Alex Gass

Fire & Salt takes home 3rd place appetizer!

For Executive Chef Alex Gass, it always seems to be a family get-together at Fire & Salt. An Oak Ridge native, Gass started cooking with his mom, aunt, and grandmother at the Kern United Methodist Church and learned to smoke meats from his Uncle Jim. His first job was at the iconic Big Ed’s Pizza. The family vibe extends to the band Entente, with Gass on guitar, Associate Chef Billy Krebs on bass, and Assistant Manager Gabe Krebs on drums. “We express ourselves as people in music the same way we do in our cooking,” said Gass. “Real food is unity, bringing people together.”

Gass’s wife, Jessica, sat at a lively table that sang to Nancy King for her 78th birthday, and the evening was enhanced by the violin accompaniment of Sarah Jean Cammisano, The Honey Bee welcome cocktail combined Wheatley Vodka, St. Germain, honeydew purée, honeydew and cucumber syrup, honey syrup, lemon juice and grapefruit bitters. Attendees included Bella Executive Chef Cory Giaquinta, Sommelier Aileen Carroll of the Raven, and Lonesome Dove Executive Chef Travis Freundt.

Cityview Publisher Nathan Sparks introduced Gass from his former life as a personal chef on the road with Elton John, Van Halen, Tim McGraw, Chris Stapleton, and Widespread Panic.

The appetizer of cured and smoked red deer backstrap was a tasty square of rare venison. “Not gamey,” noted diner Allison Sousa. It was presented well with the Extraterrestrial Fungi mushrooms, roasted heirloom carrots, braised garlic, pommes maxim (thin-sliced potato slow-cooked in clarified butter), chives, volcanic sea salt, and whipped beef bone marrow crème fraiche. Sommelier Kelly Campbell introduced the Holus Bolus 2023 Syrah from Santa Barbara County, subtle with its notes of black pepper, plum, and blackberry. The entrée was a pan-seared Chilean sea bass—firm, flaky, and tasty—with lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf risotto, garlic confit cherry tomatoes, balsamic reduction, parsley, and toasted hazelnut.

The Chateau de la Font du Loup Côtes du Rhône signature rouge “was the mirror of the complexity of the dish,” said Campbell, “with notes of apple, pear, and lemon.” The dessert of peanut butter mousse with chocolate mirror glaze, peanut “Star Crunch” crust (chocolate, peanut butter, hazelnut, dehydrated crêpe), cacao nib coulis, chocolate pudding, brûléed bananas, peanut sable cookie, banana mousse, ornamented with circular banana tuile. The Dacosta Tawny Port from the Douro region of Portugal balanced the sweetness with notes of dried fruit, nuts, caramel, and coffee.