Welcome back to Savannah Flavors, our weekly newsletter bringing you the latest delicious details from Savannah’s culinary scene every Thursday.

Here is what’s on the menu today:

• Taqueria El San Luis opens second location on Ogeechee Rd 🌮 

• Pizzeria Vittoria’s favorite slice of the Savannah food scene 🍕

• Homemade Zucchini Escabeche recipe 🥒 

• A Friday night at Ukiyo Savannah 🌃🍵

THE MAIN DISH

Banda family to open second Taqueria El San Luis on Ogeechee Road 🌮🍻

This past Saturday, my wife and I endured rainy day errands south of Derenne and had earned a flunch, our cutesy Portmanteau for ‘fun lunch’. It had been too long since we had enjoyed the authentic homemade Mexican fare at Taqueria El San Luis, mostly because we are rarely i that part of town, so time and place met perfectly.

Back in 2021, I wrote about the one-year anniversary of Chris and Jorge Banda’s family-owned-and-run restaurant, but I did not presume that the former recognized me when we walked in three years later. Smiling broadly behind the counter, he welcomed us and told us to take our time as we considered the big menu boards overhead.

Only when I was paying did I reintroduce myself, and I am so glad that I did because the son of this father-and-son enterprise informed me that they were just a Health Department visit away from opening taqueria number two.

Once that red-tape line is cleared, the Bandas’ brand will expand with a second restaurant on Ogeechee Road just south of Quacco Road in the former home of 3 Tops Barbecue.

“The name’s already up there on the restaurant: Taqueria El San Luis, same as this one,” said Chris Banda.

“Everything is set,” he added, planning an opening before the month ends. “As soon as the inspection comes in, we’ll be on the road.”

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CHEF’S CRAVINGS

Brian Hamill & Juan Gomez - Pizzeria Vittoria 🥞☕️

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?

As soon as Kyle Jacovino fired up the stately Forza Forni oven in the original permanent container storefront in Starland Yard, Vittoria Napoletana became Savannah’s best pizzeria and set the standard for what the city expects from a premier pie. This week’s Chefs’ Cravings come courtesy of Vittoria’s expert pizzaiolo pair, executive chef Brian Hamill and sous chef Juan Gomez. 

BH: I usually find myself at The Little Crown, the Pie Society’s tiny downtown spot. It’s not big, so it’s intimate and you get to talk to people from all over. Most of the people there are tourists, and the people who work there also work at all their other locations. I see them on the food truck here sometimes.

JG: All day.

BH: I recognize them, they recognize me, so it’s comfortable. I always get, if they haven’t sold out, the steak and ale pie. I learned recently they’re not called ‘pace-tees,’ they’re called ‘pass-tees’, and the beef and blue cheese pasty is really good. It’s one of those two.

JG: I find myself at Los Compas Taqueria. It’s a little hole-in-the-wall. They’re expanding a bit now. Their original location, they’re moving a block down. They’re awesome! The main thing to go for is their tortas. Their breads are made in-house or or locally sourced, really soft, really spongy. I usually go down the menu on the tortas. If I got one yesterday, I get the next one tomorrow. And their agua frescas are really refreshing all times of the day. Get yourself a big cup, one for now and one to go. That’s where you can always find me.

BH: In this area, before work, I like to go to Superbloom. Again, it’s another one of those places where you see the people who work there also work at Uncle June’s. It’s nice to go someplace where people recognize you.

JG: See all the friendly neighbors.

BH: They see you, and they already have your stuff ready before you even walk in.

JG: Flora + Fauna’s another good one. Usually, I stop there Saturday or Sunday mornings, get some croissants for the guys to get the shift going.

And for a special occasion?

BH: For me, it’s Common Thread. I’ve been there maybe three or four times, and it’s been consistent every time, different every time, but the experience is always good. Every time I’ve been there, it’s been a different season, so I’ve had every season’s menu. It feels like fine dining, but it’s way more casual. 

JG: Spot on.

BH: The food is fine dining, but the atmosphere isn’t stuffy.

JG: 45 Bistro. It never fails because everything’s consistent there. I like seeing the manager, Dan [Steinfeldt]. He keeps everything tight. You can go there last year and come in the next year and still have the same thing. The history in there is really good, too. All the haunted stuff. I worked there at one point, so I was able to experience it a little more than the average diner. They have a private room in the back. You don’t feel like you’re in the same city. The atmosphere is really nice, but you get little cold shivers from the stories that they tell.  

-Neil Gabbey

TRIED, TASTED, TRUE

Zucchini Escabeche

THE STORY BEHIND THE RECIPE

During the summer, a few Triple T columns have featured summertime salads, fairly quick start-to-finish recipes that require little-to-no actual cooking. Because I was already firing up the Weber Classic Kettle for a mixed grill of sirloins, beer-parboiled brats, and chicken breasts, I wanted a side dish that would keep me out of the kitchen entirely.

I e-met Whitney Otawka back in February of 2021, soon after she was named the inaugural executive chef of Thompson Savannah and Fleeting. The SoCal native had moved cross-country to Georgia in 2005 and soon landed a job cooking at Hugh Acheson’s Five & Ten (Athens), alongside her best friend and future husband Ben Wheatley. 

In 2011, Otawka’s executive cheffing commenced, first at Farm 255 and then at another Acheson resto, Cinco y Diez, before she headed to Cumberland Island and essentially created the culinary program at Greyfield Inn. During her five-plus years there, she penned The Saltwater Table, a compendium of coastal recipes that are “a reflection of the South that [she has] explored.”

As it turned out, the stint at Fleeting was just that, and Otawka stepped aside as its chef consultant before the Eastern Wharf anchor even opened, but barely a week after I interviewed her, I bought her cookbook.

I have done my best to replicate at least twenty dishes, and all, if I may be so bold, have turned out beautifully. No other have I made more often than this one.

In the “Shrimp Season” section, Otawka includes her Zucchini and Crookneck Squash Escabeche. Full disclosure: I had never before seen the word ‘escabeche’, but it always helps when an unfamiliar recipe’s facing page is a high-res photo of the finished product. Gorgeously oily, baby courgettes bear blackened grill marks and bathe in a marinade, all flecked with cilantro blossoms.

A plus is that much of the preparation is done beforehand, and even after the zucchini are off the Weber and in the salad, you have all the time you need to grill the evening’s proteins.

My only alterations to Otawka’s undeniably sound blueprint are using regular zucchini, smallish ones if I can find them, and shallots instead of red onion because I always have a few lying around. Otherwise, I stick to her steps.

The term ‘escabeche’ is truly its own melting pot, having roots in Iberian, French, Italian, Latin American, and even Filipino cuisines. Essentially, it is a post-marinade, if you will: the protein or vegetable is fried or grilled first and then set to soak until service. 

Shallots, garlic, and whatever herbs you have handy are minced and tossed in a big bowl with salt, black pepper, and equal parts lemon juice and olive oil. Whisk it all around and let it marry until the grilling is done.

Around our yard, I grow a handful of different herbs with varying degrees of success. I wish there was money in marjoram like there is in saffron because I could quit my day job. With its subtly citrusy flavor and similarity to oregano, I use it in this dish, but Otawka’s originals, parsley and cilantro, obviously taste great, too.

The zucchini component is a snap: halve them lengthwise, drizzle the batons with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt before you slap them skin-side-up on a medium grill. Check them after a few minutes to make sure that the flesh is charring without burning, and turn them over to finish cooking with the lid on.

You want a doneness past al dente but well shy of soft, or else the marinade will turn the pieces to mush in an hour.

Once the zucchini has cooled down, I cut the lengths into slightly larger than bite-sized chunks and toss them in the marinade to coat fully. I had some feta cheese to use up, so a half cup of that went in, too, just as the meat was resting.

Grilling first and then marinating. Who knew?

Whitney Otawka.

-Neil Gabbey

THE RECIPE

HARD GOODS 

• 6 (or 8 smaller) zucchini; yellow squash also work well

• ½ cup finely diced shallot (or red onion)

• 1 clove garlic, finely diced

• 2 teaspoons Kosher sale, used separately

• ½ teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

• ¼ cup diced herbs: marjoram or oregano or cilantro/parsley 

• ½ cup feta (optional)

WET GOODS

• ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil, used separately

• ½ cup fresh lemon juice

DO THIS

1. Prepare a grill, warming to medium heat

2. In a large salad bowl, mix together the shallot, garlic, herbs, pepper, and ½ teaspoon of salt

3. Pour in ½ cup of olive oil and the lemon juice and whisk to combine

4. Set the escabeche marinade aside (up to four hours)

5. Cut the zucchini (squash) in half lengthwise

6. Toss with the remaining 2 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of salt

7. Grill the zucchini, skin-side-up, until the flesh is lightly charred (3-4 minutes)

8. Flip and grill on the skin side another 3 to 4 minutes, until the inside is just done

9. Remove the zucchini from the grill and allow to cool to room temperature

10. Cut the zucchini batons into one-inch pieces

11. Toss the pieces into the escabeche marinade and gently mix to combine

12. Before serving sprinkle feta in the salad or atop individual servings

BEEN THERE. ATE THAT.

Ukiyo 🍲

In truth, I feel bad that we have not eaten at Ukiyo more often since it opened in May of 2022. The second truth is that a handful of relatively standard Asian dishes are on my home-chef menu, which makes this cuisine category an afterthought the few times a month we go out for dinner. 

Back at school two full weeks, I had nothing left that Friday afternoon, so cooking was not in the cards. Do not misread that: I love every part about being back in the classroom, now in Year 33, but simply the adjustment from a scheduleless summer to five shows daily saps even the most veteran teacher’s strength.

I needed a solid hour standing in our plunge pool before we headed out to early-bird some soft bites. 

My wife and I already act (and feel) older than we actually are. Even in the summer, we keep farmers’ hours and hit the hay before the sun has fully set. Everything aches. Acetaminophen is a food group in our house. Though this might be TMI, I have dealt with inexplicable TMJ pain for a month, and at her latest dentist appointment, my wife was told that the stabbing sensation in her mouth was, in fact, a split tooth.

For the last few weeks, we have eaten like toddlers: hummus and smoothies, tofu and tzatziki. Masticating oven-roasted salmon was a treat.

Still unable to articulate my jaw wide enough to insert a sandwich without weeping, I needed easy eats at someplace close that would be open at five o’clock. It was time to return to Ukiyo, the fair dinkum izakaya in the Southern Cross Hospitality constellation of stellar eateries.

Before we bellied up to what may well be the sweetest bar seats in the city with a full view of the theater kitchen that stretches three-fourths of the restaurant, I knew that my wife would order the crispy tofu buns ($12). Fried and slightly crunchy, yes, but still pillowy enough for dainty bites and right-side of her mouth chewing.

Having not been in a while, I was torn between several items before ultimately ordering two that I had not yet tried: garlic fried rice ($13) and pork katsu ($15).

Enjoying the chef show, we agreed that the gorgeous interior graced with charred wood and dim lighting gives Ukiyo a cozy cold-weather-month ambience, at least in our book, but we found being back on this sweltering summer evening delightful.

No surprise at all, the service provided by Veronica was exceptional, and our prime seats afforded us the opportunity to talk to the chef, hopefully without bothering him too much. We must not have been overly distracting because every dish picked up for service was meticulously plated.

As we watched the kitchen action ramp up as more guests came in and sat down, each distinct aroma wafting from the flat top and the woks was exciting, especially the garlic that would soon star in my rice.

Fried to order in front of us in a light alloy of panko and tempura, two large squares of tofu were stuffed into pristine baos with shiso slaw and a lovely lemon aioli. My age being aforementioned, I am at a point in my life when I cannot help but wish that even buns this beautiful were two-for-$10.   

That same aioli zigzagged the surface of the fragrant fried rice, dotted with tiny scallion coins, packed into a round flat bowl. Though familiar in mouthfeel, this preparation was not the usual, far less soy-ey and plenty unctuous. Comparing it to Das Box’s fried rice would be unfair because both stand several grains above. 

As a rule, my wife avoids rice. She dug into this bowl.

If stomach memory serves, I think that every time we have eaten at Ukiyo’s SHC sister resto The Fitzroy we have ordered the chicken schnitzel, which appears to have been 86ed from its most recent menu. Interestingly, the pork katsu, coated thinly in panko and flour and fried perfectly, was wholly reminiscent. 

The cutlet was tasty on its own, though the real flavor of the preparation came via dunks into a glutinous golden brown everyone-can-handle-it curry. The serving was ample, even if the cabbage bed under the wholly unoily slices of pork served little purpose. Perhaps a slimmer shred tossed with ginger, rice wine vinegar, and sesame oil, macerated just a bit, would make it more than a toss-away garnish. 

Even though I still do not really know what it means, every mouthful was umami, and we will definitely be back. Within a few months and with any luck, the two of us will have fully functional mouths, which means that I will be able to bite into the chicken karaage.

-Neil Gabbey