You might know Brian Poe as the chef responsible for the yak fever that swept Boston with the June opening of his Beacon Hill joint, the Tip Tap Room. (Seriously. Yak sold out in three hours.) Or maybe he first made an impression that time his namesake burger — Kobe stuffed with lobster, foie gras, and black truffle — totally slayed you at Poe's Kitchen at the Rattlesnake. Either way, you're probably pumped for his next project, Estelle's, slated to bring its Southern fare to the South End by early December.
Us, too. So we got Poe, an avid list maker, to pause from his preparations to give us a bite-by-bite recap of his week, from morning slurps of veal stock to beery nightcaps. He responded with such military precision — even noting a trip to check the ol' cholesterol — that we could only squeeze in three of his busy days, most of which are spent dashing from one restaurant to another, tasting everything. That counts as exercise, right?
TUESDAY
8 am Coffee, banana, one cup of fresh blueberry juice, and two ounces of turkey.
9 am Granola bar.
10:30 am Two mini whoopie pies at the Tip Tap Room (ensuring quality control, of course).
11:30 am A teaspoonful of each stock at the Tip Tap Room (lamb, veal, chicken, turkey, and mushroom) and one of each potato (creamed corn, tapenade, horseradish, chevre, and chive and seven bacon).
1:30 pm A bowl of rice with veal stock and toasted bread.
2:30 pm Tested the Beacon Hill Bacon recipe at the Tip Tap Room. (Part of our delay in starting brunch is perfecting this bacon. It's cured with all the ingredients of Boston baked beans, then rubbed with Boston baked beans, then rolled into pancetta, then smoked.)
3 pm Went to check cholesterol and blood pressure after the bacon testing!
4:30 pm Coriander-dijon- and thyme-marinated Iberico pork special with apple-cider mashed potatoes and homemade cider beer stock.
11:30 pm The kitchen crew makes amazing egg-fried rice and leftover tips for our staff meal. I paired it with a Boddingtons.
12:30 am: At home, one spoonful of Vermont Brie cheese and a glass of cabernet. Okay, three spoonfuls.
