A food conversation with Josh Massin owner of Nobo’s Wine & Grill necessitates a dictionary and maybe a chemistry book. When a common meal in his restaurant consists of a jicama ravioli stuffed with watermelon and watermelon radish tartare kimchi bomba rice followed by a lamb chops “matignon” served with Parisian gnocchi and washed down with alkaline water your burger and fries seems downright boring. Meet Josh master food chemist and culinary magician.
What is a typical meal for you?
Breakfast is two or three cups of coffee I generally don’t eat till four p.m. Then I nosh during the day. Typical dinner is a dish of noodles from Ramen noodles (yep Ramen noodles) steeped in hot water (much better than using boiling water). Then I make a miso soup with organic white miso a soft-cooked egg frozen peas and a piece of Nobo chicken and sriracha of course — I love spicy food. I make a famous dish from Rome cacio e pepe. Boil tagliatelle spaghetti take the pasta out with some of the water put in a bunch of butter and finish with Romano or Parmesan and black pepper. Simple.
What makes your food unique?
It’s not always about the protein choices we offer as much as how we prep it. I have been dubbed the Sous Vide King which while flattering gives a limited impression of what I am about as a chef. Sous vide is a technique in which vacuum-sealed food is immersed in a water bath and cooked at a very precise consistent temperature. We sous vide all types of proteins. We offer the best chartercurie available. We have one steak aged for up to 40 days. To make great food you need patience. One of our dishes a veal salumi flatbread has over 37 steps needed to prepare it. Each step from making the sour dough for the flatbread to carefully caramelizing the onions for the balsamic onion drizzle is crucial to make it worthy. Sometimes the distinctiveness is found in an actual recipe. I have a Danish-style bread made from a recipe that is 800 years old. I guess you can say we do things that are avant-garde but we also rely on ancestral chefs to guide us as well.
Looking at your menu there is a wide expanse of variety from an Angus burger to some pretty wild dishes. What would you say your food style specialty is?
