The Latest
Left to right, Daniel Boulud, James Kent, Thomas Keller, Tom Allen, Jerome Bocuse. Photo by Keith Ferris.
On Saturday, February 6, 2010, James Kent and his commis Tom Allan both of New York’s Eleven Madison Park won the honor of representing the United States in the 2011 Bocuse d’Or championship in Lyon, France. The competition, held at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, brought together 12 of America’s best up-and-coming chefs to create two dishes: one fish and one lamb each accompanied by elaborate side dishes. The chefs had five and half hours over two days to prepare their meals which were judged by an all-star panel of chefs including Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller among others.
The competition was held in the gymnasium of the CIA in an atmosphere reminiscent of the NCAA championships. The capacity crowd cheered on their favorites with cowbells and, not surprisingly, pots and pans. Between rounds, adoring CIA students swamped the celebrity judges for autographs on hats, books and in some cases, body parts. Chef Gavin Kaysen of Café Boulud (and former Bocuse d’Or competitor) and Kelly Choi of Top Chef Masters served as ringmasters – tough duty for a competition lasting over 10 hours. Chef Kaysen admitted to missing the competition and even teased that he might be back to compete.
For Chef Kent, the hard work is just beginning. He starts a one-year training program culminating in the championships to be held January 25-26, 2011 in Lyon. According to renowned Chef Andre Soltner who will serve as one of the chef mentors, his job will be to keep Chef Kent “modest.”
Chef Kent won with two stellar presentations: Scottish “Label Rouge” Salmon Pavé with Leeks, Osetra Caviar and Sauce Fumet Blanc garnished with: Roulade with Alaskan King Crab, Relish of Cucumber and Meyer Lemon; Chilled Mousse with Tartare and Roe; Pickled Heirloom Beets with Crème Fraiche, Dill and Black Pepper.
His beautifully presented lamb platter consisted of Elysian Fields Farm Spring Lamb: Bacon Wrapped Saddle with Piquillo Peppers and Provençale Herbes; Vol-Au-Vent of Braised Gigot with Sweetbreads and Preserved Lemon; Zucchini with Lynnhaven Chèvre Frais and Mint; Tart of Tomato Confit with Basil, Niçoise Olives and Fromage Blanc. When this plate was presented, the crowd around me audibly gasped.
Second place was won by Luke Bergman of New York’s Modern Restaurant and third place by Chef Christopher Parsons of Catch in Winchester, MA. Both Chef Kent’s Eleven Madison Park and Chef Bergman’s Modern are owned by Danny Meyer’s Union Square Restaurant Group.
Chef Jennifer Petrusky and Commis James Caputo
Marcella Ogrodnik, a student at the Culinary Institute of America was named best commis. Marcella was an obvious crowd favorite: chants of “Marcella” could be heard throughout her round with Chef Michael Clauss. Chef Jennifer Petrusky of Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago received a great birthday present: the award for Best Fish. Chef Petrusky, the only female chef in the competition, had previously competed in the Bocuse d’Or USA as a commis for Chef Michael Rotondo. The second time was also a charm for Chef Percy Whatley of the Ahwahnee in Yosemite, CA who won for Best Meat. Chef Whatley had competed in the 2008 Bocuse d’Or USA.
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While the eyes of most Americans are focused on the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, America’s foodies are focused on their own Olympics. On February 5-6, 2010, twelve teams will compete in Hyde Park, NY to represent the United States in the Bocuse d’Or, the biannual culinary competition in Lyon, France. The winning team will compete against chefs from 23 other countries for international glory on January 25-26, 2011.
Teams consist of one chef and one commis (assistant). Chefs must be at least 23 years old and have three years of experience in a fine dining restaurant. Each team will have five and a half hours to prepare two meals: one salmon and one lamb, each of which to be accompanied by 5 garnishes. The winning team will embark on a one-year training program under Thomas Keller, Daniel Bolud and Jerome Bocuse culminating in the International Bocuse d’Or. This year’s competitors are:
• Luke Bergman, The Modern, New York, NY
• Jim Burke, James, Philadelphia, PA
• Danny Cerqueda, Carolina Country Club, Raleigh, NC
• Michael Clauss, The Daily Planet , Burlington, VT
• James Kent, Eleven Madison Park, New York, NY
• Mark Liberman, Roxy’s, West Palm Beach, FL
• Christopher Parsons, Catch, Winchester, MA
• Jennifer Petrusky, Charlie Trotter’s, Chicago, IL
• John Rellah, New York Yacht Club, New York, NY
• Jeremie Tomczak, French Culinary Institute, New York, NY
• Andrew Weiss, The Lake’s Club at Lake Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV
• Percy Whatley, The Ahwahnee, Yosemite, CA
Missing from the list is Top Chef Season 6 finalist Kevin Gillespie who won a place in the competition during an elimination challenge but recently pulled out due to other obligations.
The weekend’s events at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY are all free and feature tastings (lamb and foie gras!), educational panels and book signings with some of your favorite chefs including Charlie Trotter and David Chang. The final competition will be held beginning at 8 AM on February 6. The winner, chosen by an all-star chef panel, will be announced at a Gala Dinner that evening at 8:00 PM. Tickets for the Gala are $150 and benefit the Bocuse d’Or Foundation. For more information go to http://www.bocusedorusa.org/events.html.
We will be tweeting the events during the day so follow me on Twitter @janny65 for updates unless we get a blizzard in which case I will be tweeting Saturday’s TV schedule.
If you are in the area, stop by and cheer on your favorite team but remember, tempting though it may be, please no wagering.
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Looking for a special getaway this Valentine’s Day? Dylan’s Candy Bar, New York’s candy cathedral, and Renaissance Hotels have created the Escape® Romance Valentine’s Day package at participating Renaissance Hotels in the U.S. and Canada.
The package includes:
- Standard Guest Room
- Bottle of Champagne upon arrival
- Breakfast for two
- Dylan’s Candy Bar Gift bag
- $100 Renaissance Savings Coupon toward a future 2-night stay
The Dylan’s bag includes gumballs, gummi bears, chocolate covered cookie dough and of course a chocolate heart. The package is available February 11-15, 2010 and prices vary by location. Go to www.RenHotelsRomance.com to book your package.
For a real splurge (or an extra big I’m sorry), The Renaissance New York Hotel 57 and Dylan’s created the Sweetest Suite, filled with over 300 pounds of candy including:
- An edible candy wall
- White chocolate fountain
- Cotton candy machine
- Gum balls and chocolate treats in every drawer
The suite is available February 13-15 for a mere $2,500. To book, call 212-651-3205. Nick Cannon checked it out earlier this month so book now before Mariah Carey does!
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One of the best things about living in New York is the ability to enjoy some of America’s best chefs. Sometimes you get really lucky and one of those chefs comes to you. Such was the case last week when Peter Vauthy of Miami’s Red the Steakhouse came to town. Chef Vauthy was cooking at the James Beard House and hosted an intimate lunch at the West Bank Cafe. Red opened last year and is the first outpost of Cleveland’s famed steakhouse. I can’t vouch for the atmosphere of Red’s Miami venue but the food was top notch.
Lunch began with a creamy steak tartare served with thinly sliced crostini. A good tartare is hard to find and this one was excellent – hand cut beef tenderloin - none of that nasty connective tissue that can mar a good tartare - blended with salty capers and shallots instead of traditional onions. Also on the appetizer menu was a hot pepper stuffed with home-made sausage and topped with tomato sauce. If you are not a fan of spicy foods, skip this one. If you are, don’t miss it. After the fiery pepper, the house salad was a refreshing follow up – candied nuts, goat cheese and raspberry vinaigrette over baby greens.
Our main course was, naturally, sliced filet mignon. Red uses only certified angus prime beef which is the finely marbled top cut of angus beef. The meat was simply seasoned with salt, tellecherry pepper (an exceptionally flavorful black pepper) and a hint of garlic. At the restaurant, the steak is served with a choice of sauces but the flavorful, high quality meat stands on its own. Another Red specialty, Alaskan King Crab was fresh and tasty but paled in comparison to the steak. Like most good steakhouses, Red has an impressive array of side dishes. The standout was the parmesan tater tots. A little larger than the tater tots mom heats up, the inside has the consistency of a potato latke with a crispy parmesan coating. I am embarrassed by the number of times I picked just a “couple more” off the communal plate. The crunchy sauteed green beans with salty pancetta, hot pepper and pine nuts are also a great accompaniment although one pinch away from being too salty.
If this meal is any indication, Red is certainly worth a visit the next time you are in Miami. If you are planning a corporate retreat, Red has a “blend your own wine” program instead of the usual tedious, team-building exercises. After a few tips from the sommelier, teams blend their own wines, develop a brand name and design the label. The winning wine is served at dinner – beats the hell out of Tug of War.
Red, The Steakhouse is located at 119 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach, FL. (305) 534-3688.
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Still searching for a hostess gift for your New Year’s festivities? Although chocolate is perfect for any occasion it’s a great way to ring in 2010 – not to mention a last hurrah before those pesky resolutions kick in. New York is filled with amazing artisanal chocolate shops and the ones below have great gifts for all of your friends from the Upper East Side Sophisticate to the Brooklyn vegan. Each has on-line ordering and delivery but they are all worth a visit!
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Are you hungry for a new set of photographic skills? Creating images of food that ‘look good enough to eat’ is Lou Manna’s forte. On January 24, Lou will present a food photography workshop that will have you lusting for more gourmet treats. During this time, he will teach you the fundamentals of food photography, including metering, lighting, styling, composing, propping, and choosing backgrounds that will make your work distinctive.
When: January 24, 2010
Time: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Location: Lou Manna Studio, 126 Fifth Ave., New York, NY
Phone: (212)727-2505
Cost: $275 (limited to 10 people)
For more information or to sign up, visit their website.
This is a great opportunity to learn from one of the best in the business, as he shares his approaches, techniques, and special tricks for photographing different types of foods. Additional topics to be discussed are lighting set-ups for shooting food on location vs. the studio and the importance of modifying your style depending on your client.
You will be working in Lou’s studio, which is equipped with a full commercial kitchen and a complete shooting space, where you’ll be using a range of lights, reflectors and mirrors to create your photographs. During the shoot, your images will be viewed on a 40″ Hi Definition Monitor for instant feedback.
Stay tuned for an upcoming workshop in Miami.
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Café Boulud, Daniel Boulud’s 76th Street restaurant favored by New York’s Upper East Side doyennes reopened last month after some much needed renovations. Gone is the painfully dull beige décor. The new interior is a rich mix of dark wood and snazzy fixtures more befitting the luscious cuisine coming from the kitchen.
The menu at Café Boulud is based around four themes: La Saison (seasonal), Le Potager (vegetarian), La Tradition (classic French food) and Le Voyage (international). You might be tempted to eat all from the same theme but where would be the fun in that?
First, a brief moment about bread. I know your mother told you not to fill up on the bread but shooing away the bread man here would be a major mistake. Sure, I tried the pumpkin bread and it was good but my heart belongs to what I like to call the butterballs. They are delicious – perfectly crispy on the outside and moist and buttery on the inside. I ate about five of them. I would have eaten more but I was too embarrassed.
Inspired by a recent episode of Top Chef, I ordered the squab ballotine en croute as an appetizer. According to epicurious.com, a ballotine is “Meat, fish or fowl that has been boned, stuffed, rolled and tied in the shape of a bundle.” Jen from Top Chef likened it to turducken. While it may not sound so appetizing on paper, it is amazing on the plate. The filling was a rich, dense mixture of squab and foie gras surrounded by a delicate pastry. It was topped with fig chutney and pistachios. Each bite was perfectly balanced – savory squab, buttery crust, sweet fig and crunchy pistachios. It was a wonderful dish but certainly not at all what one would call a light appetizer. Thankfully, the waiter dissuaded me from ordering the cassoulet as an entrée.
I lightened up on this course, choosing the seared arctic char. The char was perfectly cooked. The skin was wonderfully crispy and the flesh was moist perfection. The French long beans were delicate, thin and fresh. It would take about three of these beans to equal the size of one traditional green bean. They were also accompanied by pickled radishes, parsnips and little ginger dollops. The parsnips were browned and at first glance look like scallops. I couldn’t quite place the flavor of the pickled radish – it had almost an anise flavor to it so I asked the waiter. Much to my surprise, he sent the chef out to answer my question. Even more surprising, the chef turned out to be Executive Chef, Gavin Kaysen. He couldn’t have been more charming while trying not to call me an idiot for thinking there was anise in a pickled radish.
For dessert I tried the pear Helene. This version came on a crispy crust and was accompanied by hazelnut ice cream. It was a lovely dessert and would have been the perfect ending to my meal had they not brought out a plate of madeleines. The madeleines were without a doubt the best I have ever had and would have inspired Proust to write yet another 1000 pages.
I know some people have commented negatively about the service at Café Boulud but that was not my experience. I walked in on a Thursday afternoon at 12:30 and was seated without any fuss – not the best location but I didn’t exactly have a reservation. The waiter was very helpful when choosing my food and wine and where else would the Executive Chef come out to answer a question about a radish?
Cafe Boulud is located at 20 East 76th Street. Their number is 212-772-2600.
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Written by Jan Weiss
Tickets went on sale today for the South Beach Wine and Food Festival to be held February 25-28, 2010. Based on the great time we had at the New York Food and Wine Festival held in October, it’s not surprising that several events are already sold out!
The highlight of the Festival is the Grand Tasting – a multi-hour celebration of innovative cuisine and top shelf beverages. In addition to indulging (or in our case over-indulging) in toothsome treats, the Grand Tasting also provides the opportunity to meet some of your favorite culinary celebrities. We caught up with a few of our favorites at the Grand Tasting at the New York Festival which was held in two over-sized white tents on a pier across from New York’s still-trendy Meat Packing District.
Posing with chairman of Iron Chef, Mark Dacascos
Mark Dacascos –Iron Chef America’s Chairman (and our favorite Dancing Star) was wandering around the tents. He couldn’t have been more charming, posing for pictures with adoring fans (like us). Long gone was his trademark Chairman bark. We asked him about the strangest thing he ever ate. His answer? Fried rectum. Apparently, it’s a lot like calamari.
Jeff McInnis – We met up with (OK stalked) Top Chef’s Season 5 contender and overall dreamboat at the Don Q premium rum booth at the tasting. Chef McInnis introduced us to his inventive liquid nitrogen mojito made with Don Q rum – a refreshing sorbet served with sliced mango and mint. At the DiLido Beach Club at the Ritz Carlton South Beach where Chef McInnis presides over the kitchen he often uses liquid nitrogen in his creations and Don Q rums seemed like a natural fit for him. In his spare time, Chef McInnis has been working on a cookbook. The working title is The Natural Course. Chef McInnis says it is based on his experiences as an “American guy” traveling around the country cooking American food.
Chef Roberto Trevino of Aguaviva
Jose Garces/Roberto Trevino – Jose Garces, chef/owner of Philadelphia’s tapas mecca, and Roberto Trevino, chef/owner of San Juan, Puerto Rico’s Aguaviva held their own Iron Chef competition with secret ingredient: winter squash. Chef Garces and Chef Trevino are still battling it out in Food Network’s Next Iron Chef competition and gave us a taste of their unique styles.
Butternut Squash Dumpling with Lamb Ragout
Chef Trevino prepared a flor de calabaza (squash blossom) stuffed with smoked fish and served in a smoky/sweet bacon sherry vinaigrette. Chef Garces prepared a delicate butternut squash dumpling with lamb ragout over lamb bacon and beech mushroom escabeche. While Chef Trevino’s dish was beautifully presented and we want to put his vinaigrette on top of, well, everything, Chef Garces’ butternut squash won our informal poll. The dumpling was soft and flavorful and held its own atop the escabeche.
We tried to get the chefs to dish on this season of Next Iron Chef but fear of what must be ironclad non-disclosure agreements kept them quiet. The most we could get out of Chef Trevino is that the whole event was “very tiring.”
Photo Credit: Jen Weiss
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It’s an exciting day today. It’s the day when the much anticipated 2010 Michelin Guide for New York City is released, and the excitement is all around. There were a few changes this time around and a few new categories were added (affordable dining anyone? ). These categories include restaurants with a notable cocktail program or sake list, a small plates category, a valet parking symbol has been added to the guide and a “Bib Gourmand” category for restaurants offering good value.
Now for the list:
Three Stars (* means it’s a newly starred restaurant )
- Daniel *
- Jean Georges
- Le Benardin
- Masa
- Per Se
Two Stars (* means it’s a newly starred restaurant)
- Alto *
- Corton *
- Gilt
- Gordon Ramsay at the London
- Momofuku Ko
- Picholine
One Star
- Adour
- Annisa
- Anthos
- Aureole
- A Voce *
- Blue Hill
- Bouley *
- Café Boulud
- Casa Mono *
- Convivio *
- Del Posto
- Dressler
- eighty one
- Eleven Madison Park *
- Etats-Unis
- Gotham Bar and Grill
- Gramercy Tavern
- Insieme
- Jewel Bako
- Kajitsu *
- Kyo Ya
- L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
- Marc Forgione *
- Marea *
- Minetta Tavern *
- Modern (The)
- Oceana
- Perry Street
- Peter Luger
- Public
- Rhong-Tiam *
- River Café *
- Rouge Tomate *
- Saul
- Seäsonal *
- Shalizar *
- SHO Shaun Hergatt *
- Soto *
- Spotted Pig
- Sushi Azabu *
- Sushi of Gari
- Veritas
- Wallsé
- wd~50
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The New York Wine and Food Festival is just around the corner. The festivities kick off on October 8, but if you’ve been waiting until the last minute to purchase your tickets, you might want to rethink that, as many events have sold out. But, if you act now, you will still have the chance to attend this extraordinary festival.
For the events that are not sold out yet, here’s what I would recommend:
October 8
There’s only 1 event that hasn’t sold out yet and that is The BizBash Hors d’Oeuvres House: The Art of Party Food. Tickets are $75 and the event starts at 6:00 pm.
October 9
Alsatian Oktoberfest with the Modern’s Gabriel Kreuther
Bruni Unveiled – Frank Bruni conversation with Ben Leventhal
October 10
Godiva Chocolatier presents SWEET sponsored by Absolut Vodka, Kahlua and Perrier-Jouët hosted by Duff Goldman
Wine Seminar: The Pulse of the Wine World with Gary Vaynerchuk
Midnight Amore at Scarpetta
October 11
Delta presents Dim Sum & Disco Brunch hosted by Ming Tsai
100-Mile Brunch: Farmer Bob Cooks Brunch at NYC Fire Museum
Grand Tasting tickets are also available
You can purchase tickets to any of the events online.
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