Rachel Yang and Seif Chirchi (Joule, Revel) fuse Korean food; that’s what they do. Here in Trove’s four operations in one—cocktail lounge, fast-food noodle bar, Korean barbecue dining room, parfait truck—the element being fused is fun. Twelve-buck noodle dishes from the counter up front might include Asian “spaghetti” with swiss chard and meatballs; desserts from the clever sawed-off ice cream truck facade are classic frozen custard parfaits, some tweaked with Asian elements like miso caramel. But the main event is Korean barbecue in the main dining room, where tables have grills for DIY cooking of cuts like wagyu chuck or pork belly with sesame salt. Take your meat off the heat, cut it with scissors, then dress it with the lettuce leaves and fresh herbs and kimchi and other Korean embellishments known as banchan and ssam—marveling as the flavors and textures ricochet around your palate, enhanced with every collision.
We’re thrilled to announce our 2018 Restaurant and Chef Award semifinalists! Read on for semifinalists in all categories, from Outstanding Restaurant to Rising Star Chef of the Year. We’ll announce the final Restaurant and Chef Award nominees, as well as the nominees for our Media and Restaurant Design Awards, in Philadelphia on Wednesday, March 14. The nominee announcement will begin at 9:30 A.M. EST and will be streamed live (check back soon for details). Nominees will also be announced in real time via our Twitter feed.
Chefs Rachel & Seif are semifinalists for the Best Chef: Northwest category!