Todd Gray Champions Mid-Atlantic Cuisine

By JULIETTE ROSSANT While you should definitely nibble your way through the Smithsonian's 2005 Folklife Festival starting today, June 23, for a more substantial meal that helps celebrate this nation's food, head to a tasting at Equinox, Todd and Ellen Gray's paean to Mid-Atlantic cuisine. Equinox, which opened in 1999, is dedicated to many things: organic meats and produce, excellent French and Italian technique, and a reverence for the local ingredients of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay and the Virginia Piedmont Plateau (map of general area). I passed by earlier this week for a sneak-peak (OK, sneak-taste) of the tasting menu, and the eatings was good. The Grays are strong followers of the Alice Waters School of sustainable farming of organic food. They referred to her often during our conversation and were very excited that her edible garden will be on exhibit during the Folklife Festival. At my table were vintage ladies' magazines like The Mayflower's Log (1928) and Junior Home for Parents & Children (1931), . I didn't get a chance to read them, accompanied by an antique can of Tom's Cove Oysters from the Wm C. Bunting company -- now stuffed with flowers, not old oysters. Ellen Kassoff-Gray, raised in Maryland and Washington, DC, arrived to talk about the restaurant's new tasting menu, accompanied by a tangy Crushed Blueberry Julep arrived. Equinox's 19th and early 20th Century, Mid-Atlantic plates and bowls -- and even salt and pepper shakers -- she had gleaned from antique markets. The point was to "revisit the past, to micro-define Mid-Atlantic Cuisine in its historical context." A plate of canapes arrived: a feathery-light Smoked Bluefish Fritter with Sweet Pepper Jelly in a lovely little bowl, a Pickled "Sho' Melon" with Choptank Day Scallop that was lightly seared, and Algonguin Corn Toast with Crispy Soft Shell Crab. Todd Gray described each taste. I was fascinated by the pickled melon from the Eastern Shore of Maryland that had a hint of ginger. Todd explained that he was focusing on the less familiar Chesapeake catch: blue fish, sugartoad, and spot, along with the well known oysters and crabs of the Chesapeake (although, come to think of it, only one of those three fish was on the tasting menu that day). Along with the Bay, Todd has been delving into the rich Piedmont plateau, with its heritage hogs and cattle. The Grays have done their homework, consulting cookbook treasures like Good Things to Eat by 19th-Century former slave Rufus Estes, The White House Cookbook: A Comprehensive Cyclopedia of Information for the Home by F. L. Gillette, and others. He pointed out that in Virginia, a slave state, much of the cooking was done by African-Americans slaves (and, later, former slaves), whereas in Maryland, a free-state, cooking was done by European-American colonists. Native Algonquins cooked very simply, but Todd does try to use some of their ingredients and even uses a native corn meal from Heritage Foods from an Arizona tribe. The first course was a trio of oysters: Grilled Chincoteague with Preserved Lemon and Ale Butter Sauce, Baked Mobjack "Lafayette Style" on a bed of greens, and an Urbana Oyster Stew with Surry (Virginia) Ham full of tender oysters and celery root in a light Vermouth sauce. The second course was Terrapin Style Maryland Crab Bake, a take on classic Crab Imperial that, Todd says, Thomas Jefferson loved (so you Wahoos from the University of Virginia -- sorry, "Mr. Jefferson's University" -- listen up here). It was a wonderful mixture of celery leaf salad, crab meat, buttermilk crumbs and lemon thyme all tucked into a red-glass crab shell. Somehow this circa early 1900s kitschy dish is a perfectly amusing way to serve this classic dish. The third course was fish, a duo of Rockbass and Windmill Point fluke filet. One of my favorite fish, the rockbass was a standout, with its garnish of fried capers. Yum. The fluke was a bit insipid, but then again this was a test-run: after this first experience, I'm willing to give anything Todd serves a second go. The fourth course turned to the Virginia Piedmont, where Todd grew up. Out came a gutsy buckwheat pancake filled with smoked sausage and carmelized onion jus. Gray explained that this was inspired by buckwheat griddle cakes: I could have eaten a stack. There was a slice of buttery-soft heritage lamb saddle with Monticello-style sweet peas with fresh mint -- the lamb from Romney Ridge Farm, which Alice Waters uses. Todd also served a Fennel Spiced Chicken on Black Rice Poivrade to round out the meats: moist, tasty, and assertive enough to stand up to a mound of wild rice spiked with black pepper. I adored it. For a fifth course (dessert), Todd served Thomas Jefferson-Style Armagnac Bread Pudding with strawberry salad and white chocolate sorbet and caramel sauce. All too often, bread pudding is too heavy and solid, but I could have gone for another slice of this stuff. Todd and Ellen Gray appear in the Food Culture USA portion of the Folklife Festival on Saturday, June 25, (1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.) so catch them there -- but beware, as you may soon find your feet walking you toward the northside of the White House just south of K Street, into the Golden Triangle, where along the streets of lobbying power lies Equinox (map). Don't resist the urge -- especially Sunday, June 26, 4:00-7:00 p.m., when they will be holding the Fresh from the Family Farm family benefit at Equinox. 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