John Troxel
Dining at June, the intimate 20-plus course tasting experience created by chef Sean Brock, is a culinary adventure in five acts: a wild ride that will wow you, challenge and confound you, gratify and soothe you.
Located on the second floor of his flagship Audrey in McFerrin Park, the 37-seat restaurant continues Brock’s homage to his maternal grandmother Audrey June Morgan, who nurtured his passion for growing, preserving, and preparing food. While rooted in seasonality and the chef ’s Appalachian heritage, the menu draws on the finest ingredients that Brock has sourced from around the world. Moreover, it reflects the ongoing teamwork in the adjacent Lab, devoted to research and development for all courses served.
“We use the PIE model in our work,” says Brock, standing at a counter laden with an assembly of ingredients to be highlighted— elevated, really—in the meal to follow. “That stands for Products— Ideas—Execution.”
On a given evening, you might see a fist-sized knob of winter black truffle under glass, a precious box of uni, a basket of fresh fish: sturgeon and young barracuda; prized produce of the moment: a pawpaw, an Appalachian Gold potato, a plump Mr. Stripey tomato. Behind Brock, through the glass enclosure, you can see the inner workings of that R&D laboratory—the place where imagination meets state-of-the- art technology. Here, various ingredients go through rigorous tests to extract and amplify their inherent flavors and aromatics. There is fermentation and more: a room for Koji culture incubation, machinery for freeze-drying, an ultrasound for making nano-emulsions. Powders, syrups, salts, oils: for Brock, it is all about extraction—methods for distilling vivid flavors and aromas.
“This is what I’ve been chasing all my life,” Brock says. “Capturing the aliveness of a thing.”
To be sure, the chef and his team are both artist and scientist. It takes a marriage of the two to bring each course into being.
A June evening begins with each guest enjoying a palate-sparking, non- alcoholic quaff conceived by beverage director Jon Howard, while being introduced to the ingredients at play. Meanwhile, Brock’s team is busy setting up the first act—a canapé platter of four distinct bites which await you at your table. (It should be noted that Brock changes June’s menu eight times a year—twice in a season—all based on ingredient availability. Elements of the tasting described here will, no doubt, be different at another time.)
A combination of local produce and exotic fruits of the sea, the canapés could feature Brock’s beloved Appalachian gold potato, its poached slices assembled like a small package, sandwiched with sea lettuce and katsuobushi. Or a hollowed eggshell piped with sweet corn custard and hickory. Or a petite bowl of uni in berry-dotted uni custard, hidden under a nasturtium bloom.
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John Troxel
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John Troxel
This leads to the second act, which Brock terms “water.” This tasting underscores delicacies sourced from oceans and rivers. A diamond of Kamasu, or young barracuda, comes with pepper jelly wrapped with strips of kiwi. Elegant pearls of Kaluga caviar are curiously, but successfully paired with eggplant and banana. Roasted abalone, placed in a shell anchored in sand, arrives in a dramatic surround of seaweed, beneath a burlap cloche. Next to it is a palate of powders— brown butter, vinegar, miso, plankton, Texas Pete hot sauce encircling an egg yolk, to mix and dip the shellfish.
Third act is “land” and begins with a salad tasting. It’s a plate bearing a sunflower bloom, its center filled with toasted sunflower seeds. Covering that, like a painting, are vibrant purées of summer squashes, and a coin of black truffle. Other tastings highlight foie gras with cured field peas, grapes, and peanuts as well as the most exquisite piece of Wagyu beef sourced from Black Hawk Farms in Kentucky. Young okra, slow baked for four hours in buckwheat, gets dipped in umami butter to sidle the meat.
Dessert is broken into two final acts, reflecting seasonality and the creativity of pastry chefs extraordinaire Keaton Vasik and Michael Werrell. One offering could be a variation of a pavlova using cantaloupe and floral notes of jasmine over buckwheat crumble. Another option taps into the nostalgia of Dippin’ Dots, yet the combination of tiny beads of watermelon ice cream layered over seaweed Panna cotta and olive oil curd is completely new. The denouement consists of pick-up bites: petite fruit-of-the-moment frozen custard sandwiches and the French fruit and marzipan confections, calissons.
Each act has its proper beverage pairing. Sommelier Jodi Bronchtein has meticulously selected unique clean wines, while Bar Director Jon Howard curates the cocktails and zero-proof drinks. There is a seamlessness in the way that each is not so much a pairing, but an integral component of the tasting.
Service is a beautifully choreographed dance. It takes the teamwork of a finely trained staff to stage and serve each course with warmth and grace. This may as well be June’s mission statement where Southern hospitality and global flavor profiles warmly welcome diners for a new adventure with every visit.
(809 Meridian St.; junenashville.com)