Jonathan Benno Loves Tripe And White Truffles

Next week's Identità New York at Eataly is pairing New York and Italian top chefs in cooking demonstrations, then tossing all 12 chefs together to cook a seven course meal. Lincoln's Jonathan Benno is paired up with Moreno Cedroni from Madonnina del Pescatore, and they're meeting for the first time Monday. But don't worry, he's not nervous. "We're both cooks right? We share a common language, that's food," Benno says.

On Monday, Benno will be making an antipasti with octopus and potatoes, Cedroni will prepare a sepia dish, and their collaboration dish is flounder with braised tripe, chickpeas, and a spicy pork sausage. "Tripe is something I'm very, very fond of," Benno says. "So we found appealing the notion of combining it with the flounder. We both agreed it would be something that would be unique, a different combination."

It's been a year since Benno opened the doors to Lincoln, so we had to ask him if anything new was happening in his kitchen. "I have a lot to learn about Italian cuisine, there are several regions of Italy that I haven't visited yet, so [I'm] discovering new ingredients and artisanally made products," he says.

His latest find? "We just discovered pickled lily bulb from Puglia, lampascioni. We were serving it with burrata and tomatoes over summer, and now we're serving it with a crudo." Sorry home cooks, you'll have a hard time finding it for your ktichen. "I have a hard time finding it," Benno admits. He suggests investing in some white truffles instead.

The Daily Byte is a regular column dedicated to covering interesting food news and trends across the country. Click here for previous columns.