PASTRY CHEF NINA BACHINSKY CHOPPING QUINCES FOR QUINCE TARTE TATIN AT SWOON.
To fully understand Bachinsky’s power with a mixing bowl, sugar, and cream, my dining partner and I allowed ourselves a sampling of desserts, starting with the famous cheesecake with the unforgettable accompanying pineapple rum sorbet, and the autumn pear Napoleon, which came layered in the delicate and delightful fashion Bachinsky had described. However, it was the Sardinian dumplings I couldn’t stop eating, despite having already eaten too much. Traditionally, says Bachinsky, these dumplings are filled with young pecorino cheese, fried, and drizzled in chestnut honey. Bachinsky’s versions are smaller than the Italians make them, and are served with a scoop of frozen lemon mousse, beside wedges of roasted quince, and ringed in a circle of a balsamic reduction sauce. As I ate the dumplings while seated across from Bachinsky and Gimmel, and sipping one of Gimmel’s favorite dessert wines, a 2002 Chateau Soucherie, Chaume, 1er Cru, Layon ($52/bottle), the half-circle shaped morsels seemed a perfect memento from their honeymoon. At the end of my meal, after a full day chopping, baking, and sautéing a few feet apart, separated only by a stainless steel counter, the couple parted momentarily after Bachinsky announced she had to go home to retrieve a loaf of kalamata olive sourdough bread baked that morning from a 23-day old starter. She promised to return to the restaurant, and planted a quick kiss on Gimmel’s lips. “See you soon,” he said, with a twinkle in his eye. Swoon Kitchenbar is located at 340 Warren Street, Hudson, NY; (518) 822-8938; www.swoonkitchenbar.com. Dinner entrées $17 to $20, appetizers $8 to $10, wines $23 to $225 per bottle (many in $35 range); lunch $7 average. Open for lunch and dinner Thursday through Tuesday; closed Wednesdays. 64 FOOD CHRONOGRAM 1/06