Aug. 16, 2022

This paid piece is sponsored by J&L Harley-Davidson.

“Look at this,” restaurant owner and chef Bryan Moscatello says, opening a copy of the menu for Harvester Kitchen.

He points to a column of dishes on the left side of the menu, grouped under the heading “plant based.”

There’s a preserved tomato arancini, served with basil pesto.

For a starter, there are squash blossoms, served with house ricotta, fennel pollen, orange zest, charred zucchini and a blossom vinaigrette.

For entrees, selections include a popular porcini tortelloni, which includes mascarpone.

“Eighteen months ago, I never thought I’d have a whole menu section called plant-based in Sioux Falls,” said Moscatello, who opened Harvester Kitchen by Bryan in the spring of 2021 inside the Harvester Building at 196 E. Sixth St.

“And it’s doing very, very well.”

For Moscatello, who has led kitchens in outstanding restaurants from coast to coast, it has been a year and a half of learning the Sioux Falls market and turning diners into repeat guests.

“People have really supported what we’re trying to do and been open and willing to try things, which was one of my biggest concerns going into it,” he said. “And they’re comfortable with it at this point because they are confident in our product and in our team.”

The pandemic and resulted restaurant shutdowns nationwide helped drive Moscatello out of Washington, D.C., where he served as executive chef at the well-known Oval Room.

Family brought him to Sioux Falls, where his wife, Jaime, is from. And creating Harvester Kitchen became a shared endeavor.

“Bryan wanted the restaurant to feel like he was welcoming people into his home,” said Jim Entenman, Moscatello’s brother-in-law. “He’s not pretentious about what he’s doing. He is concerned if patrons are happy and comfortable, so we helped create a homelike experience with a living room and den, and I think it turned out well.”

Some construction took place in Entenman’s son Joe’s garage.

“We got the floors repaired, and in the den Bryan cut 2,200 pieces of wood, and a friend of mine and I put them on the wall and then laid bricks on another wall and helped with the tables,” he said. “It was fun, and it’s still fun to be a part of it.”

Moscatello steadily has learned what keeps diners coming back.

He offers a tasting menu that evolves the first of every month. August’s theme is “off the cob,” so the six-course meal incorporates corn in each dish.

Other themes have included “fantastic fungi,” which was mushroom-based, and “surf, then turf,” which incorporated multiple seafood dishes.

“Our service team does a fantastic job going through the menu in detail, so guests don’t feel embarrassed or awkward asking questions,” Moscatello said.

Along with the focus on plant-based foods, the menu offers snacks, which he describes as five-bite items; starters, which are appetizers; and the main courses, which include an increasing number of seafood dishes in response to diner demand.

“That caught me off guard, but it’s been great,” he said. “We’ve done monkfish for more than a month, and people have gravitated to it, and we sell a good amount of striped bass.”

He also has started working with lamb producer VDV Dutch Acres in Humboldt, so there’s lamb incorporated throughout the menu.

“We have ground lamb meatballs, lamb ravioli and the prime cuts on the main plate, so it gives us the opportunity to utilize the whole animal, and it’s been a big success,” Moscatello said.

An upcoming Farmers in Residence dinner will feature the farm, giving guests a chance to meet the producers and learn more about the products.

That’s one of many events Harvester Kitchen hosts.

“I love them,” Moscatello said. “They’re so much fun. They’re fantastic for our guests, but they’re also fantastic for our team. It gives us something different than traditional service.”

A Discovery Dinner series is “all about finding out, educating and discovering something you might not have had or known before,” he said.

There are multiple categories of dinners, from those featuring beer and wine pairings to equinox solstice dinners giving a special reason for a unique meal. In September, for instance, a State Fair-themed dinner will include elevated fair favorites – think lobster corn dogs.

Holidays are special here, too, with Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Christmas Eve offering standout menus. An end-of-the-year gala helps ring in the new year.

One of Entenman’s favorites is the somewhat under-the-radar Test Kitchen Tuesday, when Moscatello invites a small number of guests into the kitchen for an event that feels like a dinner party in his home.

“We invite 10 or 12 people on a Tuesday, usually once a month, and we go into the kitchen and cook right in front of you, and you can ask questions, and then you come in the dining room and have a couple dishes and then retire to the den for desserts,” Moscatello said.

“It gives a different view for the cooks, who don’t get to see guest reactions, and it’s really nice for them to see that and see how their hard work pays off.”

The event “is a neat experience,” Entenman said. “You’re in the kitchen and you see how they prepare it, and you can ask questions, so it’s really fun.”

The timing of opening the restaurant also was fitting for Entenman, who fully retired from his business, J&L Harley-Davidson, at the end of 2021 and now is able to help support Harvester Kitchen.

“I just want to be down there to help. I don’t ever try to tell him how to cook food, but I’ll mop a floor if he needs it,” Entenman said. “I do anything he wants, but I stay out of the way, and I’m there for encouragement. We meet at least once a week to talk about business and what we can do going forward.”

The relationship is “a tremendous help,” Moscatello said. “He definitely spends a lot of time helping with the office side and helps a lot with the business piece, which I run out of time to get to, so he really is doing a ton.”

Joe and Jimmy Entenman, the brothers who now run J&L, also helped in building out the space and have hosted the dealership’s Harley Owners Group dinner at Harvester.

“Now that we have a year under our belt, it’s a little easier to know what to expect,” Moscatello said. “Life becomes a little more organized, and you can put more systems in place because there are fewer unknowns.”

New additions could include a special menu for later evening dining after concerts at the nearby Levitt at the Falls, plus continued evolution of tasting menus and special events.

“We just can’t thank our guests enough,” Moscatello said. “They really have come out and supported us in a huge way.”

The future is exciting, Entenman said, especially with the nearby development coming downtown.

“I think for Sioux Falls, what’s so exciting is that this food is second to none, and we’ve eaten in places from New York City to Napa Valley,” he said. “This is an experience where you don’t have to travel to places like that. You can have it right here in Sioux Falls. He’s definitely a world-class chef.”

To learn more about Harvester Kitchen, click here.

Harvester Kitchen’s next event will be Aug. 30: Farmers in Residence with Sarah and Ryan VanDerVliet of VDV Dutch Acres Family Farm. Click here to learn more.