One Great Dish: Kith & Kin's Gulf Shrimp and Veal Heart Orso

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Jul 6, 2010 5:20PM

From its quick transformation from an old La Canasta on Webster, Kith & Kin has emerged as one of the best new restaurant openings of the past year, most recently taking home the "Best New Neighborhood Restaurant" award in the Reader's "best of" issue. They've also added a lunch service and we thought last weekend was a perfect time to visit, since Lincoln Park was, for all purposes, deserted for the holiday.

We've written previously that you can make a meal of Kith & Kin's crocks (and nearly did with the pimento cheese crock) and was leaning toward the grouper cheek sandwich when another dish from the menu caught our eye: "Orso, Gulf shrimp, confit veal heart, okra, fresh dill." It was the "Gulf shrimp" that piqued our curiosity. We wondered how Kith & Kin was able to print that on the menu, given the realities of the BP oil spill on the seafood industry in the Gulf of Mexico.

Turned out, however, that it really was sweet tasting, springy Florida Gulf shrimp that chef David Carrier sourced from his vendors in Apalachicola, Florida, where the spill hasn't reached... yet. The shrimp is paired with veal heart, cooked as a confit in duck fat, which Carrier said is always readily available. The veal heart retained its organ meat flavor but was tender enough to cut with a fork. This was served with orso, healthy chunks of okra and fresh dill, in a serving that could have easily fed two. One-third of the seafood consumed in the United Stated comes from the Gulf of Mexico. The longer the oil flows unchecked from the Deepwater Horizon leak, the chances we see fresh seafood from the Gulf shrink further; it's an increasing catastrophe both national and local in scope. Get this $19 dish and enjoy Gulf shrimp while you can.