The potato skins small plate at Bacchus features gorgonzola and crispy prosciutto.
A few years ago, fine dining chef Brian Mietus got talked into making the kind of potato skins that would thrill a roomful of fellow restaurant workers.
Christa Glennie Seychew, organizer of the semi-monthly IN industry nights at Seabar, challenged Mietus to show the kids how it’s done.
“She talked me into doing it,” Mietus said. “I think it started at midnight or something, and I’m not usually up that late.”
Kicking around ideas – “a late-night something, easily relatable” – he settled on the beloved appetizer. Just better.
From Jack Rabbit in the former J.P. Bullfeathers to Frankie Primo's +39 across the Erie Canal in North Tonawanda, the Buffalo-area food fans have several reasons to look forward to warm weather. Add in Bacchus' bSide project, the old-school Mister Sizzle's on Connecticut Street and a new site for Kaylena Marie's, and the must-visit list has grown substantially longer. Lead image credit: @Bflofoodie on Instagram, via Jack Rabbit.
Potato skins, scooped-out russet halves deep-fried then lined with bacon, cheddar, scallions and sour cream, were one of the defining appetizers of casual family restaurants in the 1990s.
For reasons unknown, they faded, as mozzarella sticks persisted.
Mietus had eaten his fair share, and was interested in bringing fine-dining technique to the equation. “It does speak to what we do here, in the way that you know we want to elevate familiar dishes,” said Mietus, who opened Bacchus in 2002.
“It's fun to play with that type of thing,” Mietus said. Another regular on the Bacchus menu, an appetizer of beef carpaccio, egg crostini and shaved Parmigiano, goes under the name Steak and Eggs, as an homage to Mietus’ days as griddleman at the Towne restaurant.
“So it's kind of right in our wheelhouse, to put something as simple as ‘potato skins’ on the menu,” he said. “That's how it reads. It may seem out of place if you're not familiar – ‘I thought this was a nice place,’ ” he said with a chuckle.
To get the fried potato skin crunch, cheesy goodness and salty pork topknot, but better, takes a modicum of work.
Bacchus' Brian Mietus says the potato skin “does speak to what we do here, in the way that you know we want to elevate familiar dishes.”
Cooks take a whole Idaho, cut it in thirds, and then blanch them in the deep-fryer until they're cooked through. Then the centers are scooped out to make room – “We save those for later because they're a killer snack,” Mietus said.
Gorgonzola cheese is whipped with shallots, garlic, cream cheese, fresh herbs and cracked pepper, to fill the voids. That gets rolled in panko crumbs. “We panko the top so it holds all the cheese in there,” Mietus said. “Then we deep fry it until it’s crispy.”
Prosciutto, fried to its shattering point, joins dabs of crème fraiche and a scattering of scallions to make the allusions to the original complete.
Three cylinders of exuberance are the result, a fine-dining elevation of the original that doesn’t actually cost much more: $10.
Before we ended our interview, Mietus asked if I was looking to print a recipe. I told him he’d described it well enough for any motivated individuals to follow in his footsteps.
Mietus wasn’t defensive about losing sales. He was happy he could inspire someone to make a better potato skin.
“If you have a little chops, you can put that one together.”
Or if you're just hungry, you can get them at Bacchus, 56 W. Chippewa St., until Mietus is bored with them again.
Send restaurant tips to agalarneau@buffnews.com and follow @BuffaloFood on Instagram and Twitter.
May 19, 2021 at 04:05PM
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Potato skins at Bacchus elevate a blast from the past - Buffalo News
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