Ramp-age: Bill Telepan Ranks the City’s Newest Ramp Dishes
It’s that time of year again: Ramps are here, whether you like it or not. “I didn’t like the backlash last year,” chef Bill Telepan says. “Ramps are fucking awesome. And we only have them for six weeks — it’s the same thing for peas and asparagus and tomatoes.” Grub Street agrees and saw fit to get a jump on the season by tasting this year’s crop of ramp dishes at produce-loving restaurants ABC Kitchen, Back Forty West, Marlow & Sons, Porsena, Rucola, and of course, Telepan. Even though Telepan — who’s famously passionate about high-quality local food (he was just back from teaching cooking classes in Kentucky’s Appalachia region as part of the Wellness in the Schools program) — told us he liked every dish, we managed to convince him to rank his favorites and score them from 1 to 5 points. Check out the list, straight ahead.