By Maria Desiderata Montana
SDUN Reporter
Tantalizing Italian food served amidst sleek and stylish stainless and glass mixed with an old architectural brick atmosphere puts The Merk Bistro Italiano center stage in downtown’s Gaslamp District.
Having worked with some very talented, ambitious chefs whom he believed were technically superb, The Merk’s executive chef, Brian Rutherford, also felt that their food was hollow and lacking something: love and simplicity.
“There are also the young technically deficient cooks who carry an attitude of adding one more thing, one more ingredient that becomes two, then three to a dish to make it their own,” he said. “Many times these are not necessary or needed to the dish but ‘a look at me, see what I did’ statement.”
Although his roots in cooking are classical French, it wasn’t until five years ago that Rutherford was partnered with a Sicilian cook named Maria Sardina, who took him in an Italian direction.
“The fact that the French codified and refined the techniques of the Italian cooks brought to Paris by Caterina de Medici in the 1500’s means that there has always been a historic underpinning of the Italian in my culinary studies,” he explained. “I firmly believe that the basic building blocks of cooking can take you anywhere.”
Backed by 30 years of experience in the culinary field, cooking comes easy to Rutherford, who believes his flexibility and experience holds him in good stead.
“Kitchens are notoriously chaotic on the best of days, bordering on disaster on the worst,” he said. “To navigate the daily issues, produce fine food and never let the patrons know the pressures behind the swinging doors takes skill, patience and a certain Gumby-like plasticity.”
With the current economics, Rutherford has adjusted to the demographic he is hoping to serve, offering a $30 three-course prix-fixe menu. The small but assorted menu boasts made-from-scratch specialties infused with a California twist including pizza with a ton of topping choices to pastas, salads, meat and seafood. The produce is purchased from Specialty Produce, a local company with a great track record of bringing organics and farmers’ market specialties to the city’s best kitchens.
I loved the chopped Italian insalata with Roma tomatoes, cannellini beans, zucchini, carrots, pepperoncinis and olives. The calamari and zucchini fritti in a light cornmeal crust is a tasty treat that will keep you coming back for more. The quick cooking of the peppers and onions, the bed of spring mix greens and the sweet hot chili sauce are all a great combination that could be considered an appetizer or a salad.
“I have been known to make a half-order and stuff it into our fresh baked torpedo rolls for the meal on the run,” said Rutherford.
I adore basil and am always looking for ways to sneak it into any food I can. I found it most appealing and creatively used in the pesto-crusted salmon and the Gorgonzola pesto and pine nut pizza. The pesto-crusted salmon with asparagus and lemon butter is also one of the best sellers in the restaurant. The linguini Romano, tossed tableside with oil, herbs and a wheel of pecorino Romano pairs nicely with a tender rib eye steak charbroiled and sprinkled with Gorgonzola.
Most summer desserts put fruit in the starring role and the seasonal rustic gallette tart of fruit, a caramel apple base with blackberries steeped in brandy and topped with Tahitian vanilla gelato, is fragrant, ultra creamy and refreshing. Chocolate lovers don’t despair with the luscious espresso chocolate mousse with cinnamon hazelnut biscotti. La Dolce Vita at its best? You bet!
The Merk
820 Fifth Ave
Downtown
themerk.com
814-Merk
