Wedge salad at 15 Church in Saratoga Springs… can you spot the lettuce?
Have you noticed? The wedge salad is quite the thing in high end steakhouses recently. The concept is simple: cut a triangle of chilled iceberg lettuce, and pile stuff on it. Blue cheese dressing (preferably house made, with lots of big cheese chunks) and a sprinkling of bacon are essential. Beyond that, it’s open to creativity.
At 15 Church, my favorite restaurant, Chef Brady Duhame topped it off with fried onion rings and added cherry tomatoes and other garnishes till the actual lettuce disappeared. And I’m fine with that. As with stone soup, the basic ingredient is the least important thing.
By comparison, I had a wedge at a local place during our restaurant week that wasn’t even a full quarter of a head. At a food cost of maybe 80 cents max, that’s a poor place to economize. These bozos sealed the deal with a minimal amount of jarred blue cheese dressing and a light sprinkling of bacon bits, which makes me think the wedge is a convenient litmus test of presentation and commitment to customer satisfaction.
Of course you don’t have to go to an expensive steakhouse to have a wedge. You can craft a perfectly serviceable version at home, as long as you use our Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing.
Yes the one at 15 North was overloaded but good. I’ve had wedge salads without wedges, some drowning in dressing and cheese, and yes, bacon bits. UGH. A large crisp wedge of iceberg, dressing that gets into the interstices, good fresh bacon crumbles, a few fresh tomatoes on the plate to cut through the salty – it’s about balance.
Thanks… It is good to hear from a wedge expert.