My Favorite Dish: Wagyu Brisket Bao Buns at The Cottage in Westport + Greenwich

No trip to The Cottage is complete without…IT.

At least one, but probably two.

Fans of Brian Lewis’ flagship restaurant in Westport (and in Greenwich in recent years) know that I’m talking specifically about the wagyu brisket bao buns, a day one appetizer (though I could eat these as my main course) when Lewis opened in 2015.

The buns have had their share of the spotlight, too, as they’ve been gushed about in The New York Times, Forbes, and countless local news sites and blogs.

“People are coming here for that dish,” says The Cottage Westport’s chef de cuisine Christian Wilki. “My girlfriend’s parents came in and I gave them the buns as a snack when they first arrive. Her dad is still talking about the brisket and the potatoes.”

Fans of The Cottage are definitely in that “IYKYK” group because when I know I’m dining there, those buns are the first thing I think about.

Melt-in-your-mouth wagyu brisket, tangy, crunchy house-brined Napa cabbage kimchi, the creamy, mild heat of the sriracha aioli, brininess and sweetness from the fermented black garlic and squid ink aioli, all on a pillowy soft rice bun.

Wilki told us that The Cottage goes through a lot of brisket for a restaurant that’s doesn’t do BBQ. “It’s insane,” he says “Maybe 120 pounds per week. We get in 3-4 briskets at a time from D’Artagnan. It’s 100 percent wagyu. When one comes out, we immediately have to start on a new one.”

Of course, all the components combined make up the full brisket bun experience, but as you might expect, the most work goes into prepping and cooking that slab of beef.

“We trim down all the fat, so there’s none left when I’m done trimming it except for the natural marbling of the meat,” reveals Wilki. “We probably lose 30 to 40 percent of the whole brisket after the fat is trimmed. From there it goes into a brine of water, seaweed, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, dried mushrooms, black peppercorns, pink salt, salt, and white soy sauce. Boil that up and let the brisket steep in there about 40 minutes, strain it out, vacuum seal it and sous vide it for 72 degrees Celsius (roughly 162 degrees Fahrenheit) for three days. So, very simple!”

When the brisket is finished cooking, it’s cooled down in an ice water bath. When those tickets come in, it’s sliced to order and goes into a steamer with the buns before it hits your table.

It’s all served deconstructed, in an assembly required style, so you can spoon as much or as little of the sauces on the bun as you want. One slice of the tender beef or two? Eat one on the bun, save another to eat as is? That’s up to you.

Petition for The Cottage to make these available separately as an order of fries.

And that other little treat on the plate is something that barely takes a backseat…those rectangular cut Idaho potatoes that are seared in duck fat before each “fry” is tempura battered and fried. I save mine for after the bun, dunked into the sriracha aioli, but you do you.

I’d argue that this is The Cottage’s signature dish. It’s easily their most recognizable one, and I’d dare to say it’s one of Connecticut’s most recognized dishes.

thecottage.kitchen

BAO DOWN!