The first time I saw frog legs jump onto a local menu was early last fall. Public Fish & Oyster was doing an appetizer of the gams all fried up crispy like, and I had to have them. For some odd reason, the typically French delicacy was a favorite of my childhood, and I hadn’t seen them in a while.
Public chef Donnie Glass’ preparation was elaborate and delicious, with a roasted garlic puree, gremolata and radish, and the underlying protein was just as I remembered—kind of a blandish chicken wing. I loved ’em.
Then, around the new year, Glass briefly brought frog legs back as a special. Shortly thereafter, Escafé went through a scad of amphibian kicker preparations: harissa marinated, Italian and Asian hoppers as appetizers and finally an entrée in “Croak au Vin,” the traditional French wine-braised dish with frog legs replacing chicken. That main course is still on the menu.
I spotted one more frog legs preparation in the unlikeliest of places: South Street Brewery got its ribbit on during a one-off wine dinner.
What was going here? Was an army of frogs descending on Charlottesville? Was this off-cut the next pork belly on the local culinary scene?
It turns out the influx was largely coincidental, though there were a few through-lines. One, a good deal of the legs came from retail and wholesale outfit Seafood @ West Main, and two, all the restaurants reported a positive response to the dish—for the most part.
“Charlottesville is a town where some people are going to be receptive to stuff like that, although there are also lots of ‘crab cakes and sauce on the side’ people,” Glass said. “When we first put them on, we didn’t know if we would sell any of them, but they had a solid run. We were happy that people were adventurous and trusted us enough to give them a try.”
Glass said one of the downsides of an exotic product like frog legs is that it’s next to impossible to find a local, or even domestic, provider. So, as Seafood @ West Main owner Chris Arseneault would also attest, the purchasing story here isn’t sexy, and the buy local crowd is likely to be aghast. The only source Arseneault has for frog legs is—wait for it—China. Indeed, that’s where almost any of the delicacies you’ll find in the States are from.
“Our philosophy is to buy as close to home as you can, the best quality product you can, with the least environmentally negative impact, but the reality with seafood in particular is that you can’t buy Alaskan halibut from the Chesapeake Bay,” Arseneault joked, offering an obvious reality of local sourcing.
South Street manager Seth Piller said his chef purchased the restaurant’s frog legs from another wholesaler, ProFish, but noted they were also Chinese legs.
Still, as with the other locavore heretics selling the East Asian treats, Piller said they were “extremely well-received.” Escafé owner Todd Howard noted the same.
“The appetizers did very well,” Howard said. “People that have had frog legs in any way shape or form either really enjoy them or have a deep aversion to them. I think more than delicacy, they are a novelty. It’s something fun to do on the menu to generate interest.”
Glass said one of the things that keeps him from having frog legs on his menu more often, other than the fact that they “take a lot of help to make them good,” is indeed the lack of a great source. He said he’s heard about some tasty legs coming from Greece, but that’s a rumor that’s been hard to substantiate. And of course if there were a wonderful little frog farm somewhere in the Southeast, he would be all over it.
As it is, Glass and his sous chef have already created their first warm weather menu of the year and left frog legs off. But that doesn’t mean he won’t add them later in the year. One of the cool things about the product, he said, is familiarity.
“I’ve cooked frog legs a million times, mostly at French restaurants,” he said. “That one particular product, it is the exact same thing I used when I was working in a kitchen in Providence, Rhode Island, same label and everything.”
So no, frog legs aren’t likely to be the next big thing in a market like Charlottesville. But for those of us who love them, it’s good to know they’re occasionally around, even if it means—gasp—not buying local.