Docsconz- The Blog

Travel Travails

I just returned from an extended two week trip to Spain and France to cover Madrid Fusión and the Bocuse D'Or. Both events were incredible experiences, leaving me with much to write about and show through photos over the upcoming weeks, however, my travel experiences amounted to an adventure in their own right, which I will recount here.

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The flights to get to Madrid went without a hitch as did getting around that city. When I planned this trip, I did not initially fill in the weekend between Madrid Fusión and The Bocuse D'Or. It would have been fun to check out more of the Pastry Coupe Du Monde or the World Bread Baking and Cheese Making Championships going on at SIRHA in Lyon over the weekend, but as it was, it was nearly impossible to get a hotel room when I did and I did not have the time nor the energy to see if there were any hotel cancellations.

A few days before my flight to Spain, I received word that I would have a table at Mugaritz in San Sebastian, a restaurant that I have dearly wished to visit for some time. I went so far as to book a hotel in San Sebastian before I left the States figuring that I would be able to find a reasonable way from San Sebastian to Lyon as I couldn't find anything reasonable from the US before my trip – the cheapest airfare was around $600 one way, unfortunately well beyond my budget. Nevertheless, I held out hope. Once in Spain, though, that hope quickly faded as I discovered no current cheap airfares from San Sebastian or surrounding airports and the train seemed difficult at best.

As a result, I started considering other options. Running into Heston Blumenthal and his press agent, Monica, I inquired about the possibility of dining at The Fat Duck over the weekend. I had discovered inexpensive airfares between Madrid and London and London and Lyon. They said that as of then the restaurant was fully booked, but they would let me know if a space opened. This proved to be a difficult and costly dilemma. With that possibility open – The Fat Duck, like Mugaritz, is one of a handful of restaurants that somehow I have to find a way to get to – I couldn't or wouldn't make definitive alternate plans until I had exhausted that possibility.

An invitation to visit  Alicante once again, was seriously tempting, especially since there appeared to be reasonable fares to Lyon from there. As the week went along, that invitation looked more and more enticing as The Fat Duck looked less and less likely. By Thursday, I had determined to spend the weekend in Alicante relaxing, writing and dining on seriously good food. The problem was that the inexpensive tickets from Alicante to Lyon disappeared. After a nearly sleepless night on Thursday, I concluded that I simply could not take the chance to go to Alicante. I decided to spend the weekend in Madrid.

Friday morning I tried to book a flight on Easy jet for Sunday from Madrid to Lyon. Despite the fact that the website says they take American Express (at a fee similar to what they do with Visa), my attempt at booking the flight kept getting rejected! I had been using Amex almost exclusively and up to that point without trouble. Frustrated, I determined to explore additional alternatives, the best of which appeared to be an overnight train from Madrid to Paris on Saturday night followed by a TGV train from Paris to Lyon on Sunday morning. Since I would have to pay for a hotel and dinner anyway, the fairly steep last minute cost of a booking for a Gran Clase cabin was not a total budget blower. Besides, the weather throughout Western Europe that weekend was not supposed to be so great and I felt the train would likely be more reliable getting me to my destination.

Having been given advice to make the reservation and purchase the ticket at a travel agent, I went to one near my hotel. Unfortunately, that agent, who didn't re-open until 5PM, proved to be technologically challenged, taking an inordinate amount of time to get the information and subsequent reservation. The first snag occurred when they couldn't process my Amex. The second occurred when my Visa, previously unused on this trip, was declined. Time was passing and I started to get an uneasy feeling as I rushed out of the agency. I called American Express Travel Service, but even though it was still beyond their usual 24 hour booking limit, they could not process a ticket for me either! There was nothing left to do but head on over to the train station and purchase my ticket directly. Though it took a little while to accomplish this, everything actually worked. I was able to purchase my tickets with my  Amex and had the tickets in hand. I was relieved and even still had time (thanks to Madrid's late dining hours) to join a couple of good Madrileño friends for a tapas crawl.

After a good night's sleep, I awoke to a beautiful day in Madrid, which I proceeded to enjoy as I awaited my train. I had really come to look forward to the experience despite  traveling alone and was excited as I set off for the Chamartin Train Station. I arrived early with plenty of time to spare. As I searched the monitor for the track assignment, I quickly spotted my train's designation. Oddly, there was no track assignment associated with the train. With a sinking feeling, I read the word “suspendido” next to the listing. I quickly made my way to an information booth to discover that this train, the one I had now had my heart set on, was, in fact, canceled! With my jaw and my heart on the floor, I found out that the reason for the cancellation was a hurricane along the northern Spanish and southwestern French coastal areas along the route of the train knocking out power. The train would be unable to proceed! So much for the train being a better bet than an airplane in foul weather. Unable to book for the following night, I obtained a refund and moved on.

I was at my wit's end, not knowing what I would do. I would need a place to sleep that night as well as transportation to Lyon if I could get it or to home if I couldn't. Since the Bocuse D'Or was not scheduled to begin until Tuesday, I tried to rebook for Sunday night. Unfortunately, that was already booked up. I did manage to get the last room still available in the hotel I had been staying at. Returning there, I was able to get back online. On a whim, I rechecked Easy Jet. They still appeared to have availability for flights to Lyon on Sunday, though at a slightly higher but still affordable cost than what appeared on Thursday and Friday. When I tried Amex again it still did not work. I had earlier spoken to my wife to inform her of my travails. Fortunately she told me that Visa had called about suspicious activity in Madrid and that she had set the record straight for them. As a last ditch effort, I tried the booking with Visa. This time it worked! I had a confirmed flight to Lyon on Sunday. I would get to the Bocuse D'Or after all.

By this time I had learned not to really believe that it would happen until it actually did. Another dilemma faced me. The weather in Lyon was predicted to be good on Sunday but not so much on Monday. In the meantime, Sunday in Madrid was predicted to be rainy and windy. Barcelona was supposed to have good weather on Sunday. The thought crossed my mind, should I take a train to Barcelona and fly from there or should I stay in Madrid and take my chances from there? I opted for the latter choice figuring that if I couldn't get to Lyon via Madrid at this point it was simply not meant to be.

As I left for the Madrid airport on Sunday it was raining. I had trepidation but when I arrived, the flight was still scheduled and on time. In fact, I managed to get through the whole process of boarding the airplane relatively unscathed. I was on the plane! Even this, though did not get off entirely smoothly. The flight wound up delayed as a passenger decided to leave the plane. The airline had to find and remove his luggage. The delay lasted about twenty minutes, but then we were finally off, ultimately making it to my hotel in Lyon without any other major hold-ups or hassles.

My “hotel,” Les Carres Pegase near a campus of the University of Lyon, was the last and only room that I could find in Lyon for the time I would be there. There is a reason that they still had availability. The place is a low service, run down hole in the wall. I was given a studio on the 7^th floor. I was not sure that the elevator would survive the way up to my floor, but despite my apprehension it did. I did not have great expectations for this hotel, but my first impression was even lower than those expectations as the wallpaper throughout the small apartment was peeling and there were several holes punched in the walls. I did not relish the idea of staying there and began to question what I was doing. Fortunately, upon closer inspection, though the place was in poor repair, it wasn't actually dirty. That night, the bed even proved more comfortable than I thought.

After a reasonable night's sleep, things started looking up as I discovered that the location was actually relatively convenient for me. Other than the fact that the elevator finally went out of service on Tuesday and did not get back into service until Wednesday night, the hotel turned out better than my initial impressions had me believe.

The end of my trip was approaching, but a smooth uneventful finish was simply not to be. On Tuesday evening we discovered that a general transportation strike was scheduled across France for Thursday, my scheduled departure date. With the strike participation of the air traffic controllers, the likelihood of my flight's not going or delay was real. Simply getting to the airport would likely be difficult as well. The likelihood of either missing my flights because I couldn't get to the airport or getting stuck at the airport if the flights were canceled was too great to simply ignore. On Wednesday evening as the strike started to take hold, I called Continental Airlines to inquire regarding my options. To their credit, they were able to re-book me for Friday without a fee. Though I was really looking forward to getting home ASAP, I weighed the options and figured that changing to Friday represented my best bet for doing so. I jumped on the change and re-booked.

As it turned out, Thursday was a beautiful day in Lyon and the only day that I had an opportunity to see the city during the day. With the help of friends, it turned out that I made the best of that day. Friday's flights were smooth, however, there had to be some hitch. Though I made the connection in Paris, my luggage did not. This time, however, a flight delay in Newark was a good thing as it allowed my bags to make it on to my flight home!

Madrid Fusion 2009 - An Overview

Four days of presentations, exhibits, demonstrations, food, wine, cocktails and energy sapping running around - that is Madrid Fusion. The seventh consecutive edition of this world famous, trailblazing event took place in Madrid, Spain at the Palacio Municipal de Congresos in northeastern Madrid a metro stop away from the airport from the 19th-22nd of January. While the audience was largely Spanish, presenters, cooks and journalists came from around the world to participate in and partake of the proceedings. It is a massive organizational undertaking with a multimillion Euro budget employed for getting presenters, setting the stages of the convention center, publicity and entertainment. The organizers led by the founders Jose Carlos and his sister Esmeralda Capel certainly have made this handling this process into second nature for them including such details as live multilingual translations available via headsets.

This year's program included in addition to the usual presentations from established and rising Spanish chefs sharing their approaches and techniques, several special areas of focus. Each year, the Congress tends to focus on a particular geographic region, bringing chefs and important culinary professionals from that region to Madrid to give a flavor of where they are from and to highlight the important  culinary trends from that region. Last year the focus shone on Scandinavia, highlighting the work of Rene Redzepi, Magnus Ek, Matthias Dahlgren and others. This year that honor fell on the country of Mexico including such well known chefs and writers like Patricia Quintana, Enrique Olvera and Ricardo Munoz. In addition there were special focus subjects such as exploring the effects of the world economy on cuisine, noting the rise of "poor" haute cuisine, gastrobars from noted chefs and a continued trend towards the offering of small plates. While increased ecological awareness in the kitchen has been around in the US for some time, that is only recently becoming a consideration in Spain and Europe. With all the "serious" subjects, the elements that made Madrid Fusion world famous, original, creative cookery and "play food" were not to be left out. Within all of this there were discussions and debates between some of the world's most creative culinary minds on "Molecular Gastronomy" and Pierre Gagnaire giving an honest and heart felt discussion of his culinary philosophy.

I hope in the coming weeks to provide pictorial and verbal impressions of some of the proceedings. In addition, I plan to report on my culinary experiences of Madrid both within and away from the Congress. Please stay tuned.

Madrid Redux Part II - Casa Lucio

Tucked in a small entry along the famous Cava Baja in old Madrid, is Casa Lucio, a legendary haunt of the rich and powerful of Madrid as well as visiting dignitaries. Add this to the list of places that former President Bill Clinton graced whilst traveling abroad attending to his stately duties. I first had the pleasure of visiting this fine establishment last year at Madrid Fusion when Gerry Dawes, the American wine, food and travel writer, who it seems is well known to anyone who is anyone in the Spanish food and wine worlds, brought me here to indulge in some late night tapas.

Upon entering, the place appears to be a small, atmospheric and somewhat crowded tapas bar not unlike many others in this part of town. However, when one stands at the bar for a few moments and observes the practiced choreography of the men working behind the bar and then begins to sample some of the boquerones and olives, realizing that they are amongst the best examples one has ever tasted of either, it starts to become apparent that this place is not simply just another tapas bar and restaurant. A nice glass of fino doesn't hurt either.

Our party of four now all together, we are escorted into another world, through a warren of dining rooms, up the stairs to our table. A Sunday evening, the place is hopping. I am there at the invitation of my good friend Gerry Dawes, who also happens to be good friends with Lucio, his family and the staff of the restaurant. As I said, Gerry knows or is known to everyone in Spanish culinary circles. This is not a trivial point, as the likelihood of getting into this restaurant on my own on the Sunday before Madrid Fusion would likely have been slim to none.

The wait staff at Lucio have generally been there for quite some time and have experience that shows as they control the atmospheric old Madrid room with a deft and pleasant touch.

We quickly ordered and a short while later our food began to arrive. Though a bit pricey, we ordered some fresh Galician oysters on the half shell. These were massive beasts with boat like shells, each containing the essence of ocean brine along with the mineral rich bivalves. A squeeze of lemon to add a touch of acid and I slurped down the wonderful flesh, following it with the last of my sherry, which proved a good match. I normally prefer smaller oysters at home, but these were so fresh and tasty, they justified the price even in these financially questionable times.

The next dish is a Casa Lucio classic. Seemingly banal, its sheer pleasure belies its simple description and appearance. Huevos Rotos or "broken eggs" consists of fried potatoes ("French fries" to most Americans) bathed in fried (in olive oil) and broken eggs. With runny egg yolks providing the rich and decadent sauce and the fried whites adding additional texture and flavor, it really should come as no surprise that the dish is wonderful. It is amusing though that such a homey dish should reach such a status as being a signature dish in a restaurant like this. The funny thing is, that while simple to prepare, I doubt that the full effect of this dish at this restaurant would be simple to replicate.

Huevos Rotos

Earlier in the day at Los Asturianos I ate morcilla, or pig's blood pudding, a delicious dish. This night I ate morcillo, a boneless osso bucco or veal shank. The flavors were rich and robust, satisfying as winter fare. Interestingly, it came with a side of fried potatoes. Clearly this is not nor should it be a modern restaurant. Though the potatoes on their own are good, I find it amusing that they are served with so many dishes here, much like many restaurants used to (and some still) do in the U.S. This little anachronistic touch is cute, albeit somewhat surprising to me.

Morcillo

Callos means tripe, The next dish, which was called callos had that as well as all sorts of other fine offal including pigs' ears and trotters. Prepared as a stew, the dish had great flavor as well as textural contrast.

Callos

It was interesting to observe the area around us as we were eating. Three Spaniards sitting at the table next to us had ordered angulas, or baby eels, and were each delivered a steaming bowl of these expensive, coveted and unfortunately endangered morsels. Often, substitutions are made like is done with surimi or imitation crab for which pollock and other fish are substituted for the real thing. In Spain, people have gone so far as to paint eyes on the fake product with squid ink to give an air of greater authenticity. If what these people ate was fake, the people who prepared them did a great job of making them look like the real thing. While Spain has wonderful artisans, I don't think that was the case here.

Lucio himself made his way up to our table as he made his rounds through the restaurant greeting his guests and embracing old friends. Of course he knew and embraced Gerry and they spoke as old friends, but he treated everyone else just as warmly, even displaying a special medal that he had received. There is something to be said about the personality of a restaurant and that personality emanating from an individual or individuals. That is often what makes  a restaurant special. There is no doubt that the personality of Lucio casts a glow on his place, giving it the warmth to make people feel at home and comfortable. Make no mistake, the food is very good, but it is Lucio himself that elevates the restaurant and makes it special.

It was fitting that my first day back in Madrid, i would return to some traditional places from a year ago. It was a comfortable way to settle back into this lovely, vibrant city. I toyed with the idea of returning to Casa Botin on this trip to re-taste their cochinillo or suckling pig. Not having been there since 1974 and having a special memory from that visit, I ultimately decided not to return. I preferred, in this case, to leave that memory alone. I have heard that it is still good and their cochinillo still fine, but the restaurant could not possibly live up to the memory nor should it have to. It has simply been too long and too much is now different with both myself and Madrid.

Representative Kirsten Gillibrand Appointed Senator from New York

I am excited that Kirsten Gillibrand, my Congresswoman and a friend to the small farms of our region and now the rest of New York as well as the country has been appointed U.S. Senator by Gov. Patterson. First there was President Obama's inauguration and now this. I am pleased.

A Collection of Culinary Genius

Madrid Fusion put together quite an impressive array of chefs when they decided to honor the ten chefs they considered the most influential in the world over the past decade. The bottom row from L to R included Juan Marie Arzak, Ferran Adria, Nobu Matsuhisa and Charlie Trotter. Top row : Sebastien Bras representing his father Michel, Pierre Gagnaire, Pierre Herme, Heston Blumenthal, Thomas Keller and Gualtieri Marchesi.

While some may argue that some of these chefs' greatest influences occurred before the last ten years and that other deserving chefs should have made this list, there was no doubting the sheer amount of culinary genius and influence together on the stage at the same time. What's more, there were quite a few chefs nearly as notable in the audience applauding them on.

Madrid Redux - Part One

When I visited last year it had been 34 years since my previous visit to Madrid. One year later I am back. Madrid Fusion is the reason I have returned, though no excuse should ever really be necessary to come to this lovely city or country.

My first day was dedicated to recovering from an uneventful trans-Atlantic red-eye and to revisiting a few highlights from last year. While waiting for my room to be ready at the charming, small hotel Room Mate Oscar in the Chueca district just off the Gran Via, I went out for a stroll down to the Puerta del Sol and on to the Plaza Mayor before heading back. Though the sky was gray, my mood wasn't as I soaked up the atmosphere of Sunday Madrid in the old part of the city. I didn't bring my camera. Though there were some wonderfully picaresque photo opportunities missed, I enjoyed the sensation that since I had been and photographed there before, I could simply savor it for the moment. The funny thing is that I don't have a great compunction to be much of a tourist this year. Last year, it was enlightening to revisit places I hadn't seen since I was a teen-ager. Now it feels much like when I am in NYC, it is the overall vibe that excites me.

For me, a very important part of the vibe of a city is its food. Los Asturianos (Vallehermoso 94, Madrid, Spain 28003, +34 915 33 59 47) proved to be one of my very finest meals of 2008. Like in 2008, I visited there on my first day in town, this time accompanied by two American expats living and working in Madrid, Kathleen Berger, a talented and dedicated opera singer originally from Phoenix, Arizona and Lisa Abend, a former college History Professor and now food writer focusing on Spain. I walked to the restaurant to work up an appetite and to shake off some of the jet lag and get a sense of a part of the city I hadn't walked through before.

Kathleen arrived first, just before me at 2:30PM, the time of our reservation. While we waited for Lisa, we were greeted by Alberto Fernandez Bombin, one of the brothers who runs the front of the house along with their wine business, while their mother does the cooking. Alberto is a force of nature. One doesn't need much time to get a sense of the joy of living within this energetic young man. Kathleen and I each had a glass of one of the house reds, Macpajo,at the bar while we were brought a serving of arroz con pollo that was full of flavor along with a few bones to accompany the pieces of chicken laced throughout.

arroz con pollo

Lisa arrived shortly after and we were brought to a table in the back room of this busy, small restaurant. The decor and setting will never compete with those of restaurants looking for a certain cache, but the place is cozy in a down-home, look what I discovered way. Here it is all about what is on the plate and in the glass.

I was happy to be back in this welcoming environment. Since Los Asturianos serves food available on a seasonal basis, many of the same dishes were on the menu as they were last year. we could not resist the berberechos or cockles. sauteed with garlic, parsley and olive oil, once again they were cooked perfectly: plump, moist and of the sea. Another repeat for me was the verdinas con mariscos, or baby green beans with shellfish. Is there a better comfort food than expertly cooked beans? A dish new to me, was the morcilla  matachana with puree de pimientos de piquillo. Matachana is the name of a town in Leon where this type of morcilla comes from. For those who may not know, morcilla is a blood sausage, in this case not encased and enhanced with raisins. Ringed y a puree of piquillo peppers, the flavors of this preparation were outstanding, despite the relatively unappealing appearance of the morcilla itself.

berberechos


verdinas con mariscos


morcilla  matachana

For the first part of the meal we enjoyed a Jerez, La Bota de Fino Macharnudo No. 15. This 15% alcohol wine had a strong nose of apples with little bite on the tongue from the alcohol. The alcohol started to bite me a bit later in the meal as my ability to comprehend Spanish deteriorated rapidly!

We finished the main part of the meal with a beautifully cooked entrecote a la plancha. To accompany the steak we enjoyed the restaurant's other house red, Tres Patas 2006. While the tomatoes appeared similar to the insipid ones found in American supermarkets in January, that is where the similarities ended. The tomato was a breathe of summer in the cool Madrid winter.

entrecote a la plancha

We finished the meal with another repeat for me, an example of perfection in chocolate, their chocolate mousse with Maldon salt and olive oil. Though not the fanciest appearing or most beautiful chocolate dessert, there are not many that are superior in terms of taste and mouthfeel.

After lunch I walked back to my hotel to take a nap before venturing back out into the Madrid night.

Max London's Goes Slow

The Saratoga Region Convivium of Slow Food USA has initiated a series of monthly dinners at area restaurants in an attempt to bring more patrons to worthy restaurants in order to help support those restaurants and to get great meals at great prices for Slow Food members and friends. The first of the series was held On Wednesday, January 14th at Max London's Restaurant in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The idea was to put together a three course meal at a set price inclusive of tax and tip, but not beverages The price of the meal was set at $35 for Slow Food members and $40 for non-members.

With 24 seats available, all were filled. Everyone expected a fine meal at a reasonable price. What was delivered, though, was an outstanding meal at a steal of a price. Max London's set the bar high for future events. The dinner was only nominally a three course meal as the "first" course consisted of seven different appetizers served family style. For the second course, diners had a choice of 4 different dishes and then a choice of two desserts. As if that was not enough of a bargain, Max London provided us with happy hour bar pricing all evening.

The evening started around 6:30 with members initially congregating around the bar to meet and greet as well as warm up from the frigid winter temperatures outside. Once everyone was relaxed, we were seated along a round (added on for overflow attendance) and a single long table just off the open kitchen, which is normally centered around a wonderful wood burning pizza oven. Unfortunately for Max,  the pizza oven had had a malfunction and for the first time since the restaurant opened was non-operational. As Max makes some of the finest pizze around, I was initially disappointed. I needn't have worried.

With all the appetizers served family style, the meal started with salt cod salad with piquillo peppers and olives.The dish blended these Mediterranean flavors well with the peppers and providing color as well as textural contrast to the soft white cod. We were off to a nice start, especially as this was accompanied by Michael London's exquisite Fire bread and olive oil.

salt cod salad with piquillo peppers and olives

Menus had been presented by our plates, so by this time we all had an idea of what was to come. Despite that, it was difficult to pace oneself and restrict oneself to mere tastes as the plates came around loaded with generous portions. We continued on our Mediterranean odyssey as we were served white anchovy bocadillos. The luscious anchovies had been marinated in a light vinegar giving them additional pop.

 

White Anchovy Bocadillos

Wrinkled fingerling potatoes with mojo rojo followed. The sauce just made the potatoes explode with flavor, making what appeared to be a pedestrian dish truly shine.

Wrinkled fingerling potatoes with mojo rojo

House-cured coppa, aged Manchego and membrillo sandwiches came up next. These were good, but a little too heavy on the sweetness of the membrillo for my taste.

 

House-cured coppa, aged Manchego and membrillo sandwiches

Rhode Island Squid with feta meatballs in a tomato sauce was very tasty. The meatballs, a non-intuitive match were especially noteworthy.

Rhode Island Squid with feta meatballs

The biggest hit of the night for me was Flying Pigs farm pork belly with pickled shard. This was cooked perfectly with a crisp exterior and unctuous interior.

Flying Pigs farm pork belly

 

pickled shard

The last of the "1st course" dishes was brought to the table. It was house made pappardelle with rabbit confit. The combination of ribbony pasta, braised rabbit, greens and grated cheese worked well providing comfort like only pasta can.

house made pappardelle with rabbit confit

With everyone full or nearly so from the cornucopia of appetizers, it was on to the main course. Max generously provided 4 choices, none of which were on the regular menu that night. They included slow roasted Flying Pigs farm pork shoulder with dirty rice and cilantro mojo, Calabro hand-dipped Ricotta Ravioli with salsa verde, seared tuna belly confit with crispy potatoes, lemon and herbs and something rarely if ever seen on a menu in these parts, stuffed pig's trotters with Anson Mills grits and spicy greens. Of course, I ordered the trotters. My heart sank when I saw the plates being served. There was no way that I was going to be able to finish! What I was able to eat was simply delicious. The trotters, accumulated over time by the restaurant for such an occasion as this, mixed gelatinous cartilage with flavorful meat, all set atop the well-flavored grits. The ravioli ordered by my wife were also tasty. It seemed as if most everyone enjoyed their main courses as well.

roasted Flying Pigs farm pork shoulder

seared tuna belly confit

stuffed pig's trotters

Calabro hand-dipped Ricotta Ravioli with salsa verde

It is next to impossible to dine at Max London's and pass up desserts, especially as they are made my Max's charming mother and the proprietress behind the adjacent Mrs. London's Bakery & Cafe, Wendy London. The choices consisted warm apple-Calvados custard cake with Calvados whipped cream and slow baked flourless chocolate cake with Pistachio ice cream. My wife and I had each between us. As with all of Wendy London's desserts, they were quite delicious. The pistachio ice cream was particularly notable, however, for its depth and purity of pistachio flavor. A big fan of pistachios, I can't recall ever having had a tastier pistachio ice cream.

 

warm apple-Calvados custard cake

slow baked flourless chocolate cake

Slow Food Saratoga Region and our members could not have asked for a better beginning to this series. The conviviality shared amongst new and old friends was just what we were hoping for. While I expected delicious food, the variety and quantity blew me away given the price. Chef London and his sous chef, Clifton Booth, did yeoman's work along with the rest of their kitchen and wait staff (particular mention goes to Zach Lobdell for handling the bulk of the wait duties with skill and aplomb) I hadn't written much about beverages before now, but with beer, wine and cocktails priced extremely reasonably, our diners were able to quench their thirsts without emptying their wallets. Over the course of the meal, my wife and I shared two fine wines served in a quartino format with each quartino selling for only $9. The first was a crisp reisling and the second a robust primitivo, the names of which escape me.

Max London's Restaurant and bar has set the bar high for all the restaurants who follow it in this series. We will be spending the rest of the winter in Saratoga Springs, before the series begins to branch out to the rest of the region in the spring.

For more information on the Slow Food Saratoga Region Convivium, please contact me by email. Slow Food Saratoga Region Restaurant dinners are planned to take place the second Wednesday of every month. The next event is scheduled for The Beekman Street Bistro in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. on Wednesday, February, 11th.

For additional photos please see here.

The U.S. Economy and Food: A Survey Part Three

Question 3. Whither from here? While there is no question that people are concerned and in some cases scared, most are see a winnowing of current dining options. One chef from the Southwest opined, "Personally, I think the two types of business that will survive are either specialist operations, doing an area of food well or "High End" restaurants that are limited seating ( no more then 45/60 seats)and would be classified "Luxe" I think it would be easier to sell food that costs a lot to customers then beat around the bush, give people a premium product," while another chef from the southeast predicted, "the official death of "fine dining" as we knew it 10 years ago." A Chicago chef prognosticated, "I think we are going to see a lot of small plates, half portion, prix fixe sort of thing in the next year. People are going to continue to eat out, just be much more selective. I think established restaurants will do well but newer places will have a hard time and i think we'll see closings and/or "reconcepting". People are going to get food to go or delivered more often and a lot of restaurants are going to start catering to this. I also foresee a lot of cheaper drinks or happy hour sort of promotions since liquor is highly profitable." These sentiments were echoed in this response from a NYC chef who finished with a warning, "I feel that we are going to see less of the finer dining restaurants opening and surviving in these lean times. I also foresee that the average size of restaurants will decrease as it becomes more difficult to fill a large restaurant and more importantly, harder to raise the capital to open large operations. There will also be a greater shift towards pick up/ take out meals and prepared chef meals purchased for finishing at home. As a business we will see the job pool increase and the opportunities to hire better qualified personal at lower salaries due to staff cut backs. Conversely, Chefs and managers with higher salaries may find themselves being replaced by cheaper, younger, hungrier persons." Not everyone is pessimistic, however, A chef at a NYT four star restaurant in NYC wrote, "At the end of the day, our vision as a restaurant hasn't swayed: we're essentially a 'family' business, so the staff has been and will continue to be taken care of, and in terms of food and service, we remain focused on the quality and integrity of our product." Another NYC chef wrote looking on the bright side, " i think restaurauteurs (and chefs) are forced to re-evaluate spendings and business structure. for the first time, we had to be open for thanksgiving and christmas with limited menu/staff, which turned out to be good for us and a lot of people who are used to travelling during the holidays stay in town. optimistically speaking, it's possible that the same thought applies to summer season which is notorious for being slow for restaurants as most travel out of town." Philip Preston of PolyScience concluded, "We work in niche areas so as these techniques gain broader acceptance we need to continually innovate to stay ahead of threats from the giants in the industry. I see a general trend toward quality. Today with most Americans able to tell you the names of the Iron Chefs and innovators like Grant Achatz, Thomas Keller, Wylie Dufresne, Jean George Vongerichten, and Charle Trotter among many others, the bar is going up. I believe that this higher expectation will filter to the sales meetings and conference centers and the days of rainbow beef and rubber chicken are numbered." Perhaps when all is said and done, the wine importer said it best, "Most of what is happening is cyclical. It will shake out the bad operations and the businesses who don't manage their cash well. But if you can survive the short run, things will turn around and business will be easier. The trick is to make it that far."

The U.S. Economy and Food: A Survey Part Two

Question 2. The food industry, fortunately is not static. They can and do change, responding to the times. Some restaurants have anticipated tough times and made adjustments to their practices ahead of time. Jose Duarte of Taranta in Boston, a trailblazing restaurant in terms of running green said, "We are one of the Nation's most Eco Friendly restaurants and that has helped with energy costs, water, etc." Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo, a premiere seller of top quality heirloom beans and other products, sees the economic situation as a potential opportunity, "I'm expanding. I think there's a better chance to make more of an impact now. I think if we sold something silly or frivolous I might change things but  I think we're doing something that matters." He sees "home cooking (becoming) more important and (hopes) our ingredients play a big role in that." On a more somber note, he added, "I know how lucky I am at the moment and take nothing for granted."

Chefs and restaurateurs are making additional adjustments. One chef wrote, "I am softening prices as much as possible and riding vendors a lot harder to help keep the costs down for everyone. I am focusing my energy on marketing items like our bar/lounge burger which is the same dry aged beef and natural c.a.b. that we serve, grilled on the same wood fire and basted with the same red wine butter.....for 1/3 the price. hopefully it will lure some in where they might buy a cocktail or help us make a splash with the locals who will continue to support us. Investing in our core clientele also goes a long way in tough times." Another chef wrote, "One of the things that I have done is cut back on expensive ingredients ( food costs) and I've had to lay off a few people.I've had to make many difficult decisions about artisan products and whether or not I can continue to use some of them. We still use local ingredients but have cut back there too. I've been running inexpensive specials using lesser used cuts of meat, fish, etc. and people are responding. I'm not a big fan of prix fixe, I'd rather tweak my menu to have less expensive options. i think knee jerk reactions to the economy as such send a message of desperation to your customers. That's just my opinion. Having said that, I just started running a prix fixe at lunch because the owners thought it was a good idea but i cant really see any difference as far as sales." Running bargain prix fixe specials seems to have become popular as a number of chefs have reported doing that or offering cheaper appetizers and desserts to try to maintain or boost sales of those items.

While that chef and others are reducing their use of local ingredients, others are not, finding stability with them. One midwestern chef wrote, "We also continue to buy all we can from local purveyors, whose prices do not fluctuate with the wind."

Some restaurants are adjusting their practices to try to maintain wine sales and to attract more business. One NY restaurant started pairing dishes with wines and offering the wines at a small discount in an attempt to drum up sales. Another started selling wine at half price on Tuesdays.

The supply side of alcohol sales can be a factor for the struggling restaurant as well. A wine importer wrote, "To combat this (the recession), I have done several things. First, I have stepped up my approaches to new accounts as well as solidifying current accounts. Actually, we have been very aggressive. People are still buying wine; so I'd like to get what I can now. Plus, that will better position me when things turn around. And things will turn around in due time. Second, I have cut superfluous expenses. We're running lean, but are not doing without the important expenses. Third, we have watched cash flow like a hawk. That means our inventory is smaller and we sometimes prefer not to make a sale to a marginal client unless he pays up front. The worst thing than missing a sale is making a "sale" to someone who doesn't pay. There are other things, too, but suffice it to say that cash is king, especially in this environment."

Leaner seems to be the way to go. As one chef put it, "We are running leaner operations. going with less staff and offering more affordable options for both the restaurant and consumer.  Profit margins are shrinking just to stay in business. More attention is being paid to the controllable costs in a restaurant.  Labor, food and operational costs are being scrutinized more closely.  Luxe items are finding their way off menus, being replaced with more creative alternatives."

In short, chefs , producers and people in the trade are doing what they need to in order for their businesses and themselves to survive. The savviest and the luckiest likely will survive, but it seems, with already tight margins for most restaurants that it will take a lot of each.

To be continued...

The U.S. Economy and Food: A Survey Part One

It is hard to miss. Everyone is discussing the poor economy and the recession, which helps it to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Needless to say, in my circles there is much talk about the recession's effects on the food industry, especially after the shocking closing of Fiamma, a NYT three star restaurant in NYC, directly blamed on the economy. There is a feeling of foreboding throughout the industry and much talk of gloom and doom, but very little of a systematic approach examining this issue, at least that I am aware of. Although my approach remains anecdotal, I took it upon myself to reach out to nearly one hundred industry professionals across the United States and asked three questions:

1. How have you been affected by the economic climate?
2. What have you and your business done to weather the current economic climate?
3. What changes, if any, do you see coming down the road to effect your business and the food industry in general?

The responses I have received so far have been very interesting and surprisingly frank with some asking me not to identify them as they were discussing a potentially sensitive subject regarding their businesses.

Question 1. The common theme is as one well known chef said, "we are seeing fewer number of covers and decreased check average.  Dessert and Appetizer sales are suffering as well." He also lamented, "investors are hard to find and many are being effected as the days come and are therefore forced to pull monies out of projects.  A pastry chef responded, "The restaurant has been affected by the things you read about everywhere: Less dessert ordering, being a pastry chef, that affects me directly, although sometimes sales have been better then normal! Go figure..." A chef from Chicago responded, "I am executive chef at a high volume upscale restaurant in Chicago and the thing that has changed the most in the last few months is banquet/private dining business. it has been decimated. Big companies are simply not having parties anymore. We had quite a few Christmas parties cancel this year. our regular dining is down somewhat but I've noticed people are still eating out but spending less. my check average has gone down slightly and a lot of my servers are telling me people are tipping less. People are shying away from high ticket items and buying less expensive main courses." A popular chef in NYC noted, "we have fewer reservations compared to last year, about 35% less, particularly with the early and late tables.  our average check decreased by 25%.  our "no shows" increased by 10%." Another chef in Boston replied, "We experienced a drastic reduction in corporate business in the last quarter of 08, many Holiday functions canceled, some of them under contract. We specialize in Holiday Functions, Corporate Teambuilding through cooking etc. Biz was 50% less  than year before." Wine sales are an area that many chefs agree has seen reductions in spending on the part of consumers. One wine importer confirmed this impression, stating, "As a wine importer, I have been affected by restaurant slow downs and closings. Many restaurants are off by 25-50% or even more. And the closings speak for themselves. Less people in the restaurants mean less wine sales. Pretty simple. I've also been affected by people buying less expensive wines -- in both restaurants and wine shops -- where margins are tighter (for me anyway)." Another chef, added perhaps the most dire assessment of the situation, ""Due to the sensitive nature of financial information I can only say that most fine dining operators will admit to being down about 20%. The real truth is that most are down between 35% and 55% in total sales. Scary times indeed."

Not all has been doom and gloom, however. Philip Preston, President of PolyScience, the company that makes much of the innovative new cooking equipment on the market in the United States such as thermal circulators, water baths for sous vide cooking novel food smoking devices, etc.  prefaced his answer to the questions  "by saying that my views and approaches are not at all typical of what I hear is happening in the industry. I believe that bucking trends can offer great opportunities for PolyScience." He added, "We have felt no impact of the economic downturn yet but I do expect that we will. Generally the greatest effect has been a sense of fear that people have that provides them with justification to hunker down. Not to downplay the seriousness of the situation, I have seen plenty of good hard working people suffer. We are fortunate that our diverse market segments are not as seriously impacted as others." Depending on the market, some restaurants have continued to be very busy. Noca, the new restaurant in Phoenix has continued to be quite busy, taking advantage of "the season" to continue to advance their market. Eliot Wexler, the principle owner and general manager of the restaurant, told me that this past Friday, they did their most covers ever.

The bottom line though is that the effect of the current economy on the restaurant industry seems to be quite real. Unless the restaurants are able to take steps to stanch the bleeding, it is quite likely that the rate of closures will increase even taking well known names.

To be continued...

In Memoriam - Fabio Trabocchi's Fiamma in NYC

It happened. The first NY Times three star restaurant of the year to close is Fiamma, which was a jewel of a restaurant under the supremely talented Italian chef, Fabio Trabocchi. According to Eater.com, the restaurant was a casualty of the economy, despite the three stars garnered by Trabocchi in November of 2007. According to Steve Hanson, President and Founder of B.R. Guest, the parent company of Fiamma, "I just couldn't sustain the restaurant with one 6:00-9:30 seating. And on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays we weren't even doing that. Wall Street's [woes] have been devastating to business. These guys just don't have the expense accounts anymore. Fabio was great to work with, the staff was great. It's all a product of the economy." Fiamma was not the only B.R.Guest casualty as the restaurants Ruby Foo's (uptown) and Blue Water Grill in Chicago also closed.

I can't speak to the other restaurants, but I am truly disturbed by Fiamma's closing. It was a restaurant that I would very much have liked to frequent and would have if I lived in the city. As it is, I don't get to the city nearly as often as I like and so never get to really "frequent" any restaurant there. Nevertheless, the one meal I had there the night before Bruni's awarding of three stars was memorable and quite fine, landing number 6 on my top restaurant meals of 2007 list. This is not just a has been restaurant that closed. It was arguably the flagship restaurant for a large and previously very successful restaurant organization. I expect Fabio Trabocchi to land on his feet. He is too talented and skilled not to. The question is where, when and cooking what.

Below is an excerpt from an interview I did with Chef Trabocchi at the 2nd Annual Styarchefs International Chefs Congress in 2007 in NYC just before he started at Fiamma.

JMS: Chefs TY VM for the interview. My name is John Sconzo. I’m with chef Fabio Trabocchi, of Fiamma in NYC as of tomorrow night and Chef Tom Wellings, the pastry chef from Maestro who accompanied Chef Trabocchi to Fiamma. Welcome to NY and cent’ anni!

FT: That sounds good!

JMS: I would like to focus this interview on the topic you just addressed in your ICC workshop – mixing tradition and innovation in Italian food. In Spain certainly, innovation has become the norm and is widely accepted. In France innovation this has also been the case for some time. In Italy this has been the case too, but in a much less obvious way. It seems much harder to be innovative in Italy than in other countries though it isn’t necessarily easy anywhere. Chef you obviously innovate yet just as obviously respect tradition

FT: Well I think it is very important to respect traditions. It is very impt to be aware of traditions and it is very important to make sure that we know traditions. We cannot  start the evolutionary part of our Italian cuisine if we are not rooted in traditions. If we only have an approximate knowledge of what traditions were and were just tryiong to impress with evolutionary technique, we would probably miss the original beauty of that dish. However, times are changing, so something that is traditional and is pure on its own, can be transplanted into something that is more sophisticated for the modern time. It is very important that in doing so we don’t lose some very important factors. Flavor would be the most important. I do feel that there should be something that reminds me of the way it used to be. There can be a cerebral job of the chef behind the dish that took something that we know and put it into something completely different in a different form. I grew up in Italy and was lucky enough to have a father who was a former farmer and I was always surrounded by food. My father always thought it was very important and it was normal for our lifestyle to be surrounded by food.

JMS: You grew up in Le Marche?

FT: Yes, I grew up in Le Marche. It was normal for us on a Friday or a Saturday to do our groceries for the weekend to go to our friends who was a farmer. It was normal for Fabio being 6 years old to choose which chicken in the field would be the Sunday meal. It was normal for our eggs to only be from that particular farmer. It was normal that our water was only pulled from the fountains that come from the mountains closest to where I come from. It was normal that we go to the greenmarket every Thursday because that is where we would bump into all the people that we know. In Italy, especially in le Marche, as times were changing they went through an economic step called “share-cropping” that came and disappeared. There were a lot of farmers who were able to live in extensive tracts of territory and were able to live there so long as they would give the owners the majority of the product. When this share-cropping ended the farmers all had to re-invent themselves into more modern jobs. It was normal for me to go to a baker that was actually a farmer and it was normal for me to go see a butcher that was actually happy to be a farmer. That is how I started to be surrounded by food. I never knew that it would become a career afterwards and I don’t think my father ever thought this would become a career for me afterwards either.

JMS: What was your father’s career?

FT: My father was what you probably call in English here, a “Renaissance man”. A guy who would probably fix your tripod if it doesn’t work right now or would paint this entire building or would fix an outlet for electricity or even fix his own car – it is not a problem! Anyway, that is how I grew up and I was surrounded by this so I think my route to tradition is sincere. However, because I love professional cooking and I was lucky enough to work with very good chefs as my career began I learned that it is important to bring clarity and simplicity to a plate, to focus on good ingredients but at the same time apply modern technique where you can only enhance the product. As much as I love the evolutionary part of it because that is where I use all of my creativity I will always feel the rigor and the discipline to be true to traditions. But as you say, in Italy it is very difficult to do this compared to other regions. I think historically some of the reasons are because we never codified Italian cuisine. If you go to old French cookbooks like Escoffier  you find codification of all the garnishes. You have duxelles for mushrooms, perigord for truffles. They codified all the recipes and so forth. That was a very important milestone to talk about “French” cuisine. It was always a fairing point to where everything started. Italians were always more about personal interpretation of everything. The same kind of pasta with the same kind of filling would be slightly different 5 miles to the south than 5 miles to the north. And it is called with the same name.

JMS: Do you think that codification is occurring today through the efforts of organizations like Slow Food?

FT: It certainly is, but also what is great about Slow Food is protecting products and ingredients. At this point it is at a global level. It is a very good way to protect ingredients and recipes that are otherwise likely to disappear.

JMS: What about Regionality in Italian cuisine? It seems to me that in today’s world of globalization that the borders of regionality are starting to blur. Do you think that is the case and if you do, do you see it as a problem or something to be celebrated?

FT: People travel way more today than they ever have before. Even in Italy in my own region of Le Marche , I like to cook a dish of pasta con le sarde which comes from Sicily and if I am in Sicily I may feel like having a risotto Milanese like they do in Milan. There is not really a frontier within our own nation. There are standout dishes that every Italian knows though this is probably a little less as we come into the new generations than there was before. I don’t see the loss of a frontier keeping dishes within a certain region to be a problem. I think what is important is that we need to know what is supposed to be done in a more correct way because there are so many variations and then because of the lack of awareness of what used to be regional and real and authentic it may start to become less “Italian”. WE have a lot of history. During the Roman Empire were they using ginger? Yes. Were the Egyptians growing ducks to produce foie gras? Yes and so were the Romans. We have all those things as part of our culture.

JMS: Speaking of authenticity, do you think it is possible to have authentic Italian cuisine in New York and is it possible to have authentic anything outside of its home region? Do you believe in the term authenticity, a term that has been the subject of  a lot of discussion recently?

FT: My opinion is and I am sure there has been a lot of opinion about this, is it shouldn’t be difficult to be authentic and there again we go back to the drawing board. Do we have a codification? Do we have a document that says what it means to be authentic? Did we ever say that Risotto Milanese should have bone marrow or not? Did we ever say that we only use the pistils of saffron to make it authentic or not? Did we ever say that we use a double chicken stock or a normal chicken stock? Did we ever say that in Milan maybe they use two tablespoons of pecorino mixed in with the parmiggiano cheese because that makes it a little bit saltier and still be part of the Milanese risotto. What is authentic? That is what we need to look for. We can all have our own say and opinion about is this dish authentic or not authentic, but was it ever codified as authentic? We need to look two steps backward and look at what we know as authentic. Was it ever documented what it takes to be authentic? We also know that in Italy for the same dish in the same area or even the same village you have a slightly different interpretation of this and a slightly different interpretation of that.

JMS: Within the same family sometimes.

FT: Exactly. Even within the same family from generation to generation there are slight differences. That cultural factor is wonderful. It doesn’t close up your creativity to a little perimeter. You can really use  wide imagination. To go back to your question, is it easy in the United States or any country that is not Italy to reproduce “authentic” Italian cuisine, I think every one of us has a different interpretation or knowledge about what authentic is all about. I can say that I grew up there and I am authentic. I carry an Italian passport. I’m sure that sometimes I do some dishes that are really Italian, but not so obvious and not so well known as Italian, people would not find it  authentic or find that maybe they are Austrian or German or French. Again we need to do seven steps backwards and look at history. Were we dominated by the French? Yes. Did we absorb some of their culinary culture? Yes. Were we dominated by the Spanish? Yes. Were we dominated by the Austrians? Yes. There is a dish in Italy where I come from nearby Macerata that is called Vincisgrassi. This dish is named after an Austrian general that invaded us just to celebrate the invasion. His name ws Prince Windischgratz, but over centuries the contortion of his name became Vincisgrassi. I think it is a debate that will go on forever. Because we all have different knowledge, awareness or sensitivity to what we think authentic should be.

I certainly wish Chef Trabocchi and all the other staff at Fiamma and the other B.R. Guest restaurants that closed the best of luck.

Flatiron

The flatiron steak has become one of my favorite cuts of beef. It is flavorful, tender, moist and all meat. This was cooked to 125º F in a CVap, finished on the stove top and seasoned with Halen Mon and a little pepper. The beef, grass fed, came from Lewis-Waite Farm in Cambridge, N.Y.

Enhancing the Pleasure of Food

This quote from Michael Laiskonis' latest blog entry entitled Tiny Dots captures my own view towards food and what I love about fine dining.

"It ultimately comes down to refinement, an idea, which like everything else, might mean different things to different people. But it continues to evolve. And for better or worse, fashions and trends will continue to push us in this direction or that. In the end, I do believe that good food is good food, but if it looks amazing, the same dish just might taste that much better. As long as the element doesn't detract from the composition, every drop of reduction or smear of puree is valid. Maybe my quest is not ultimate minimalism, but rather a sense of delibrate intent, making the right choices, and making everything count. And if those artfully placed dots of sauce make the dish better, then it's all good. And if they don't, well, I guess that's ok too."

The same notion applies to other enhancements of food. I enjoy the infusion of humor and cleverness into a dish as well as the creative use of technique and ingredients so long as the dish ultimately works on a taste level. While taste is paramount, the more all of the senses and the intellect are satisfied, the greater the dish. Ultimately, a dish is great or not depending upon how it touches upon our emotions. Certainly not all emotions are necessarily positive. For purpose of this discussion I only refer to  emotions that reflect enhancement of pleasure. Emotions such as fear, disgust and revulsion, while valid and may in some circles be sought after, do not apply here. Whether a dish has that extra positive element because it is cooked by a loved one or because it elicits memories of dishes cooked by loved ones such as what the critic experienced in Ratatouille or because it touches us in other ways, the best dishes always involve an emotional component. That emotion may be based on the past or it may be entirely of the moment. Whichever, it leads to a finer appreciation of a dish. If a dish does not elicit pleasurable emotion it is at best fuel.

As for Michael's blog, I strongly recommend it. He provides thoughtful analysis and insight into his fascinating world.

"Green" Buildings

I came across a very interesting post on the blog Urban Graffiti called "The Walls are Alive," which offers an intriguing view on the future of urban high rise vertical farming.

From the blog:

"Why is sky farming or urban farming such a hot topic?
Because according to predictions, the world population will grow by 3 billion to 9.2 billion people by 2050, requiring 50% more of the current food supplies. With current farming practices, however, we would require additional land for farming, even bigger than the size of Brazil, as currently almost all food-producing land is already being farmed. Therefore, skywards seems to be the solution."

Of personal interest to me is that according to this blog, one of the major visionaries of this field is Dr. Dickson Despommier, a microbiologist at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, my medical school alma mater. Not only did I have Dr. Despommier as a professor in a course on Parasitology (his book Parasitic Disease, now in its 5th Edition, is one of the few books I still have from medical school - it was a second printing of the first edition), he was also my faculty advisor and a man I respected very much then and still do. The course was one of the most interesting of the entire curriculum.

I suspect that we will be doing more than reading about this in the not too distant future. It would give new meaning to the term "locavore," allowing many urbanites to finally be able to use the term in its truest sense.

Cool Hunting's Top Five Buildings of 2008

One of their top buildings is located in nearby Troy, N.Y.

More Loving Lobsters

Two prices I never thought I would see again are gas for less than $2/gallon and lobster at less than $5/lb. Despite the painful circumstances of their return, I must admit that those prices are indeed welcome. I thought I was doing well (and I was) in December when I purchased lobsters at 47.99/lb, but this past Friday at our very own little Hannaford's Supermarket I came across a new shipment of lobsters selling at $4.99/lb for lobsters 2 pounds and under. They had the same deal before New Year's Eve, but had quickly sold out. By all appearances they were well on their way to selling out quickly again. This time, though, I happened to be in the right place at the right time. It's not even as if I was planning on buying lobsters, but at that price I couldn't resist. I bought 3 lobsters between 1.5 and 2 pounds. I had the fish mongers steam the lobsters for me. I also bought 9 ounces of cooked Maine shrimp and  two dozen littleneck clams. I had an idea.

With expensive lobsters it is hard to justify doing anything but serving them simply. However, at this price I felt unconstrained. I was going to use the lobsters, the shrimp and the clams in a pasta dish. I already had everything else I would need at home. When using lobsters for anything other than srved in the shell, I like larger lobsters as they more efficiently provide their meat. It is conceivable to retrieve usable pieces from the carapace, the tail fins and even the individual legs. Indeed I was able to secure as much of the meat as possible from these lobsters.

I'm not a bad cook. For a home cook, I think I'm actually pretty decent. However, my cooking is rarely of a level that I would actually consider writing about it. Occasionally if I'm using special ingredients like the suckling pig or making a holiday dish that I thought came out pretty well like the roasted pumpkin puree, I might post about it here. Or even if I am using a technique that may hold interest like using the CVap in a home, I might write about it. The pasta dish with lobster, shrimp and clams was nothing groundbreaking, but it may very well have been the best pasta dish that I ever prepared. Because of that and the fact that lobster is currently so cheap, I decided to share it here.

I don't generally cook from recipes. I tend to use cookbooks more for inspiration rather than as a detailed road map. This dish was no exception. I had a concept of what I wanted to do and I did it. Unfortunately, this approach tends to make repeating a particular dish difficult at best. My ingredient amounts are not precise. They are guided more by a gestalt than a scale. If interested in trying this dish I would advise the same. Whoever tries to follow along should make it their own. In the meantime I will lay out my ingredients and my techniques as best I can.


Ingredients:

• Lobsters - 3 1.5-2 pounders steamed with meat removed from the shells. Take care to remove as much meat as possible. Use the roe and tomalley if available. Reserve the shells.
• Maine shrimp -9 oz pre-cooked. This is not really necessary, but adds nice visual contrast.
• Littleneck clams - 2 dozen freshly shucked with clam juice reserved
• Linguine or spaghetti - 16oz.
• Garlic 2 large cloves thinly sliced.
• Parsley - 1 cup
• Saffron - to taste depending on the freshness of the supply. Mine is old and has been kept in the freezer. I used enough to notice it.
• Olive oil - approximately half a cup or enough to form a layer in the bottom of a large frying pan.
• Peas - frozen or fresh approximately 1 cup.
• Cherry tomatoes - about one dozen
• Butter - 3 oz or so
• Champagne or other sparkling or white wine approximately 1 cup. We had some leftover 1990 Fleury from New Year's Eve (I know, how is that possible?).
• Water and salt to cook the pasta

Technique:

• Heat the olive oil with lobster shells over low to medium heat until the shells start giving up flavor to the oil. use just enough of the shells to lay across the bottom of the frying pan without crowding.
• Remove the shells and reserve with the rest of the shells to make lobster stock.
• Over low heat add the garlic slivers to the lobster oil and cook untiljust starting to brown.
• Pour the oil into a Vita-Mix or other blender that can withstand the heat.
• Open the clams. They may either be shucked totally raw, reserving the juice or as I did it, heat them in the pan until they just start to open then remove them quickly. Take care to reserve all the clam juices and separate the clams.
• Grind the saffron and add to the blender along with the parsley, tomatoes and clam juice. Puree until fully blended and smooth
• Cook the pasta al dente
• Reheat the sauce in the cleaned pot
• Finish cooking the pasta in the sauce
• As the pasta is finishing cooking add the lobster, shrimp, clams and peas and mix well.
• Serve hot and enjoy

This should feed 4 to 6 people. Serve with champagne.

My Best of 2008

Below is a listing of categories of some of the standout culinary treasures I enjoyed over 2008. By no means is the list exhaustive in either categories or experiences. I am sure that I simply overlooked a number of items that deserved mention here, but this is the list compiled to the best of my memory.

Best Beans - My wife and I cooked wonderful beans using product from Rancho Gordo, but even  better were beans cooked by others. I simply love the refried beans at a local Mexican restaurant called El Mexicano and the varieties of beans and legumes, especially lentils in India were extraordinary, but the single most wonderful bean dish of the year was the Asturian green beans with seafood at Asturianos in Madrid in January.

Best Bivalves - Clams and other mollusks were an abundant part of my 2008 diet. From pristine raw littlenecks on Long Island to Nantucket bay scallops to amazing sauteed clams at Bartolotta's to fabulous fried oyster po' boys at Parkside in new Orleans and much more, I enjoyed my bivalves as much as anything in 2008. I would have to say that amongst all that splendor, the best were the cockles served at Asturianos in Madrid.

Best Bread - Possibly because they were unlike any breads I ever had elsewhere and possibly because they were simply wonderful, were the breads I ate everywhere in India. They varied by style and technique depending on the location, but they were always great. Particular standouts included the paratha at the Brunton Boatyard in Cochin and the naans at The Royal Palace Hotel in Jaipur. Closer to home, the breads of Michael London at Mrs. London's and those of Boris Villatte at the Wynn were outstanding, albeit more of what I am familiar with.

 

Best Breakfast Spread - The Oberoi in Delhi, India was a feast for the eyes, the mouth and the stomach as it was fille with outstanding fruit, Indian cooked dishes, amazing world-class croissants and breads and delightful menu ordered dishes from the kitchen.

 

Best Cheese Course - Truly great composed cheese courses are, in my experience, exceedingly rare. Not only must the cheese be exceptional, so must the accompaniments. In addition, the cheese and the accompaniments must provide synergistic results for the course to be a true success. One of the best I have ever had was prepared by Aki Kamozawa and Alex Talbot during the Ideas in Slow Food benefit at my home in October. They took local heirloom tomatoes, skinned them and served them with fresh local goat feta cheese , local honey and Halen Mon sea salt. An element that made this pairing even more exceptional was that, to me at least, the pairing of honey with tomato was counter-intuitive. Combined with the feta and the salt, the creation was magical.

Best Chicken - chicken is one of those things that because it is so ubiquitous, rarely stands out. When it does, though, watch out. I had some wonderful chicken throughout the year including great tandoor cooked chicken in India, but the most memorable of the year for me was the chickens from Iacono's farm in the Hamptons on Long Island grilled by my great friend Joe Bavuso. They were moist and supremely delicious.

Best Chocolate Product - I enjoyed much excellent chocolate this year with an amazing concentration of the good stuff at the NY Chocolate Show. While always enjoying Valrhona, Amadei and other chocolate makers and as happy as I was to re-encounter the products of Madamoiselle de Margaux, the products that really sent me for a loop were the ganaches from the Japanese chocolatier Mary, especially their green tea ganache. The bon-bons of Christopher Michael also impressed me.

 

Best Cocktail - I had some really wonderful cocktails this year and this is a somewhat difficult choice. I had two simply superb mint juleps. One was in May over Kentucky Derby (and my birthday) weekend in Chicago at The Violet Hour prepared by Michael and the other was in New Orleans in August at the Bar at Pere Marquette Hotel prepared by master bartender, Chris McMillan. Earlier this month I very much enjoyed a cocktail created at RM Seafood called "the Gardener." It consisted of Hendricks Gin with fresh lemon juice and basil in perfect proportions. My number one drink of the year, though, was the wonderfully smokey and savory "Mushroom Margarita" at tailor this past June (no photo). Made with huitlacoche infused mezcal, the drink had savory satisfaction and impeccable balance all while being original, unique, fun and absolutely delicious!

Best Coffee - Though I love coffee, I didn't drink a lot of it in 2008. I tended to save drinking it for those times when I expected it to be particularly good. The best of those occasions was drinking Kerala coffee in southern India. The hot coffee is poured from a height into a cup. It was delicious.

Best Egg Dish - The Sunday morning after the benefit dinner at my home, Alex Talbot prepared a frittata using leftovers from the night before. Incorporating pork, zucchini and other ingredients, the result was one of the finest egg concoctions I have ever had. Runner-up was the masala scrambled eggs I had at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai.

Best Fish - The salt-crusted fish I had at Bartolotta was simply beautiful and perfect in every respect. Back when I was still comfortable eating bluefin tuna, I had some amazing examples both at Europa Deco in Madrid and Soto in NYC. Rick Moonen served some fabulous big-eye at RM Seafood, assuaging my conscience as well as my taste buds. I had great sea bass at Europa Deco, ceviche at Astrid y Gaston and fried pomfret at a cooking school in Delhi, India.

 

Best Food Market - The food market of Ernakulum by Kochi, India was incredibly evocative with tremendous produce, a variety of fish and wonderful color and light.

Best Guacamole - While the guacamole at Frontera Grill was its usual great self, that prepared tableside at Cafe Atlantico in D.C. at the end of may was extraordinary.

 

Best Japanese - While Aburiya Raku in Las Vegas was outstanding, my best Japanese meal of 2008 and one of my finest ever was at Soto in NYC in June. Chef Sotohiro Kosugi was simply amazing creating delicious and beautiful dishes. His hand was as deft with plated creations as they were with sushi. The uni was particularly extraordinary.

Best Lamb - An impromptu pan-grilling of the sweetbreads, hangar and skirt steaks of a 40 pound live lamb I bought from a friend this past spring were some of the very tastiest morsels of the year (and then some) that I have eaten. The roast leg was also quite delicious as were the grilled offal. The lechazo I ate in Spain in January was also excellent. The best plated haute cuisine lamb dish I had was that from the braised lamb necks prepared by Aki Kamozawa and Alex Talbot in October. Extremely flavorful, tender, perfectly seasoned and beautifully plated, lamb doesn't get better than that.

Best Lobster - Rick Moonen's butter poached lobster at RM Seafood in Las Vegas was truly outstanding and the best of a number of good examples had over the course of the year.

Best Pasta Dish - If it wasn't for the Smoked papparedelle with gouda and truffles from Corton in November, it would have been a very difficult choice here. Stand-out runners-up included the spinach mezzalune at Noca, the tagliatelle with crostacei from Bartolotta, the raviolo with parmiggiano, egg and white truffles from Bartolotta and the duck ragu from Alex Talbot. Liebrandt's pasta dish was simply perfect, though with impeccable balance, each ingredient asserting itself just enough while supporting every other ingredient. This dish was in fact my dish of the year.

Best Pizza - My favorite was the clam pizza from Max London's in Saratoga Springs (no photo). Made in a wood-fired oven, the pie eaten over multiple occasions consistently had a delicious, crisp crust despite the seafood topping, and outstanding flavor. Their other pizze were also as good as anything other pizze I had this year. Another great one was the Pizza Araucana I had at Cucharamama on the last Sunday of 2008.

Best Pork -Cured - Since I ate a fair amount of jamon iberico de bellota, chorizo and lomo of the same quality from a number of producers when in Spain this past January, can there be any question? Of the lot, my favorite was Cinco Jotas, though I would (and did) happily eat any of them. I also enjoyed some nice prosciutto di Parma at Salumeria Rosi and some great homemade charcuterie from Chris Tanner.

Best Pork - Fresh - I literally ate a ton of great pork this year, from Joaquin Felipe's Pork cheek "Royale" to Rocco Verrigni's porchettas to a pig roast held at my home to celebrate my son's H.S. graduation to a whole piglet prepared several different wonderful ways for a spectacular dinner prepared by Alex Talbot and Aki Kamozawa, but the single most outstanding bites of pork for the year were from the roasted suckling Spanish pigs prepared at the third Starchefs International Chefs Congress by Candido Lopez from Spain's Meson Candido - heaven!

 

Best Sandwich - Without a doubt the roasted porchetta sandwich (no photo) prepared this summer by Rocco Verrigni, culinary professor at Schenectady Community College at his stall near the Saratoga Farmers market. The meat was moist and delicious with just enough crackling to give it textural contrast and the stuffing was perfectly seasoned. The bread was fresh and ideal to hold this somewhat messy treat. Runner-up was the fried shrimp and oyster po' boy I had in August at Parkside in New Orleans.

Best Veal - Periodically throughout the year I would buy 2 inch thick chops from Brookside Farm at my local Farmers Market (pre-ordered), cook them in my CVap and finish them on the grill. Seasoned with salt and pepper, they are perfect. I've not had better veal in any restaurant.

Best Wine - I took wines from my cellar and donated them for the benefit wine dinner prepared by Alex Talbot and Aki Kamozawa at my home in October to benefit projects of our Slow Food Saratoga Region convivium. I was quite pleased with how well they showed. One that exceeded my already high expectations was the 1982 Chateau Cos D'Estournel. It had depth, fullness, flavor and nuance. 

My Top Restaurant Meals of 2008

Corton - NYC

Ideas in Slow Food - Queensbury, N.Y.

Alinea - Chicago

Bartolotta - Las Vegas

Asturianos - Madrid

Europa Deco - Madrid

Cafe Atlantico/minibar - Washington, D.C.

Moto - Chicago

Soto - NYC

RM Seafood - Las Vegas

Astrid y Gaston - Madrid

Tailor - NYC

Noca - Scottsdale

Raku - Las Vegas

Frontera Grill - Chicago

Cucharamama - Hoboken

Shang - NYC

Honorable mentions:

India - set menus & group dining, great food, difficult to separate.
El Mexicano, Farmhouse at Top of the World & Max London's - multiple meals at excellent & favorite local standbys
Banquet meals at Madrid Fusion & Starchefs - great chefs cooking wonderful meals together.

Happy New Year!

May you enjoy a smooth ride into and throughout the New Year!