Best Thing We Ate Last Night: Jerusalem Artichokes and Mushroom Karage at Commonwealth

By Meesha Halm

Every night’s exciting at the Mission’s Commonwealth where chef Jason Fox transforms California’s finest raw ingredients into works of art using Japanese influences and modern cooking techniques, but last night we were treated to double the pleasure, thanks to the presence of Australia’s rising chef Thomas Lim, who was collaborating in the kitchen with Fox as the coda to the Omnivore World Tour. We weren't the only ones interested in checking out the scene. The room was full of the festival's organizers and local chefs including Dominique Crenn who joined the French contingent.

Lim, who’s headed to L.A. to open his first to-be-named stateside restaurant (working title is 3rd St), co-created last night’s tasting menu which included the likes of spot prawn tartare rolled in a nasturtium leaf, roasted cabbage with egg curd and Warren pear and a smoked bourbon cake with burnt honey ice cream. But for all the fancy sleight of hands and presentation, we were most enamored with this twofer appetizer co-created by the chefs. Lim was responsible for the fried oyster mushroom karage dusted with salt and lime leaf shavings, while Fox was the brains behind the fried Jerusalem artichoke, stuffed with jerusalem artichoke mousse and topped with trout roe and purslane. The latter, shown on the right, is essentially gussied-up twice-baked potato. Our waiter agreed, adding, “but we just can’t call it that.” The tasting menu at Commonwealth changes nightly, check out the website for the current offerings.