Bake-at-home biscuits and natural wine are among the stars at new a.bar + bottles in Philly

With down time this year due to restaurant shutdowns, many chefs have turned to mastering new skills. Sourdough. Fermentation. Charcuterie. For chef Eli Collins of a.kitchen, who successfully graduated this summer from his scratch burger bun phase and then his fall pursuit of perfecting sticky buns, the past few winter months have been devoted to better biscuits.

They’re a sleeper item, perhaps, in the new bottle shop and retail store that neighboring a.bar was recently converted into, and it’s easy to see why. The store carries 150 natural and biodynamic wines curated by sommelier and wine shop director Frank Kinyon (averaging $35 a bottle, they’re less expensive than the restaurant’s list.) There are five-ounce mini-bottles of barrel-aged cocktails ready to take out, chill, and drink. (The Greenpoint with rye and yellow Chartreuse was smooth).

There is also welcome new retail access to some of the charcuterie that Collins has become known for. Silky chicken liver mousse ($16) scented with madeira and cognac. Perfect pâté de campagne ($12). Creamy disks of foie gras torchon ($18 for 2.5 oz.) A chef’s pantry worth of seasonings (charred lemon salt, $8) and hot sauces (dill pickle hot sauce; Aleppo pepper sauce, $14) to up your home-cooking game.

The six-pack of a.kitchen’s sage breakfast sausage patties ($14 for 6) are also excellent. But they’re really not complete without some biscuits, which Collins has cleverly packed frozen and ready-to-bake in a cardboard tube to go ($10 for four).

Collins, 41, has been fascinated by the pursuit of biscuits since spending a year in North Carolina in his youth . And he’s been modifying a base recipe from Nancy Silverton over the years, slightly dialing back the butter, increasing the buttermilk, reducing the number of its many puff pastry-like letter folds, and adding the finishing crunch of Maldon sea salt. But mostly, he says, he’s been practicing the touch and restraint needed to keep the cold butter chunky and uneven in the dough, which creates more steam pockets and layers as it bakes.

The finished result is a salt-dusted biscuit topped with a tawny egg wash shine that has a satisfying richness and flaky texture, but also still holds together enough to make a fine breakfast sandwich. That’s exactly what I did, sliding a browned disk of a.bar’s sausage beneath a scrambled egg and cheddar lightly broiled for a melty finish. Next time, I’ll pick up a Prosecco-like bottle of sparkling unfiltered Col Fondo Glera from Mongarda ($27) from a.bar, too, and make it an event.

a.bar + bottles, 1737 Walnut St., 215-825-7035; akitchenandbar.com

Makes about 24 3-inch biscuits

7 cups/840 g all-purpose flour (I’ve been using organic Beehive flour from Central Milling)

3 tablespoons/25 g kosher salt

6 tablespoons/50 g sugar

6 teaspoons/24 g baking powder

3 teaspoons/12 g baking soda

1 pound/455 g butter, small dice, frozen

2 tablespoons/20 g Maldon sea salt

3 ½ cups/900 g buttermilk, more or less, truly about feel and how you mix it.

For the egg wash:

1 egg yolk

4 tablespoons heavy cream (milk or buttermilk)

2 tablespoons water

Prepare the biscuits:

Mix flour, kosher salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Place in food processor add frozen butter and pulse several times (5-6). Butter should not be fully broken down and should be left in rather large pieces.

Place flour in a roasting pan or rectangular cake pan. (Something with surface area, not a bowl. This is important to hydrate the dough as quickly and gently as possible). Add Maldon sea salt to the mix. Drizzle about half/450 g of the buttermilk over the entire surface of flour mix. Using hands, gently mix to incorporate buttermilk and start to form held-together clumps. Drizzle in most of the rest of the butter milk (about 400 g), reserving a small portion of rthe emaining buttermilk (about ⅓ cup/50g). Again, mix using hands to form dough, which should be a shaggy mass.

Flour a wide tabletop surface and place the dough onto surface. Using the last of the buttermilk, form whatever dry mix is left in mixing pan and add to larger dough. Flour the top of the dough. Use a rolling pin to roll out into rectangular shape with the dough being about 1 inch in height. Fold the dough lengthwise three times as if it were a letter. Turn over and roll out the dough one more time until 1 inch thick. At this point, the dough should start to look like a fairly even rectangle. Fold again in letter shape. Transfer dough to a sheet tray lined with baking paper. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface. Put into the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. It can be overnight, but the dough may oxidize. (Note: The dough can be frozen at this point.)

Remove dough from fridge and roll one last time to about 3/4-inch height. While dough is still very cold, cut or punch into shapes. Transfer cut biscuits to baking tray lined with paper. Place in freezer and let freeze completely before baking.

To bake :

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix 1 egg yolk with heavy cream and water. Brush the top of the frozen biscuits with egg wash and top with flaky sea salt.

Bake at 375 for approximately 10 minutes. Turn oven down to 325 and bake for another 5-10 minutes. Check frequently. Biscuits should golden brown and feel light to the touch.

From chef Eli Collins of a.kitchen.