Baltzley cooking at his former restaurant TMIP.
I’d been following Brandon Baltzley on Instagram for about a year. His experimental edge and curious creativity showcased at Ribelle in Brookline was fascinating. Baltzley left Ribelle, which closed this month, to open The 41-70 in Woods Hole on Cape Cod. After a few months, a wedding, a baby, and a whole lot of what looked like delicious food, Brandon and his wife and co-chef, Laura Higgins, left due to differences with the owner. Still on the Cape, Baltzley is currently quietly cooking at Coonamessett Farm in rural Falmouth. There are two seatings a night, Monday through Wednesday, and the 7-course meal costs $70. The pop-up is titled The Buffalo Jump. The chefs give away four free tickets to “industry” folks each night. I wrote in an essay and was incredibly fortunate to score two free tickets to this Tuesday’s 5pm seating. Below, are photos of the evening along with descriptions from the chef.
Table setting and a drink of celery and blueberry skins.
A tartlet of aromatic flowers with seaweed, milk curd, and sungold tomato.
Soft scrambled duck egg with fermented cabbage and clam.
Wood fired squash in red mole with duck liver, blueberry, and celery served with grilled hand bread (not pictured).
Roasted cod with wild raspberry and snap beans cooked in caramelized goats milk.
Blueberry doughnuts with sharp cheddar from Vermont.
Baked potato ice cream and sweetened, cultured cream with this year’s blackberries and nutritional yeast.
Cornmeal and juniper hallongrottor.
A goat.
Vegetables.
Baltzley is planning to open a new restaurant on the Cape next year in the Mashpee-Falmouth area. After this dinner, I’m certainly looking forward to whatever it is this constantly evolving chef does next.