We were hoping to have La Sirena Clandestina’s opening menu for you today, but that’s nothing next to John Manion who was hoping to actually be serving it today. Looks like the restaurant’s opening will be more like Saturday— which is how it goes with a new restaurant, especially one that’s highly anticipated (which, to judge by the number of Facebook recs this interview got, this one is). But if you just can’t wait, here’s at least a little taste: the very first food cooked in the kitchen of the still under construction restaurant a couple of weeks ago. It was for the Reader’s Key Ingredient series (video shot by ourselves), and it was, improbably for a South American place, that Great Lakes standby, the smelt. Manion was challenged by Urban Union’s Michael Shrader to put a South American spin on the tiny fish; he had just gotten his range installed a few hours before (bought secondhand from Blackbird) and he was excited to give it a whirl, though the shoot was interrupted a couple of times as he had to hunt for some utensil still in a box somewhere. We’re sure the place looks much nicer now, but in the meantime, watch the video below and read the piece at the Reader here.
