Page 23 - Valley Table - Spring 2023

ordered 10 of them,” they laugh. The yuca with garlic and cheese is a close second. What makes the empanadas extra special are the three homemade sauces: cilantro mojo, chimichurri, and rosado. “Customers are basically holding pitchforks, asking, ‘When are you going to bottle the sauces?’ In due time,” hints Fernandez.
Entrée standouts include the chicharron de pollo— Dominican boneless fried chicken marinated in house spices, vinegar, and lime—and the savory camarones al ajillo—garlic shrimp atop crostinis drizzled in chili, white wine, and achiote (annatto seed). One of Fernandez’s personal favorites is the El Dominicano pressed sandwich with slow-roasted pernil (marinated pork), queso de freír, pickled onions and herbs, plantains, and rosado sauce. The tangy sandwich “hits every note,” promises Fernandez. Pair your main dish with one of five sides, including smashed and double-fried (tostones), sweet plantains (platano maduro), rice and beans, and two types of charred corn. On Mondays, Que Lo Que serves up three styles of excellent mofongo (mashed plantains) stuffed with beef, chicken, or fish and veggies.
There are, of course, cocktails that complement all those Caribbean flavors, created by business partner Lukus Estok. A table can share the celebration punch (light, dark, and coconut rums, pineapple, orange, lime, grenadine) or rose sangria. Fernandez also recommends
Kantina
Food Network champ Chris Holland’s new Asian bistro is challenging everything you thought you knew about a tako—including the spelling. BY MICHELLE HAINER
use a lot of flavors that you wouldn’t want to eat on their own, but when combined together, it’s beautiful,” he adds.
Melding flavors you’d never imagine would work together is a hallmark of Holland’s style, which relies heavily on molecular gastronomy, aka the science behind cooking. “I began to really dig into
the ‘why’ behind recipes
and ingredients, rather than focusing on the ‘how’ and it really opened my creativity flood gates.”
He drew upon that knowledge when competing on “Chopped”—which came
in handy when he was tasked with creating a dish using turkey testicles. “‘Chopped’ was a wonderful experience. It’s grueling and it’s real:
they don’t give you time to think about the ingredients,” says Holland, who has also competed on Food Network’s popular “Guy’s Grocery Games” and “Alex vs. America,” both of which he describes as way more laid back. “I cried when I won ‘Chopped,’ both because the prize was $50,000 but also because I was so emotionally drained.”
With his latest venture, Holland is bringing to life a dream he’s had for years—to open an Asian taco bar—in a space he knows well. “Tacos are an underappreciated vehicle for food,” says Holland, who fills his with everything from porcini mushrooms to Mongolian beef to pork bánh mì. “A taco is my chance to tell you that I want you to eat this piece of chicken with this type
Que Lo Que’s curated cocktail menu includes favorites like palomas, rum old fashioneds, and juicy guava cosmos.
like to eat at top restaurants, you may have heard of Chris Holland, former chef at the now shuttered D’Vine Bar
in Sparkill. He’s a three-time champ of “Chopped,” and has made frequent appearances on other Food Network shows.
But if this is the first you are hearing of Holland, now is the perfect time to get acquainted with his spin on Asian street food. Last October, he opened Kantina—in the same space that once housed D’Vine—as an homage to the food he grew up eating as a kid in Fort Lee, New Jersey. “Asian cuisine has always been fascinating to
me,” says Holland. Fort Lee, where about 40 percent of the population identifies as Asian, has a myriad of ramen, dim sum, sushi, and Korean barbecue restaurants. “They
the best-selling lime and orange margarita and sparkling paloma. Or, go bold with the sour El Floridata No.
3 (rum, cherry liqueur, grapefruit, lime) or the alluring Guava Cosmo (vodka, Cointreau, lime, guava nectar).
How’s it going? On most nights, the house is packed. “The menu hits all the right notes for people who don’t know what Dominican food is—and they seem to be very
happy about it,” says Fernandez. In fact, the
fan-favorite empanadas are so popular that Fernandez is considering creating a to-go service window solely for them. For now, says the chef, “we’re just making it through and having fun.”
Que Lo Que
1 Tinker Street, Woodstock woodstockqueloque.com \ 845.684.7091
i
f you’re up on the careers of local chefs, or just
Chris Holl
set of “Chopped”
and on the
March—May2023 | valleytable.com 21
PHOTO (RIGHT) COURTESY OF FOOD NETWORK