Heavy Table Hot Five: Sep. 9-15

Each Friday, this list will track five of the best things Heavy Table’s writers, editors, and photographers have recently bitten or sipped. Have a suggestion for the Hot Five? Email editor@heavytable.com.

The Hot Five is a weekly feature created by the Heavy Table and supported by Shepherd Song Farm.

Standard Lager by Fulton Beer
Fulton’s new all-malt (no adjuncts) American lager is called Standard, and it’s more than yet another beer blipping into view in a scene studded with new and seasonal entries. Debuting on draft today (and in bottles and cans in October), it’s a full-fledged brand with its own distinctive look and feel. As for taste: We drank more than a few of these at Chef Camp last weekend and found them to be balanced and refreshing — eminently drinkable without being mere “yellow fizzy beer,” and a fitting pairing for what may be (but we hope isn’t) the last perfect weekend of summer.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by James Norton]

Coffee-Rubbed Wood Fire-Grilled Lamb
Full-flavored, pleasantly earthy, and tender — our quartered lamb paired well with its coffee-and-spice rub and the warmth of the coals powering the Grill of the Gods at Chef Camp. This was one of those dishes that brings together a range of skilled artisans: camp cook Noah Barton (the chef who opened and built the powerhouse that is Chino Latino, and is now working at General Mills), the farmers of Shepherd Song, and the coffee importers and roasters at Tiny Footprint. If you’re going to grill for a crowd, you may as well go big and bold.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by James Norton]

Pancetta and Onion Pizza from Northern Fires
Northern Fires pizza, found at several farmers markets and at occasional events at the Food Building, can make eating pizza for breakfast the truly conscionable thing to do. Sure, they have a breakfast pizza, but feel free to indulge in the pancetta and onion pizza, with crispy pancetta and sweet sauteed onions nestled into creamy mozzarella, then topped with an arugula salad tossed with lemon juice and shaved Parmesan. The crust gets a great char from the wood-fired oven, and the overall experience is a wonder of textures and flavors.
[Last Week on the Hot Five: #3 | Submitted by Amy Rea]

The Americana Burger from The Lowbrow
Hopping on the already crowded bandwagon, The Lowbrow now offers the Americana Burger ($10.75), its version of the fast-food-style double cheeseburger. The patties were not quite as sizzled as I like, but the cheese was high-quality American, and the addition of fried pickles, with their lightly breaded crunch, was a stroke of genius. I’ve always wondered “Why breaded pickles?” This burger is the answer. As we’ve said before, if the wait is too long across the street at Revival, there are other options in the neighborhood. Lowbrow’s burger will substitute nicely.
[Last Week on the Hot Five: #4 | Submitted by Ted Held]

Chilaquiles at Chef Camp
OK, so we’ve still got Chef Camp on the brain. It was an eight-month effort to plan and one of the most intense and glorious weekends any of us has ever experienced, so we’re still loopy about it. Even breakfast was pretty great up there at YMCA Camp Miller. Chef Noah put together a stellar rendition of that hangover-fighting, classic Mexican dish, chilaquiles, which unites a ton of textures (the creamy dairy of sour cream and queso fresco, the softness and crunch of sauce-soaked chips) and flavors (everything from hot to salty to herbal to cool) to make what is certainly the optimal rendition of nachos for breakfast.
[Debuting on the Hot Five | Submitted by James Norton]