Note: The Starchefs ICC has grown over the years such that it is impossible for one or two people to cover everything in detail. As such, I will rummage through the notes and photos that I and my son, L.J. took during various presentations and present them as completely as possible, posting them in no particular order. I will do as many as I can over the next few months until I give up! The first one will be on Chef Dan Barber's Day Two presentation "A Recipe for the Recipe: Concept Building at Blue Hill." Though I will not be using quotes, the description below is a very close approximation of Chef Barber's words, thanks to the transcription skills of my son.
Continue reading "Starchefs ICC 2010: Dan Barber - Building Concepts" »
For the past few autumns, I have taken to making pumpkin soup. Some of you may remember the pumpkin soup I made for The Albany Times Union last year (Unfortunately, the link is no longer active). Making soup is a great way to use the wonderful heirloom varieties of pumpkin that have been showing up in the local markets, such as the Galeux d'Elysines (the light orange pumpkins that look like they have peanuts growing out of them) I used here. In my area, Sheldon Farm Market always has a great selection of heirloom pumpkin varieties.
Taking the medium sized pumpkin, I roasted it in a 325º F convection oven for two hours, scooped out the seeds and then scooped out the flesh, enough to fill a Vita-Mix blender about half way. I added two cups of home-made chicken stock, two sticks of cinnamon, a bulb of fresh Kilpatrick Farm ginger some toasted cumin and cardamom (about a tsp), two tablespoons of Argyle Cheese Maker's Greek style yogurt,a generous dash of cabernet vinegar, a good squeeze of agave nectar, salt and pepper and blended them to a fine puree.I let the puree slowly simmer for several hours to thicken .
To serve the soup, I put several small chunks of beautiful Longview Farm's Feta cheese on the center bottom of the bowl. On top of the cheese I layered several strips of house roasted (by my wife), spicy hot Sheldon Farms red chilis in olive oil and about a tablespoon of freshly crumbled bacon atop that. I sprinkled fresh thyme leaves over the top before finishing the plating by pouring the soup around the solid ingredients and adding a dash of fruity olive oil and an additional squeeze of agave nectar on top (maple syrup would make a fine substitute). The result - well balanced and delicious! Try it!
Chef Tony Conte of The Oval Room
Washington D.C.'s The Oval Room isn't really oval, nor does it house the Office of the President of the United States. No, that is the nearby Oval Office, perhaps a bit more well known than the Oval Room, which in some sense is a pity. It's not that the Oval Room is as important as the Oval Office in the grand scheme of things (though some might argue that it is). Rather, it is just that The Oval Room under Chef Tony Conte, really deserves much more attention than it appears to get. The Oval Room setting itself is nice and it is comfortable, though, as a restaurant space, it is nothing extraordinary. It neither accentuates nor detracts from the main reason for being there - the food. Conte's food, which somehow seems to fly under the critical radar, can be truly extraordinary. A recent meal hosted by my good friend, Amy Persons to celebrate her fabulous husband's 50th birthday provides an excellent illustration of just how special his cooking can be.
I picked up this fresh ginger root on Saturday from Kilpatrick Family Farm at the Saratoga Farmers Market. It is a revelation! I never had freshly harvested ginger root before. I had never even seen it this fresh before. It is juicy, piquant and absolutely full of flavor. I sliced some thin along with some garlic and sauteed it with some of the season's last haricot verts from Farmhouse at Top of the World that my wife purchased on Saturday at the Glens Falls Farmers Market.
Gerry and I have made some revisions in the tour to bring down pricing without sacrificing quality. Here are the updated details:
Reprinted with permission of Gerry Dawes.
Ferran Adríà at Inopia.
Boquerones en vinagre with olives and raf tomatoes, Inopia.
Ferran Adriá was in NYC over the past few days to kick of the newly published book, Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food
Colman Andrews
The video presented a first of the morning through the last of the night view of a typical day, in this case August 22nd, 2008, at elBulli. The film was produced and directed by the multi-talented Albert Adriá. If anyone ever wanted to know what it must be like to work or dine at elBulli, this video is a must see. While I haven't worked there, I have dined there twice and the video really does give a great sense of the experience, minus, of course, actually tasting the food. As for working there, the day appears to be a long and rigorous, though ultimately satisfying one. Watching the video from a large television screen located outside across a courtyard, while we sat lined up sitting in rows of chairs inside, was something of a surreal experience in and of itself.
After the video and a few words from Ferran, who hadn't seen the video since it was made, and several folks from the Spanish National Tourist Board who sponsored the event, the crowd convened to a cocktail party featuring Spanish wines and Basque style pintxos made in the Bar Basque kitchen by visiting Basque chefs including Daniel (not Dani) Garcia. Some of the highlights included a rice dish with pork belly, wild mushroom croquetas, Champagne croquetas, jamon Iberico, foie gras and to finish the meal, Bar Basque's snazzy Gin & Tonic and Cuba Libre geleés.
Strawberry Gazpacho with Lobster
The space of Bar Basque is unlike any restaurant that I have ever been in. Looking more like a movie set (it was designed by Syd Mead, who designed the sets for the futuristic movie classic, Blade Runner, amongst other imaginative pics) than a typical restaurant, the interior of the Jeffrey Chodorow bar space is enrobed in a deep red blanket of color. The principle dining environment is located outside of the swath of red in a light and airy terrace with inside-outside capabilities. On this autumn evening, we were definitely inside, although the sense of the outside space was quite strong. The kitchen is open and built around a unique (at least I've never seen one like this before), charcoal grill. The chef is Yuhi Fujinaga, who has spent time cooking in the Basque country and Galicia.
Chef Yuhi Fujinaga and the grill at Bar Basque
(l-r, top to bottom) Drew Nieporent & Ferran; Ferran, cooking prodigy & future Ferran protege(?) Greg Grossman and Jose Andres; Ferran and Lisa Mamounas of Cooking Insiders; Ferran, yours truly and Jose Andres.
For more photos from the evening, see the amazing Melissa Hom's work here and my good friend, Gerry Dawes' work here.
For the second time in three days, I drove back and forth, about 4 hours each way, from my home in upstate New York to Manhattan to see and spend time with a person whom I admire. The first time was to see Chef Rene Redzepi at Williams-Sonoma, buy the new Noma book and have him sign it for me. I had told him in Copenhagen that I would make it if I could. Happily, I did. That time was after I got out of work. This time, Saturday morning, I left my home first thing to make it down to see Carlo Petrini, the founder and leader of the International Slow Food movement.
I had met him before, in Naples, Italy during the 3rd International Slow Food Congress in 2003. The Congress happened to coincide with a trip I was taking to the area with my then twelve year old son, Andrew. I had become acquainted with Slow Food only a year earlier when I had taken my eldest son, L.J., then 12, on a culinary trip to my paternal homeland of Sicily. The leader of that trip, Peggy Markel, introduced us t the concept of Slow Food. When I discovered the overlap of our itineraries in Naples it seemed only natural to become a part of it. Meeting people like Pamela Sheldon Johns, Alice Waters, Corby Kummer, Jose Iturriaga de la Fuente
Earlier this week, I received an email from Ed Yowell, Slow Food USA's Regional Governor for the northeast, saying that Carlo Petrini would be in town and would like to meet with members at Eataly. Attendance would be limited to 25 and complimentary tickets were available on Brown paper Tickets. My timing was good and I managed to pick a couple up. I knew Carlo and Eataly would make a very interesting combination.
We met at 1PM in the back of the store in the kitchen classroom. Petrini was accompanied by Marion Nestle and a translator.The group took seats around the classroom and the meeting started with Petrini asking us to say something about ourselves. As might be expected, the group was full of interesting people, including Nestle, Cesare Casella and others.
Once Petrini heard our stories, he started talking about why he was there, explaining that "America is constantly undergoing great change." Continuing with a quote from Edgar Moran, Petrini stated that
“Every thing needs to start again, but it has all already started.”
Saying that this was absolutely true in the USA, he noted that the movement is continuing to grow and transform. Transformation, according to Petrini, "comes from the grass roots and is much more important than revolution." Change from transformation may be as radical as revolution, but "transformation respects life, tradition & memory"… a kind of metamorphosis as in nature similar to when an ugly chrysalis becomes a lovely butterfly. "I feel this growing energy whenever I come back to the USA."
"As a movement," he continued in an animated fashion speaking of the value of Slow Food's Terra Madre gatherings, "we have to reconcile science with traditional knowledge… and to establish a dialogue between the two… because the level of knowledge in science is high and that of traditional knowledge is low… so there is no dialogue… dialogue must be between equals." According to Petrini, this realization borne from Terra Madre changed Slow Food, so that it was no longer just an association of gourmets, an elitist movement. "Terra Madre has brought everything back to earth." Petrini noted that Terra Madre is everywhere, 163 countries, rich & poor countries alike. According to Petrini, "all those who attended Terra Madre are back in their home countries working". As an example, he cited the story of a cook from Rio De Janeiro who went home from Terra Madre and built a school for the children of the favelas (slums) to teach them how to cook manioc root. To date, over 17000 children have gone through that school and now have some sense as to how to cook a staple meal. He asked, "So what is the impact?" and answered, "Self esteem is the best thing people can get from Terra Madre." This "can really push people… a simple African farmer can come to Terra Madre and realize that he is not alone, he can realize that there are much bigger things… now with renewed self-esteem goes back & works even harder – the realpolitik…not that from professional politicians, but that from the grass-roots. Like a snail that goes on and on and keeps growing."
Continuing to discuss Terra Madre, but switching gears to describe the approach to the upcoming summit, Petrini, stated, "We deal with agriculture and food, but not in a specialist way, because food is life." The first Terra Madre was designed only for farmers, the 2nd also included chefs and then the third added musicians and youth. The upcoming Terra madre will be focusing on indigenous peoples and the over 2000 languages that are at risk of disappearing, a significant part of culture. To safeguard biodiversity, Petrini opined with great conviction, "we must safeguard all biodiversity including cultures and languages." For example, the tools used to describe traditional farming practices all over the world are described in indigenous, local languages. If the languages are lost, so will be much of the knowledge held within them. This year at Terra Madre "there will be no politicians, only indigenous peoples speaking in their ancestral languages." He added, "The message must be clear… we will draw up a document to deliver to governments all over the world." He outlined this year’s goal to be "the construction of 1000 gardens in Africa in 1 year’s time with all the communities involved. . no missionaries…. The Africans will create the gardens." Petrini noted, "African Terra Madre communities will be in charge of the gardens," adding "we will just need to give them a hand." He described the plan as "A message of the real fraternity of Terra Madre…. Just a small thing, but many small things can actually bring change."
Petrini, moving on with the audience in rapt attention, listening to every word of this charismatic man,, stated, "Another important idea is to build a seed-bank of memories. All 1700 Slow Food chapters around the world shall fill the bank with memories and experiences of old farmers and artisans to create a common heritage for everyone to safeguard the memory of traditional knowledge…even farmers & old cooks are wise and intellectual… take the camera & film them… we need to gather this traditional knowledge all over the world… in different languages and contexts." With many heads nodding in agreement, Petrini smiled and continued to his next agenda item.
Surprising most, if not all of the people in the room, Petrini, announced his intention to hold the next International Slow Food Congress next year NYC, noting "We need a big hand to accomplish this. NYC is a very big city… our message must be conveyed in the cities as well as the countryside." It was clear that while the intent is there, this will be a tall order to fill in just over a year's time. Can it actually happen in that time frame? Exciting if it can. Petrini added, "The time has come to have Terra Madre ... now is the right time in the US to seize the opportunity… a message from the USA is a message to the whole world. Right now the Slow Food movement is very strong in the US and there is much interest at the world level at what happens here. NYC would be the right choice."
He apologized for not speaking English, blaming his old teacher, who he said, "didn’t do a good job."
Shifting gears yet again, Petrini, discussed what he feels to be the pillars of the Sloe Food Movement, stating, "The first of two strong bases of the movement is 'affective intelligence'." Claiming that the world is "overwhelmed by rational intelligence, but lacking the intelligence of the heart," Petrini said, "Slow Food's’s intelligence is the intelligence of the heart, affective intelligence," adding, "this can convince a lot of people to volunteer." For Petrini, "The second base is 'austere anarchy.'" He described this by saying, "Each chapter (of Slow Food) can do what it likes. (The organization) is not based on a hierarchy." This is true "all over the world," but is a difficult concept to explain to Americans." For Petrini, the word "austere" makes the difference and makes the concept palatable and workable. For him the chapters grow in their own communities and reap their own rewards.
Nicola Farinetti
Speaking of the day's hosts, Eataly NYC, Petrini provided some background and history behind the concept, which started in Italy as the brainchild of Oscar Farinetti, an Italian Industrialist and old friend of Petrini. Brought to the US by Mario Batali, and the mother son pair of Lidia and Joe Bastianich, Eataly NYC is managed by Farinetti's son, Nicola. According to Petrini, "The idea behind Eataly is food quality that is fair for everyone…pay producers and farmers, but keep prices reasonable for all, a very difficult thing to do." Whether they can successfully manage that for the long haul remains to be determined. Petrini was excited by the fact that the staff of Eataly is young. The staff(400) has an average age of 30.
With Petrini's meeting come to a close, the group was lead up stairs to a balcony overlooking the store, where we were treated to a lovely, simple meal of mozzarella, salad, pasta and pizza, a satisfying end to a fascinating afternoon. I'm glad I went.
The biggest problem with Eataly, the new omni-Italian food emporium on Madison Square park in NYC, is that it is too popular. I have now been there three times, A Sunday, a Thursday and most recently this past Saturday. The place that it most closely resembles in my experience is the Östermalms Saluhall in Stockholm, an amalgamation of retail ingredient stands and restaurants under one roof. Of course the food style is different and unlike the Saluhall, which is composed of a number of competing vendors, many of whom are selling variations of the same thing, Eataly has a variety of areas each focusing on a specific type of Italian product. While much of the product at Eataly is imported from Italy, most of the fresh produce such as the vegetables, meats, seafood and the raw ingredients for the freshly made cheeses, gelati, etc. come from the United States. The quality is by and large exceptional and the food in the restaurants is very, very good. The difficulty? Getting to it.
The only time in my experience that I was able to dine and shop unhindered by crowds was shortly after opening at 10AM on the Thursday I visited. By 11AM, I was hungry for pizza and pasta and had no trouble getting a table directly. Within a half hour or so, however, the lines had formed and the waits had started. While the service was , as one might expect in such a high volume place, a bit perfunctory (a busboy tried to clear a plate while I was still eating from it), the food, including a lovely pizza Margherita with mozzarella di bufala and San Marzano tomatoes was superb. The paccheri with frutte di mare was even better. For those interested in the pizze, a good strategy on busy days is to get one from the Eataly To Go window outside on 24th St. Though there isn't a place to sit, the lines are considerably shorter and the wait is reasonable. The wait inside on the Sunday around 12:30PM was described at about an hour. Sandwiches on the Sunday I was there, including prime rib and roast pork on Italian bread, were tasty, although a bit skimpy on meat and a bit pricey. I was tempted by the raw bar for oysters or clams, but I'm sorry, $30 for a dozen littlenecks on the half shell is a little too expensive. The same price applied to the oysters. While still expensive, I can understand the pricing a little more given the pressure on oyster pricing after the Gulf oil spill. Over all, the quality of the ready to eat food at Eataly is very good and would make a very worthwhile interlude while shopping if and when the crowds calm down a bit.
A bit more accessible, time and price wise, are the sweets and coffee located just off the entrance on Fifth Avenue. The gelati were particularly superb. The pistachio was simply extraordinary, while the fig tasted like I was eating them right off the tree. I was thrilled to discover that the milk for the dairy products made at Eataly, including the gelati and the mozzarella, actually come from the Dairy farm in Washington County, N.Y. where we get our milk from, Battenkill Valley Creamery.
The mozzarella, made continuously in the center hall, has improved in taste over the few weeks since I first visited the market. While never bad, it has ratcheted up in that time, to the point that it is now starting to rival some of the better mozzarelle in the City.
The pasta selection is extraordinary. From a wide variety of freshly made pastas to the cornucopia of imported Italian brands, including the original Italian Barilla, the quality is superb and the prices surprisingly reasonable. The only bafflement for me, was the relatively paltry selection of flat dry pastas such as tagliatelle, fettucine and pappardelle, some of my favorites. Most of the brands were previously unknown to me, but so far, I have tried a few different ones and each has been excellent. Most of the package sizes are in the 500g range, though some are full kilos and others are 250g.
The meat counter is truly beautiful with excellent quality meats including a variety of beef, pork, veal and lamb. I bought some Piemontese beefsteaks from Montana this past weekend, cooked them in the CVap to 125ºF and finished them in a cast-iron griddle pan. Very lean to start, they were surprisingly tender and amazingly flavorful. While not inexpensive, they were truly superb and worth every cent.
The seafood display is amongst the best that I have seen in the USA in terms of variety, however, the quality and freshness appeared to vary. nevertheless, an astute shopper can get some marvelous seafood here that may be otherwise difficult to procure. Of course, as with all quality seafood nowadays, the prices can sometimes leave one gasping for air. The Florida rock shrimp I bought this past weekend, however, were relatively reasonably priced, immaculate and perfect for a ceviche with mango, cilantro, lime, cipolline onion and diced red chile.
The produce section, which even includes its own "vegetable butcher" at no additional cost, maintains some beautiful produce and fruit. While a good portion of it is not particularly Italian, that did not keep me from drooling. The mushroom section with matsutakes, French bluefoot mushrooms, fresh porcini and fresh truffles amongst other varieties was particularly enticing. The mango I purchased to use in my ceviche was at the perfect stage of ripeness.
This incredible emporium has more than just food. It also includes some associated products such as kitchen ware by Italian design companies such as a personal favorite, Guzzini as well as Alessi and others, books and more. The selection of Italian beverages, alcoholic and non is also exceptional. In addition to all of the food, drink, wares and restaurants available, Eataly also intends to become something of a cultural icon in the city, hosting cooking classes and special events such as the upcoming Identita Golose in New York.
Eataly was originally founded in Turin, Italy by Oscar Farinetti in conjunction with Slow Food, the International food related organization started in Italy by Carlo Petrini (more on Carlo Petrini and Slow Food to come soon). Along with Farinetti and his group (Eatly NY is managed by Farinetti's son), partners in Eataly NY include Mario Batalli and Joe and Lidia Bastianich. The objective of the market and Slow Food is to highlight top quality food and make it as accessible as possible. Though the market food isn't being given away, considering the quality, most of it is priced as accessibly as it reasonably could be. The restaurant fare, given that it is basically a glorified mall food court, is a bit of a different story. While the quality of the food itself is still good, the overall value of the experience, including the prices, service, the waits and the generally cramped nature is reduced and at the moment generally not worth it.
There is much to be said for this incredible market. As it stands now, with customers often times having to line up simply to get into the building, it is too crowded and busy to be fully enjoyable. Hopefully, as the novelty wears off, the crowds will dissipate to the point that it can be both a successful business and a totally enjoyable experience.As the dynamics of the place change, the value quotient likely will too, or so I hope. It clearly has a lot of potential to be a truly great one stop shop for dining and retail grocery purchases.
I hope you had a wonderful Columbus Day!
Leigh McCloskey's "Mikey"
Of course, open farmland is necessary to grow the crops and raise the animals that become our food, but it nourishes more than just our bodies. Some of the most beautiful farmland in the country exists in eastern New York State, especially in Washington and Rensselaer counties. Still packed with small family farms, the quality of the produce is wonderful, as is the scenery. The open farmlands of this area also nourish our collective soul through the work of a number of extremely talented artists who have made this area their home and the inspiration for much of their work. This weekend, The Agricultural Stewardship Association is holding their ninth annual Landscapes for Landsake curated Art Show at Maple Ridge in Cambridge, N.Y. to benefit the organization's important work in preserving this valuable farmland as farmland for future generations.
Unfortunately, it is getting ever more difficult to keep this marvelous land doing what it does so well - working as farms. With suburbia or even industry ever approaching and the difficulties of surviving as a farm getting ever greater, the pressures on this land continue to grow, even as the actual amount of farmland continues to shrink. Contributing artist, Leslie Parke described the situation thusly:
The message and the work of ASA are important for anyone who enjoys a meal of good, clean and fair food or those who just enjoy a bucolic view. This event is always a great way to support those goals and have a good time in the process. Curated with works chosen by Evan Wilson, the show itself takes a broad look at what makes a landscape from traditional vistas to more narrowly focused views of animals, farm implements and more to exceptional pieces of furniture and sculpture made from found products of the landscape. To support the work of the ASA click here.
I was unable to get the day off Wednesday, Thursday or Friday of this week, so I didn't think I was going to be able to do it. I didn't think I would be able to make it down to NYC to meet up with noma chef Rene Redzepi and have him sign a copy of his new new book, Noma: Time and Place in Nordic Cuisine. The best chance I had for this was on Thursday when he would be signing books at Williams Sonoma in the Time Warner Center from 5-7PM. When I left for work on Thursday, I thought the chances of me getting out in time to make the 4 hour drive to central Manhattan in time to catch Chef Redzepi were slim to none. The day happened to be a relatively light one in the OR and by 1:30PM with the help of a very nice partner, I was able to get out of there.
I was able to get on the road by 2:15, but I was afraid of NYC rush hour traffic. Though I ran into one fair traffic snarl on the NYS Thruway, the gods continued to smile upon me. Parking at the Time Warner Center Parking Garage, I was able to walk into the Williams Sonoma by 6PM. I expected to see a crowd lined up with books, but found none. When I asked at the cashier, they told me that there was a crowd, but that they had all had their books signed and that Chef Redzepi was now done for the day. Fortunately, they checked to see if he was still there. My luck held. Two minutes later and he would have been gone. Instead, he came back out, greeted me, called me "crazy" (which I most certainly was!) and signed my book. We chatted for a few minutes and he signed a few more books for a couple other stragglers who had wandered over, before we both had to leave - he for dinner upstairs at Per Se and me for my 4 hour ride back home. Call me crazy, but I would happily do it again.
Johnny Iuzzini, Alex Stupak, George Mendes, Brooks Headley & Michael Laiskonis
Aldea is a special restaurant to me in so many ways. I love George Mendes' cooking. I love George Mendes - in addition to being a superb chef, he is just a really great guy. I love the space. I love Heather Laiskonis. I love the coziness and ambiance of the restaurant. Frankly, I just love everything about the restaurant. I even love Aldea when it is being something that is not quite Aldea, such as when they bring in guest chefs for special dinners. Unfortunately, I was unable to make the dinners with Charleston S.C. chefs Mike Lata and Sean Brock, but I was lucky enough to make the incredible Sam Mason retrospective as well as the most recent special dinner, "Pastry Chefs Cook Savory" featuring four of New York's (and the world's) finest pastry chefs, the kicker being that they would not be doing what they are most well known for, but instead would be switching roles and cooking savory. The roster included Alex Stupak of WD-50, Johnny Iuzzini of Jean-Georges, Brooks Headley of Del Posto and Michael Laiskonis of Le Bernardin. To complete the reversal, George Mendes would do the dessert. As an added attraction, Johnny Iuzzini would be doing cocktails along with Jamie Gordon of Pernod Richard. Wines were supplied by Nate Archibald of Bayfield, while George and the Aldea staff also supplied the canapes to start the evening.
Ah, the canapes, they would have been a satisfying meal in and of themselves. As much as I wanted to gorge on them, I restrained myself from eating too many juicy Kusshi oysters on the half-shell with pickled ramp vinaigrette, foie gras with figs on toast, beet meringues, gougeres,and spoons of Anson Mills polenta with truffles, all washed down with plenty of Duval Leroy Brut NV Champagne.
One of the conceits of the evening was that the chefs cooking the savory courses would each do a plate inspired by the food of Aldea. Leading off was WD-50's Alex Stupak. Known as a brilliant, creative pastry chef, who enjoys incorporating savory elements in his cutting edge desserts, Chef Stupak started his career as a savory chef before becoming the first pastry chef at Boston's Clio. He was also the pastry chef at Alinea for the first two years of that restaurant's existence before moving on to WD-50 in New York. One of my favorite dishes at Aldea is the "Sea Urchin Toast, cauliflower cream, sea lettuce, lime." Chef Stupak used that as the inspiration for his dish. Titled "Sea Urchin, Mustard & Cauliflower," the dish consisted of beautiful Santa Barbara sea urchin on a bed of toasted bread crumbs, cauliflower streusel, mustard, whipped wasabi and sea urchin ice cream. The streusel and bread crumbs added the requisite textural contrast to the creaminess of the rest of the dish. The flavors of the wasabi, mustard and urchin blended together perfectly to provide a marvelous sensation of hot and cold flavors in the same bite. While incorporating the ice cream into the dish may have been "cheating" on Stupak's part, it was the kind of cheating that can only be welcomed. Besides, it's not as if full-time savory chefs haven't been using ice cream in savory dishes for some time now. Pulling a page from Ricky Henderson, the greatest lead-off hitter of all-time, Stupak started fast and hit a home run.
It was at this point of the dinner that I discovered that the diner sitting directly to my left, was someone who I had wanted to meet and break bread with since the halcyon days of eGullet, none other than the esteemed "Sneakeater." It is a small world! With my guest, the ever affable Joe Bavuso, sitting across the table and the lovely, Troy born, Lee Ann Wong to my right and Sneakeater's and Lee Ann's dining companions, we would be in for an evening as enjoyable socially as it would be delicious!
Johnny Iuzzini, pulling double duty as mixologist and savory chef, put up a dish that would have been equally at home as an outstanding breakfast as it was at this dinner. Paired with a 2007 Meursault 1er Genevrieres from Latour Giraud, the "Poached Egg & Smoked Bacon Biscuit, peas, lardons, chanterelle mushroom" was a riff on Mendes' "Slow-Poached Egg, Sweet Peas, Smoked Bacon green garlic broth, truffle." Missing in my photo, but not the plate from which I ate, the chanterelle ice cream was lovely, subtly capturing the essence of the noble fungus and proving along with the chanterelles on the plate a worthy substitute for the truffle of Mendes' original dish. The egg, cooked at 65º was delicious on top of the bacony biscuit. I was surprised that Iuzzini chose that temperature to cook the egg, leaving a firmer yolk, but it worked never-the-less. The peas were done two ways, as a foam and also as frozen and shattered. Together with the chanterelles, they added a wonderful, earthy element to the dish.
Brooks Headley was the only chef that evening whose work I had not previously tried in any form. I have never formally dined at Del Posto, but after his incredible savory dish, I have to make a point to experience his desserts and the rest of the food there! Goat has been a popular meat at Aldea, though it is not a mainstay of the restaurant. Headley's interpretation was "Baby Goat Agnolotti, sweet carrot and spicy paprika." Perfectly paired with a rapturous 2006 Barbaresco from Nada, the agnolotti, filled with slow cooked kid, sang and hit all the high notes. Simply, but beautifully presented, the dish showed the epitome of balance and restraint.
Duck and rice - Mendes' most well known dish at Aldea is likely his "Arroz De Pato duck confit, chorizo, olive, duck cracklings" - Michael Laiskonis brought home the savory portion of the meal with his take on duck and rice. "Liberty Farms Duck, parsnip, hazelnut, vanilla, brown butter, black rice" proved a fabulous and perfect ending to the pastry chef driven savories. Though a nod to Mendes' dish, it was not a simple re-working. The rice was not rice as one might expect. It was pureed black rice, which was used as a base upon a cylinder of parsnip and the beautifully cooked duck breast lay along with hazelnut, brussel sprout leaves and hazelnut. A duck jus enriched with butter, chocolate, gingerbread spice and a port reduction was poured over the top to finish the dish. Once again, the pairing was spot on, this time with a 2006 Vosne Romanée from Hudelot-Noellat. The parsnip added just enough sweetness to balance the rich dish, while the vanilla provided depth and a lick your lips finish.
The savory courses from each of these outstanding pastry chefs were simply stunning and absolutely delicious. Knowing that most if not all of these pastry chefs had savory backgrounds, I was not in the least surprised. The precision and discipline of their craft really shined brightly in each of the dishes. That some of the tricks and ingredients from the pastry kitchen should also find their way int these savory offerings was also no surprise as the traditional barriers between the two disciplines have all but evaporated in recent years.
George Mendes showed himself to be no slouch either when it came to doing dessert. With such pastry talent inhabiting his kitchen, it must have been even more intimidating to do the desserts for their dinner. Fortunately, Mendes was more than up to the task. Starting with a palate cleanser of lime gelée in an eggshell, riffing off one of Laiskonis' desserts, Mendes and Aldea's Pastry Chef, Shelly Acuna hit their mark.
They hit it again with the principle dessert, "Butternut Squash Parfait, maple sponge, olive oil ice cream, caramelized pumpkin seeds" - delicious! It paired very well with a white port from Quinta de Santa Eufemia. To keep the boundaries suitably blurred, the dessert incorporated a number of traditionally savory items, putting them to very good use. The evening came to a wonderful end for at least one couple, as one of the desserts was served to a lady bearing an additional ingredient, a lovely diamond necklace!
Of course that was not quite the end of the evening. To complement a delicious "palate opener" cocktail served at the beginning of the meal (I never actually caught the name of the drink) that consisted of Absolut 100, Aperol, citrus, fino sherry, lavender and cinnamon, Iuzzini and Gordon provided a nightcap of a "Twentieth Century Foxy," Cacao infused Absolut 100, honey & vanilla syrup, lemon juice, Lillet Blanc and a touch of salt. The delicious cocktails made great bookends on a totally fun and delicious meal! Is it any wonder I love Aldea so much?
I'm a practicing Anesthesiologist and family man who enjoys all things culinary.
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