Pigeon Pie and Royal Peas with Bacon and Butter Lettuce

Piranha Club #5 was perhaps my favorite so far. Working with Art & Chelsea Jackson, who I have long admired, was a true joy- their professionalism helped the evening go off without a hitch. Hanging with Art at the bakery off hours was a heck of a good time to boot. And… I got people to eat pigeon, in fact, each of the 24 plates that night were licked clean. The fact occurred to me (which I made a crack about during my pre- dinner spiel) that by gently braising the meat until tender, skinning and boning it, chopping it up, and cladding it in Pleasanthouse’s ethereally crisp and buttery- rich pie crust, we rendered the “rat with wings” utterly delectable for even the most vanilla of palettes. Perhaps that’s what it takes to re-introduce this despised pest as the food source it really is. I, at least, got to witness the nasty business- my boys at Chicago Live Poultry in Little Village dispatched of 12 birds in like 15 minutes. Its always stunning to witness the instantaneous moment when a breathing animal yields its life and becomes food right before your eyes. So, while Piranha Club is meant to be a welcoming convivial space, its important that the cuisine remain uncompromising. Even though the diners that night may not have witnessed the actual event of life giving way to food, I was there to remind them and the too often distance we have from where our food comes from was at least shortened by a few steps. And hopefully we can look differently at these most ubiquitous and prejudiced against urban co- inhabitants of ours, the pigeons.