Dining, Food, Review
The Perfect Pickle
Shut Up and Read the Article
This.
This is why I want to write about food.
Silk City Coffee — my home away from home, my remote office, my introduction to the world of specialty coffee, and where I learned the objective science behind espresso extraction, the delicate craft of latte art, and the nuances of bed depth in batch coffee — has struck gold in the most unexpected way.
I want to put this into perspective, friend. The article I have sitting in my drafts is a recounting of my first experience at a Michelin Star restaurant in the Flatiron District in NYC. I was about to submit that article to my writing group this week for content edits. But capturing this moment felt more urgent.
My mouth is still watering as I furiously type away. I saved two of the three pickles for the above photo and have entirely ignored the quinoa salad that accompanied these beauties to write this piece.
Get On With It
Okay, okay, I’ve set the stage the best I could for our star.
About a month ago, Rob and Sarah, the owners of Silk City Coffee, shared with me that they would be introducing homemade pickles as companions to their sandwiches. Not an earth-shattering announcement, but certainly something to be excited about as a friend and frequent-flyer here at Silk. They aren’t the first coffee shop in CT to have house-pickled veggies, and while I have enjoyed pickled carrots, cukes, and green beans at their house parties, I certainly never thought these cider vinegar-soaked creations would inspire me to drop everything and write about it.
But here we are. Me writing, you reading.
You Still Haven’t Told Me About the Pickle
Right.
Silk City Coffee. I’m getting hungry, so I order a go-to, the quinoa salad: a bed of arugula dressed with pickled red onions (also homemade), red quinoa, goat cheese, and some of the other usual suspects.
After trying the first batch of pickles last week, I knew I needed to try this week’s variety. That’s right; a new variety each week.
Steven, the recently hired barista who took my order and the mastermind behind Silk’s pickle venture, described this week’s iteration as a play on a spicy margarita.
Bring it on.
My order arrived in its cute little brown box, nested in parchment paper. Immediately I noticed the three generous sprigs of fresh dill draped over the contents within, with speckles of cardamom pods resting neatly beside. A heavenly breath of lime and apple cider vinegar met my nose as I prepared to take my first bite.
With a sumptuous snap, the familiar acidity was the first thing to hit my palette, but then — I kid you not — flavors blossomed. First came the lime, a separate, distinct note from the brine. The zesty, sharp aromatics broke free from the mixture and showcased Steven’s margarita inspiration.
Next came the heat. Yes. It was a subtle but surprising song of chili flakes (I thought it was cumin at first). Just enough to dance on the taste buds before being washed away by the finale; herbaceous bliss.
The dill, as mentioned earlier, is a staple in many pickle recipes, but it was the creativity within the finer details that stood out: the coriander and cardamom in tandem with the purposefully invisible bay leaf.
I stopped.
I took out my phone to capture what remained as photographic evidence, and then I wrote.
I Mean…It's Just a Pickle
But that’s just it!
When fresh ingredients come together in something as simple as a side and BLOW YOU AWAY…this is when food becomes art.
It didn’t arrive in an ornate mason jar. I didn’t spend $15 for three pickles at a “high-end establishment” with a Google listing of $$$ (though I indeed could have). I participated in a passion project, within a small business, on a Main Street in New England.
This is what you just can’t replicate in a chain restaurant or a grocery store. It is how food ought to taste. Real, refreshing, and ridiculous. Ridiculous enough to make you write a Medium article about a pickle.
