Dining at Decca is as illuminating as it is delicious

It would seem that nothing at Decca happens by accident. There is a purposeful nature to the cuisine, no element on the plate overlooked.

In other kitchens, this could translate to well executed yet predictable food.

In Decca's case, it sets the stage for a dining experience that is as illuminating as it is delicious.

From the just-burnt-enough brussel sprout leaves found amongst the mussels, to the briny bottarga shavings over housemade cavatelli, to the raw cucumber accompanying the crispy Texas redfish, unexpected supporting characters bring about the best in whatever is taking center stage on the plate. It is a dining experience that doesn't allow any note of flavor to be left to chance nor taken for granted.

It is a dining experience worthy of four stars.

I lived downtown during Decca's lengthy construction and I have dined at Decca several times since the doors opened in 2012. I have always been pleased with my meal and service, though it never quite impressed me like it has as of late.

Every aspect of the Decca experience has firmly come into its own and appears to only be improving with age. Guests will pay top dollar for this experience and I find it to be worth the investment.

A more accessible encounter with Decca may be had in their cellar bar. The intimate, basement level space is walled in massive exposed stones and equally imposing wooden beams run down the center of the room.

Bar bites in the $5 range can be had in the cellar, and they are best enjoyed with one of Decca's cocktails, like the Old Pal ($10), a classic blend of rye, dry vermouth and Amaro that boasted an essence of peach thanks to the unexpected but happy addition of peach liqueur. A favorite signature creation is the Chupacabra ($12), a nuanced, mezcal-based drink married with ginger, cilantro, and chili and double strained, imparting a slightly spicy, herbaceous undertone.

Seated in Decca's first-floor dining space during a recent dinner, we found that the Chupacabra paired particularly well with the avocado toast starter ($14), featuring thin, perfectly ripe slices of avocado fanned atop a toasted slice of seeded bread. Equally thin, raw shavings of asparagus rested atop the avocado, pickled serranos and a bright green goddess dressing completing the dish. It is an excellent example of chef Annie Pettry's keen and creative sense of composition when it comes to both flavor and plating.

The pan roasted mussels ($16) illustrate this point as well. The mussels are cooked in a delicate curry broth and tossed with burnt brussel sprout leaves and peas. A dollop of creme fraiche and a thick slice of charred bread are the ideal counterpoints.

Pasta is my Achilles' heel and I am quite particular about its execution. Chef Pettry's three homemade offerings are among some of the best pasta dishes I've experienced in recent memory. Her linguine verde ($17) is a spot-on version of pasta with clams. The fresh cream sauce coated each al dente noodle just so, with bits of green garlic an ideal partner for the sweet and tender littleneck clams, which imparted that touch of brininess I so love in this classic dish.

Given the meatiness of the morel mushrooms, one would never know that the ricotta cavatelli ($18) was a vegetarian wonderland. Shavings of celery, caraway seed, and a final flurry of bottarga were ingenious ingredients that allowed this compilation to make perfect sense.

Five main courses and four shareable side dishes round out Decca's dinner menu and the crispy Texas redfish ($29) is not to be missed. Served in a large shallow bowl, a perfectly clear leek brodo is poured table side, soaked up by couscous resting beneath the expertly seared redfish. The inclusion of peanut, cucumber and hints of citrus made every bite that much more interesting. The only element this dish lacked was a touch of spice.

The mustard jus accompanying the wood-grilled pork chop ($30) ensured this offering was not for want of spice. Pearls of mustard seed mixed and mingled with the ample chop; the pickled peaches were a sweetly-sour ideal counterpoint.

Our decadent finish at Decca involved a just-rich-enough rectangle of coffee-scented devil's food cake ($9), crowned with a dainty chocolate meringue, a textural garnish that the dish would not have been the same without. But then again, nothing at Decca happens by accident.

Peachy keen and delicious

There are so many ways to enjoy a basketful of fresh peaches. Homemade peach ice cream, cobblers, refrigerator pies and peach jam are some of my favorites.

So I had plenty of ideas last week for the peck of July Flame freestone peaches delivered to work by my cousin, straight from a South Carolina farm. What a treat!

Even before I got the peaches home last Monday, I was thinking of ways I could eat them and couldn't wait to peel one, slice it in an bowl and enjoy the juicy goodness.

I had plans for making my favorite peach cobbler later in the week, but on Tuesday, I wanted something sweet to go with our supper.

In the fall and winter, my husband and I enjoy baked apples. Why not try baked peaches, I thought? I searched around the internet and saw many people do the same. So why haven't I done this before, I wondered?

The preparation couldn't be easier. I did the same thing I do with apples: Cut the peach in half, starting at the stem, and remove the seed. I cut the peaches way I cut an avocado — cutting all the way around with a knife, then twisting the two halves in opposite directions to separate. (I did not peel the peaches.)

Place the peaches in a baking dish. Add a little butter and brown sugar to the top of the peach and a maybe a sprinkle of cinnamon. Then top with chopped pecans if desired. I desired. That's it for the preparation!

The first time I made these, I used three peaches and baked them for about 20 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees, until the peaches were fork tender. I scooped two peach halves into each of our bowls and then added the finishing touch: a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

That ice cream worked its magic, melting slightly and forming a delicious topping that made the peaches even sweeter. What a delicious ending to our dinner.

A few days later, I decided to make the dish again at lunchtime. I prepared them the same way in a microwave-safe baking dish but then cooked them for 3 minutes in the microwave, instead of the oven, with the same yummy results. We ate the peaches this time without ice cream. The peaches had sweetened more and were still delicious without the ice cream on top.

There was a bonus to my baked peach treat. I had two baked peach halves left after the first night's dinner and immediately knew what I wanted to do with them. That night, I prepared a jar of overnight oatmeal, placing 1⁄2 cup of old-fashioned oats and 1⁄2 cup of milk in a Mason jar. Then I cut up the baked peach halves and added them and the remaining pecans to the jar. Everything went into the refrigerator until the next morning.

I was very excited about my breakfast that next day. I opened the lid before heating the jar for about 45 seconds in the microwave. What a delicious breakfast! I did the same thing with the microwave peaches — using the leftover peach in my oats.

I am so pleased I have found two new ways to enjoy the season's peaches. I just wish I had more opportunities to purchase peaches, fresh from the farm.

Once peach season has ended, I'll be baking apples for overnight oatmeal!

Do kimchi and other fermented foods give you more fizz?

When something makes it into the everyday story of country folk that is The Archers, it's safe to say that it has gone mainstream. So, hearing Tom Archer's plans for a kefir empire was all the proof I needed that, as he said: "Fermented foods are the future!" As ever, where Gwyneth Paltrow leads, Ambridge follows.

The health and wellness brigade have been fizzing over ferments for almost a decade; indeed, way back in 2011, Lindsay Lohan was said to have blamed a positive alcohol test while on probation on her fondness for kombucha, a fermented-tea drink. More pertinently, perhaps, Australian journalist and bestselling sugar-avoider Sarah Wilson urges anyone "with auto-immune issues, irritable bowel syndrome, bloating, sugar cravings or any kind of digestive or allergy issue" to give fermenting a go. The Hemsley sisters have called sauerkraut "our ultimate condiment for health", while chef Gizzi Erskine loves kimchi – a punchy Korean speciality generally made from cabbage, chilli and garlic – so much that she named her cat after it. Not bad for what is, essentially, just some elderly cabbage.

What it does

As with so many fads, fermentation is nothing new. Humans have been harnessing the natural action of microorganisms to preserve food for thousands of years. In fact, as "fermentation revivalist" and pickle evangelist Sandor Katz put it on a recent edition of Radio 4's Food Programme: "Humans did not invent or create fermentation. It would be more accurate to state that fermentation created us."

In simple terms, fermentation involves the use of micro-organisms to transform food from one state to another – sort of like cooking, but without the application of heat. In the right conditions, bacteria and yeasts will start to convert the natural sugars in foods into other compounds, such as alcohol or lactic acid. This not only inhibits the growth of other potentially more harmful bacteria, but also changes the flavour of the food concerned – the distinctive tang of yoghurt, for example, is produced by microbes feeding on the lactose in milk. It also, helpfully, slows the spoiling process.

Beer and wine are fermented foods, as are bread, sauerkraut, olives, cured meats, chocolate, coffee, miso, many cheeses and various kinds of pickles – "all the really good stuff," as food writer Michael Pollan puts it. So, the good news is that you are probably eating a few already. They exist in what Katz describes as the "creative space between fresh and rotten food, where most of human culture's most prized delicacies and culinary achievements exist".

But, although interesting flavours are a handy side-effect, it is the microbial content that has got health types excited – because bacteria are big news these days. More specifically, the 39tn microbes, weighing about as much as your brain, that live happily in your gut, the makeup of which, some evidence suggests, may have a significant effect on everything from your long-term weight to your current mood.

How it helps us

Unfortunately, the typical modern western menu does little to nourish this "huge alien ecosystem", as Dr Michael Moseley puts it, under siege as it is from antibiotics and a deluge of cleaning products designed to sterilise every part of our existence. However much we may like junk food and chemical additives, our gut bacteria does not – and our increasingly narrow diet has led to a similar lack of diversity in our gut. Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King's College London and the author of The Diet Myth, explains that if we "wipe out our gut microbes, then our immune system goes into autodrive and starts attacking us with autoimmune diseases and allergies".

One way of boosting your natural gut flora is to eat more of the kind of foods they thrive on – which, according to the British Dietetic Association, include onions, garlic, asparagus, artichoke, chicory and banana. These prebiotics, as they are known, will encourage microbe growth. The other way, which is what concerns us here, is the use of so-called probiotics, foods or supplements containing beneficial bacteria that, if they make it as far as our guts, will take up residence there. Fermented foods, or at least live fermented foods (beware pasteurised pickles, for example), are generally considered to be an excellent source of these desirable microbes.

NHS Choices reckons there is good evidence probiotics can prevent children on antibiotics developing diarrhoea; and some evidence that they can shorten an episode caused by a stomach bug by up to a day; they may help relieve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and lactose intolerance, too. Nevertheless, "the current state of the evidence does not demonstrate that probiotics have any effect on gut bacteria in healthy people". However, they go on to concede that: "Given the limitations of these studies, that is not to say that all probiotics definitely have no effect. Further high-quality research in their use is needed."

Katz, who firmly rejects media suggestions that he has managed to cure his Aids with fermented foods, takes a similarly low-key attitude. "In general, when I hear people talk about fermented foods as a cure for particular diseases – you know, eat sauerkraut to cure cancer, drink kombucha to cure diabetes – that's kind of a trigger for me," he told Radio 4. "I just think it is not reasonable to expect eating a particular food is going to cure a particular disease … these foods can be very, very powerful and healing, they can potentially improve digestion and nutrient assimilation, immune function and mental health and more. Those are benefits that we all can enjoy and that's not the same as curing any particular disease – their place is in the context of a rich and very varied diet."

Fortunately, as microbes seem to be the current buzz topic within the scientific community, more such research is likely to be forthcoming: Spector has already been instrumental in the establishment of British Gut, the UK's largest open-source science project, which is investigating the microbial diversity of the human gut, running in tandem with a similar project in the US. For about £350, you get an expert interpretation of your microbiome – and scientists get the benefit of your data.

What to eat

In the meantime, there is certainly no harm in including fermented foods in your diet. Not only does it seem likely that the more varied your intake the better, but also they are easy to digest, as some of the work has already been done for you, and they tend to have a distinctive, complex and (sometimes) challenging flavour.

Live yoghurt is good, but kefir, a fermented milk drink that originated in the Caucasus, is better – according to Spector, it contains at least five times as many microbial varieties. Kombucha is another decent source, as are raw milk cheeses, sauerkraut, pickles or kimchi. Natto, Japanese fermented soya beans, may be an acquired taste, but nutty Indonesian tempeh is just like tofu, but nicer. Just make sure none of it has been heat-treated to increase its shelf life.