The Roanoker Nov/Dec 2024 - 66

dining
LEFT TO RIGHT:
Bobby Middaugh prepares
salads, appetizers, and
desserts on the garde
manger (cold line) at Six
and Sky.
Left to Right: Blair Bailey
and Executive Chef Steven
Lyons are in high spirits as
dinner service begins
Six and Sky head bartender
Phoenix St.Clair prepares
The Care Pear
They share a pantry, stock area and
dish room, where close to 2,000 items
are cleaned on a typical weekend night.
Martin's office is down low.
Servers and line cooks are laughing down
there. There's a mixed-up-moment when
three cooks banter over who should have
been heating the crab louie for a seafood
plateau.
" Dog, I swear, " someone says. " Simmer
down, " Phillip Alderman jests. Allen
Gutierez and Tre Burks work together to
add shrimp and lobster to the plate. It's
delivered to the table without delay.
General manager Scotlan Frayne walks
through, asking Deaton about his plans to
bring back a favorite ice cream. He hesitates,
the dish is costly.
" What about a tiny, tiny bit? " she asks
again.
" If I can provide a little vacation for people,
that's the goal, " Frayne says. She wants
guests to forget their day-to-day lives for two
hours, relax and enjoy some really good food.
At the bar, classic cocktails are served
alongside seasonal favorites. When a longtime
customer requests something off-menu,
bartender Hannah Schwenk turns to retrieve
a thick recipe binder from a wooden drawer.
" We've got inspiration for cocktails that
haven't quite happened, we've got failures,
there's a lot of stuff [in there], " Schwenk says.
In his office, Martin keeps stacks of notes,
clippings and old menus. He and Deaton collaborate
often.
" Jason's a foodie like no other, " Deaton says.
Deaton has worked in kitchens all along the
east coast. Still, a lot of his inspiration came
from time spent in his grandma's kitchen. Food
was a big part of family life, he says. He's carried
that forward.
His mom's cauliflower au gratin has been
on the menu since day one. He's served up his
grandma's cornbread, his mom's pound cake
and his aunt's black walnut cake. Anytime you
eat something with gravy - that's grandma's
special technique.
She taught Deaton that good food takes time.
Prep cooks start showing up at Sidecar -
and at other restaurants - as early as 10 a.m.
Prepping is more than chopping some vegetables;
some chefs take care of every possible
step before the guest enters the restaurant,
sometimes before they make the reservation.
To prep one of Sidecar's most popular holiday
dishes, foie gras meatballs, Deaton's team
grinds their lamb, sears their foie gras and rolls
each and every meatball by hand - they sell
320 meatballs in a busy week, and that's just
one dish.
Sidecar makes every dish from scratch
except for one, the pretzel. It all takes time.
Some menu items take twelve to eighteen
hours to prepare. Duck confit, for instance,
requires an overnight prep.
" I gotta get that stuff in, " Deaton says.
66 november/december 2024
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