Bona Terra celebrates the bounty of Mother Nature

Long before opening his own restaurant in Sharpsburg half a year ago, chef Douglass Dick had plenty of experiences with the real bona terra -- "good earth" in Latin -- so his eatery's name seems fitting and proper.

Before pursuing culinary arts as a profession seven years ago, Dick had worked multiple odd jobs related to food. He worked with organic produce in one job, and spent six adventurous months on an Alaskan fishing boat in 1995.

Dick's diverse cuisine at Bona Terra is founded in local, organic products -- whenever possible -- and natural, fresh ingredients. He gets almost all of his vegetables from Penn's Corner Farm Alliance, and he buys meat from a few local farmers. Dick, 33, buys fish at Benkovitz Seafoods in the Strip District and from a North Carolina fishmonger who ships overnight.

"The 'good earth' can mean anything .... from the ocean, from the earth, from the garden," says Dick, a 1999 graduate of the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute.

Bona Terra's menu -- prepared by Dick, a sous chef and two other staffers -- changes to some degree daily; however, the ever-popular tenderloin filet steak always is featured. Most menu items change over a few weeks, something regular customers appreciate about the restaurant, Dick says.

"You can eat here three times a week and never eat the same thing," says Dick, who was most recently the executive chef at Lucca Ristorante in Oakland and has worked at the Duquesne Club.

Each main course -- which on a recent menu included roast grouper, oven-roasted escolar (a deep-water fish) and grilled center-cut veal rib chop -- is accompanied by upscale side dishes.

Dick doesn't put a label on Bona Terra's cuisine; it's more of a multicultural fusion of tastes, he says. "It's kind of a conglomeration of many different things -- Asian, French, Spanish."

Dick opened Bona Terra -- a 42-seat restaurant -- last September in a building along Main Street where Boccacino, an Italian restaurant, previously operated. Intensive remodeling included replacing a portion of the dining room's plastic floor with shiny wood, jacking up the bar area and replacing the top counter with shiny copper. Dick added extra interior walls accented with stained glass, and painted the walls in earthy colors such as burnt orange.

Combined with framed paintings of fruits, the atmosphere enhances the good earth theme.

"Doing the decor, I wanted a nice, casual, earthy feel," says Dick, who grew up in Shaler and lives in Bloomfield. "We consider ourselves fine dining. It's good service, but not stuffy and pretentious. We want the customer to feel at ease."

Response to Bona Terra since its opening has been "unbelievable," Dick says, especially because there is no obvious sign along Main Street, and one could easily walk by without noticing the windows that subtly display "Bona Terra."

Dick has placed no advertising in local media; all business has come from word-of-mouth.

"It's kind of like a New York underground feel," he says. "These people feel like it was their own little restaurant because they heard about it secretively."

Bona Terra, 908 Main St., Sharpsburg, is open from 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, and 5 to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The restaurant is BYOB and nonsmoking. Reservations are strongly recommended. Details: (412) 781-8210.

You will need a pastry brush to spread the clarified butter on the phyllo dough. Phyllo is available in the frozen food section of supermarkets. Instructions for making clarified butter follow, but some grocery stores stock it in the dairy section. Chef Douglass Dick recommends using the back of a sheet tray, coated with clarified butter, to lay out the dough. You can substitute any leftover cooked meat for the veal or a filling of your choice.

Braised Veal, Mushroom and Goat Cheese Strudel

For the veal:
• 1 bone-in veal breast (1 1/2 to 2 pounds)
• Kosher salt and ground white pepper, to taste
• Canola oil, as needed
• Water or stock, as needed

  For the Mirepoix:

• 2 carrots, cut in large dice
• 1 large onion, cut in large dice
• 1 rib celery, cut in large dice
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 bay leaves

  For the filling:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 1/2 cups diced leeks, white and yellow parts only
• Water, as needed
• Kosher salt and ground white pepper
• 4 cups wild mushrooms, sliced (oyster, shiitake and portobello are good choices)
• 1/2 cup chicken or veal stock
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, picked off the stems
• About 5 1/2 ounces unripened, mild fresh goat cheese, divided

  For assembling the strudel:

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) or more butter, clarified, for brushing on dough
• 1 (1 pound) box phyllo dough, thawed according to package directions
• 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic chives, minced, for garnish (or regular chives, or other fresh herb of your preference)

Heat the oven to 300 degrees.

To prepare the veal: Season the veal breast on both sides with kosher salt and white pepper. Coat a saute pan with canola oil, place over high heat and sear the meat until brown on both sides. Transfer to a casserole and cover with liquid, either water or stock. Add the mirepoix ingredients.

Cover the pan and place in the heated oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Drain the liquid (if desired, use this as the stock for the filling recipe). Remove the meat and shred to yield 3 cups.

For the filling: Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add the leeks and gently cook until translucent, moving them constantly and adding water as needed to deglaze the pan when it starts to look dry or gets a brown residue on the edge.

When the leeks start to look soft and translucent, add the 3 cups shredded cooked veal. Add 2 more tablespoons olive oil to moisten the meat, and a pinch each of kosher salt and white pepper. Add the mushrooms, stock and the unsalted butter. Mix thoroughly and turn the heat down to low.

Add the fresh thyme and another pinch each of kosher salt and white pepper. Break up about 2/3 of the goat cheese into small pieces, scatter the pieces over the pan and mix. Add more cheese if the mix does not have a creamy consistency. (Set aside the remaining goat cheese for the assembly of the strudel.)

Add another pinch each of kosher salt and white pepper. Spread the mixture on a sheet tray, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

To assemble the strudel: Clarify the butter by melting 1/2 pound (more, if needed) in a pot over low heat. When it is melted, spoon out the milk fat solids, most of which will rise to the top. Pour off the clear liquid, leaving any residue at the bottom of the pan.

Dip a brush in the clear butter and coat a work surface. Place a single sheet of phyllo dough on the work surface, brush generously with butter, then layer another sheet directly on top and brush generously with butter. Continue until you have a 5-sheet layer, with the top coated in butter. Heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Cut the phyllo layer into thirds lengthwise, from top to bottom. Place a handful of filling at the bottom of each section, and top each with an extra dollop of goat cheese and sprinkle of kosher salt. Fold up in an alternating diagonal fashion, so you end up with a puffy triangle. (Do not brush it with more butter; it should be saturated.) When you reach the top, tighten the seams by pinching openings and tucking loose flaps. Repeat with more phyllo dough until all the filling is used. Chill the strudels for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 450 degrees. Bake the strudels for at least 10 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.

To serve, split a strudel in half and place on a plate. Top each with some of the sauce and a pinch of chopped garlic chives.

Makes 10 strudels (10 servings).

Sauce

• 4 whole bulbs garlic
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt and ground white pepper, to taste
• 1 cup heavy cream

Heat the oven to 300 degrees.

Roast the garlic: Do not separate the garlic bulbs into cloves. Slice off 1/4 inch of the stems. Rub each bulb with olive oil and season with kosher salt and white pepper. Wrap the garlic in aluminum foil and seal, then bake for about an hour. Let cool until the bulbs can be handled, then squeeze the pulp out of the cloves and mash with a fork.

In a pan, reduce the heavy cream over low heat for 10 minutes. Add kosher salt and white pepper, then gradually add the roasted garlic -- about 3 1/2 teaspoons, or to taste -- while whisking the ingredients, until the desired taste is reached.

Kellie B. Gormly can be reached at (412) 320-7824 or kgormly@tribweb.com . Send requests for your favorite restaurant recipes to Cooking Class, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, D.L. Clark Building, 503 Martindale St., Pittsburgh, PA 15212. Fax: (412) 320-7966.