Docsconz- The Blog

Albert Adria Gets The Last Word on Art vs Craft in Cooking

If Albert Adria or his brother Ferran are not culinary artists than no one is. Here, in Spanish, he says that the question is ultimately up to the diner to answer.

 

I had filmed several other interviews, but alas, audio problems from trying to use some new equipment made them unusable. I hope that you have found this series as interesting to watch and listen to as I did asking the questions and filming. The video quality certainly could have and should have been much better, but I don't think that lessens what these individual culinarians had to say.

Pipe Screams - Happy Halloween!

Pipe Screams from John Sconzo on Vimeo.

 

 

Keyboardist extraordinaire Bryan Kirk of The First Presbyterian Church in Glens Falls N.Y. plays Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (only a segment here) on the church's wonderful pipe organ on October 30th, 2010 during the church's annual "Pipe Screams" concert in celebration of halloween. It was frightfully wonderful! Happy Halloween!

The video was taken with a Canon Powershot G11 camera.

Scott Boswell's Louisiana Part 6: From Idea to Plate: Carrot Salad

There's is very little I enjoy more than eating well conceived and well prepared food. I admire anyone who can cook well, whether the cooking is traditional or otherwise, but I particularly enjoy food that is not only delicious and beautifully presented but creative too. A touch of whimsy or an approach to food that is fresh and new to me, helps elevate a dining experience to another level.

I recently had the opportunity to get a sense of the creative process behind Chef Scott Boswell's cooking at Stella! in New Orleans. Chef Boswell's creative juices consistently come up with novel dishes that combine a variety of traditional approaches with contemporary techniques, but he never forgets the bottom line that a dish must always be delicious, no matter the degree of creativity on display. In this video, Chef Boswell gives us a glimpse behind the creative collaboration at his restaurant Stella!

At the time the interview was done, the dish was in its early stages of development. Chef Boswell and his team recently completed the dish, which is now ready for service at Stella! The photos in the video are courtesy of Chef Scott Boswell. The music, Lucky #7 is by Jason Marsalis from the album Year of the Drummer, used courtesy of Basin Street Records.

Scott Boswell's Louisiana Part 6: Carrot Salad from John Sconzo on Vimeo.

The Beauty of the Internet - Pomplamoose

Were it not for the internet and social media like facebook and Twitter, I likely never would have come across PomplamooseMusic on You Tube. These are quirky and utterly charming music videos done by a pair of young Californians, Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn. In addition to their latest music video, a cover of Michael Jackson's Beat It, check out their earlier videos, especially Beyonce's Single Ladies, which first introduced me to their music and the even earlier La Vie en Rose.

Thanks to Kathryn Yu for bringing Pomplamoose back to my attention via facebook.

Living in the Past

Jethro Tull was my favorite band when I was in high school. The flute and voice of Ian Anderson defined Tull, though the rest of the band's musicians were no slouches either. I particularly loved the blues and jazz influenced stylings of their earlier albums, culminating (for me) in their album Living in the Past.

That album contained every element that attracted me to their music. Unfortunately, that was their last album that I unreservedly loved, with subsequent albums starting with A Passion Play starting to veer off into less special areas. Despite what to my ears was a decline, the pre-Passion Play Tull has always remained a favorite. When I discovered that Ian Anderson and his band would be venturing to Proctor's Theater in nearby Schenectady, N.Y. for an all-acoustic performance, I jumped at the opportunity and purchased seats for my wife, my son and myself. I can't say that I didn't have any trepidation, though. Would he play the music I liked or would he insist on playing "new" stuff? Would he even still sound like the Ian Anderson that I knew? Unfortunately, we arrived late to the concert and missed the very beginning. It didn't take us long to settle in, however. The first song that we heard from the beginning was "Skating Away (on the Thin Ice of a New Day)." I feared that I missed what I had hoped to hear. I shouldn't have worried. Ian Anderson. looking to be in great shape for his 60 something years, was also in fine voice and flute, as he pranced about the stage and struck his signature one-legged flute pose. While they certainly didn't play everything I wanted to hear, they played quite a few of my favorites and played them well. They played a great rendition of a song that was very influential to me personally, "Bouree," based on a piece by J.S. Bach. This piece, when I listened to it as a teenager, actually opened up the doors to Classical music for me. It even (briefly) inspired me to try to learn the piano. To this day, the only thing I ever learned to play was the right hand to that piece! Fortunately, our kids get their musical genes from my pianist wife.

Interspersed amongst the songs that brought me back to my youth, Ian and Co. played a few pieces I had been unfamiliar with, including a pair played during a visit to India a couple of years ago, at which time they missed by one day being at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai when it was attacked by terrorists. These songs were dedicated to Ravi Shankar. In addition to his songs, the concert featured a couple of pieces from some of the players including their guest viola player, Meena Bhasin and a virtuoso piece of Spanish guitar by Florian Opahle called "Andantino," which proved to be one of many concert highlights. While they didn't play "Living in the Past" they did play "Fat man" and "Mother Goose" as well as "Serenade to a Cuckoo," Anderson's homage to the jazz-flute great Rahsaan Roland Kirk, who was the principle influence on Anderson's flute style. The concert finished with a rather unusual version of Aqualung. It was almost totally unlike the original version of what was Tull's biggest hit. While it may not have hit the same chord in me that a faithful rendition of the original would have, I found it appealing nevertheless. That along with an amazing encore version of "Locomotive Breath" managed to provide something elusive but quite satisfying. They brought back the past, but updated it in a way to keep it fresh and relevant for today. My mind, body and soul may have gone to that concert hoping to be "living in the past," but ultimately I emerged happy to have touched upon the past at a concert very much of today.

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...