Fottocini

Lots of teas, meats, vegetables, sauces, and other curious food items at the Chinatown Market in Savannah, Georgia.

Daniel Boulud

On Saturday, February 27, 2010…Join me behind the scenes as some of the world’s most highly regarded chefs celebrate Mr. Boulud’s talent and pay homage to a career that foresees many years and accomplishments still ahead. The meal prepared will incorporate both the simplicity and boldness for which the guest of honor has earned international renown. The celebration will take place at the Festival host hotel, the Loews Miami Beach, a resplendent setting equal to this evening’s grand occasion. And Food & Wine’s Gail Simmons—once the special events manager for Chef Boulud’s restaurant empire—will host the festivities. A permanent judge on BRAVO’s Emmy—and James Beard Award–winning series Top Chef, she also makes frequent appearances at events and on television.

Prior to dinner, guests will be treated to a Louis Roederer Cristal Reception beginning at 7 p.m., where everyone will enjoy a glass of Cristal 2002 accompanied by hors d’oeuvres prepared by executive chefs from some of Daniel Boulud’s own restaurants around the country.

This year, we have five courses, each course is prepared by a guest chef and his own team of cooks. Below is a list of participating chefs for the dinner and their menu. The reception starts at 7:00 pm on Saturday, February 27, but I will be there around 1:00 pm to make sure I can get as much preparation as possible. It should be a long day with final shots completed about midnight. I will be sure to post an article following the weekend of the event.

Special thanks to Loews Miami Beach Hotel Executive Chef Gordon Maybury who was kind enough to have me back in his kitchen again this year. Last year, chef’s honored Emeril Lagasse for his long standing contribution to the culinary industry. We had alot of fun and you can read about it here.

Executive Chef Gordon Maybury looks on as Bobby Flay prepares his dish at last years dinner for Emeril

On a side note, I worked a few months at the Delano with then Executive Chef Stéphane Becht and Executive Sous Chef Frank Ziegler, where we had numerous visits from Chef Claude Troisgros. So I am looking forward to seeing what he has to offer, and taste the “St. Jacques “Docedeleite”, which was a very popular item on the menu when I worked there in 2005. On to the dinner…

Participating Reception Chefs:

1. Zach Bell, Café Boulud (Palm Beach, FL)
2. Jean Francois Bruel, Daniel (New York, NY)
3. Olivier Muller, DB Bistro Moderne (New York, NY)

Participating Dinner Chefs:

1. Paul Bartolotta, BARTOLOTTA Ristorante Di Mare (Las Vegas, NV)
2. Michael Laiskonis, Le Bernardin (New York, NY)
3. Nobu Matsuhisa, Nobu
4. Gordon Maybury, Loews Miami Beach (South Beach, FL)
5. Eric Ripert, Le Bernardin (New York, NY)
6. Claude Troisgros, Blue Door at Delano (South Beach, FL)

Zucchini Boxes Provencal with Black Mosto Oil, Red Pickled Shallots, and Opal Basil by Daniel Boulud

Menu: $525/person

Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne Reception

Display of Chefs’ Selection of Deluxe Hors d’Oeuvres

Jean-Francois Bruel, Olivier Muller and Zach Bell

Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne 2002, Reims, France

Dinner

Wagyu Tataki with Genmai Salsa

Nobu Matsuhisa

Chalone Vineyard, Estate Grown Chardonnay 2007,

Chalone, California, USA

St. Jacques “Docedeleite”

Sautéed Scallops and Hot Curry Napa Cabbage with “Dulce de Leche”

Claude Troisgros

Domaine Jean Grivot, Vosne-Romanée Premier Cru “Les Beaumonts” 2006,

Burgundy, France

Fried Langoustine with Porcini Mushrooms and Parmigiano-Reggiano

Paul Bartolotta

Sterling Vineyards, Merlot 2005, Napa Valley, USA

Juniper Scented Venison Loin with Pancetta, Pecan and Mascarpone Risotto

Brussels Sprout Leaves and Cocoa Jus

Gordon Mayburry

Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2006,

Napa Valley, USA

Lemon, Coconut, Vanilla and Hazelnut Praline Vacherin

Eric Ripert and Michael Laiskonis

Château d’Yquem 2000, Sauternes, France

Coffee, Tea

Roasted in the fireplace

Try this at your next event, the fireplace roasted salmon. Chef Nelson Millan, first cures his salmon and finishes it off by roasting it right behind the service station at a Christmas Eve Dinner at Sea Island. I really like this idea and the guests did too, everyone was interested to see how he did it and created a buzz in the dining room.

FYI, the salmon is tied down with food grade metal wiring, with screws holding the wires in place. You’ll need a drill to make it easy.

The sound of the fire, and the aroma filled the dining room at Christmas

Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps

I was shooting a gumbo dish for a Negra Modelo ad tonight and had the opportunity to photograph the chef breaking down a Golden Tilefish. Executive Sous Chef Kris Weimer at the Lodge at Sea Island tells me the fish was caught from Cape Canaveral area and usually goes for about 9-10$ per pound. It was a very fatty fish, leaving a opaque film of fat on the fish knife after cutting.

Chef Kris eventually portioned out the filets for the cryovac, and prepared one for a special. The fish was very moist, almost had butter like texture, with a nice crust from the sear. I would recommend trying this fish if you have the chance, its quite flavorful as well. Chef serves the fish on top of a ragu of local beans and fish stock, and fresh vegetables.

If you can’t find this particular fish then Amberjack, Tilapia, Grouper, Shark, or Snapper, would be a recommended substitute.

Chef Kris Weimer working with the Tilefish

The golden tilefish is easily distguishable fom other members of the family Malacanthidae by the large adipose flap, or crest, on the head. The species is blue-green and iridescent on the back, with numerous spots of bright yellow and gold. The belly is white and the head is rosy, with blue under the eyes. The pectoral fins are sepia-colored, and the margin of the anal fin is purplish-blue.

Tilefish inhabit the outer continental shelf and upper continental slope along the entire east coast of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico south to Venezuela. They are found in waters from 250-1,500 feet deep, where bottom temperatures range from 49° to 58° F. Individuals live in cone-shaped burrows, and concentrate in small groups or pods. Females are smaller than males, although whether or not the species displays hermaphrodism is unknown. Sexual maturity is reached when fish are about 27 inches long and weigh about 9 pounds. Spawning occurs from March to September, and females lay from 2-8 million pelagic eggs. Tilefish feed during the day on the bottom on crustaceans, clams, snails, worms, anemones and sea cucumbers. They can reach lengths of 38 inches, although growth is slow.

Adults weigh an average of 10-25 pounds.

The golden tilefish is the most colorful fish with a blue-green back that fades to a pearly white belly. It is touched with red and blue iridescence, highlighted by irregular yellow-gold spots and ocean-blue under the eyes.

Along the southeastern coast and in the Gulf, tilefish live in burrows and sometimes congregate in pods or small groups at depths ranging from 200 to more than 1,400 feet.

The predominant fishing method is longlining with the greatest catch taken during the daylight hours.

As tilefish become larger they tend to live at greater depths.

Adults weigh an average of 10-25 pounds.

Techinical data courtesy of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Sweet and savory – black and white – dinner and dessert – at the chef’s table.

Check out my interview with Chef Michael Laiskonis of Le Bernardin in New York City. Fottocini questions in bold.

If you had to choose a song to illustrate your style of cooking what would it be, why?

That’s an interesting question, and I’ve always been fascinated by the notion of applying the practical theory of other disciplines to cooking. What analogies can we make, and then, can we really do anything useful with them? I don’t know the answers, but it sure is fun thinking about it!

That said, I like the idea of creating the culinary equivalent of say, a Sonic Youth song: experimental or unexpected elements plus slight dissonance that ultimately unifies into a pleasant harmony. I find it interesting that they can  hit a ‘wrong’ note or introduce something out of key, yet it makes perfect sense.

Carrot Powder

Are you afraid of doing anything in the kitchen?

Time, rather than fear or lack of confidence, is the one thing that holds us back. I actually embrace and thrive upon some degree of trial and error. It’s often only through mistakes that we truly learn anything.

What does the term “chef” mean to you?

I like to refer to a quote from a book written by my boss, A Return to Cooking:

A cook and a chef are different entities. “Chef” is a title. A chef can be good or bad or everything in between… “Chef” denotes a job. But when you are a cook, that is who you are. It’s your spine and your soul. It suffuses all that you touch.

I’ve learned a lot about cooking over the years-  technique, discipline, finesse-  a little of which I took from all of my former chefs and mentors, but more recently, and especially working with Eric Ripert, I’m learning that being a great chef is so much more than simply being a great cook.

Speed

If a student did an externship at your restaurant, what would you expect from him/her?

Luckily I have very little turnover in my pastry kitchen, but I do encourage and enjoy having short term stages and externs in to break up the monotony, so to speak. Because such stints are unpaid, I make sure that the experience is an educational one; in exchange for their time, hopefully the extern walks away with some amount of knowledge and inspiration. Qualities of a good extern are simply a desire to learn and an attention to detail, and a sense of urgency doesn’t hurt either!

At the end of the night, when everything is done, where/what is your escape?

Often, the best buffer between busy night at work and calmness of home life is simply the commute.  I live and work in Manhattan, so I choose from my travel options depending on my mood: the subway, a taxi, or a leisurely walk. I like taking a few moments to think on the next day’s to-do list while everything is still fresh in my head, and then I usually plug into my iPod. Again, what I listen to is mood based: angry hardcore punk or something a bit quieter or even an audiobook, as I don’t get a chance to read real books as much as I’d like. I cook dinner for my wife and me (also in the business) almost every night, which means I also shop on my home every night. By the time we’ve eaten, it might be 2am, and the day- whether good or bad- is long behind me.

Notes

Whats in your knife kit?

There’s a cliché that pastry chefs always have dull knives, and as much as I hate to admit it, to some extent it’s true! But in any kitchen, it’s the pastry chef who usually has the most varied and fun tools. If I had to name the three or four most indispensable items that are always at hand… A small offset spatula, surgical tweezers, a precision digital scale, and an all-purpose ten-inch slicer. And then there are my plastic bowl scraper, rubber spatula, my favorite whisk… I could go on all day!

How did you get hooked up with the Japan consulting? What influences did you bring back?

The consulting in Japan is an ongoing project that has included perhaps a dozen New York City pastry chefs over the last five years or so. The company that hired us operates about twenty pastry shops throughout Japan, located primarily in the depachika- or department store food halls (department store culture there is very different than that in the West; these basement food emporiums often offer the best and most expensive products available). Each year, a weeklong event is held, typically in Tokyo or Osaka, and a group of us will go and operate a sort of temporary shop. Then throughout the year, products we designed or inspired remain in the actual stores.

I worked for a Japanese chef for over five years, and my interest in Japanese culture and cuisine existed well before that- I studied Japanese language in high school. So really, creating items for the Japanese palate and aesthetic sensibility came fairly natural to me when I began working on such projects. As with any short term travel, it’s always difficult to quantify its influence, culinary or otherwise. While I certainly wouldn’t say that I gained a sudden and comprehensive understanding of Japanese cuisine, what I did take away was a better appreciation of their reverence of and pride in ingredients, along with a respect for their work ethic and attention to detail. I’ve often said that some of the most exciting ‘French’ pastry can be found not in Paris, but in Tokyo!

Reference

Imagine you could cook for anyone in history, who would it be? and what would you cook?

This is a common question, and one that’s always a difficult to answer. I guess I’d like to invite cooks from wildly different eras, if anything, just to make for some interesting dinner conversation! So perhaps it might be Carême, arguably the father of all contemporary pastry, Fernand Point, the imporatant link between the cuisine of Escoffier and the nouvelle cuisine that his pupils came to create, and finally, maybe Ferran Adria, who has been pivotal in advancing cooking in the 21^st century. I’m sure there would be a lot to talk about, no matter what was actually on the table!

Savory and Sweet, what about pastry pulled you into it?

Though I technically began my career in breads, I did bounce back and forth between sweet and savory for a few years before eventually settling down as a pastry chef. I’d like to think that such cross-training has been beneficial; despite the commonly held opinion that there lies a distinct line between the two, I feel that line has blurred significantly over the years. Pastry chefs have become far more spontaneous in their approach and savory chefs increasingly incorporate ‘our’ techniques in their cooking.

If you would have asked me this question a few years ago, I probably would cited the expanded artistic and creative boundaries afforded to pastry chefs. In short, we simply manipulate our ingredients far more than our savory counterparts. But over time I think I also realized there must have been some sort of subconscious urge to become a pastry chef: in a way I’m master of my own domain with a fair amount of autonomy. Certainly, I have a boss to answer to, and I exist within a greater kitchen team, but I appreciate the fact that I lie just outside the realm of the typical kitchen hierarchy. I think most pastry chefs exhibit that quality of independence and being a self-motivator.

Your comfort food.

Funny, during our first few years of living in New York, our go-to restaurant on our one night off was often WD-50. The avant garde cooking Chef Wylie Dufresne is known for isn’t exactly what most would consider comfort food, but for us it was in a way! Even if the food in front of us was edgy or ‘modern’,  the casual nature and sense of play were what made it a staple.

But as I mentioned, I cook at home quite a bit, though I confess I rarely do anything sweet. What I make at home is usually more spontaneous and far less refined than what I put out at work, and is thus comforting in its own way. And I find the actual act of cooking, say, chicken soup or simple salad, just as therapeutic as eating the results. It’s a totally different sort of cooking for me, and one that I happily undertake even after the busiest day in the restaurant.

Omar

Name 3 people that helped you get to where you are today.

I referenced my former chefs above; they are most responsible for the directions my career has taken. My very first boss, Rich Willerer, was there with a patience and encouragement that helped solidify my passion for food. From Rick Halberg, I learned that cooking conveyed a sense of soul. Rigid discipline and technique came from my many years as both a line cook and pastry chef under Takashi Yagihashi. And then alongside Eric Ripert, the focus on aspects outside of the kitchen is equal to the high level of execution we perform in the kitchen. I’ve been extremely lucky, that with all of these mentors, I’ve been given room to grow and contribute to each of the overall visions.

Do you have time to cook for your family? When you do, what is there favorite dish that you make?

Like I said, the cooking I do at home is an important part of our day. It’s often a bit of an adjustment to go from cooking for hundreds during the day, to preparing dinner for two. I’ve gotten better at scaling back, but I still shop with my eyes and my stomach, with little worry of what will come of all the inevitable leftovers. Dinner might be a BLT and a Caesar salad, or a simple pasta, roasted chicken, or a hanger steak and French fries. A couple nights a week I’ll get more ambitious and take on something like a paella, or pad thai. It’s true, that due to our schedules, dinner is quite late; in reality, we try to maintain a ‘normal’ schedule, even it is several hours off of what most people experience.

Banana and Lime

Your last vacation destination.

I travel a lot- at least once a month if not more- but it’s most often work-related. It’s been over a year and a half since our last true vacation, a week spent in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, basically just ‘hanging out’ wherever and whenever we wanted. We’ve talked about another real vacation this year, perhaps Spain. But even if my trips are for business, and whether it’s Thailand or Toledo, I love to travel.

Would you ever consider leaving the kitchen, and pursuing something else that interests you?

For many years my goals were to be exactly where I am now. I’ve been here over five years, and needless to say, new goals are more difficult and bear more weight than ever. But I think there are an increasing number of platforms open to chefs now that don’t necessarily involve standing in the kitchen for twelve hours a day. I still want a piece of that world, but I also look forward to exploring other facets of the business, like more (and more varied) consulting and writing. I can’t predict exactly when it will be finished, but I’m well into a book project. So far, the inability to say ‘no’ to work of any kind has served me well, so I look forward to whatever the next opportunity might be!

Silpat

And finally, What’s on your to do list tomorrow?

Well, we just finished our busy season, which makes up the better part of October through December. While we slow down slightly, our normal pace is still swift. In addition to lunch and dinner service everyday, I can return to a few new dishes I’m working on, in particular, one with chestnuts and another involving a panna cotta supported by grapefruit and green tea elements. I’m also planning a cooking demo coming up in a few weeks, as well as figuring the logistics for a 600 person dinner that will be part of the February’s festival in South Beach. And I’ve put the blogs on hold for a few weeks, so I need to post something there, too. That’s pretty much a normal day! I like to say that the day you come to work without a pit in your stomach is probably the day you should start looking for a new job!

Raspberries

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I will be shooting the 2010 South Beach Wine and Food Festival in February. Chef Michael will be preparing a dessert course for the Daniel Boulud Tribute Dinner, check it out soon.

For more info visit www.le-bernardin.com or http://michaellaiskonis.typepad.com/main/