Sweet panna cotta with fresh strawberries, an herby basil sorbet, and… strawberry Pop Rocks? That’s right this tingling, popping candy is the star of this summery dessert.
About the Panna Cotta, Strawberries, Basil Sorbet & Strawberry Pop Rocks Recipe
American author Thomas Wolfe suggests, wistfully, that you can never go home again––that the experiences that serve as brick and mortar to our memories are sometimes best to leave in the past.
Think then about the faces and lives in a restaurant kitchen. About a chef who came alive to the food world through endless prep work, marathon doubles, and an avalanche of brunch rushes. Consider that those repetitive acts led to jobs in esteemed restaurants across the country, appearances in national cooking shows, ownership of a restaurant empire across California, as well as accolades too numerous to count.
Think about Dakota Weiss, executive chef at Coyote Café, the storied Santa Fe restaurant where she staged after culinary school and now also leads through its latest iteration of Southwestern cuisine. Just this once, Thomas Wolfe may be wrong. She’s come home again––with fresh, imaginative and also palate-tingling results.
Because Dakota’s signature voice brings worldly nuance to our local food scene, we asked her to choose local ingredients and present us with three recipes. On one recent early morning, we watched her in the calm and quiet of Coyote’s kitchen as she brought these ingredients to life in ways that are as grounded in memories (does anyone also remember the youthful thrill of 1970s Pop Rocks candy?) as they are alive and relevant in the present.
Recipe by Chef Dakota Weiss
Story by Gabe Gomez
Styling by Keith Recker
Photography Gabriella Marks
Subscribe to TABLE Magazine’s print edition.
