By AMY SOWDER
People often think of Italian cuisine when they hear the word “Mediterranean.”
But Eric Lapkin, executive chef of The Whitlock in downtown Katonah, loves to pull inspiration from Spain and France, too, on the sea’s northwestern coast, plus nearby Portugal. And as a master seafood butcher, he wants to offer his diners more variety from the depths of our world’s waters.
Enter the latest appetizer special that Lapkin is bringing back: Mediterranean octopus with Portuguese garlic sausage, roasted red bell peppers, fresh herbs and marinated gigante beans.
“It’s a really luscious dish,” Lapkin said as he wove through the kitchen. “I like to pull from different countries.”
The eight-limbed mollusk’s journey to the plate begins on a Portuguese fishing boat, where the cephalopod is flash-frozen, shipped to the Fulton Fish Market at Hunts Point in the Bronx, and delivered to The Whitlock kitchen.
There, Lapkin poaches his selection in red wine, garlic, thyme and rosemary for one hour. This long simmer breaks down the mollusk’s muscle fibers and collagen, avoiding a rubbery texture. Then with a flash, Lapkin throws the tentacle on the grill to “get a nice char on it,” he said.
The charred suction-cupped curl of the octopus may draw attention in the dining room, but the dish’s fragrant, hearty base also has a larger-than-life role to play.
Called gigante beans by Greeks and akin to the royal corona beans favored by Italians, these white beans are like extra-large lima beans or butter beans. They’re about 1-inch long, and when cooked correctly, they’re creamy and meaty inside with a nice, satisfying chew. These subtly sweet beans and softened red peppers with savory chunks of sausage marinate in apple cider vinegar, olive oil, shallots, garlic, chives, parsley, rosemary and thyme.
When an order comes in, Lapkin spoons some of the bean mixture into a saute pan, sets it to simmer and sprinkles on some salt. “I seasoned it pretty aggressively already, but a bit more parsley is good,” he said, grabbing a green pinch from his “mise en place.” A waft of herbs and garlic hovers in the air, both meaty and vegetal. “It’s got that real strong Mediterranean feel,” Lapkin says. “I’m trying to do things that aren’t around here.”
Lapkin returned to his roots when he took over The Whitlock kitchen in fall 2023. Born and raised in Purdys, a hamlet of North Salem, Lapkin graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. He’s spent the last 30 years in the restaurant industry, from California and Hawaii to Mexico and Macau, a special administrative region on China’s southern coast. While head chef at Hotel Maroma in Riviera Maya, Mexico, at age 26, he was named one of the top 10 chefs in the Yucatán Peninsula by Condé Nast Traveler.
Lapkin has cheffed at celebrated restaurants such as Lutèce, Del Posto and Lupa in New York City and Rubicon in San Francisco. He’s cooked alongside chefs Mario Batali, Rocco DiSpirito, Massimo Bottura, André Soltner and Todd English.
“I’ve made a point to get the best experience I could over the years,” Lapkin said. “It’s fun being back in this area. I still have friends here, and we get to cook for Martha Stewart and Chevy Chase.”
This chef’s signature style pairs his classical French training with other cuisines across the Mediterranean, all with that inevitable New York edge.
“I’ve always been highly involved in the seafood at my past restaurants, especially butchering,” Lapkin said. “Fish lends itself so well to rustic Mediterranean cuisine.”
The Whitlock is located at 17 Katonah Ave., Katonah. For more information, visit thewhitlockkatonah.com.