 Haverhill, Massachusetts, isn’t necessarily known as a dining destination, but Evenfall is one restaurant that would make a trip worthwhile. Executive Chef Scott Pelletier is known for creating bold statements with his food, which he describes as “grounded in French and rooted in seasonal American.” He is happy to yield to the occasional Asian or world influence, but these days, the New Hampshire native says he is leaning more and more toward the traditional New England influences of the childhood summers he spent on his grandparents’ farm in Stratham, New Hampshire. Scott credits his grandparents with impressing on him the unique qualities of New England’s seasonal produce. He relies heavily on local growers in the summer and also tends to his own small vegetable and herb garden throughout the summer.
Perhaps in tribute to his New England forebears, Scott has taken to making his own cheese. “I had made soft cheeses in the past,” he says, “but I took a cheese course in Massachusetts about six months ago and learned how to make the hard cheeses.” For his signature Massachusetts Cheese Course, Scott adorns a rotating selection of Massachusetts-crafted artisanal cheeses—including one of his own creations—with seasonal accompaniments. “In the fall and winter, I’ll make hard cheeses,” says Scott, pointing to the recent Truffle and Thyme Cheddar that he paired with a Westfield White Buck Cheese, a Great Hill Blue and Fig Spring Roll, and fresh goat cheese. A typical cold-weather accompaniment for the cheese course is Scott’s Green Apple Gelee, while spring accompaniments include rhubarb and strawberries, and summertime brings ripe berries and stone fruits.  For his Pan-Roasted Organic Black Pearl Salmon with organic shrimp, haricot verts, and saffron verjus, Scott searched to find a salmon he could feel good about serving ecologically and healthfully. He wasn’t able to find a regional hatchery that met his standards of 100 percent organic feed and humane conditions, but he heard about the Black Pearl farm off the coast of the archipelagic Shetland Islands near Antarctica and discovered they were raising the fish he was looking for. Because the salmon isn’t fed additives or coloring, says Scott, “it’s paler pink but has great flavor and a great fat content. It’s very high in omega 3 oils, and it tastes great and is good for you.” The salmon is a hit with customers, and Scott never takes it off the menu
Scott always keeps his bistro-invoking Steak Frites on the menu, featuring a one-pound grilled petit tender and house-cut fries. Not to be confused with a petit fillet, the petit tender is a flavorful cut derived from the chuck that is similar to a skirt steak or hangar steak in that it is best lightly marinated, cooked medium rare to medium, and thinly sliced and fanned for serving. Scott always accompanies his steak frites with a salad, and for the summer it is comprised of backyard beauty tomatoes, baby greens, house-made fromage blanc, and balsamic vinaigrette. To finish the meal, diehard fans can count on the Chocolate Molten Lava Cake with vanilla speck ice cream and espresso crème anglaise. Scott doesn’t dare make any changes to this dish. “I tried to change it up a few times, but there was a backlash,” he says, and he is happy to comply. “I don’t mind giving the customers what they want because if they don’t come back, you won’t be in business very long.”
Signature Dishes Summer 2007 |
