Lily and I are visiting her grandparents in Monterey, California. Lily's grandma didn't want to cook a holiday dinner for the family but did want to have one, so I volunteered my services. I put together a meal I am very proud of, and would like to brag about it. I had been missing La Morra recently, and decided to do a meal with a few things I had learned there. I normally don't thoroughly enjoy big meals that I cook like this because I am my harshest critic, but this time it was different. Maybe it was because everything was served at once, family style, with no appetizers, so once I was done cooking, I could sit back and enjoy it without having to get up again and again. Lily and I agree that everything came out very good, and for a couple dishes, we were hard pressed to think of anything that could be improved. I hate using the P-word (p*rfect) to describe my own cooking, so I won't.
Here's what was on the menu:
Brussel sprouts with breadcrumbs
I cut brussel sprouts in half and carmelized them all cut-side down only in a salted pan in olive oil. Towards the end I added finely chopped garlic and then tossed them with some aged balsamic vin. They were served room temperature, topped with breadcrumbs cooked in olive oil and garlic. This was inspired by a very similar dish we had at Pizzeria Mozza in LA, but mine was better.
Wilted bitter greens with blood orange, almonds, and goat cheese
I wilted mustard and dandelion greens in olive oil, and added some very finely crushed toasted almonds. When cool, I added blood orange segments, and tossed the mixture with salt, pepper, and the leftover blood orange juice. I topped it with some very good goat cheese, and also served it room temperature. This dish came to me on a whim, and it turned out to be really delicious.
Carmelized parsnips with savory
Pretty simple - I carmelized thinly sliced parsnips in butter and salt, then at the end I added finely chopped savory. I should have cut them a bit thicker, which would have allowed me to carmelize them more before getting mushy, but they still came out great.
Butternut squash risotto with sage
I made this exactly how I used to make it at La Morra. I sauteed large diced squash in butter and sage until just tender. Then, after sweating the onions, toasting the arborio, and adding/reducing the white wine, I added the cooked squash and more sage. As you stir and add more and more chicken stock until it's done, the large diced orange chunks loose some of their squash to the rice, which makes the risotto orange and even more creamy. I love risotto in general but this one in particular, because the behavior of the squash peices mimicks what happens to the arborio - as you stir the rice, a little bit of starch rubs off of the outside of each kernel, which aid in making the risotto nice and creamy.
Duck two ways with persimmon mostarda
I cured the duck legs in salt, thyme, orange peel, and garlic, and then confit-ed them the next day in duck fat. The meat was then pulled off the bone in chunks. The duck breasts were scored and marinated overnight covered in thyme and orange peels, and the next day the fat was slowly rendered off the skin and cooked in a pan. Both preparations were served with persimmon mostarda, a northern Italian condiment of diced fruit (in this case persimmon) that is blanched and then preserved in a sweet glaze with ground mustard seed, ginger, citrus, and chili flake. The duck leg meat came out a bit too salty, but the combination of the fatty duck and sweet sauce was excellent, and all of the duck's parts were cooked perfectly.
Roasted leg of lamb with reduced rosemary aged balsamic vin
I marinated a peice of boneless leg of lamb in chopped rosemary, garlic, and slices of lemon. The next day, I roasted the lamb in a very hot oven to a perfect rare in the very center (for a good variation of doneness between med-well on the very outside and rare on the very inside, most of it medium rare). I rested the roast, sliced it thin, and served it with a drizzle of aged balsamic that I reduced by half with a couple sprigs of rosemary. The lamb came out a bit chewy (leg is in general, but I probably should have cooked it at a lower temp for longer), but it came out delicious with a very nice crust.
Dessert (by Lily)
Lime squares
These are sort of like a cross between lemon squares and key lime pie. Lily made them a month ago, and they came out nice and gooey, and they were really good frozen. These ones weren't quite as good as they game out a bit more dense, but they were still tasty.
Apple pie with vanilla ice cream
Lily made the best apple pie I've ever had. She used really good, sweet pink lady apples, and just the right amount of sugar and cinnamon. The crust she made was otherwordly - it came out flaky, crunchy, buttery, and slightly sweet. This is one of my favorite desserts, and I had a second slice that I probably shouldn've had but couldn't resist. The only thing I regret is that she didn't make TWO pies.
That's it. Man, it's weird critisizing my own cooking. But hey, it was fun, and I thought it would be nice to share.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
A couple days at Campanile in LA
After trying unsuccessfully to land any paying gigs in LA, I went to a few restaurants in the city to offer my services free of charge (or rather, for food). Erica, the sous chef at Campanile, was more than happy to take me on for a couple days. Campanile is owned by Mark Peel, a well-known chef who was the opening chef de cuisine at Spago.
It wasn't that busy the first day I was there, so I got to work on the grill station with Erica. Campanile has a huge wood grill, which I have used before and in my opinion is much more fun than a gas grill (except for smoke in the eyes). All in all, the food was pretty simple and uncomplicated. I can't say I really learned that much that night, but that's probably because it was slow. I spent most of the night peaking at the guy on the next station who has been working saute at Campanile for 20 years. Quiet, fluid motion, no wasted movement - this guy was seriously invested in self-preservation by the way he moved.
The second night I worked was much busier - a Saturday night with three private parties. I helped out another sous chef, Aris, in putting out all the passed apps and half the plated dishes for the parties. I wasn't particularly impressed with any of the hors d'oeuvres we were putting out, and the mushroom risotto I was shown to replicate wasn't nearly as good as the version I cook, but I did like a of the items we were preparing.
In exchange for my services, Lily and I went to dinner at Campanile and were sent a whole bunch of food on the house. Erica started us with bruschetta and burrata, which was excellent, followed by crab cakes with remoulade, also good. Then came a pasta course - crispy fried trenne pasta on top of their version of ragu bolognese, with shaved parmesan for garnish. I liked the creativity of their version of pasta bolognese, but my heart still belongs to the version I prepared a million times at La Morra. We ate dinner on "sandwich night", so we got a braised brisket sandwich as our entree - pretty good, but the fries were excellent. Dessert was alright - a very sweet lemon tart and a tasty version of the ubiquitous molten chocolate cake.
The more Lily and I eat out, and with each place I stage at, the more I realize how far I've come as a cook and how developed my palate really is. The food at La Morra, which I am very thankful to have absorbed, is utterly, ridiculously underrated - much better than a lot of noteworthy and expensive establishments such as Campanile. Not only that, but the food we encounter at some of the restaurants we dine at is sometimes not even as good as what I cook in our tiny camper. When we're eating a nice meal at a good restaurant, I usually try and relax and enjoy, but most of the time I am noticing not only what can be better about a particular dish, but how it can be better, and I'm beginning to really understand the most important question - why.
It's becoming an increasing source of frustration that I can't just put all of my ideas to work and be in charge of a kitchen right now and do things right. I'm tired of watching other people doing things poorly or half-assed and being unable to say or do anything about it. I want to be teaching people how to cook well, clean well, organize, create, and take pride in their food and their work.
I think I'll be ready to be a chef sooner than I thought.
It wasn't that busy the first day I was there, so I got to work on the grill station with Erica. Campanile has a huge wood grill, which I have used before and in my opinion is much more fun than a gas grill (except for smoke in the eyes). All in all, the food was pretty simple and uncomplicated. I can't say I really learned that much that night, but that's probably because it was slow. I spent most of the night peaking at the guy on the next station who has been working saute at Campanile for 20 years. Quiet, fluid motion, no wasted movement - this guy was seriously invested in self-preservation by the way he moved.
The second night I worked was much busier - a Saturday night with three private parties. I helped out another sous chef, Aris, in putting out all the passed apps and half the plated dishes for the parties. I wasn't particularly impressed with any of the hors d'oeuvres we were putting out, and the mushroom risotto I was shown to replicate wasn't nearly as good as the version I cook, but I did like a of the items we were preparing.
In exchange for my services, Lily and I went to dinner at Campanile and were sent a whole bunch of food on the house. Erica started us with bruschetta and burrata, which was excellent, followed by crab cakes with remoulade, also good. Then came a pasta course - crispy fried trenne pasta on top of their version of ragu bolognese, with shaved parmesan for garnish. I liked the creativity of their version of pasta bolognese, but my heart still belongs to the version I prepared a million times at La Morra. We ate dinner on "sandwich night", so we got a braised brisket sandwich as our entree - pretty good, but the fries were excellent. Dessert was alright - a very sweet lemon tart and a tasty version of the ubiquitous molten chocolate cake.
The more Lily and I eat out, and with each place I stage at, the more I realize how far I've come as a cook and how developed my palate really is. The food at La Morra, which I am very thankful to have absorbed, is utterly, ridiculously underrated - much better than a lot of noteworthy and expensive establishments such as Campanile. Not only that, but the food we encounter at some of the restaurants we dine at is sometimes not even as good as what I cook in our tiny camper. When we're eating a nice meal at a good restaurant, I usually try and relax and enjoy, but most of the time I am noticing not only what can be better about a particular dish, but how it can be better, and I'm beginning to really understand the most important question - why.
It's becoming an increasing source of frustration that I can't just put all of my ideas to work and be in charge of a kitchen right now and do things right. I'm tired of watching other people doing things poorly or half-assed and being unable to say or do anything about it. I want to be teaching people how to cook well, clean well, organize, create, and take pride in their food and their work.
I think I'll be ready to be a chef sooner than I thought.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tacos el Gordo, Pizzeria Mozza
Though we haven't been eating out as often on this trip as we once were, we try to pick our spots when we do, and recently we've had some great meals.
San Diego has tons of great Mexican food, so I did some research decided take Lily to a cheap, yet awesome taco place called Tacos el Gordo. The concept is pretty simple - small menu, order from one of three windows based on what you want, pay at one register, and devour. At first, Lily was a bit disappointed that they didn't have chicken on the menu. I was more than happy with that, as they did offer a small variety of my favorite pork and beef parts. The tacos de cabeza and beef shoulder tacos were excellent - tough cuts of meat well seasoned and cooked forever. The tortillas were handmade on a griddle by a lady through the night, supplying the line with wonderfully soft pillows that soak up the greasy meat of your choice. The best tacos of the night were the tacos de adobada - pork meat marinated and roasted on a spit - sometimes called al pastor in some joints. What made el Gordo's version so tasty was that the flame on the spit was burning crazy hot, so the meat got nice and crispy before it was sliced off for a taco. Also, the guacamole on top was thin (cream added?), saucy, and delicious. We left stuffed for around $15 for the two of us - excellent value.
We're in LA now, which is a great food city for both cheap ethnic food and more upscale eats. This afternoon, between lunch and dinner service, Lily and I were able to grab a seat at the bar at Pizzeria Mozza. This place is one of the hardest reservations to get in LA, mainly because of who owns it (Nancy Silverton-Mario Batali-Joe Bastianich collaboration) and because the pizza close to perfection. We ordered an antipasti of carmelized brussel sprouts with breadcrumbs. It was a simple, tasty dish, but a bit over-the-top with the amount of vinaiger used. All the pizzas looked great on the menu, and we decided to go with the one with bacon, guanciale (cured pork jowl), fennel sausage, salami, and mozzarella. My expectations were set insanely high for the quality of the pizza at Mozza, and by God it was as good as I had imagined. The sauce was a perfect balance of slight amounts of sweet, tang, salt, and spice. The meats were all high quality ingredients. But the highlight was the crust - oh my the crust was otherworldly. Usually when I eat pizza I scoff at the crust - usually Lily eats it for me. But wow - this crust was crispy, well browned, and slightly chewy, and the occasional almost-burned air bubbles were a treat. Dessert was very good - a caramel copetta (tuile cookie undernieth gelato) with marshmallow sauce and salted peanuts. It would have been better if there were less salted peanuts - they made it saltier than it was sweet. We left full having for $43. Pretty good value.
Leaving Mozza, Lily and I had a brief discussion on cheap ethnic food vs. fine dining food. If you look hard, you can find some really great, cheap food in some hole-in-the-wall places. While the pizza was great and the atmosphere hip at Pizzeria Mozza, we had an equally great time and ate lots of great food at Tacos el Gordo in San Diego, and we could've eaten three times at the taco place for the price of the bill at Mozza. I find myself leaning more and more toward the cheap, ethnic options and avoiding pretentious fine dining food when we eat out. I find that, for some reason, the great food that blue-collar locals stand in line for has more soul and is usually tastier than what I generally encounter at even what I consider to be pretty good upscale/fine dining restaurants.
That, and it's much easier on the wallet.
-Ben
San Diego has tons of great Mexican food, so I did some research decided take Lily to a cheap, yet awesome taco place called Tacos el Gordo. The concept is pretty simple - small menu, order from one of three windows based on what you want, pay at one register, and devour. At first, Lily was a bit disappointed that they didn't have chicken on the menu. I was more than happy with that, as they did offer a small variety of my favorite pork and beef parts. The tacos de cabeza and beef shoulder tacos were excellent - tough cuts of meat well seasoned and cooked forever. The tortillas were handmade on a griddle by a lady through the night, supplying the line with wonderfully soft pillows that soak up the greasy meat of your choice. The best tacos of the night were the tacos de adobada - pork meat marinated and roasted on a spit - sometimes called al pastor in some joints. What made el Gordo's version so tasty was that the flame on the spit was burning crazy hot, so the meat got nice and crispy before it was sliced off for a taco. Also, the guacamole on top was thin (cream added?), saucy, and delicious. We left stuffed for around $15 for the two of us - excellent value.
We're in LA now, which is a great food city for both cheap ethnic food and more upscale eats. This afternoon, between lunch and dinner service, Lily and I were able to grab a seat at the bar at Pizzeria Mozza. This place is one of the hardest reservations to get in LA, mainly because of who owns it (Nancy Silverton-Mario Batali-Joe Bastianich collaboration) and because the pizza close to perfection. We ordered an antipasti of carmelized brussel sprouts with breadcrumbs. It was a simple, tasty dish, but a bit over-the-top with the amount of vinaiger used. All the pizzas looked great on the menu, and we decided to go with the one with bacon, guanciale (cured pork jowl), fennel sausage, salami, and mozzarella. My expectations were set insanely high for the quality of the pizza at Mozza, and by God it was as good as I had imagined. The sauce was a perfect balance of slight amounts of sweet, tang, salt, and spice. The meats were all high quality ingredients. But the highlight was the crust - oh my the crust was otherworldly. Usually when I eat pizza I scoff at the crust - usually Lily eats it for me. But wow - this crust was crispy, well browned, and slightly chewy, and the occasional almost-burned air bubbles were a treat. Dessert was very good - a caramel copetta (tuile cookie undernieth gelato) with marshmallow sauce and salted peanuts. It would have been better if there were less salted peanuts - they made it saltier than it was sweet. We left full having for $43. Pretty good value.
Leaving Mozza, Lily and I had a brief discussion on cheap ethnic food vs. fine dining food. If you look hard, you can find some really great, cheap food in some hole-in-the-wall places. While the pizza was great and the atmosphere hip at Pizzeria Mozza, we had an equally great time and ate lots of great food at Tacos el Gordo in San Diego, and we could've eaten three times at the taco place for the price of the bill at Mozza. I find myself leaning more and more toward the cheap, ethnic options and avoiding pretentious fine dining food when we eat out. I find that, for some reason, the great food that blue-collar locals stand in line for has more soul and is usually tastier than what I generally encounter at even what I consider to be pretty good upscale/fine dining restaurants.
That, and it's much easier on the wallet.
-Ben
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Denver Downer
Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but there hasn't been anything particularly exciting food-wise to write about. Lily and I were staying in Denver for about a month, earning more money for the road. She worked for her brother doing work on a house he is flipping. The plan was for me to quickly get a job at a good restaurant in the city for a month or two while she worked on the house.
I did my research and learned about the city's best restaurants and chefs, and spent the first few days in Denver making rounds at all those restaurants. I wanted to leave the city with a decent reference, so I told all of the chefs I could only commit to two months, but I'd work for cheap. I brought along my pretty good resume and a letter of reference from a James Beard Best Chef Northeast winner. Not one of them bit. Some of them sent me to other restaurants, thinking Chef SoandSo might need a hand. I went to 10-15 of the best restaurants in the Denver area, and nobody would take me on.
I realized I wouldn't get a job if I continued to tell chefs I'd only be there for eight weeks, so from then on I decided reluctantly to withhold that information. I was resorting to dishonesty as the only hope to land a job, and all the best restaurants in the city were off the board. Days go by. Each day, I am forced to be less and less picky, and the quality of the restaurants I submit my resume to drops considerably. I apply to a couple crappy pubs and sports bars who posted on craigslist, angry at myself on the way out the dooe. As the hunt goes on, I start to get really angry that none of these places have called me back. I nail a few interviews, talk to some seemingly cool chefs who seem like they're ready to hand me a job because I'm the most experienced person who's walked through the door resume in hand all week. Nobody calls back. NOBODY - and I'm pissed.
I'm pissed off, and depressed that I've been job hunting and interviewing for ten days with no job offers and only a few prospects from not very good restaraunts. I'm being led around in circles at some of these places. Each time I applied for a job in Boston, I was practically hired on the spot. I begin to realize a couple things about Denver. The first is that Denver isn't actually that great of a food town, and there really aren't that many good restaurants. The second realization is that a lot of the chefs in Denver are flaky, unprofessional idiots who have no idea what they are doing.
Finally I land a job at a restaurant with a laid back atmosphere, big closed kitchen, and a young chef who at first seems to be a cool guy. However, I failed to notice when I interviewed how filthy the kitchen was. So from day one, I scrubbed and scrubbed while the chef and other cooks took their cigarette breaks, read magazines, or stared at the wall. I volunteered to wash dishes a couple days when a dishwasher quit without noticed, and spent all my down time cleaning and organizing everything I could see. When I came back a couple days later, everything was a mess again.
The food sucked. The owner is stuck back in the 90's, still doing "fusion" stuff like sesame crusted salmon with wasabi mashed potatoes and tuna tartare (!frozen) with mango salsa, wonton chips, and avocado. I spent my time on the two man line like I always do - making sure everything was cooked right, seasoned right, and tasted good, but each time the guy cooking next to me was putting plates in the window a dog wouldn't eat, I died a little inside.
We ended up leaving Denver earlier than we originally wanted to. I'm not proud of it, but I skipped out with no notice right after I received and cashed my first paycheck. It's something I never thought I'd do, but I was fed up.
Well, at least I learned a lot from my Denver experience. First, I am not going to put myself in a kitchen where I have to lower my own standards. I'd rather be unemployed than employed in a dirty kitchen with subpar food, especially when there aren't opportunities for me to improve the situation. Second, job hunting sucks. From now on, I'm going to be much more selective of where I apply, and much more aggressive in landing those jobs. I am a good cook and a hard worker, and any smart chef would hire me.
I did my research and learned about the city's best restaurants and chefs, and spent the first few days in Denver making rounds at all those restaurants. I wanted to leave the city with a decent reference, so I told all of the chefs I could only commit to two months, but I'd work for cheap. I brought along my pretty good resume and a letter of reference from a James Beard Best Chef Northeast winner. Not one of them bit. Some of them sent me to other restaurants, thinking Chef SoandSo might need a hand. I went to 10-15 of the best restaurants in the Denver area, and nobody would take me on.
I realized I wouldn't get a job if I continued to tell chefs I'd only be there for eight weeks, so from then on I decided reluctantly to withhold that information. I was resorting to dishonesty as the only hope to land a job, and all the best restaurants in the city were off the board. Days go by. Each day, I am forced to be less and less picky, and the quality of the restaurants I submit my resume to drops considerably. I apply to a couple crappy pubs and sports bars who posted on craigslist, angry at myself on the way out the dooe. As the hunt goes on, I start to get really angry that none of these places have called me back. I nail a few interviews, talk to some seemingly cool chefs who seem like they're ready to hand me a job because I'm the most experienced person who's walked through the door resume in hand all week. Nobody calls back. NOBODY - and I'm pissed.
I'm pissed off, and depressed that I've been job hunting and interviewing for ten days with no job offers and only a few prospects from not very good restaraunts. I'm being led around in circles at some of these places. Each time I applied for a job in Boston, I was practically hired on the spot. I begin to realize a couple things about Denver. The first is that Denver isn't actually that great of a food town, and there really aren't that many good restaurants. The second realization is that a lot of the chefs in Denver are flaky, unprofessional idiots who have no idea what they are doing.
Finally I land a job at a restaurant with a laid back atmosphere, big closed kitchen, and a young chef who at first seems to be a cool guy. However, I failed to notice when I interviewed how filthy the kitchen was. So from day one, I scrubbed and scrubbed while the chef and other cooks took their cigarette breaks, read magazines, or stared at the wall. I volunteered to wash dishes a couple days when a dishwasher quit without noticed, and spent all my down time cleaning and organizing everything I could see. When I came back a couple days later, everything was a mess again.
The food sucked. The owner is stuck back in the 90's, still doing "fusion" stuff like sesame crusted salmon with wasabi mashed potatoes and tuna tartare (!frozen) with mango salsa, wonton chips, and avocado. I spent my time on the two man line like I always do - making sure everything was cooked right, seasoned right, and tasted good, but each time the guy cooking next to me was putting plates in the window a dog wouldn't eat, I died a little inside.
We ended up leaving Denver earlier than we originally wanted to. I'm not proud of it, but I skipped out with no notice right after I received and cashed my first paycheck. It's something I never thought I'd do, but I was fed up.
Well, at least I learned a lot from my Denver experience. First, I am not going to put myself in a kitchen where I have to lower my own standards. I'd rather be unemployed than employed in a dirty kitchen with subpar food, especially when there aren't opportunities for me to improve the situation. Second, job hunting sucks. From now on, I'm going to be much more selective of where I apply, and much more aggressive in landing those jobs. I am a good cook and a hard worker, and any smart chef would hire me.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Will Work For Food
I haven't been able to do a blog post since we left St. Louis as we've been driving through rural Kansas and Colorado, where internet service is spotty for us. Luckily, we decided to stop at a campground that happens to have pretty fast free wi-fi, so we got to upload some pictures! Lily posted some pictures from Niche in St. Louis on her photo blog, but here are some more:
Niche is a pretty small, crowded kitchen, as you can sort of see here
Fish guy Chris plating a few things
Popcorn stock - you know, for making buttered popcorn foam! A stock is made from water and air-popped popcorn, and when it is done, it is strained over more fresh popcorn and cooled, then strained again. Then, butter and xantham gum is added, which enables it to foam.
Roasted eggplant soup, plated on top of induction burners. I like the idea of having induction burners for certain purposes when you need to really control the exact temperature of what you are cooking, but Niche uses three pairs of $3000 induction burners on the hot app station for almost everything you would use a regular gas burner for. I still prefer gas, which I can actually control and change temperatures easier and faster, but maybe that's because I'm not used to using induction burners yet.
Meat guy Mark plating a couple things
Some of the guys in the kitchen, me in the fuzzy background
I wish I got to try this dish: Roasted pork cheeks, peach, and foie gras torchon. It looked so fatty and melty and delicious.
Tomato salads - the beans are dressed with a really delicious minted vinaigrette
Meat - I found it interesting that they not only temper their meat to room temp but also season it ahead of time. I've always thought that seasoning proteins ahead of time pulls moisture out of the meat, but even the little scrap end peices I kept tasting (I'm a scavenger) were always juicy and well seasoned throughout. I think proteins might actually re-absorb the moisture that seeps out, taking with it the salt on the surface, sort of like a quick cure.
Niche is a pretty small, crowded kitchen, as you can sort of see here
Fish guy Chris plating a few things
Popcorn stock - you know, for making buttered popcorn foam! A stock is made from water and air-popped popcorn, and when it is done, it is strained over more fresh popcorn and cooled, then strained again. Then, butter and xantham gum is added, which enables it to foam.
Roasted eggplant soup, plated on top of induction burners. I like the idea of having induction burners for certain purposes when you need to really control the exact temperature of what you are cooking, but Niche uses three pairs of $3000 induction burners on the hot app station for almost everything you would use a regular gas burner for. I still prefer gas, which I can actually control and change temperatures easier and faster, but maybe that's because I'm not used to using induction burners yet.
Meat guy Mark plating a couple things
Some of the guys in the kitchen, me in the fuzzy background
I wish I got to try this dish: Roasted pork cheeks, peach, and foie gras torchon. It looked so fatty and melty and delicious.
Tomato salads - the beans are dressed with a really delicious minted vinaigrette
Meat - I found it interesting that they not only temper their meat to room temp but also season it ahead of time. I've always thought that seasoning proteins ahead of time pulls moisture out of the meat, but even the little scrap end peices I kept tasting (I'm a scavenger) were always juicy and well seasoned throughout. I think proteins might actually re-absorb the moisture that seeps out, taking with it the salt on the surface, sort of like a quick cure.The second best thing about working at really good restaurants for free - besides the experience gained - is the food I am rewarded with! We ate at Niche one night and An American Place the next, and we were very full and happy at the end of each meal. An American Place was decent but not great - the desserts shined (biscuit with carmelized pears and whipped cream, caramel mousse with stout foam) and the first course was great (barbecue shrimp with ale beurre blanc). Everything else was solid but nothing to write home about.
Niche, on the other hand, was excellent. They just kept sending and sending more and more food, to the point where I had to go into the kitchen with my napkin, waving the white flag for surrender. Highlights:
-Porcetta di testa (spelling) - the whole head of the pig cooked (boiled/simmered?) for a long time, the meats pulled and then rolled in the skin in a big roulade, then sliced thin and served with apples and brioche fingers and something else was there I forget - wonderful
-Their twist on caprese - one slice of good tomato in a cold bowl, topped with burrata sorbet (?!?!), and drops of basil oil around the bowl, then ice cold clear tomato water is poured into the bowl tableside, with the bright green basil oil droplets rising to the top. I wish I had a picture of this dish - it was ice cold, refreshing, sweet, a great palate opener - really amazing.
-Roasted pork belly, pickled peach, and barbeque consomme - barbeque sauce is made and then gelatine is added and the mixture is frozen, then thawed. Apparently the process of adding gelatin and freezing separates the solid from the liquid of any puree. The mixture is then poured through cheesecloth, leaving a very clear reddish liquid that is very light but tastes like really good barbeque sauce. We all loved this dish.
-Desserts - tollhouse pie, ubiquitous chocolate souffle (good though), coconut kulfi with passionfruit sorbet, one more i forget - all excellent
There were more courses we thoroughly enjoyed - many more actually, but these are the ones I could remember.
Oh and on our way through Kansas City we ate at Arthur Bryant's BBQ, which is definitely the best BBQ we've had so far. They have a really good sauce that isn't too sweet - lots of spice though - chilis, cumin, I don't know what else. It was a fun experience.
That's it for now - I'll try to blog more often - but I would also like some comments so if you are reading this let me know!
-Wax
Niche, on the other hand, was excellent. They just kept sending and sending more and more food, to the point where I had to go into the kitchen with my napkin, waving the white flag for surrender. Highlights:
-Porcetta di testa (spelling) - the whole head of the pig cooked (boiled/simmered?) for a long time, the meats pulled and then rolled in the skin in a big roulade, then sliced thin and served with apples and brioche fingers and something else was there I forget - wonderful
-Their twist on caprese - one slice of good tomato in a cold bowl, topped with burrata sorbet (?!?!), and drops of basil oil around the bowl, then ice cold clear tomato water is poured into the bowl tableside, with the bright green basil oil droplets rising to the top. I wish I had a picture of this dish - it was ice cold, refreshing, sweet, a great palate opener - really amazing.
-Roasted pork belly, pickled peach, and barbeque consomme - barbeque sauce is made and then gelatine is added and the mixture is frozen, then thawed. Apparently the process of adding gelatin and freezing separates the solid from the liquid of any puree. The mixture is then poured through cheesecloth, leaving a very clear reddish liquid that is very light but tastes like really good barbeque sauce. We all loved this dish.
-Desserts - tollhouse pie, ubiquitous chocolate souffle (good though), coconut kulfi with passionfruit sorbet, one more i forget - all excellent
There were more courses we thoroughly enjoyed - many more actually, but these are the ones I could remember.
Oh and on our way through Kansas City we ate at Arthur Bryant's BBQ, which is definitely the best BBQ we've had so far. They have a really good sauce that isn't too sweet - lots of spice though - chilis, cumin, I don't know what else. It was a fun experience.
That's it for now - I'll try to blog more often - but I would also like some comments so if you are reading this let me know!
-Wax
Friday, September 19, 2008
St. Louis Stagaire - Niche and An American Place
It's been a month since I've been working at a restaurant, and I've been getting increasingly antsy because of it. That's why as soon as we got to St. Louis, I contacted two of the best restaurants in the city to get some work for a few days.
Wednesday night I worked at An American Place, one of Larry Forgione's restaurants. The chef there is on the way out and Chef Larry is in Vegas opening a restaurant, so the place is in a bit of disarray. The sous chef Chris is left in charge for the time being, and he's a pretty young guy, but he's doing a pretty good job, especially considering he has no sous chef to lean on. Fortunate for Chris but bad for me is that they are really, really slow right now, so it's not the most opportune time for me to work there. Still, I'm working there tonight for someone who needs the night off. Oh yeah, and Lily and I are hopefully going to get some food out of this, and what I've sampled at An American Place is pretty good stuff.
Chris pointed me to Niche, which is probably the "hot" restaurant in St. Louis with a Food and Wine Best New Chef in Gerard Craft, who is a really cool guy. He and his staff like to do the "molecular gastronomy" thing, which I am still skeptical of, but they use it subtly in a way that I think makes sense. Cooking is all about control and manipulation, and these guys are just occasionally using (relatively) new ways to control and manipulate food. I've been learning a lot in the couple days I've worked so far, and Lily's going to join us in the kitchen on Monday, so that means pictures are coming soon.
-Wax
Wednesday night I worked at An American Place, one of Larry Forgione's restaurants. The chef there is on the way out and Chef Larry is in Vegas opening a restaurant, so the place is in a bit of disarray. The sous chef Chris is left in charge for the time being, and he's a pretty young guy, but he's doing a pretty good job, especially considering he has no sous chef to lean on. Fortunate for Chris but bad for me is that they are really, really slow right now, so it's not the most opportune time for me to work there. Still, I'm working there tonight for someone who needs the night off. Oh yeah, and Lily and I are hopefully going to get some food out of this, and what I've sampled at An American Place is pretty good stuff.
Chris pointed me to Niche, which is probably the "hot" restaurant in St. Louis with a Food and Wine Best New Chef in Gerard Craft, who is a really cool guy. He and his staff like to do the "molecular gastronomy" thing, which I am still skeptical of, but they use it subtly in a way that I think makes sense. Cooking is all about control and manipulation, and these guys are just occasionally using (relatively) new ways to control and manipulate food. I've been learning a lot in the couple days I've worked so far, and Lily's going to join us in the kitchen on Monday, so that means pictures are coming soon.
-Wax
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Fast Food Everywhere
One thing we've noticed from driving through Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas, is the domination of fast food in the south. We really began to notice this when we passed through Gadsden, Alabama, which is practically the fast food capital of the world.
As we approach Gadsden, which is surrounded by lots of nowhere, we can tell we're getting close to a town because we see a couple little barbecue and southern restaurants - you know, the types of places just outside town that you stop on the side of the road for good grub. It's hard to stop an 11,000 pound camper going 55mph on short notice, and in order to do it you have to be very decisive and break as soon as you see something promising. We can be a bit indecisive at times, so unfortunately we didn't stop at one of these road-side joints, but we figured there would be a handful of places to choose from in the town itself.
We were wrong. We hit the town, and we see a legion of tall signs sporting fast food logos. There's almost every fast food place I've ever heard of - Micky D's, BK, Sonic, Taco Bell, Arby's, A&W, KFC, Chick-fil-A, and more. There were also some we haven't seen before until we came down south, like Jack's (Jack in the Box?), Five Guys, and Zaxby's. Some of these chains had two locations in the town of Gadsden. We couldn't find a single local non-chain restaurant amongst the fast food giants.
Gadsden is a large blue-collar town due to the huge one-square-mile Goodyear factory on the river that runs through it. I'm guessing the reason for fast food being so popular in Gadsden is because the townsfolk work long hours and don't have time to cook or sit down to a leisurely lunch or dinner. However, Gadsden isn't the only town like this - fast food places are everywhere, abundant in every town in the south. So it's not just because people don't have time to enjoy good food - plenty of people down here work normal 40 hour weeks. Fast food has become a part of southern culture, at the cost of the great soul food and barbecue traditions.
Personally, I think a little fast food now and then is fine. But clearly, in the states we've been in recently, fast food is what people eat on a regular basis. Now I'm not the one to lecture on eating healthy, and I'm not going to. Other people will tell you that fast food will kill you. Instead, I'll tell you that it's bad for your mind and bad your soul. Food is something we are eating every single day multiple times a day. I believe is very important to enjoy it, to savor it, to let it be as culturally and socially important as it is necessary for survival. As we drive through the south and continue to see those bright, tall fast food signs peppering the landscape, I really am seriously bothered by how many fast food restaurant there are. And I'm worried that the trend toward fast food will continue to spread throughout the United States, until all regions of the country relegate good food as an afterthought.
-Wax
As we approach Gadsden, which is surrounded by lots of nowhere, we can tell we're getting close to a town because we see a couple little barbecue and southern restaurants - you know, the types of places just outside town that you stop on the side of the road for good grub. It's hard to stop an 11,000 pound camper going 55mph on short notice, and in order to do it you have to be very decisive and break as soon as you see something promising. We can be a bit indecisive at times, so unfortunately we didn't stop at one of these road-side joints, but we figured there would be a handful of places to choose from in the town itself.
We were wrong. We hit the town, and we see a legion of tall signs sporting fast food logos. There's almost every fast food place I've ever heard of - Micky D's, BK, Sonic, Taco Bell, Arby's, A&W, KFC, Chick-fil-A, and more. There were also some we haven't seen before until we came down south, like Jack's (Jack in the Box?), Five Guys, and Zaxby's. Some of these chains had two locations in the town of Gadsden. We couldn't find a single local non-chain restaurant amongst the fast food giants.
Gadsden is a large blue-collar town due to the huge one-square-mile Goodyear factory on the river that runs through it. I'm guessing the reason for fast food being so popular in Gadsden is because the townsfolk work long hours and don't have time to cook or sit down to a leisurely lunch or dinner. However, Gadsden isn't the only town like this - fast food places are everywhere, abundant in every town in the south. So it's not just because people don't have time to enjoy good food - plenty of people down here work normal 40 hour weeks. Fast food has become a part of southern culture, at the cost of the great soul food and barbecue traditions.
Personally, I think a little fast food now and then is fine. But clearly, in the states we've been in recently, fast food is what people eat on a regular basis. Now I'm not the one to lecture on eating healthy, and I'm not going to. Other people will tell you that fast food will kill you. Instead, I'll tell you that it's bad for your mind and bad your soul. Food is something we are eating every single day multiple times a day. I believe is very important to enjoy it, to savor it, to let it be as culturally and socially important as it is necessary for survival. As we drive through the south and continue to see those bright, tall fast food signs peppering the landscape, I really am seriously bothered by how many fast food restaurant there are. And I'm worried that the trend toward fast food will continue to spread throughout the United States, until all regions of the country relegate good food as an afterthought.
-Wax
Saturday, September 6, 2008
The Roman God of Wine (And Over-Attentive Service)
Last night my sister and brother-in-law treated us to a really nice dinner, as a thank you for the month's worth of food I cooked for them. We chose to dine at Bacchanalia as it is considered to be one of the best, if not the best restaurant in Atlanta. It's definitely on the pricey side, but my sister wanted us to splurge, so why not?
The food was good, but nothing wowed us. There were highs and lows, and while the food was pretty solid, it would have shined more if the service wasn't so eerily weird. I'm not going to talk about food for once - I'm going to talk about service, hospitality, and when it's going too far.
The first thing we noticed about Bacchanalia is the space... its high ceiling room is very nicely decorated with red cloth hanging as makeshift walls, numbing noise and making the room feel more intimate. The lighting is dim, there are candle-lamps on the tables. The bar is beautiful, with a great view of the open kitchen. The way that the space is decorated screams FINE DINING!, and FANCY!, but something doesn't feel right. Lily points it out. The ceiling is exposed and industrial-looking, and the walls are large off-white grimy tiles. It feels like someone is disguising a school cafeteria as a fine dining establishment.
The second thing we notice is the sheer volume of employees wandering about. We had the first reservation, at six o'clock when they open, and we were really overwhelmed by the army of white-coated servers. First sign of uptight formal service - the hostess brings us to our table, one person pulls the table out for Lily to sit, another pulls my chair out, another brings us menus, and a manager observes for good measure - five people hovering around us. All the while I'm thinking, "go away", as thirty people are watching us, cooks peering out the glass of the open kitchen.
The third annoyance was the menu lecture. Our server explains, "The crab fritter is prepared blah blah blah and is an excellent dish...This is one question we usually get about the appetizers...the sheep's milk gnudi is a blah blah blah...Another question people frequently ask is blah blah blah blah..." Ten minutes go by as he's explaining the menu items, most of which we already know and understand. Yes, we are more knowledgeable than the average customer, but still - Why not just ask us if we have any questions instead of answering every possible question that the oblivious diner might have?
The room fills up by 6:30, but with only a couple empty tables, the white coats are overwhelming. Lily described the scene at Bacchanalia as an ant farm - worker ants swarming all over the place, walking to and from the kitchen, pleasing the queen. They're trying to be subtle - walking quietly when they approach your table, speaking too softly when describing the dishes they bring you with the same exact words as what is printed on the menu (this is a very annoying trend in fine dining).
But as hard as they are trying to provide perfect service and never let your water glass reach 3/4 full, they are failing miserably by constantly interrupting their customers. Lily sent back her requested medium lamb as it came to the table rare - no big deal. It came back perfect, and it was delicious. A manager approached five seconds after the re-fire arrived to ask how it was, and Lily says "I don't know I haven't tried it yet." Then three other little worker ants approached at different times with us mid-conversation and asked how she liked her lamb. "FOR THE FOURTH TIME MY LAMB IS FINE...LEAVE ME ALONE," Lily thought (she's too nice so she said "perfect").
The pacing of the meal was really terrible. Some courses were a leisurely 10-15 minutes apart, and some were not even a minute apart. From the dessert course on, we felt like they were rushing us out the door, snatching up our plates before the spoons hit the table and giving us the check along with the cookies and madeleines. It felt as if the pacing between courses was either, "Take your time, enjoy yourself, and digest a bit before the next course" or "Hurry the hell up and don't let the door hit you on the the way out".
Now I'm doing a lot of nitpicking, and the staff deserves credit for being friendly and staying on top of everything we needed, but this is just an example of how there's a difference between proper, attentive service and protruding, over-attentive service. It can easily make the difference between a good meal and a great meal.
-Wax
The food was good, but nothing wowed us. There were highs and lows, and while the food was pretty solid, it would have shined more if the service wasn't so eerily weird. I'm not going to talk about food for once - I'm going to talk about service, hospitality, and when it's going too far.
The first thing we noticed about Bacchanalia is the space... its high ceiling room is very nicely decorated with red cloth hanging as makeshift walls, numbing noise and making the room feel more intimate. The lighting is dim, there are candle-lamps on the tables. The bar is beautiful, with a great view of the open kitchen. The way that the space is decorated screams FINE DINING!, and FANCY!, but something doesn't feel right. Lily points it out. The ceiling is exposed and industrial-looking, and the walls are large off-white grimy tiles. It feels like someone is disguising a school cafeteria as a fine dining establishment.
The second thing we notice is the sheer volume of employees wandering about. We had the first reservation, at six o'clock when they open, and we were really overwhelmed by the army of white-coated servers. First sign of uptight formal service - the hostess brings us to our table, one person pulls the table out for Lily to sit, another pulls my chair out, another brings us menus, and a manager observes for good measure - five people hovering around us. All the while I'm thinking, "go away", as thirty people are watching us, cooks peering out the glass of the open kitchen.
The third annoyance was the menu lecture. Our server explains, "The crab fritter is prepared blah blah blah and is an excellent dish...This is one question we usually get about the appetizers...the sheep's milk gnudi is a blah blah blah...Another question people frequently ask is blah blah blah blah..." Ten minutes go by as he's explaining the menu items, most of which we already know and understand. Yes, we are more knowledgeable than the average customer, but still - Why not just ask us if we have any questions instead of answering every possible question that the oblivious diner might have?
The room fills up by 6:30, but with only a couple empty tables, the white coats are overwhelming. Lily described the scene at Bacchanalia as an ant farm - worker ants swarming all over the place, walking to and from the kitchen, pleasing the queen. They're trying to be subtle - walking quietly when they approach your table, speaking too softly when describing the dishes they bring you with the same exact words as what is printed on the menu (this is a very annoying trend in fine dining).
But as hard as they are trying to provide perfect service and never let your water glass reach 3/4 full, they are failing miserably by constantly interrupting their customers. Lily sent back her requested medium lamb as it came to the table rare - no big deal. It came back perfect, and it was delicious. A manager approached five seconds after the re-fire arrived to ask how it was, and Lily says "I don't know I haven't tried it yet." Then three other little worker ants approached at different times with us mid-conversation and asked how she liked her lamb. "FOR THE FOURTH TIME MY LAMB IS FINE...LEAVE ME ALONE," Lily thought (she's too nice so she said "perfect").
The pacing of the meal was really terrible. Some courses were a leisurely 10-15 minutes apart, and some were not even a minute apart. From the dessert course on, we felt like they were rushing us out the door, snatching up our plates before the spoons hit the table and giving us the check along with the cookies and madeleines. It felt as if the pacing between courses was either, "Take your time, enjoy yourself, and digest a bit before the next course" or "Hurry the hell up and don't let the door hit you on the the way out".
Now I'm doing a lot of nitpicking, and the staff deserves credit for being friendly and staying on top of everything we needed, but this is just an example of how there's a difference between proper, attentive service and protruding, over-attentive service. It can easily make the difference between a good meal and a great meal.
-Wax
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Jaleo vs. my grandma's southern fried chicken
Lily and I are in Atlanta now, cooking (and freezing) up a storm for my sister, who is just about ready to pop out my second niece. We haven't eaten anywhere special in Atlanta other than my own cooking, which is very very special...just kidding. We drove here from Washington D.C., with a stopover at my grandmother's house in Rockingham, NC.
In D.C. we had the pleasure of dining at Jaleo with our friend Allison. Jaleo is the flagship Spanish tapas restaurant owned by Jose Andres, who owns multiple restaurants in the D.C. area. I've been anticipating eating there for a while, after hearing about how authentically spot-on their food is compared to the food you would eat in Madrid. Lily and I went to Spain a couple years ago, where our night time activity usually involved tapas-bar hopping. We fell in love with the food there, and we've been craving some really excellent tapas ever since. So, Jaleo seemed the obvious place to get our fix.
My 92 year old grandmother's southern fried chicken was better.
Here's some highs and lows from what we chose at Jaleo:
Sangria - the best part of the meal. Theirs was on par with or better than most of what we drank in Madrid and Barcelona. It's pretty much the same as what you fin in most bars in Spain - wine, brandy, citrus, and a bit of sugar - except they add diced apples which I enjoyed to eat and crunch on.
Pan con tomate - toasted bread with pureed tomatos spread on top - the tomato spread was too wet and too plentiful, so the bread was soggy by the time you ate two bites. We ordered this in Spain a lot, and remember that most of the tapas bars were much more sparing with the tomato spread on top so the bread didn't get soggy.
Selection of all their cheeses - all the cheeses were very good, but curiously and annoyingly were served with breadsticks instead of bread. My favorite was the cana de cabra - a harder goat cheese washed in red wine. The preserved apricots accompanying the cheeses were nice.
Jamon Iberico - only in the past couple of years has this stuff been allowed on American soil by the USDA. I love this stuff, but the jamon they served us was from the lower, less fatty part of the leg, and it was sliced thicker than my liking. It was still good, but I really hoping for fatty jamon Iberico sliced thin so that the fat melts the second it hits your tongue.
Patatas bravas - in Spain this is chunks of fried potatos covered in aioli and spicy (hence bravas = brave) tomato sauce. For some reason Jaleo decided to do it differently and use thinly sliced fried potatoes (like potato chips) instead of whole chunks of potato. The aioli was nice, but the dish missed the mark. They advertised it on the menu as "a modern twist on a classic", but I'd prefer to call it "a classic done wrong".
Salt cod fritters with honey aioli for dipping - my favorite tapas of the night - salty, sweet, slightly fishy, and fried...perfect hangover food which I was left craving next morning.
Croquetas de pollo - these were uninspired - batter is mixed with not enough boiled chicken and then fried not enough - the inside was oozing with raw batter...not for me.
Don't get me wrong...Jaleo was okay, but not great. And I will give them the benefit of the doubt - we came on a Friday night during restaurant week and it was packed. But still, it's the little things that left me slightly disappointed...the annoying rendition of patatas bravas, the too-quiet server, the soggy pan con tomate, the not-fatty-enough jamon iberico.
My grandma taught me how to make her fried chicken, which is as simple as can be (like most tapas actually), and it is her attention to detail - the little things - that makes it great. It's all in the amount she seasons her chicken, the thickness of the egg-milk mixture she uses, the amount of flour she packs on, the gentle bubbling heat of the oil she fries it in, and the patting dry of excess grease when it's done. Her chicken is close to the P-word...(perfect...I dare say).
That's the story of how my 92 year old grandma cooks better than a kitchen full of celebrity-chef-trained cooks in a nationally well-known restaurant.
-Wax
In D.C. we had the pleasure of dining at Jaleo with our friend Allison. Jaleo is the flagship Spanish tapas restaurant owned by Jose Andres, who owns multiple restaurants in the D.C. area. I've been anticipating eating there for a while, after hearing about how authentically spot-on their food is compared to the food you would eat in Madrid. Lily and I went to Spain a couple years ago, where our night time activity usually involved tapas-bar hopping. We fell in love with the food there, and we've been craving some really excellent tapas ever since. So, Jaleo seemed the obvious place to get our fix.
My 92 year old grandmother's southern fried chicken was better.
Here's some highs and lows from what we chose at Jaleo:
Sangria - the best part of the meal. Theirs was on par with or better than most of what we drank in Madrid and Barcelona. It's pretty much the same as what you fin in most bars in Spain - wine, brandy, citrus, and a bit of sugar - except they add diced apples which I enjoyed to eat and crunch on.
Pan con tomate - toasted bread with pureed tomatos spread on top - the tomato spread was too wet and too plentiful, so the bread was soggy by the time you ate two bites. We ordered this in Spain a lot, and remember that most of the tapas bars were much more sparing with the tomato spread on top so the bread didn't get soggy.
Selection of all their cheeses - all the cheeses were very good, but curiously and annoyingly were served with breadsticks instead of bread. My favorite was the cana de cabra - a harder goat cheese washed in red wine. The preserved apricots accompanying the cheeses were nice.
Jamon Iberico - only in the past couple of years has this stuff been allowed on American soil by the USDA. I love this stuff, but the jamon they served us was from the lower, less fatty part of the leg, and it was sliced thicker than my liking. It was still good, but I really hoping for fatty jamon Iberico sliced thin so that the fat melts the second it hits your tongue.
Patatas bravas - in Spain this is chunks of fried potatos covered in aioli and spicy (hence bravas = brave) tomato sauce. For some reason Jaleo decided to do it differently and use thinly sliced fried potatoes (like potato chips) instead of whole chunks of potato. The aioli was nice, but the dish missed the mark. They advertised it on the menu as "a modern twist on a classic", but I'd prefer to call it "a classic done wrong".
Salt cod fritters with honey aioli for dipping - my favorite tapas of the night - salty, sweet, slightly fishy, and fried...perfect hangover food which I was left craving next morning.
Croquetas de pollo - these were uninspired - batter is mixed with not enough boiled chicken and then fried not enough - the inside was oozing with raw batter...not for me.
Don't get me wrong...Jaleo was okay, but not great. And I will give them the benefit of the doubt - we came on a Friday night during restaurant week and it was packed. But still, it's the little things that left me slightly disappointed...the annoying rendition of patatas bravas, the too-quiet server, the soggy pan con tomate, the not-fatty-enough jamon iberico.
My grandma taught me how to make her fried chicken, which is as simple as can be (like most tapas actually), and it is her attention to detail - the little things - that makes it great. It's all in the amount she seasons her chicken, the thickness of the egg-milk mixture she uses, the amount of flour she packs on, the gentle bubbling heat of the oil she fries it in, and the patting dry of excess grease when it's done. Her chicken is close to the P-word...(perfect...I dare say).
That's the story of how my 92 year old grandma cooks better than a kitchen full of celebrity-chef-trained cooks in a nationally well-known restaurant.
-Wax
Monday, August 11, 2008
Craft - simple and delicious
Last night we had the pleasure of dining at Craft in Manhattan. Lily and I went with by brother Aaron, sister-in-law Diana, and Diana's cousins Glen and Anelle. I got to pick the restaurant, and while I was considering going to a place well known for an excellent tasting menu and eating that way, I decided that we could really enjoy some very well-prepared, simple food presented family style so we can all share. The six of us ordered the perfect amount of food, which met my high expectations.
Here's what we ordered for the first course (enjoyed with a nice but slightly-too-sweet Sauvignon Blanc):
-Mizuna salad with walnuts, peaches, and truffle vinaigrette, Arugula salad with preserved lemon: these salads were both simple and excellent - especially the mizuna salad with its aromatic truffle vin
-Ragout of escargots with garlic and herb purees, topped with a poached farm egg - I only got one bite of this, but wow - probably my favorite preparation of escargots I've ever had (although I haven't had it more than a handful of times)
-Porchetta with pickled chantarelles and radishes - the head of the pig braised for a long time and then rolled and set in a terrine, then sliced thin. Porky, fatty - a winner for me.
First courses were all close to perfect, but it wasn't a lot of food for the six of us so we were a bit worried about the entree sizes. However, we ordered just enough to leave room for dessert, and ate our second course accompanied by a Super Tuscan red (delicious):
-Whole roasted milk fed poulard with currants and currant gravy: I was worried when they presented this to the table bringing it back to slice it that the skin wasn't very brown (which I like), but in fact the skin was perfectly crispy, every part was juicy and tender, and the gravy was nicely sweet-tart.
-Braised shortribs: everyone liked these for how fall-apart tender they were (probably braised for a long, long time), but I do like a bit of structural integrity when eating braised meats - so it melts in your mouth before it melts off your fork. Still, very good.
-A two pound one month dry aged bone-in cote du boeuf (ribeye), served with two roasted marrow bones: I ate the bone peice, and it was excellent - salty, fatty, and aged very nicely. They were accommodating in cooking half of this medium rare for some of us and medium for the rest. My one complaint for the whole meal - the one single item that I was annoyed by - was that the marrow bones weren't roasted long enough, and the marrow coated your mouth with a fatty residue instead of melting in your mouth.
-Sides - Gnocchi, roasted hen of the woods mushrooms (maitaki), braised swiss chard, squid ink risotto: The gnocchi were very simply prepared (tossed with butter and herbs) but they were so good that 1) we ordered another order and 2) I became jealous and angry because they were better than the gnocchi I make. The mushrooms were perfect - nice and simple like everything else. The swiss chard was nice and earthy, and the squid ink risotto (with peices of squid) was also very good.
After we practically licked every plate clean from our entree course, we ordered dessert. We each had different beverages which I cannot report on, but I had a wonderful not-too-sweet '89 Vouvrais that was perfect. They offered four composed desserts, and then had a section of "create your own dessert", which is just pick a pastry and a flavor of ice cream or sorbet (served in separate dishes). We ordered this course individually, but ended up sharing everything:
-Two of us ordered sorbet/ice cream samplers, highlights were: yogurt, cantaloupe, and plum sorbets, honey ice cream: all ranging from good to I'm-eating-this-don't-touch-it. We got to try pretty much very sorbet and ice cream they had on the menu
-I ordered the sweet polenta cake with blueberries and blueberry sorbet - it was basically a warm blueberry muffin, only one of the best muffins you've ever had. Good, but not great.
-Someone ordered some warm doughnuts, and I was happy for it
-Diana ordered the winner - a "make your own" pairing of bananas roasted in caramel sauce and brown butter ice cream. I got one bite of this, and I'm not a huge banana fan, but wow this was delicious. Simple, too (you see the theme?)
That's pretty much everything we ate last night. Afterwards I asked to see the kitchen because I was curious, so Lily and I checked it out. The chef de cuisine (James) gave me a tour, and he seemed like a really nice guy. I asked him if he'd consider taking me on for a couple weeks sometime next year, and he said sure. So yeah - I might work at Craft at the tail end of our trip!
It was really an amazing meal - definitely one of the top 20 of my life. It got me thinking about the factors that go into a great meal, a subject that I'll write about on my next blog post (this one is long enough). One of the top factors of really good meal is the company you share it with. We had a great time, and for some reason that makes everything taste a little bit better.
-Wax
Here's what we ordered for the first course (enjoyed with a nice but slightly-too-sweet Sauvignon Blanc):
-Mizuna salad with walnuts, peaches, and truffle vinaigrette, Arugula salad with preserved lemon: these salads were both simple and excellent - especially the mizuna salad with its aromatic truffle vin
-Ragout of escargots with garlic and herb purees, topped with a poached farm egg - I only got one bite of this, but wow - probably my favorite preparation of escargots I've ever had (although I haven't had it more than a handful of times)
-Porchetta with pickled chantarelles and radishes - the head of the pig braised for a long time and then rolled and set in a terrine, then sliced thin. Porky, fatty - a winner for me.
First courses were all close to perfect, but it wasn't a lot of food for the six of us so we were a bit worried about the entree sizes. However, we ordered just enough to leave room for dessert, and ate our second course accompanied by a Super Tuscan red (delicious):
-Whole roasted milk fed poulard with currants and currant gravy: I was worried when they presented this to the table bringing it back to slice it that the skin wasn't very brown (which I like), but in fact the skin was perfectly crispy, every part was juicy and tender, and the gravy was nicely sweet-tart.
-Braised shortribs: everyone liked these for how fall-apart tender they were (probably braised for a long, long time), but I do like a bit of structural integrity when eating braised meats - so it melts in your mouth before it melts off your fork. Still, very good.
-A two pound one month dry aged bone-in cote du boeuf (ribeye), served with two roasted marrow bones: I ate the bone peice, and it was excellent - salty, fatty, and aged very nicely. They were accommodating in cooking half of this medium rare for some of us and medium for the rest. My one complaint for the whole meal - the one single item that I was annoyed by - was that the marrow bones weren't roasted long enough, and the marrow coated your mouth with a fatty residue instead of melting in your mouth.
-Sides - Gnocchi, roasted hen of the woods mushrooms (maitaki), braised swiss chard, squid ink risotto: The gnocchi were very simply prepared (tossed with butter and herbs) but they were so good that 1) we ordered another order and 2) I became jealous and angry because they were better than the gnocchi I make. The mushrooms were perfect - nice and simple like everything else. The swiss chard was nice and earthy, and the squid ink risotto (with peices of squid) was also very good.
After we practically licked every plate clean from our entree course, we ordered dessert. We each had different beverages which I cannot report on, but I had a wonderful not-too-sweet '89 Vouvrais that was perfect. They offered four composed desserts, and then had a section of "create your own dessert", which is just pick a pastry and a flavor of ice cream or sorbet (served in separate dishes). We ordered this course individually, but ended up sharing everything:
-Two of us ordered sorbet/ice cream samplers, highlights were: yogurt, cantaloupe, and plum sorbets, honey ice cream: all ranging from good to I'm-eating-this-don't-touch-it. We got to try pretty much very sorbet and ice cream they had on the menu
-I ordered the sweet polenta cake with blueberries and blueberry sorbet - it was basically a warm blueberry muffin, only one of the best muffins you've ever had. Good, but not great.
-Someone ordered some warm doughnuts, and I was happy for it
-Diana ordered the winner - a "make your own" pairing of bananas roasted in caramel sauce and brown butter ice cream. I got one bite of this, and I'm not a huge banana fan, but wow this was delicious. Simple, too (you see the theme?)
That's pretty much everything we ate last night. Afterwards I asked to see the kitchen because I was curious, so Lily and I checked it out. The chef de cuisine (James) gave me a tour, and he seemed like a really nice guy. I asked him if he'd consider taking me on for a couple weeks sometime next year, and he said sure. So yeah - I might work at Craft at the tail end of our trip!
It was really an amazing meal - definitely one of the top 20 of my life. It got me thinking about the factors that go into a great meal, a subject that I'll write about on my next blog post (this one is long enough). One of the top factors of really good meal is the company you share it with. We had a great time, and for some reason that makes everything taste a little bit better.
-Wax
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Done at Primo, wish I wasn't
On Thursday Lily and I sadly left our temporary home that was the employee parking lot at Primo. We'll miss the pigs, and plants, and of course the people the most. I learned so much in the kitchen, Lily learned a lot in the garden, and we ate so much great food during our stay. I can see myself working in that kind of restaurant for a long time, and I have a feeling we'll be back at Primo at some point, possibly to work and if not, definitely to eat.
After a couple days back home, I've been thinking a bit about my experience in Rockland and why Primo is so different than any other restaurant I have worked at before. I came to a realization that can be explained by some of the things the employees do when they are not at work:
One server named Evan is a mushroom foraging junky. Every nice-weather day before work, he heads to his spots in the forest and picks beautiful (and safe) wild mushrooms for the restaurant, which for the past couple weeks have been mostly big, red, beautifugly lobster mushrooms. Evan shows his daily catch to a couple of people every day, who in turn inquire about any recent mushroom turf-wars, prod him for his secret spots, and ask when chantarelles are coming up.
One day on a mutual day off, a couple of cooks headed to the ocean to pick sea beans, a sort of small sea-weed like plant that tastes like the salty sea grass. They brought in a bag full of sea beans to show Chef, with "look at what we got" expressions on their faces. Chef tasted one and nodded approvingly and thanked them. They went up to eat dinner at the bar and were taken care of as a reward.
We ate five wonderful meals at the bar during our stay. Each time we went up to the bar, there were at least two or three other Primo employees on their day off who came to eat dinner at the bar. One night, the whole bar was filled with Primo employees drinking good drink and eating great grub. These people love the food they cook or serve so much that they eat at their own restaurant regularly, at a frequency far beyond any other restaurant I have encountered. One night I grilled the grill cook (sorry) Jason about why he doesn't get "desensitized" from the food he cooks and sees all the time. He defends by saying the food at Primo is simply way better than any other options in the area, and instead of ordering something off the grill which he handles, cooks, smells, and sees every day, he just orders off the saute station.
I have come to the conclusion that most of the people at Primo share a common passion for food that extends beyond their hours at work. True, for a handful of people Primo is just a job to them like at any restaurant, but many employees are in Rockland, ME, or have stayed in Rockland, because of Primo.
-Wax
After a couple days back home, I've been thinking a bit about my experience in Rockland and why Primo is so different than any other restaurant I have worked at before. I came to a realization that can be explained by some of the things the employees do when they are not at work:
One server named Evan is a mushroom foraging junky. Every nice-weather day before work, he heads to his spots in the forest and picks beautiful (and safe) wild mushrooms for the restaurant, which for the past couple weeks have been mostly big, red, beautifugly lobster mushrooms. Evan shows his daily catch to a couple of people every day, who in turn inquire about any recent mushroom turf-wars, prod him for his secret spots, and ask when chantarelles are coming up.
One day on a mutual day off, a couple of cooks headed to the ocean to pick sea beans, a sort of small sea-weed like plant that tastes like the salty sea grass. They brought in a bag full of sea beans to show Chef, with "look at what we got" expressions on their faces. Chef tasted one and nodded approvingly and thanked them. They went up to eat dinner at the bar and were taken care of as a reward.
We ate five wonderful meals at the bar during our stay. Each time we went up to the bar, there were at least two or three other Primo employees on their day off who came to eat dinner at the bar. One night, the whole bar was filled with Primo employees drinking good drink and eating great grub. These people love the food they cook or serve so much that they eat at their own restaurant regularly, at a frequency far beyond any other restaurant I have encountered. One night I grilled the grill cook (sorry) Jason about why he doesn't get "desensitized" from the food he cooks and sees all the time. He defends by saying the food at Primo is simply way better than any other options in the area, and instead of ordering something off the grill which he handles, cooks, smells, and sees every day, he just orders off the saute station.
I have come to the conclusion that most of the people at Primo share a common passion for food that extends beyond their hours at work. True, for a handful of people Primo is just a job to them like at any restaurant, but many employees are in Rockland, ME, or have stayed in Rockland, because of Primo.
-Wax
Friday, July 25, 2008
A peek in the kitchen at Primo
Chef Kelly let Lily take a whole bunch of pictures in the kitchen at Primo. She posted a handful of the artsy food shots on her photo blog. I'm posting some of the action shots she took here, as some of them came out great:
A view from the bakery
Cool extendable heat lamps
The hot line
Wood oven, with my Pearl Jam T-shirt blocking the way
Plating some food
Espresso ice cream float with zeppole
Chef Kelly
At all of the restaurants I've worked at so far, I've been bothered by the amount of food that gets throw away. If something is spoiled? Garbage. Customers left half their steak on their plate and don't want to take it home? Garbage. Most people who do not work at restaurants would be surprised at how much is wasted. At Primo, almost everything either consumed or recycled. Any food that doesn't end up in peoples' bellies is either fed to the pigs or composted for the garden. Recycling is big at Primo - all the cardboard boxes, all the plastic, glass, and tin containers get recycled - they even cut up old menus and use them instead of doilies or coasters! The concept of "use everything waste nothing" extends beyond material goods. Cooks in the kitchen hardly ever raise their voices - everybody communicates as quietly as possible so that the overall noise level in the kitchen is serene.
The food in Rockland is pretty good! I had a couple of great shrimp rolls at Rockland Cafe downtown, and a great steak sandwich with aioli and fried onions at The Black Bull, a bar where Primo folk go late at night after work. There is also a great (but expensive) specialty foods market, where Lily and I got some wild boar bacon, soppresata, some spices, and a chunk of Bra cheese. All in all it's a great little town for food.
-Wax
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Getting the hang of it
Today was my third day at Primo, and I'm starting to feel a little less anxious and a little more comfortable. Today I worked the morning shift with Chef Kelly starting at 9:00. I was exhausted after working the afternoon-night shift the past two days, mostly because I haven't been working for the past few weeks, but today after work I feel completely energized...and hungry.
I'm still in the mouth-watering phase of wanting to eat every plate I see at the pass. I feel like after a while working at a restaurant, I get desensitized from the food. Even though everything still tastes great, working with the food day after day after day makes you crave it less and less. I'm pretty sure I won't even approach that phenomenon during my two weeks at Primo. Lily and I are going to eat at the bar in a few minutes.
I'm very impressed with how thoroughly Primo is cleaned on a nightly basis. Breaking down and cleaning up after service is a two hour process, as the whole line gets thoroughly scrubbed every night, including all stovetop burners, grill grates, and hoods. Chef likes it spotless when she comes in every morning, rightfully so.
Lily is staying busy by helping out in the gardens. Yesterday she harvested two bus tubs of favas (of which I ended up shelling most) and lots of garlic, which gets hung under the porch to cure for a few weeks. Almost all garlic you buy at the grocery store or use at a restaurant is cured, but yesterday we peeled some of the straggly bulbs that Lily helped harvest right away, before curing. Chef explained that the straggly stuff would go moldy if it cured, so it's best used right away. Fresh garlic has a wonderful aroma, and to me it tastes much better than the cured stuff. But then again, I haven't tasted Primo's cured garlic yet.
So far I've been doing a lot of prep work and then I've been observing and shadowing during service. Hopefully towards the end of my stage I'll get to work a station or two on the line for a couple nights. The system of fire sequence they have is very tight and logical, which is just one reason why I really want to work my way onto the line. So far Chef Kelly has been very accommodating with everything I've wanted to do in the kitchen, but we'll see. First I have to remember everyone's names!
-Wax
I'm still in the mouth-watering phase of wanting to eat every plate I see at the pass. I feel like after a while working at a restaurant, I get desensitized from the food. Even though everything still tastes great, working with the food day after day after day makes you crave it less and less. I'm pretty sure I won't even approach that phenomenon during my two weeks at Primo. Lily and I are going to eat at the bar in a few minutes.
I'm very impressed with how thoroughly Primo is cleaned on a nightly basis. Breaking down and cleaning up after service is a two hour process, as the whole line gets thoroughly scrubbed every night, including all stovetop burners, grill grates, and hoods. Chef likes it spotless when she comes in every morning, rightfully so.
Lily is staying busy by helping out in the gardens. Yesterday she harvested two bus tubs of favas (of which I ended up shelling most) and lots of garlic, which gets hung under the porch to cure for a few weeks. Almost all garlic you buy at the grocery store or use at a restaurant is cured, but yesterday we peeled some of the straggly bulbs that Lily helped harvest right away, before curing. Chef explained that the straggly stuff would go moldy if it cured, so it's best used right away. Fresh garlic has a wonderful aroma, and to me it tastes much better than the cured stuff. But then again, I haven't tasted Primo's cured garlic yet.
So far I've been doing a lot of prep work and then I've been observing and shadowing during service. Hopefully towards the end of my stage I'll get to work a station or two on the line for a couple nights. The system of fire sequence they have is very tight and logical, which is just one reason why I really want to work my way onto the line. So far Chef Kelly has been very accommodating with everything I've wanted to do in the kitchen, but we'll see. First I have to remember everyone's names!
-Wax
Monday, July 14, 2008
Arrived at Primo
Lily and I arrived at Primo in Rockland, Maine on Monday. The restaurant's gardens look beautiful, with flower beds in full bloom and vegetables ripe for harvest. Chef Kelly is letting us park the camper in the employee parking lot, where we can be hooked up to an outdoor electrical outlet. It's very nice to not have to pay for campsite fees during peak season here in Maine.
My first day working was yesterday. The kitchen is huge compared to La Morra, and it feels like a luxury to have so much counter space to work on. Last night while observing service, at one point they had three swordfish left but no more on the baby fennel bulbs that accompany the fish. They asked me to fetch a few baby bulbs, so I went out back to the garden and picked a few fennel bulbs out of the ground! A few minutes later I had them washed and fabricated, ready for the grill cook to use on his last few orders of sword. It's cool to see how quickly something can go from in the ground to on a plate.
Here are a couple pictures of the pigs and the garden:
As a side note, our herbs are growing like crazy now that they've settled into their pots. Space is tight though and they're competing fiercely, but all the herbs - basil, chives, marjoram, oregano, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme - are looking very healthy. Here are a couple pictures:
-Wax
My first day working was yesterday. The kitchen is huge compared to La Morra, and it feels like a luxury to have so much counter space to work on. Last night while observing service, at one point they had three swordfish left but no more on the baby fennel bulbs that accompany the fish. They asked me to fetch a few baby bulbs, so I went out back to the garden and picked a few fennel bulbs out of the ground! A few minutes later I had them washed and fabricated, ready for the grill cook to use on his last few orders of sword. It's cool to see how quickly something can go from in the ground to on a plate.
Here are a couple pictures of the pigs and the garden:
As a side note, our herbs are growing like crazy now that they've settled into their pots. Space is tight though and they're competing fiercely, but all the herbs - basil, chives, marjoram, oregano, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme - are looking very healthy. Here are a couple pictures:
-Wax
Friday, July 4, 2008
Welcome to Wax's food journal
In this blog, I'll be writing about road food around the country, restaurants I work at along our trip , and things I cook inside and outside our camper.
I have three main goals for this trip regarding food.
1) Eat some very good true American food, such as different styles of barbecue, Cajun/Creole and "California cuisine"
2) Work at some excellent restaurants, including one really good BBQ place
3) Cook good food for Lily and myself
Our first stop for road food (and only stop so far) was a pizza place in Acton, Ma called Sorrento's Pizza. They make excellent wood-burning brick oven pizza. We both got slices topped with tri-colored tortellini, pesto, and mozzarella. I must say it's probably one of the ten best slices of pizza I've had in my life. Pasta on pizza is great - our friends Keith and Sara brought us to another Sorrento's near New City, NY (these two aren't connected) a couple times where they served penne a'la vodka pizza, which even more weighty on the delicious scale.
A little while before we left for our trip, Lily and I planted basil, oregano, marjoram, chives, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme in three small windowsill-type planters. We fitted the planters with hooks to rest on our ladder outside for sunlight, and when we are driving we stow them in the shower. It's so nice to have herbs ready at our disposal whenever we want them. We'll be cooking for ourselves a lot on this trip, and herbs are best eaten right after you pick them. Some of the herbs are already growing like crazy. Pictures will come soon.
Yesterday we bought half a whole ribeye at a grocery store for 54 bucks. Normally a 16 ounce portion of this is 40-50 bucks at a nice steakhouse. This 7 pounds of ribeye, at around $7.50/lb. Normally we won't be able to afford $7.50/lb for our protein on this trip, but hey, it's the 4th of July and in my mind there are three ways to celebrate: drink, blow stuff up, and grill steak. We brought a cryovac machine on the road with us so we can get whole chickens, ducks and small primal cuts of meat, butcher them, cryovac them, and store them in the fridge or freezer. This will in turn save us a whole lot of money, and we'll always be able to reach in the fridge or freezer for two portions of protein whenever we want without too much risk of anything going bad. We cryovac-ed 3 of the 4 huge steaks and froze them for later (we ate the last one with some herbed roasted potatoes and it was great).
-Wax
I have three main goals for this trip regarding food.
1) Eat some very good true American food, such as different styles of barbecue, Cajun/Creole and "California cuisine"
2) Work at some excellent restaurants, including one really good BBQ place
3) Cook good food for Lily and myself
Our first stop for road food (and only stop so far) was a pizza place in Acton, Ma called Sorrento's Pizza. They make excellent wood-burning brick oven pizza. We both got slices topped with tri-colored tortellini, pesto, and mozzarella. I must say it's probably one of the ten best slices of pizza I've had in my life. Pasta on pizza is great - our friends Keith and Sara brought us to another Sorrento's near New City, NY (these two aren't connected) a couple times where they served penne a'la vodka pizza, which even more weighty on the delicious scale.
A little while before we left for our trip, Lily and I planted basil, oregano, marjoram, chives, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme in three small windowsill-type planters. We fitted the planters with hooks to rest on our ladder outside for sunlight, and when we are driving we stow them in the shower. It's so nice to have herbs ready at our disposal whenever we want them. We'll be cooking for ourselves a lot on this trip, and herbs are best eaten right after you pick them. Some of the herbs are already growing like crazy. Pictures will come soon.
Yesterday we bought half a whole ribeye at a grocery store for 54 bucks. Normally a 16 ounce portion of this is 40-50 bucks at a nice steakhouse. This 7 pounds of ribeye, at around $7.50/lb. Normally we won't be able to afford $7.50/lb for our protein on this trip, but hey, it's the 4th of July and in my mind there are three ways to celebrate: drink, blow stuff up, and grill steak. We brought a cryovac machine on the road with us so we can get whole chickens, ducks and small primal cuts of meat, butcher them, cryovac them, and store them in the fridge or freezer. This will in turn save us a whole lot of money, and we'll always be able to reach in the fridge or freezer for two portions of protein whenever we want without too much risk of anything going bad. We cryovac-ed 3 of the 4 huge steaks and froze them for later (we ate the last one with some herbed roasted potatoes and it was great).
-Wax
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