Introducing the newsletter from Connect Savannah, bringing you the latest delicious details from the Savannah culinary scene every Thursday.

THE MAIN DISH

The Corn Ultimatum: Nixtate Serves up Antojitos Mexicanos in New Permanent Starland Yard Structure

Ken and Seana Corona were going to end up in Savannah at some point.

Even they did not expect that ‘some point’ would come as quickly as it did.

Having discovered the Hostess City on a mid-2000s vacation, the native Angelenos bought a house in the Victorian District in 2016.

“We really loved it,” said Seana Corona. “Our plan was always to relocate here.”

After a decade-plus living in San Diego, Ken, a computer systems engineer, landed a job with a government contractor based in Charleston that landed them on the East Coast, and once he could work from anywhere, the couple moved to Savannah in January of 2022. 

In a relative flash, their vacation home became their actual home.

“It just happened a little sooner because we were in Charleston and had a house here,” Seana added. “It made it an easy transition.”

Shooting for mid-February, the Coronas will open Nixtate and will sell house-made corn tortillas and authentic Mexican takeaway food from one of two new shipping container shops at Starland Yard.

Their future is now.

CHEF’S CRAVINGS

Katie Bryant & Mark Ekstrom - Auspicious Baking Company

Each week, I ask the folks behind the phenomenal food at our favorite places around Savannah these same simple questions:

When you are not in your restaurant kitchen, where do you go out to eat and what do you order?

This week’s Chefs’ Cravings come from the happy and delightful husband-and-wife owner-bakers of Auspicious Baking Co., Katie Bryant and Mark Ekstrom.

ME: We’re pretty routine, actually.

KB: We don’t have a lot of time to go out to eat, so when we go, we know it has to be worth our trip downtown.

ME: Bull Street Taco is always on our list. It’s our go-to a couple times a month. Their street corn, guac, and queso are three appetizers right off the get-go, and their Chum’s and chicken tacos.

KB: That’s pretty much our standard order when we go. Get the guac and queso fundido right away. It’s just the Bull Street Experience.

ME: Our other go-to is Ardsley Station. They have a whole menu of small plates for dinner, and we usually get five or six of those and share them and crawl out of there completely full. Everything on their menu is always done to the ten.

KB: One of our favorites is the fried calamari, tossed with a chile sauce and banana peppers fried in there. It’s kind of a twist.

ME: Their poutine is really good as well, and the deviled eggs, I mean, are tried and true. A Grandma’s recipe. To see them there is always a go-to for me.

And for a special occasion?

ME: Cotton & Rye when we’re looking to dress up for a nice night. All of their food is really good. Their osso buco, their drinks at the bar, every aspect every time we’ve gone there, we’ve been impressed. They had a stuffed trout dish that was absolutely amazing. I got it for my birthday one year, and I still dream of that dish.

TRIED, TASTED, AND TRUE

Winter Root Veg. Salad

Even in the Coastal Empire’s milder winter climate, this is the time of year for root vegetables and sturdy squashes. Nothing brings out the full flavors of acorns, butternuts, and their brethren better than oven-roasting, and the same goes for the less familiar roots, the ones none of us even considered cooking twenty years ago.

If you are like me and have and will never come around to beetroot and for those of you still leery of parsnips and turnips, this dish fits the bill.

Back in Baltimore, Hamilton Tavern had a seasonal salad on its winter menu that was a creative cold weather medley, a side that I have done my best to reconstruct at home over the last decade.

To get greens into the vegetable serving, this recipe combines roasted root veg and squash with hearty arugula, tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette and finished with crumbly blue cheese and toasted pepitas. If you hanker for an oniony crunch, add some pickled red slivers or a few quick-fried vidalia straws.

If it sounds delicious in print, wait until you smell it and see it in your own kitchen. On a chilly winter’s night, this robust salad pairs perfectly with a roast chicken or a slab of salmon.

HARD GOODS

• 5-ounce bag or box of arugula

• ½ of a small butternut squash - peeled and cut into ½” dice

• 1 small turnip - peeled and cut into ½” dice

• 1 head celeriac - cleaned and peeled and cut into ½” dice

• 1 parsnip - peeled and cut into ½” dice

• 2 ounces (or more, to taste) of crumbled blue cheese or chévre

• ¼ cup lightly toasted pepitas or walnut pieces

• Kosher salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

WET GOODS

• 1 T. honey

• 1 T. Dijon mustard

• ½ t. salt (kosher or sea)

• ½ t. ground black pepper

• ½ t. garlic powder

• ¼ c. balsamic vinegar

• ½ c. extra virgin olive oil (+ 1-2 additional T. as needed)

DO THIS

• Preheat an oven to 400°

• Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper

• As the oven is warming up, toast the pepitas (walnuts) until you just smell them

• Put the arugula in a large serving bowl

• Clean, peel, and dice your chosen veg

• Remove the pepitas (walnuts) from the oven and set aside

• In a large prep bowl, toss the diced veg with 1 T. olive oil and a few pinches of salt and several generous grinds of pepper

• Pour the veg onto the still-lined baking sheet and spread into a single layer

• Roast the veg for 15 minutes

• While the veg is in the oven, whisk the first six WET GOODS in a bowl

• Slowly whisk in the olive oil as the dressing emulsifies

• Remove the veg from the oven and turn the pieces over as best you can

• Roast the veg for another 10-15 minutes until the edges are browning

• Remove the veg from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes

• Put the slightly cooled veg in the bowl with the arugula and toss thoroughly

• Dress to taste with the balsamic vinaigrette

• When portioned to serve, sprinkle salad with blue cheese (chévre) and pepitas (walnuts) 

BEEN THERE. ATE THAT.

St. Neo’s Brasserie

Just prior to the holidays, I had the pleasure of interviewing Chef Stephen Sleyo, who took over as executive chef at St. Neo’s Brasserie back in October, and on Christmas Eve, my wife and I returned to The Drayton Hotel’s rez-de-chaussée resto to enjoy a few new dishes.

On the whole, our meal was lovely, the food superb and the service felicitous and solicitous, and it was good to see both dining rooms packed with patrons and the bistro-bar side nearly as busy.

Of the three starters we shared, the fried brussel sprouts, tossed with candied pecans and feta and drizzled with aged balsamic, was the highlight, if by a crispy leaf. The bite-sized baby cabbages were tender and toothsome with just enough post-fry crunch, the trademark bitterness mellowed by the salty cheese and sweet nuts ($15).

Sleyo’s braised short rib pulled apart into shreds with little effort, and its foundation of woefully underappreciated celery root as purée was inspired, a perfect counterpoint to the rich beef and fig bordelaise. If your appetite is like mine and you can no longer finish full entrées, this portion is plenty ($18).

My wife’s ‘main’ was the gnocchi with blue crab in a white truffle cream sauce. The headlining pasta knots were spot-on, though finding the bits of crab was somewhat of a treasure hunt. By now, I would have thought that truffle oil had gone the way of artisanal salts and molten chocolate cake, largely because the pungence unnecessarily overpowers a dish’s subtler flavors; such is the case with this addition ($20).

The french fry is one litmus test of a professional kitchen’s overall technique, and this St. Neo’s side was substandard, cut nicely but not at all piping hot, like they had been biding time before service. A house-made condiment in concert with the brasserie’s backdrop would perk up these prosaic potatoes ($7).