Take Stock: The 5th Annual Stock Up For Seniors Sale!

About 15 years ago I first became affiliated with Meals on Wheels Delaware when asked to participate in their Celebrity Chef's Brunch while chef at Deep Blue.  Over those years, it's given me immense pleasure and personal satisfaction to be affiliated with this organization.  I have met innumerable good friends, shared some great laughs and memories, cooked in the homes of some wonderful people, drank some amazing wines, and cooked some really great food.  I never dreamed all that fun would actually equate to raising millions of dollars to help provide home-bound seniors in Delaware with hot, nutritious meals.  It must be how The Boss feels when he does a benefit concert!  Everyone wins.

But, that's only half the story.  Now in its 5th year, the Annual Stock Up for Seniors event teams Meals on Wheels Delaware with the warehouses of luxury cookware brands EmileHenry, Rösle, Duralex, Mauviel 1830, and Lékué located in New Castle, Delaware.  The weekend warehouse sale gives Delawareans a chance to stock up on kitchen and cookware at deep discounts while the good people of Emile Henry USA donate proceeds to MOW Delaware.  Another win-win.  

On the evening of Dec. 6, 2012, shoppers will have an opportunity to shop exclusively and get first pick of the sale items, which continues through Sunday, December 9.  A mere $25 (which also goes to MOW) gives you this amazing privilege.  And, just to show you we care, I'll be on hand preparing all sorts of delicious appetizers and snacks for you to feast on while you shop.  I'll demonstrate a classic risotto with locally foraged mushrooms, parsnips and Winter Black Truffles.  Or, how about a simmering pot of Fall Squash and Apple Bisque?  Got that, too.

This is an event that, like M.O.W., is becoming a true Delaware tradition.  But, get your tickets today and get there early, because this event sells out fast!

July Chef's Table: Inspiration

For a chef, stepping outside the comfort zone to dine at a space that is hailed as one of the world's best restaurants can be both exhilarating and unsettling.  There is a certain truth to the question chefs get all the time:  "Are you super critical of food when you go out to eat?"  There are two answers.  I am not when I am dining where I know what I'm going to get.  I am, when there is an enormous amount of hype about said meal.  It's like going to meet your idol:  what if they're an ass?  I can safely say that was not the case last month when dining at Eleven Madison Park in New York City.  

This is not a tribute menu to that meal, nor was it meant in any way to mimic a technique or style.  Simply put, this was the first Chef's Table after having eaten at EMP.  And, between the always pristine produce of Haskell's SIW Farms, just-out-of-the-water seafood and the double digit courses from my New York experience, it became a meal based on inspiration. 

THE CHEF’S TABLE

at the

UNIVERSITY and WHIST CLUB

of WILMINGTON

JULY 21, 2012

RECEPTION

ROCK SHRIMP

CORN

Mumm Cordon Rouge, Brut NV

Warm corn fritter with corn "butter" and baby basil.  Like the "grid" used to choose courses at EMP, I wanted the individual items to focus on only one ingredient and really sing.  The bi-colored corn from Haskell's was sticky with sugar when husked.

HORS D’OEUVRE

RABBIT TENDERLOIN and FIG

CRISP NORI, SOY GLAZE

Imagine the sweetness of fresh water eel; rabbit was wrapped in nori with fig jam and seared.  Sweetened soy and micro beet greens bridge the flavors

FIRST COURSE

MASSACHUSETTES ROCKFISH

CAVIAR SAMPLING, SHAVED KOHLRABI

Pascal Jolivet Sancerre, 2009

I've been doing a variation of a sashimi in this manner.  I don't like to duplicate Chef's Table dishes, but when the quality of fish is so superior, it's hard to treat the fish any other way.  Here three types of tobiko, and one of our own:  persimmon-yuzu beads had all the pop and salt of a real caviar, but with a burst of citrus.

SECOND COURSE

COLD WATER LOBSTER

HIJIKI SALAD, CELERY HEARTS,

Talbott, Sleepy Hollow Vineyard, 2010

 Far tastier than it photographed, a sous-vide lobster tail is placed atop hijiki seaweed seasoned with sesame and lotus; braised celery hearts hide beneath, adding a mellow curry flavor, and a reduced lobster stock is emulsified and spooned over the completed dish.  The oak on the wine was subtle, but just enough to grab the nuttiness of the seaweed.

INTERMEZZO

PIMM’S CUP AND GINGER

 One of several inspirations from our dinner was this intermezzo based on a cocktail.  It contained the French spirit "Suze" (largely unavailable in the US) with Italian bitters, ginger and mint.  Our version was made with Pimm's Cup, cucumber water, fresh ginger and orange bitters.  Remarkably floral and refreshing.

MAIN

DUCK BREAST

APRICOT, FOIE GRAS, WHIPPED POTATO

Marchesi Antinori Badia a Passignano Riserva,

Chianti Classico, 2006

 Seared breast of duck with apricot glaze; torchon of foie gras, fava bean and foie gras whipped potatoes.  Toasted lemon thyme and fennel seed crust.  If I never have the lavender honey duck at EMP again, I'll always have this dish to remember it by.  

CHEESE

“SIW FARMS” TOMATOES AND WARM MOZZARELLA

MELON CARPACCIO, SMOKED TOMATO VINAIGRETTE

 So, what's so special about a caprese salad?  When the mozzarella is made moments before it's served (and still warm), followed by heirloom toybox varietal tomatoes, sweet melon and smoked tomato vinaigrette, it becomes special.

DESSERT

“DANCE OF THE SUGARPLUMS”

FIG AND PLUM TARTLET, BUTTERMILK ICE CREAM

Moet et Chandon, Imperial, N.V.

 SIW Farms comes through again with sugar plums and figs, layered in buttery, rich pastry with a scoop of buttermilk ice cream (hiding) and cinnamon tuile.  Served warm, naturally.

MIGNARDISES

HAZELNUT ROCHER, STRAWBERRY COOKIE

 Next Month:  A Tribute to Julia Child

August 15 will have been Julia's 100th Birthday.  We'll be creating a special Chef's Table menu that pays tribute to the dishes and cuisine Julia popularized in her books and television cooking appearances.  

Local, Local, LOCAL!!!?

So, if you're like me, I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed with the whole Fresh and Local thing (see my Out & About piece next month...)  But, I just read this on another blog about a 14 year old raising a 6-month young lamb with the New Castle County 4H Sheep Club (wow- who knew?) who then turned it over to a chef, who purchases them (alive presumably- would be kinda cruel to make the teens "off" the sheep they raise, no?)  And the pay-off is that you can eat this very same, increasingly famous lamb during Delaware Dines Out Week (reservations required, void where prohibited). 

We'll just call this "Strange Local News", and leave it at that.

But, I was reminded of this BRILLIANT clip from one of my favorite shows, Portlandia.  It's not too far off the mark...

The Farmer and The Chef

Foodies and Farmers unite!  Tonight is The March of Dimes' 4th Annual Farmer and The Chef event at the Chase Center in Wilmington.  One of the greatest food and wine events in Delaware, and it features all Delaware products, farmers, growers, chefs, brewers and talent.  If you call yourself a locavore, missing this would be like a sports fan missing the superbowl!  See you there~

Store Wars

We all have a favorite grocery store, that place we can go for everything from the simplest of items to the whole shopping list.  Some are luckier than others.  Living next to a Super G, for example, must be one of the happier things in life to happen to foodies.  Whole Foods is like Disney meets Trader Joe’s, truly a capitalist grocery if e’er there were one.  Then there are those unfortunate few who are landlocked, trapped from civilization and unable to get common items like coffee filters, chicken or milk.  The Trolley Square Acme in Wilmington, DE is one such store.  Maybe landlocked is not quite correct.  Black hole is more like it.  Its lack of usable products and cast of certifiably looney-bin customers earn it a place in our hearts.  The place where acid indigestion begins.

Locals have a hate-hate relationship with our ACME.  We bitterly refer to it as the SMACKme, the CRACKme or more appropriately, the SOVIET ACME, where long lines and no food are the norm.

I can honestly say that I'm desensitized by its user-unfriendliness.  After all, I lived in Cape May, NJ for awhile.  The ACME there makes Trolley look like Beverly Hills.  Because there are only about six aisles, it isn't uncommon to find barbecue sauce in the same row as Band-Aids.  Which is great if you're making a haunted house.  Very often you can spot birds flying around the store, a hazard most aren't used to navigating while shopping for food.  Year round you can buy a styrofoam cooler, but only three weeks of the year can you find avocados. 

Speaking of avocados, our beloved Trolley ACME has recently diversified their produce aisle, placing like-used products together, i.e. tomatoes, garlic and basil in the summer.  So, avocados can likely be found in two or three different locations now.  But, that doesn't increase the chance of ever finding a ripened one.  Ever.  My favorite is their 10 for $10 promo.  After all what's better than one unripened avocado but 10 unripened avocados?  But, I'm being insensitive and elitist.

It's like a big game of craps.  You never know if you're going to hit.  Many times I've gone in with a list of 8 or 9 items, half of which I couldn't find.  Usually then, I just abandon my basket and walk out.  I've got to head to another store anyway, so, might as well.  It also helps take the sting out waiting in the two lines that are open, knowing you only accomplished half of what you came in for.  More intriguing than not being able to find simple staples has to be the things I have found.  As a chef, I am often stiffed by my purveyors for odd items or items that come only in huge cases when I'm just in need of one.  Against all odds, I make the trek to Moscow and begin my search.  

"Ummm- do you have gooseberry jam?" I half-jokingly ask.

"Aisle 2".

What the what?  

Can't find sliced pumpernickel bread, but sun-dried cherries and matzo balls are always on the shelves.

There are some days I don't mind being called "babydoll", and others I could go ballistic.  Like, "Babydoll, c'mon over here, my line is empty."  Yay.  
But, "Can't you see my light is OUT?  This line is CLOSED, Babydoll!"  Picture Michael Douglas in the movie Falling Down.

I'm grateful for the local elderly patrons who walk to the store to shop, because at least I know they aren't on our roadways.  They seem to have absolutely no peripheral vision what-so-ever or awareness of personal space.  I begin to hum a particular Ludacris song at this point as I navigate these obstacles in my cart with only two working wheels.

The characters you see there are right out of a John Waters film.  My Duchess, as I like to call her, has straight-up Cindy Brady length gold braid extensions anchored by a fine velour Fat Albert and the Gang cap.  She wears a full-length winter coat no matter what time of year it is, and her makeup on any given day could hide her 75-plus years, or scare the hell out of little children.  Make that little children and adults.  My mind races as I stare into her cart at the 100 cans of cat food, Freihofer's cookies and epsom salts.  Must.  Get.  Out.  NOW.


Lastly, the self-checkout lines.  If you cannot check yourself out faster than one of the clerks here (and this is saying something), you have no business being in these lines.  They are built for speed, and I dare say, for people just like you and me who have no choice but to shop there, yet need to get out of the store before our mental health insurance plan is activated.  Deep breaths.  Deeeeep breaths.

And a Bald Man Shall Lead Them...

I frequently blog about dining trends.  I try never to talk about something I don't know, and I try to keep my opinions grounded in reason.  I have never hidden my disdain for chain restaurants, the Food Network and the decline of fine dining.  I read Michael Pollan, but I don't preach him.  I'm a purist, but a realist and above all, imperfect.  But, I am a man of convictions.  I hold integrity in the highest regard. 

At the end of last year, I started to wax prophetic, wondering what was coming down the pike for food-loving friends, family and the industry as a whole.  The most common predictions could easily be seen coming, like the proliferation of food trucks and a smack-down of the darling cupcake by the humble, er- pie. The question for me wasn't if there would be a return to fine dining, but when.  I was just waiting for things to bottom out.  I wanted to see how low it could go before it corrected itself.  So, when foie gras is being served on french fries with gravy or as a slider- it can't be far behind.

But, I felt it in my bones that 2011 would be the year the restaurant industry would finally turn the corner on its malaise and go straight for the jugular.   A full-fledged fight for the slow, but steady return of fine dining. Yesterday was, I believe, the tipping point for that premonition to come true. 

Philadelphia Chef Marc Vetri and partner Jeff Benjamin of VETRI announced they would abandon their a la carte menu at their 36 seat, flagship restaurant to serve only a 12-course chef's tasting experience at $135 per person while losing six seats in the process.  The decision didn't phase me.  Vetri has been awarded just about every accolade you can hope for (all well-earned) while maintaining the integrity of his restaurants, cuisine, and- as some people will point out- brand.  Much chatter is on about a "gamble" and "risk", while people who have never been to his restaurants poo-poo the news as wasteful and exorbitant.  There was a time when elite meant something positive: "the choice or best of anything considered collectively, as of a group or class of persons", so says Webster.  If Marc Vetri and his eponymous restaurant do not epitomize that definition, then I'm Martha Stewart.

The most elite chefs have always lead the world in finest cuisine and highest culinary standards.  If by "risk" and "gamble" people mean "balls"- then, yes- it takes courage, vision, commitment and balls to see your vision to fruition.  So called elite restaurants with similar formats have survived the pummeling the industry took since 2008.  And, it's certainly not an issue of Vetri not being in the same class as Per Se, Alinea, or Charlie Trotter's.  That's why this reads to me as more a savvy, calculated business move with potential for huge success based on a proven track record and a little moxie than a big gamble.

So how does that translate into a swinging of the culinary pendulum?  Well, you needn't be a restaurant insider to read between the lines of Philly Inquirer Craig LaBan's article to see there's a whole cadre of chefs young and old with "pent-up desire" who want to show their chops off, but are beholden to an owner with the jitters or banks with no confidence.  Imagine the restaurant progeny from Vetri alone.  Now imagine the confidence and encouragement a move like this provides them.  Don't think the entire Philly restaurant scene isn't watching and waiting to see what happens.  

Another example: Georges Perrier's Le Bec Fin.  Last fall he announced he would close and cited new projects with down-scaled concepts he would pursue instead.  Well, don't write off LBF just yet; Georges is not closing, and he's not selling the business.  In fact, the same article quotes, "I think I panicked too early and made changes I should never have done," as he reports his table d'hote menus ranging from $45 to $185 are now back up to 80% of his sales. 

The other part of this equation that is critical is the narrowing of seats and focus on filling them.  It becomes a more unique "experience", and for that, I believe people will pay.  Chef's all over America dream about customers walking into their place, sitting down and saying, "Feed me whatever you want.  I trust you."  They want people to let go and submit to their culinary artistry.  You can't do that in a 100-seat restaurant and you can't do it without a proven track record.

No, this revolution won't be with fanfare or fireworks, and it won't be on a Top 10 list in December.  Chef Vetri says, "We are allowing evolution to happen."  This evolution revolution will start by winning small battles in tiny, cozy storefronts like Vetri in food-centric cities, like Philly.  And, a bald man shall lead them...

Silver and Gold? COPPER!

Another holiday season upon us, and another year we revisit all the classic Christmas tunes that sing the praises of silver and gold.  Yes- precious metals lovely to look at and make that tree shine- but, none give the love that French copper gives a cook.  Glorious, gleaming, heavy-duty copper sauteuses and sautoirs, roasters and rondeaus, round paella and oval Dutch ovens, and the precious 1/4 quart cocotte for the escargots lover.  They give the feeling of preparing a meal for royalty.  The touch of one in your hand is like holding a precious stringed instrument or rare bottle of wine.  When I wash mine, I'm reminded of how I used to bathe my infant daughter in the sink, with warm water, gentle soap and a loving, fatherly caress.  Patted down gently with fine cotton cloth, of course.  And, if you look closely on the handle, you'll notice a set of lip prints where I lovingly bid "good night" to it. 

GEEK!!

Truly, though- each year here in Delaware, we're treated to a rare event- the happenstance of residing in the state that is home to the U.S. warehouse of French imported Mauviel Copper Pots and Pans, along with Emile-Henry cookware, Rősle stainless steel utensils, Cuisipro multi-purpose kitchen gadgets and other high-quality brands of kitchen helpers.   The event is a two-day warehouse sale that is open to the public and offers them the chance to purchase all that these companies stock at up to 80% off the retail price.  Deck the Halls, indeed.

Martini Hour

This Monday, November 15 at The Grand in Wilmington, one of the funnest (and my favorite) bands playing today, Pink Martini, will perform.  Start your weekend early with a video from the 1951film that inspired their cover of the song "El Negro Zumbon".  And, see you at the show on Monday!

Ska Alert!

If you are of a certain age, you remember the rollicking ska bands of the 80s, led by English lads Madness and the English Beat, who later sired General Public.  Of course, there were many others, just as there were many before them in the early 60s.  The sound of the 80s ska borrows from the original Jamaican ska, which was a slower reggae beat with lots of brass and loopy bass lines.  

There are many bands that helped create the signature sound of ska, but none so much as The Skatalites.  The premier ska band, they are responsible for planting the roots of a music tree whose branches include the styles of rocksteady, reggae, rap, dub, punk, two-tone, 3rd wave, ska-jazz, ska-core and ragga.  Not only are they still playing, but the legendary band is coming to the Delaware Waterfront this Saturday, July 31! 

The People's Festival Tribute to Bob Marley is now a traditional event here in Wilmington that honors the legacy of the one time resident and legend of reggae.  Included in the sizzling line up along with the Skatalites, Midnite, King Chango, the Bullbuckers, New Orleans' Kirk Joseph, The Master of The SousaFunk and Wilmington-based Spokey Speaky will be performing on two stages throughout the day.  The Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble will also perform.  

Friends: if you are serious about your music, this is a rare opportunity you shouldn't miss.  Tickets for the all day event are a ridiculous $15, or $20 at the gate.