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Portraits from Starchefs 2009 - Grant Achatz & Alex Stupak

The original chef duo of Alinea. Alex, of course, is the pastry chef at WD-50 in  NYC.

Portraits from Starchefs 2009 - Johnny Iuzzini & Antoinette Bruno

"Johnny Iuzzini" and "Antoinette Bruno" are both synonyms for "irrepressible energy" and "joie de vivre." This photo was taken after Johnny's demo with Sam Mason and Alex Stupak.

Stella! is Stellar

 

Pierre Gagnaire, Scott Boswell and Daniel Boulud at Starchefs ICC 2009

Scott Boswell is a man driven to be the best at what he does. He has spent stints at many of the country's and the world's best restaurants from NYC to Chicago to Paris to Tokyo and many places in between, all in an effort to learn in order to apply to his own personal craft. His globetrotting with a purpose is evident in his food. Chef Boswell has become known for seeking the best ingredients from wherever he can find them. I can only imagine that his Fedex bills for his flagship restaurant, Stella! are larger than many a restaurant food budget. Despite his global outlook, Stella! remains a restaurant of New Orleans, blending his exotic ingredients with local techniques, foods and tradition.

Stella!, a difficult restaurant to categorize. Including influences from his native New Orleans as well as French, Italian and Japanese, Stella! is none of those nor is it like any other restaurant that I have been to. The room is cozy and comfortable, reminding me of a French country restaurant. The service is polished and formal, more reminiscent of a European location than most of its American cousins, yet despite its relative formality, it is neither stiff nor condescending.

I arrived with my wife and son on the Friday evening before Chef Boswell and his lovely wife, Tanya, were to leave for Spain to celebrate their second wedding anniversary at elBulli. It was no accident that I dined there on that evening. I met Scott Boswell and his lovely wife, Tanya, in NYC this past September at the Starchefs ICC. We discussed New Orleans and the fact that I would be visiting for a medical meeting as well as to see our son, who is attending Tulane. Stella! had already been on my radar for some time, which had been accentuated this past spring when my wife and son dined there without me while on a visit for his college orientation. It was in NYC that I learned that the Boswells would be leaving the day after my wife and I were to arrive. Happy that we would have at least one night's overlap, I made my reservation for that night.

Our flight to New Orleans was delayed out of Tampa putting us a half hour late for our reservation. I was starting out the evening a bit irritated and that is never good. I called ahead to the restaurant. They told me not to worry and once we arrived, we were seated without a hitch. Now settling down and relaxing, I was in a mood to welcome a nice Pimm's Cup, while my wife enjoyed a glass of Piper Hiedsick Champagne. We elected the 7 course tasting menu at $115pp to give us a sense of the restaurant's breadth. With that, my wife and I opted to indulge in the wine pairings for an additional $75pp.

Autumn 2009 #1

Homecoming 2009

 

Dartmouth Night Bonfire

Homecoming Weekend

October 23rd, 2009

Taste of the Week - October 18-24th

Soft shell crabs - check. Soft shell lobsters- check. Soft shell shrimp - what? I had never even heard of soft-shell shrimp before this past Wednesday evening, my last in New Orleans for this trip. I mean, I am not surprised that there is such an entity as like other crustaceans they grow by shedding their shells and growing into new ones that they secrete around themselves. For a period of time, these shells are quite soft. The phenomenon is most prominently known (at least in the US and in culinary circles) with soft shell blue crabs, a major spring and summer delicacy. I had never before seen soft shell shrimp even discussed as a culinary item, let alone found them on a menu. When I saw them as an appetizer on the menu of the newish Garden District restaurant, Coquette, I had to order them. I was quite glad I did as they were simply sensational.

Eating a shrimp shells not new to me. I have eaten many and in parts of Europe it is even custom to do so. I have also learned to enjoy shrimp heads, the well of great shrimp flavor obtained in most cases by sucking out the juices of said heads. With regular shell on shrimp the heads are difficult to eat as they contain sharp and difficult to eat parts along with said tasty juices. With the soft-shells, however, there are no drawbacks to eating the whole, beautifully delicious shrimp - head and all.

This was a new product for the restaurant, having received them for the first time that day. To their credit, they did not try to do too much with them. They pan-fried them to achieve a little crispness and served them with a not-too sweet bbq sauce and braised pork belly. The combination worked beautifully with the soft and sultry belly providing depth, earthiness and textural contrast to go with the divine shrimp.

I suspect the reason these are not seen more often on menus is that they most likely don't keep or transport too well and deteriorate quickly making absolute freshness a priority. It might also be quite difficult separating them from regular shrimp. I'm not sure how the chef at Coquette came by these, but I'm glad he did. For $10 an order, these were quite a happy discovery and my taste of the week.

Portraits from Starchefs 2009 - Chris Young and Nathan Myhrvold

This photo was taken while the chef/technologists were being interviewed backstage by Antoinette Bruno prior to their exhilarating presentation on the main stage.

The Bartender's Bartender - Chris Mcmillian

I have never been one to go and simply hang out at a bar. It is generally not my style, however, with the resurgence of a cocktail culture in the United States, I have found it much easier to do so. Bars like The Pegu Club and PDT in NYC or The Violet Hour in Chicago have awakened a spirit from within me attracting me to the finer temples of the cocktail. Aside from great drinks, one element all of the best cocktail bars have is a great bartender, a bartender who along with an ability to be creative, shows a reverence for technique and product and  can regale the guest with the love of the craft and the tales of the cocktail. Few, if any do this better than Chris Mcmillian of the Bar On Common located within the Renaissaince Pere Marquette Hotel on Common Street in New Orleans adjacent to Restaurant MiLa within the same hotel.

On the recommendation of friends, I first met Mr. Mcmillian just over a year ago on a visit to New Orleans. At that time, I stayed in the Pere Marquette and had ample opportunity to become acquainted with Mr. Mcmillian and his craft. I even paid a visit to The Museum of the American Cocktail, to which Mr. Mcmillian had a part in the formation of. Then, as now, he regaled me and my companions with fascinating tales of New Orleans, cocktails and life. Best of all, his libations were amongst the bet I have had.

This year, I had or tasted six different cocktails made by Chris over several visits including a Sazerac (the official cocktail of New Orleans), a Pimm's Cup, a Mint Julep (accompanied by a recital of a poem extolling the virtues of the drink), a Ramos Gin Fizz, a Gin Deaux (a Mcmillian creation featuring Plymouth Gin, candied ginger, lemon juice and maybe something else) and a Strawberry Bourbon Smash. Mcmillian does it all by hand and it shows. Each cocktail was simply delicious and beautifully balanced, perfect examples of their kind. It is easy to get sucked in to sitting at that bar. Alas, dinner reservations drew us away. I will, however, return to visit Mr. Mcmillian whenever I am in New Orleans as I have become a fan of the man and his product.

 

         Ramos Gin Fizz                          Gin Deaux                               Mint Julep                      Strawberry Bourbon Smash

At the Market - October 20th, 2009

Roughly the same size and with many of the same vendors as the Saturday market on Magazine Street in downtown New Orleans, the Tuesday Market at Tulane University Square near Audobon Park somehow felt a little more energized to me. Perhaps that was because the day was a little warmer or because I started to get a better handle on the market and its products or perhaps it just was. Whatever the reason, my wife and I enjoyed the market and loosened our purse-strings to purchase a few items to bring home with us including some beautiful fresh lemongrass and ancho chiles from Nicholas Usner's Grow.Farm in Bush, Louisiana (they also had some beautiful cardoons and persimmons I would have loved to buy), mayhaw and other jams from Whitewood Farms, a  creole tomato (local heirloom) and fresh, green peanuts and pecans from The Indian Springs (Mississippi) Farmers Association. We tasted their boiled as well as the green (fresh and raw) peanuts. The boiled peanuts were great, but appeared much less likely to survive our trip home. The green peanuts made us understand how peanuts got the name "pea" as they tasted very much like green peas. I would have loved to buy much more including some fresh shrimp, meats and cheeses, but we could only carry so much and heavily favored those things we could transport more easily and safely.

Portraits from Starchefs 2009 - Michael Laiskonis

A measure of respect that chefs have for one another is the way they come out to watch, listen and learn from each other. That was evidenced by Le Bernardin Pastry Chef extraordinaire, Michael Laiskonis, here watching the proceedings of his colleagues from the audience.

Taste of the Week - October 11th-17th

Without a doubt, New Orleans is a great food city, which in this regard at least, appears to be recovered from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. This past Friday night, I had dinner at Stella!, Chef Scott Boswell's flagship restaurant, located in The French Quarter. The dinner was absolutely sensational! I will write more and post more photos in the not-too-distant future, but for now, I will highlight one dish as my "Taste of the Week." With so many dishes from that meal being quite memorable, choosing one was not easy. From a pure taste sensation, I would have chosen Roasted Heirloom Potato Puree with Applewood Smoked Bacon Lardons, Fingerling Potatoes, Truffle- Scented Petite Brioche Croutons and White Alba Truffle Créme Fraiche Caviar. That was a totally decadent dish as flavorful as any that I have had for some time. Instead I chose a dish, that also had great flavors, though perhaps not quite so intensely wonderful as the soup. The Tempura Tsukiji Market Japanese Anago with Last of the Summer Spicy Melon Kimchee, Aguni Sea Salt Flowers and Spicy Sweet Red Chili certainly did not lack in flavor, but I chose this dish for its texture - specifically the wonderfully crunchy tempura-fried fish spine, a first for me. This was clean, crisp, flavorful and without a trace of grease. his ws my first time for a special treat liek this, and hopefully not the last.

At the Market - October 17th, 2009

Crescent City Farmers Market - New Orleans, Louisiana

It was a beautiful sunny morning on Magazine Street in New Orleans, albeit slightly chilly. The market was smaller than I expected, but still vibrant with plenty of interesting and great quality produce. Since this was the beginning of our trip, we didn't buy much, limiting ourselves to some newly in-season satsumas, meyer lemons, pralines and blueberry jam. The temptation to buy much more was great.

Portraits from Starchefs 2009 - Junior Merino

Mixologist Junior Merino just before his hands-on Mixology Workshop on Sabor Latino in Cocktails.

Portraits from Starchefs 2009 - Charlie Trotter

This was taken right after Chef Trotter's appearance in the panel on American Cooking with Norman Van Aken, Emeril Lagasse and Clark Wolf and just before Chef Trotter had to scoot out.

Mac'n'Cheese'n'Apples

Mac'n'cheese remains one of the most beloved comfort foods of the United States, popular in all quarters, though the trappings may be different based upon who is making it and who is eating it. I recently put my own spin on the dish by using five different cheeses and giving it a seasonal touch with fresh, local Belle de Boskoop apples from Saratoga Apple. The dish was rather rich, so I served it along side roast Mack Brook Farm Beef and steamed broccoli, making a quite comforting autumn meal.

The recipe that follows reflects a record of what I did. I used cheeses that I had at hand. They turned out to work quite well, but I have no doubt that roughly equivalent amounts of similar cheeses and even other kinds of apples (I like tart) would work out equally well.

Ingredients

Cheeses:

Cabot Cloth Bound Cheddar 112g

Grafton Village Extra Sharp Cheddar 110g

LongView Farms High Rock Cheese 110g

Bayley Hazen Vermont Blue Cheese 100g

Rembrandt 4 year old aged Gouda 100g

Apple:

Belle de Boskoop 214g

Liquid:

Laird's Apple Jack 50g

Heavy Cream 70g

Butter 4oz.

Pasta

Small Shells 500g

Combine butter, cream and cheeses over low heat until melted. Add the apples which had been cut into small chunks. Cook until tender. Season to taste then blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Cook the pasta until al dente, drain and combine with the cheese sauce in a large casserole dish. Arrange thinly sliced apples across the top of the casserole. Bake at 325ºF for 20 minutes then broil on high until apple slices are browned. Serve hot.

Portraits from Starchefs 2009 - Emeril Lagasse

When Emeril Lagasse first showed up on The Food Network, his eponymous restaurant in New Orleans was arguably one of the best in the country. I had a fabulous meal there back in 1993 when Emeril was still in the kitchen and hadn't yet opened any of his other restaurants. His show revolutionized food television and he become the biggest star on Food TV. Since then, I don't think too many people would argue that any of his restaurants are still amongst the best in the country, though Emeril remains, in every respect, a star.

This photo was taken while Emeril was being interviewed by Antoinette Bruno and Will Blunt of Starchefs prior to his panel with Norman VanAken, Charlie Trotter and Clark Wolf.

Portraits from Starchefs 2009 - Richard Blais

As I work through my photos and find good individual photo portraits of individuals from the Starchefs ICC, I will post them here to highlight them. This first one is of Richard Blais, just prior to his workshop on Breakfast Cookery using Modern Techniques and Tools.

American Cuisine - A Docsconz Video

Given that the theme of this year's Starchefs International Chefs Congress was "What is American Cuisine," I took it upon myself to ask a few of the participants that same question. The following video is a compilation of their responses. While the answers may not settle the question, I think that the video does shed some light from some of the best minds of the food world. My own view can be found here.

American Cuisine from John Sconzo on Vimeo.

Galeux d’Eysines

This is one of my favorite pumpkins. Having originated in France, it is funky to look at and delicious to eat. This specimen came from Sheldon Farms in Salem, N.Y.