Salt Wood Kitchen I David Baron

Deviled Eggs

When chef David Baron prepares deviled eggs for brunch service at Salt Wood Kitchen & Oysterette, he follows a familiar template – boil an egg, whip the yolk and garnish. They are recognizably deviled eggs, but there is something more.

Baron and his staff present them as a trio, one topped with a crisp shallot flake for an earthy snap, another with smoked trout roe that pops gently, dripping elegance. Lustrous black caviar dresses the third, swelling from reaches of the sea.

Yes, the garnishing goes beyond the usual dusting of paprika. But that’s not it.

Baron creates a graceful filling of cashmere softness by using creme fraiche in place of the bulkier mayonnaise. The delicate edge it provides nips at the yolk’s richness and attempts to parry some of the musky hue of preserved summer truffle blended into the filling.

Yeah, truffle. The prized guttural savor brings out wisps of smoke from the trout roe. It descends under the brittle rasp of onion and absorbs the briny blows of caviar. And all of this takes place in a free-range egg white pushed to that elusive point where it’s almost not firm. It really doesn’t feel fancy, just beautifully crafted.

SALT WOOD KITCHEN & OYSTERETTE 3295 Dunes Drive, Marina. 883-5535, saltwoodkitchenandoysterette.com