Blue Plate
World Flavors in Americana Cuisine by: Claudia Carbone
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Moroccan mainstay. Lamp shoulder is ground up and Like all Americans, the cuisine at Blue Plate has combined with cracked wheat, preserved lemons and ancestors from around the globe, thanks to Adam spices to make Kafta, a middle eastern meatball dish. Roustom, chef and owner of the popular eatery in He combines beef with Italian sausage and laces it Avon. With an American mother, a Syrian father, and with pomegranate molasses for his twist on a classic childhoods in Damascus and New England, Roustom, meatloaf. From his New England days comes Fish n’ together with his wife and business partner Elli, has Chips—fresh scrod lightly breaded in cornmeal flour created a restaurant to please every palate. They call served with homemade tartar sauce and skinny fries. their world-inspired food “Americana cuisine.” Mussels swim in a heavenly sauce of North African I recreate flavors I grew up with,” said Roustom, who started early in life with Middle Eastern infused American spices that call for more bread for dipping. Roustoms’ food. For example, his childhood peanut butter sandwich Friday night whole pig and lamb roasts have become legendary, and their steaks and burgers from grain- and came on pita bread with homemade Syrian apricot jam. corn-fed Colorado cows earn bragging rights. After his family moved to the U.S., he started cooking The best-selling entree is mouthwatering schnitzel—a at age 12 on Cape Cod, which led him to schooling in thinly sliced pork or veal cutlet coated in bread crumbs culinary arts. The fusion stuck with him. and floated in butter until the coating creates a souffle Diners at Blue Plate reap the benefits of Roustom’s that “gives it a hug.” The famous Blue Plate schnitzels international culinary upbringing. He braises Colorado are a big hit with the Austrians in the Vail Valley and give lamb with roasted tomatoes and pickled lemons, a 71