The Return of Bar Gabi Schnitzel

This month, we are once again listening in on a conversation between the Gabis.

Gabriela: A huge update on the girls: Our oldest daughter started cooking her own omelets. The other one makes her own cookies. I feel like by next year we can hire them.

Gabriel: Free labor [laughs].

Gabriela: I just said in the last newsletter that I was freaking out about them going back to school. We thought this was going to be a major transition, but nope, they’re totally fine. They’re growing up so fast!

Giuliana, our oldest daughter, started middle school, and all the kids have this project where they have to answer: what makes you shine? What makes you shine the most in life? She wrote “working at Bar Gabi.” I was like “Girl, you’re going to get me in trouble!” [laughs]

Gabriel: They can’t work here yet, but they like to help out.

Gabriela: Suddenly they’re so independent! I do not need to babysit them anymore. The oldest one gets home from school, calls me, and grabs a glass of water. They make themselves a snack. I was stunned when she sent me a text of an omelet.

Gabriel: Just don’t get too creative with the stove yet.

Gabriela: Yes [laughs]. We’re going to have to set some rules.

Gabriel: So, the big news is that on October 7th Bar Gabi is rolling out a new fall menu. Goulash is coming back. The schnitzel is coming back. Both are favorites.

Gabriela: I’m making a different focaccia with salt and rosemary. Traditional-like. Oh, and with a little bit of compound butter.

Gabriel: We’re going to bring back our vegetable spread, but sell it separately so you can take it home. Like a grandma’s jar of zacuscă. Zacuscă is a huge thing among Romanians and Balkans. Romanians cook seasonally. So, all the last vegetables from summer harvest are cooked down and jarred for the winter. Mostly eggplants. Another version has mushrooms. One with beans. It’s a really special thing.

Another traditional Romanian dish we’re bringing to Bar Gabi this fall is pomana porcului, which is a holiday pork stew traditionally eaten around December. A pig feast. In Romania, you take all the chunks of pork meat — the trimmings, the ribs, fresh sausage, all of it — then throw it into a Dutch oven and let it roar over a fire. You add garlic, thyme, a little white wine, and some water. The fat just melts into a white stew. It’s delicious. We won’t be doing a traditional pig roast, but this version will have pork shoulder and guanciale. And we’re serving it with polenta.

The tradition in Romania is that the whole family shows up for the pig roast. I remember seeing all my uncles and aunts there. It’s a meal for the village. For the family. Pomana porcului is about giving a good meal to your neighbors and to everyone who has helped. We usually had one guy in the village who would butcher the pigs, and everyone would pay him with chunks of meat. Tenderloin, pork shoulder. All of it. He’d go home with 100 kilos of meat that he’d have to freeze. Sometimes we’d pay him with wine.

Gabriela: It feels very us. Very Bar Gabi.

Gabriel: You can always rely on Romanians to provide rich, hearty, and familial comfort food.

Gabriela: Oh, also for the fall menu I’m bringing back tiramisu!

People sometimes ask me why I like tiramisu so much. Well, it’s because I’ve loved coffee for as long as I’ve known myself. As a kid, I would beg my mom to let me just have a sip. My daughters ask me for coffee now and I say no, which is hypocritical [laughs]. Then, when I lived in Italy, I fell deeply in love with the perfect combination of espresso and dessert.

There will be a gluten-free tiramisu, too. Oh, and the Romanian marshmallow brownie we talked about in the last newsletter, Negresă, will be officially making its debut on the fall menu! It’s so good.

Gabriel: One of the cool things we’ve been noticing is that people are traveling to come here. We have more and more new clients coming in from Birmingham. People visiting from other states. The other day, a regular customer brought four new people with them, and you could tell they were well-traveled. The way they ordered wine, food, how they interacted with the service.

I love to see old customers bringing new customers. It’s a cool thing for us.

Gabriela: We really love word of mouth. You know, we want to grow this restaurant organically. We want people to physically bring friends and family in, and show them this place. We really do enjoy seeing people. And people then feel like they’re a part of something here. I think that’s the best feeling of all.

Gabriel: And the food. I’m so excited for the fall menu: Beefy tenderloin tips with zip sauce. Pork belly tossed with hot pepper jam. Fritto misto. Our version of an iceberg wedge salad. Roasted cauliflower for our vegan friends. Oh, and new pasta dishes. The weather is cooling down, and I think you’re going to love the new menu.

Gabriela: Yes! And remember, contact the restaurant if you want a special cake order! See you soon.

Love,

The Gabis

The Return of Bar Gabi Schnitzel

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