Four Food Studio: Smoking good in Melville
Brisket tacos and salmon with orzo are on the spring menu at Four in Melville. (April 11, 2012) Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
Over the last few months, Four’s chef Ben Durham has been playing with a little home smoker he bought at Lowe’s. He’s smoking his own bacon and has experimented with smoked almonds, smoked tomatoes, smoked whole, bone-in loins of pork — any of which might turn up on his menu as a special. His excellent smoked brisket tacos, however, have become a menu standard: $15 at lunch main (four tacos), $13 as a dinner appetizer (three tacos).
Durham takes whole, untrimmed briskets and rubs them with a blend of spices, chilis and paprikas. He smokes the briskets for 24 hours over hickory and apple wood, then braises them in stock and aromatic vegetables. The rub dissolves into the stock and, once the meat has been removed, Durham reduces the braising liquid into a glaze which he uses to “finish” the cubed brisket when orders come in. The tacos are topped with cilantro leaves and pickled jalapeños and served with finely shredded coleslaw and a little syringe of hot sauce.
At lunch today we enjoyed the tacos along with Durham’s seasonal twist on another menu standard, salmon with orzo salad ($21 at lunch, $25 at dinner). For spring, the orzo is tossed with fava beans and English peas and the salmon is sauced with a rhubarb beurre blanc.
Durham has been in charge at Four for about two years now (since chef James McDevitt decamped to Two Steak & Sushi in New Hyde Park, now K. Pacho), and he’s made it one of the most consistent, dependable kitchens around.
