Rising interest in vegetable-forward cuisine has made for some unlikely culinary heroes, the most recent of which is cabbage. Previously overlooked and underappreciated, cabbage is following its cruciferous cousins, broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts, into the culinary spotlight.
Its menu reboot began with Korean kimchi, in which it is a basic ingredient, and Mexican street tacos, on which it is a frequent garnish. But it has truly come into its own recently as the unlikely star of dishes across the menu.
Cabbage is cool. It turns up as a starter at Chicago’s Leña Brava, which shows off its wood-fired cooking chops with Charred Cabbage with morita chile-infused yogurt sauce and spiced almonds, and at Brooklyn’s Bathhouse Kitchen, where the Roasted Caraflex Cabbage, which is conical in shape and sweet in taste, is finished with tofu cream, shiso and spiced Marcona almonds.
Cabbage is served on the side, too. At Animae in San Diego, Coal-Roasted Cabbage is spiked with brown-butter miso and charred lime. It also spiffs up the sides at The Harvey House in Madison, Wis., where Cabbage Spaetzle accompanies Lake Superior walleye, and at Commander’s Palace in New Orleans, where it is bacon-and-apple-cider braised. And at newly-opened Kowbird in Oakland, Calif., Fried Cabbage with country bacon complements the Southern comfort-food entrées.
It receives the full-on rotisserie treatment at Cali-French bistro Violet in Los Angeles, which serves Weiser Farms Cabbage with parsnip, marjoram vinaigrette and chèvre, but it takes on a Russian accent at Birch & Rye Modern Russian Kitchen in San Francisco, where the classic Golubtsi, or stuffed cabbage, is updated with wood-fired cabbage, Wagyu beef and spiced tomato.
Slaw is succulent. Many operators add value to basic commodity coleslaw by means of flavor and texture upgrades. That’s the case at Güero in Portland, Ore., where the Pepino Slaw is made with herbs, citrus and pepita vinaigrette, and it’s also true at Taco Bamba in Washington D.C., where the house slaw is made with morita peppers.
Speaking of tacos, L.A.’s seminal Kogi Food Truck still sells the original Short Rib Tacos that benefit from both cilantro-onion-lime relish and chile-soy Kogi slaw. In Chicago, Antique Taco takes the traditional approach of topping the Crispy Fish Taco with cabbage, but here it is smoked for additional depth of flavor.
Chains choose cabbage. While its use is not nearly as wide-ranging on chain menus, cabbage has popped up recently in a trio of new items from a trio of chains, each of which takes advantage of the vegetable’s munch-ablity. Panera Bread’s Citrus Asian Crunch Salad combines romaine, chopped broccoli, carrots and kale with green cabbage that is topped with seared chicken thigh meat and a tasty tangerine-soy-ginger dressing. Sweetgreen’s winter menu welcomes diners to the “world of crispy” with Crispy Chicken Salad, which gets its name from crispy rice, pickles and red cabbage. And Luna Grill introduced a new line of bowls, which includes the Classic Luna Vida Bowl made with sustainable salmon atop a bed of lettuce, chickpea salad and Greek cabbage, which is spiked with vinegar.
Squash is trending, too. Though not nearly as underutilized or polarizing as cabbage, squash varieties beyond pumpkin are also getting the star treatment on menus. The pumpkin juggernaut, of course, has taken on a life of its own with the annual autumn onslaught of pumpkin-spiced everything. But lately chefs have stepped up their games with creative applications of other winter squashes.
Squash is in starters, sandwiches and pizza. First courses have moved beyond the standard butternut squash soup with more interesting options. Squash Arancini at Geist Bar + Restaurant in Nashville is plated with roasted garlic tomato sauce, and at Bombay Club in Washington D.C., the sophisticated Butternut Squash Samosa is accented with banana-raisin chutney.
Bathhouse Kitchen menus a Butternut Squash Tartine finished with chile, honey and ricotta. Squash also appears on a pair of pizzas: True Food Kitchen tops Butternut Squash Pizza with homemade vegan almond ricotta, while Doughbird in Phoenix goes withherb ricotta, fontina, spicy honey and wild oregano.
It shines on the center. Squash is getting considerable play as a substitute for meat in entrées like Butternut Squash Schnitzel at The Smith’s locations in New York City and Chicago. The dish taps into twin trends of plant-based options and the recent schnitzel boom, and it includes braised red cabbage, cremini mushrooms and a Dijon beurre blanc.
Twisted Fern in Park City, Utah nods to a hot trend, too, with an unexpected Butternut Shakshouka that combines the title ingredient with tomato farinata, mint oil and spicy greens. Phoenix-based Culinary Dropout offers Butternut Squash Lasagna with spinach ricotta and cheesy mornay sauce. Equally Italianate, the clever Spaghetti Squash and Beetballs, vegetarian meatballs, on the Meatless Menu at Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar chain is topped with Romano cheese, pesto and toasted pumpkin seeds.
But wait, there’s more. La Bise in Washington D.C. has doubled down with Winter Squash Parisian Gnocchi with smoked ricotta and Butternut Squash Risotto with balsamic gastrique. For sheer squashy virtuosity, however, it’s hard to beat Dirt Candy, the lauded vegetable-centric restaurant in New York City, which pulls off a trifecta with Delicata Five Spice Riblets. The delicata squash is steamed, smoked and shaped into ribs, dipped in homemade five-spice barbecue sauce and served with butternut-squash noodles and ginger-winter squash purée.
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