Alex Sadowsky
Director of Culinary, Beverage, Menu Innovation
Twin Peaks Restaurant

Kitchen Collaborative is a recipe-development initiative formed by Summit F&B and Flavor & The Menu. To fuel flavor innovation, a group of talented chefs partnered with sponsor brands and commodity boards to create recipes that showcase the passion and potential of our industry.

“Boots on the ground.” That’s how Alex Sadowsky, director of culinary, beverage and menu innovation at Twin Peaks Restaurant, characterizes one of his most valued source of culinary inspiration. “I love to get out in a city—eating and drinking at smaller restaurants, talking to the owner/operators, as well as the guests, to learn more about what drives the culinary identity of the city or region,” he explains. Among his favorite foodservice occasions is the juxtaposition of high/low dining. “I have a deep-seated love of a dive bar experience right after being at a fine dining restaurant. It has to be a blend of the high and low any night I go out.”

Sadowsky applies his collection of food experiences and memories to influence the ideation process of tomorrow’s menu innovations. Here, he presents two Kitchen Collaborative creations: Choripán con Queso Italico^® and Artigiano^® and Lamb Prime Rib Hash with Hasselback Potatoes, Pickled Fresnos, Roasted Cremini and Jalapeño Chimichurri.

Choripán con Queso Italico^® and Artigiano^®

Photo: Carlos Garcia // Food Styling: Peg Blackley

Some might find Sadowsky’s choice to use Italian cheeses from BelGioioso in a South American dish to be a curious approach, but the chef is quick to point out that both Argentina and Brazil have significant Italian populations. “And I think that their food philosophies have beautifully mingled,” he says. Based on a popular Argentinian sandwich, his build pairs the cheeses with chorizo and a jalapeño chimichurri on fresh-baked crusty bread.

The dish features BelGioioso^® Italico and Artigiano Vino Rosso cheeses. “I love both of these cheeses,” says an enthusiastic Sadowsky. “Flavor wise, the Italico has this beautiful, earthy but fruity taste. It’s also very soft and melty. The Artigiano is much firmer, with a much stronger saltier taste. It’s very easy to crumble, plus I love the look and taste of the red wine-washed rind when crumbled.” When it comes to performance, he adds, “Using a blend of the two cheeses—slices of the Italico and Artigiano crumbles—gives the best of both worlds: melty, earthy, fruity, wine hints and little pops of salt crystals.”

He chars the jalapeños he uses in his chimichurri (which he also uses in his second Kitchen Collaborative recipe: the Lamb Prime Rib Hash). “The charring helps balance out any of the seasonal inconsistencies of the peppers,” he explains. “And here, I really liked how the char works with the smoky notes of the grilled sausage.”

Other flavor layers are similarly distinct. “I try to always build recipes that have all the flavor notes you could want—salty, sour, sweet, umami, bitter—and at different points in the eating experience. Many of these come through in the fatty pork of the sausage, which plays well with the earthy funk of the Italico at first. Then you get the salty wine hit from the Artigiano, and finally the spicy chimichurri cuts through all the fat to clear up the palate. Overall, everything plays off each other and makes you want to have another bite.” The dish is ideal as a shareable or a late-night bar snack, suggests Sadowsky. “It would pair perfectly with beer, wine or a nice cocktail.”

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Lamb Prime Rib Hash with Hasselback Potatoes, Pickled Fresnos, Roasted Cremini and Jalapeño Chimichurri

Photo: Carlos Garcia // Food Styling: Peg Blackley

A well-timed outdoor excursion provided inspiration for Sadowsky’s candied lamb prime rib-centered hash. “I had just returned from camping, and I really wanted to highlight over-the-fire cooking, mixed with a more traditional English breakfast ‘fry-up,’” he says. While it may be a challenge to imagine carting all the ingredients for this hearty offering into the wilderness, the chef expertly showcases the use of live fire to produce an elevated, flavor-forward dish.

“I’d never had the Aussie Select Lamb Prime Rib before,” says Sadowsky of the Kitchen Collaborative assignment. He was immediately “blown away” by the clean flavors that spotlight the quality of the lamb. It’s a product he believes “could have a home in anyone’s kitchen and be used in multiple applications.”

For this dish, the chef took large dice cuts of the lamb prime rib, coating the pieces with a mixture of brown sugar, red chile flakes, cayenne pepper and black pepper before briefly roasting them in a skillet in a hot oven. It produced a candied texture and flavor akin to “crispy bits of a nice bacon,” he explains. “It came out brilliantly, and I think it really highlights the cure and herbs they use in the lamb prime rib product.”

The other key dish elements—Hasselback potatoes, pickled Fresnos, roasted cremini mushrooms, sunny-side-up eggs and a jalapeño chimichurri—are each prepared separately before being combined with further-seared pieces of the candied lamb prime rib in a large, cast-iron skillet heated in a wood-fired oven or over a grill. The eggs are placed in the center of the dish, with the potatoes situated haphazardly along the outside edge of the pan. The hot lamb prime rib and mushrooms are nestled between each potato around the eggs. A sprinkle of the chiles and a drizzle of the chimichurri provide the finishing touches.

“This is a deep, hearty, earthy dish. The roasted cremini mushrooms pair with the lamb prime rib beautifully,” says Sadowsky. “Everyone loves roasted and fried potatoes, but I think Hasselback potatoes are really having a social media moment. The best part of doing the potatoes this way is getting the blend of the crispy exterior in each slice with the creamy interior.” He goes on to note that the yolk of the fried eggs creates a “pseudo sauce” that mixes well with the herby chimichurri and the pops of heat from the Fresnos.

While the iconic English breakfast was an inspiration, Sadowsky believes this dish could work in all dayparts. “It’s a great brunch option, but I also would love to think of people eating this throughout the day, paired up with a few drinks and maybe some grilled bread to help sop up the extra sauces.”

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Project Management: Summit F&B
Photography: Carlos Garcia // Food Styling: Peg Blackley