Bizarro Uptown 21 : 12 nwotpU orraziB

Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I recall a Seinfeld episode (in fact, it was #137, “The Bizarro Jerry”) in which the natural order of the characters’ world is inverted and where opposites–Kevin, Gene, and Feldman–are starkly set against the personalities of Jerry, George, and Kramer. It’s a rollicking good time.

The Switch Unem.

Now, imagine a similar scenario in a restaurant where the opposite worlds of the back-of-house kitchen crew assume the roles of the front-of-house service staff. There are similar stark oppositions, here and there, but at the end of the night–and its five courses–it’s a rollicking good time as well.

Let’s call it episode #1, “The Switch.”

Kitchen crew member Nat explains how "The Switch" works.

I imagine the night was designed to be a fun and relaxed way to start off 2012 after the mayhem of the holiday season, for both restaurateurs and diners alike. It certainly came off that way and was plenty of fun and good food to boot.

Nick Benninger, madly pouring and jiggering cocktails from behind the bar, wryly said that the evening “was getting off to a turbulent start.” I will let you interpret that as you like: things seemed smooth enough to me.

Part of Benninger's turbulent night with the Stolly.

A half-dozen or so signature cocktails of chefly creation started off the night for many: from Funked-Up Caesar (always with the punny-potty mouths, those cooks) with an oyster to tequila and amaretto with a goat cheese popper, a sake and gin “high-five” with an Asian inspired pork and nappa cabbage-rice paper roll, and on to a spiked coffee and doughnuts with cardamom (always with the doughnuts those Uptown 21 cooks).

Head Honcho sets the table ... grinningly.

Diners seemed to enjoy the cocktails crafted by the cooks, and though I am not a mixed drink aficionado server-chef Sean did such a spectacular job selling me on the Jamaican peppercorn-infused dark rum with cola and lovely pickled cherries served with a pork sausage Jamaican patty that I took it: I loved the concoction with its balance of sweet and sour and salty and spicy.

Ole! A Jamaican tapa ... mon.

The easiest thing to do when cooking is to cook what you know. So, the NNU21 waitstaff cooked their cultural backgrounds. It was a smart strategy, and it worked. First course was Megan’s Swiss onion tart with a duo of gruyere and appenzeller cheese and something referred to as “quick pickled” pears. The acidity in the quick pickling provided a good contrast with the tandem-cheese-richness of the tart and its crust making it a good appetizer course.

Megan's Swiss onion tart with two cheeses and quick-pickled pear.

The salad course was a United Nations affair: its creation was attributed to a team effort of waiter-chefs who came up with a fennel and pear creation tossed in a lovely sherry-maple dressing with bits of kalamata olive and a goat feta. Nicely supremed sections of pink grapefruit mounted the dish for a very bright acidity indeed. There was a lot going on on the plate–just as there is at the United Nations, I imagine.

Plentiful ingredients and numerous directions in this salad course.

Now, remember that as the food is being prepared back of house by front-of-house staff, the kitchen crew–Chef Sean, Chef Emily, and Little Sean are doing yeoman’s work as waiters in the dining room (not to mention Benninger as bar-keep). Ask a chef if he or she likes working the front-of-house and you can get some pretty interesting answers (right Schlieper?).

But the NNU21 crew did a good job–except that Little Sean interrupted a brilliantly scintillating story I was telling with an even more brilliantly timed punchline. I’ll give him that, however. This would have been just about the time I was thinking, “Hey; if I dined and dashed, wouldn’t it be fun to see Chef Sean come running after me down King Street?” (I decided not: he’s probably pretty strong, and I know he has a lot of sharp knives.)

Waiter-Chef CK Chris schmoozes the DR.

A mid-course is pure Nat with a nice explanation to the dining room as well. Her family recipe for Bobo de camarao is grilled shrimp–perfectly cooked–swimming happily in a Rio sort of way in a cassava and coconut cream with crisped cassava bites and chili oil. Except … except that there is no “cream,” as she explains.

The cassava, a hearty and starchy South American tuber, becomes a creamy sauce (helped by the coconut) when cooked down, and it is simply delicious. And unique: I can’t imagine there are more than three or four restaurants in Waterloo Region that use the plant so well, if at all.

Nat's Bobo de camarao.

Given the spirit of the evening, it is hard to pick any one dish over another as a favourite; however, I think most guests would agree that “1/2 Korean CK’s” Korean BBQ “bo ssam style” (rolled, I believe) with a decadently rich pork belly and galbi-style beef ribs was stellar. Add to Waiter-CK’s (Chris) excellent kimchi and a delicious scallion-ginger condiment and the main course was spot-on all the way through from rice to chopsticks.

Terrific kimchi from CK ... and all the rest of the multi-layered course.

Finally, an Alsatian “kasekuchen” cheesecake with ricotta and quark was topped with a warmed cherry bourbon sauce and candied lemon, a la Andrea–it’s a dessert that has at once richness and a palate-cleansing quality which satisfies terrifically well after a multi-course meal.

Andrea's Alsatian Finale.

After all is said and done, the night wasn’t so bizarre after all–and neither was it turbulent (for me at least). Both teams, en renverse, can be proud that they pulled it off and brought it together in an enjoyable evening of food and friendship.

Front-of-house at home in back-of-house.

And after all is said and done–and done and said again–isn’t that all that really matters? Kudos to both teams for their efforts: I declare it a tie. Best two out of three?