in and condemned the beds, and that was that. The men in Sandy Ground had to scratch around and look for something else to do, and it wasn’t easy. Mr. George Ed Henman got a job working on a garbage wagon for the city, and Mr. James McCoy became the janitor of a public school, and Mr. Jacob Finney went to work as a porter on Ellis Island, and one did this and one did that. A lot of the life went out of the settlement, and a kind of don’t-care attitude set in. The church was especially hard hit. Many of the young men and women moved away, and several whole families, and the membership went down. The men who owned oyster sloops had been the main support of the church, and they began to give dimes where they used to give dollars. Steve Davis died, and it turned out nobody else knew how to roast an ox, so we had to give up the ox roasts. For some years, we put on clambakes instead, and then clams got too expensive, and we had to give up the clambakes.

From: Mr Hunter's Grave, Joseph Mitchell

Manifest: Holiday Edition

Thanks to everyone who came out for Manifest: Holiday Edition at the Bakery on Sunday.  We raised over $600 through your generous donations to El Futuro.

Big ups to: Dave Henderson and the Henderson Family Singers for providing the musical entertainment; George and Lily and the Lil' Farm for bartering firewood and veggies; Alex Ruch for baking the beautiful hearth breads; Mel Benson for the fantastic photos; volunteers Courtney, Heather, Finn, Grace, and Mel - we definitely couldn't have done it without you!

Keep a look out for our next dinner coming in February?!

The manifests and menu are reprinted below for you to enjoy.

Peruvian Chicken and Potatoes

Finn

Best of 2017

Best:

Food Pilgrimage: Gjusta Bakery, Venice, LA

Beer Pilgrimage: The Veil, Richmond, VA

Baker Instagram: Zak the Baker

Food Truck: Soom Soom Pita Pocket

Unheated Grocery Store: Li Ming Global Mart

Pop-up Dinner Series: Manifest

Triangle Food Blogger: Bites of the Bull City

Regional Beer: Surf Wax by Burial (Asheville, NC); Yield by Brewery Bhavana (Raleigh, NC)

Cookbook: Baking School, by Justin Gellatly; F*ck, That's Delicious, by Action Bronson

Beer Label: Grimm Liquid Crystal

Anticipated Opening for 2018: East Durham Pie Company

Only in the Triangle Moment : Fall Sunbath at Sennett s Hole

Opening: St. James Seafood

Mexican: Tacos Don Fily, Green Flea Market, Durham

Progressive Blogger: Aaron Mandel, Clarion Content

NSB Charitable Initiative: El Futuro Cookie Giveaway

Progressive Food Writing: Adam Sobsey

Soups: Guanajuato

New NSB Product: Alex Ruch's Country Loaf

Restaurant as Time Machine: American Hero, Roxboro St., Durham

Turkey: Fern Creek Farm

Health Kick: The Ramadan Diet Plan

Food Inspiration: Francis Malmann

Farm: Lil' Farm; Red's Quality Acre

Rediscovered Food Writing: Serve It Forth by M.F.K. Fisher

Song: The Weekend

New NSB Gear: NSB Hawaiian Five-Panel

New Furniture at Ninth Street: Farm Table by Eric Smith

Instagram Foodie Pic: Durham Hotel Sandwich with NSB Ciabatta

Mallmann

I was very moved when I watched a Chef's Table episode of Francis Mallmann.  Mallmann, an Argentine, is one of the most famous celebrity chefs of Latin America, a longtime on-camera personality like Julia Child and has been inducted into the International Institute of Gastronomy along with other great chefs like Alain Ducasse and Daniel Boulud.  The Chef's Table episode depicts Mallmann cooking various dishes on his property on a remote island of Patagonia using primitive fire cooking techniques.  Here was a chef who not only produced great food in a dramatic way in beautiful scenery, but seemed to have a philosophical system that matched the cooking's intensity and complexity.  In every scene, he not only talks of the food and his methods, but the attributes which the different heating methods evokes, the femininity of fire, the ways in which he cultivates his employees, and so forth.  Here was the chef as fully realized philosophical being, independent of the constraints of modern restaurant gastronomy, independent of the pressures of capitalism and the money-making of food.  Smoking his cigar and sitting by a massive bonfire, he appeared rather content to be thousands of miles away from the nearest Michelin-starred restaurant.