Feast Your Eyes

Nook has always taken a fun, creative and playful approach to their food. Plates frequently bring together colors, textures and ingredients in ways that leave you wondering, “Wait, what did I just eat?” Here, Julie and Noah Przybylski combine some of their favorite winter vegetables (celery and celeriac!) with the flavors of the classic 90s kid snack “Ants on a Log.” The soup is finished with unseasoned, unsweetened whipped cream to add a rich textural element, and garnished with none other than a peanut buttery piece of celery that can be enjoyed between bites of soup.

Ethan Kaercher created this recipe with a pretty firm vision in mind: “a deconstruction of a carrot that is in turn reconstructed from the ‘ground up’ to loosely resemble a carrot patch sprouting from the plate.” The plating is definitely enough to get you excited to devour this dish, and the three different preparations of carrots (pickled, pureed, and glazed) will have you thinking in new ways about everyone’s favorite winter root crop.

Growing up, cabbage was a big wintertime staple at Chance Spivey’s house. Most of the time it was fried in a pan with a little butter, salt and pepper. It was very simple and yet, very delicious. This recipe builds on that same simple concept, but with a little more flair. For Spivey, that's what makes cooking fun. He loves to take the things he grew up eating, and dress them up like he’s going to a dinner party. He believes a beautiful local cabbage deserves to be dressed up for at least one night and put in the center of the table.

At his restaurant in Viroqua, Luke Zahm has always let the flavors of local ingredients, his mood and the weather guide his cooking. These elements inform the artistry of the dishes on its ever-changing seasonal menu. To Zahm, there is nothing more beautiful or enticing in winter than a whole roasted chicken—a meal that deepens our understanding of simple, rustic yet beautiful food. While best results are achieved by seasoning this bird ahead of time, doing so just before cooking will also be delicious.

A descendant of Martha Stewart’s fresh strawberry cake, Rachel Robey’s cake adapts those peak summer flavors into a recipe that delights even in the depths of a zone five Wisconsin winter. Under a thin crackling coat of sugar, thawed frozen raspberries melt into the batter for a bright, jammy center. Almond flour, Meyer lemon zest, and buttermilk yield a perfectly tender and tangy crumb that keeps well for a few days, making this an ideal recipe for both special occasions and casual snacking. Serve the cake simply with a dollop of whipped cream or dress it up with candied herbs and flowers—either way, it’s a welcome reminder that summer warmth isn’t so far away.