My deep love and respect for farm to table restaurants started during my first semester at The Culinary Institute of America sitting in a food systems class. This was the first time I actually started to think about the details behind an ingredient, where is it actually coming from?, how was it grown or raised?, how much labor was put into the product?, etc. It is not easy to have a menu changing with what's in season and sourced from local farmers, but you can taste the love that went into the dishes here at Salt Air in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
My entree was the Faroe Island Salmon served with ratatouille made of local eggplant, heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, and squash with a blood orange creme fraiche. I can't help but love a pretty presentation of a dish. The salmon was cooked perfectly with a crispy edge and a tender and flaky middle. The seasoning was simple just some salt and pepper but there was power in that simplicity. The pure flavors of the produce in the ratatouille shinned mixed with an herbaceous after taste was delightful. The tangy and slightly sweet taste of the blood orange creme fraiche was a creative and delicious pairing to compliment everything on the plate. There wasn't anything I would change about that dish.
A funny little fact about me is that I LOVE crab but typically don't like many crab dips. This crab and spinach dip served with grilled ciabatta totally changed my mind. The super savory parmesan cheese with the spice of paprika and fresh earthy notes of the artichoke hearts blended with buttery crab meat was a spectacular flavor explosion. The ciabatta was only slightly grilled leaving a crispy edge with a light and fluffy middle. The bread was also sprinkled with either paprika or old bay, a little detail that made a huge difference. I loved it.
My sweet tooth was surely excited to try some desserts by Salt Air's award-winning pastry chef. On the left was the peach pie served a la mode with vanilla ice cream and house made vanilla whipped cream. Some peach pies or cobblers have pieces of peach that are too large and make an overwhelming bite. The peaches in that dessert were cut into more bite size pieces so you could get a mix of peach and pie filling together. The texture was heavenly with the outside still crisp and the middle super gooey. My only minor complaint was that the pie wasn't super warm, and the ice cream was still pretty frozen, so it was difficult to scoop a bite of the two together. But overall, still my favorite dessert of the night and still craving it right now. On the right was a pistachio whipped custard and raspberry sauce with a dark chocolate crumble. This dessert was unique, and I haven't had anything like it before. I loved the light and airy texture with some crunch of the pistachios but thought it needed a little more sugar or more flavor. The raspberry sauce was very flavorful and nicely sweet with a refreshing feel. It was just hard to scoop up enough raspberry to make the whipped custard sweet enough to my liking. But a common theme of the whole dining experience was every plate had flavors that worked together harmoniously for many delicious balanced bites.
They even have a well thought out mocktail menu or "for prohibitionists" as their menu says. I had the "fauxspresso martini" that was a shot of espresso, house made vanilla bean simple syrup, and oat milk. It added some delicious playfulness to the meal.
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