By: Matthew P. Moll
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The name above the entrance is in Spanish. The menu has Caribbean and Latin influences, but this doesn’t stop Palo Santo from serving New York produce.
“There are certain things customers expect since we are a Latin restaurant,” said Jacques Gautier, the chef and owner of Palo Santo. “But you can still incorporate the philosophy of cooking with the market.”
Palo Santo – located at 652 Union Street in Park Slope Brooklyn – is a Pan-Latin restaurant, which Gautier likes to describe as “market Latin cooking.” Some ingredients can’t be grown upstate, like coconuts, plantains and avocadoes, but Gautier uses produce from New York farmers whenever he can.
“In the summer about 70 percent of our produce is locally grown,” said Gautier, who recently celebrated Palo Santo’s two-year anniversary. “In the winter it is much tougher, but we do our best to cook with the seasons.”
The chickens and eggs are locally raised by Rexcroft Farms in upstate New York. Gautier buys the hens that are past their egg-laying prime.
“We try to go with the philosophy of using the whole animal,” said Jenna Kistner, a cook at Palo Santo,who prepared a dish with unhatched hen eggs, which are often discarded. “I can’t in good conscience send something out of the kitchen that isn’t well thought-out and sustainable.”
Even for the non-local fish Gautier features on his menu – which changes daily – he has sought out sustainable practices by traveling to Tobago, where he imports his fish, to understand catching and line practices. Gautier said the interaction with the producers of the food he serves – whether it be fisherman in the Caribbean or New York farmers – has influenced the way he runs his restaurant.
“Being able to talk to the person who raises the chickens and see where my food is coming from means a lot,” Gautier said. “That human interaction has been inspiring more than anything else.”
This has led Palo Santo participation in local food events. They have hosted CSA event as well as had cooking demonstrations at the Greenmarket at Grand Army Plaza.
The evolving menu also features produce from the rooftop of Palo Santo where Gautier grows herbs such as cilantro, chives and popolo, as well as vegetables ranging from garlic, tomatoes, squash, chili peppers and white beans.
The space on the roof is about the size of a typical New York apartment’s common room, but Gautier is resourceful and inventive, gardening around the restaurant’s air conditioning unit and filling an old bathtub with soil and seeds.
To take further advantage of limited roof space Gautier tries to grow vine plants, which roam freely and burst over the roofs edges. This vegetation requires less soil and yields more food, but what he grows himself is only a supplement to what he buys from local farmers.
“The local markets are known to have the best produce in the culinary scene in New York,” Gautier said. “You are not going to find better produce than you can find at the green markets.”
Offering the highest quality freshest ingredients is not only good for business, but it keeps things fresh creatively as well.
“It is great to have this kind if flexibility when cooking with the market,” Gautier said. “You have to be ready to change everyday which keeps it fun and exciting.
Why wouldn’t you want to cook with the best possible ingredients available?”
