Sunday, December 14, 2014
Life
is all about angles. The angle which you look at something. The angle you slice a piece of meat. The angle the vine is planted on the hill. A small deviation from the desired outcome leads you to a completely different place.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Monday, December 8, 2014
The small details
I think often we put so much work, time, effort into the smallest of details that seemingly 99% of guests would never recognize the difference in.
But I think the 1% that do, it makes it from a great to euphoric moment, the moment that it all maybe makes sense, the moment where the plate is perfect and truly memorable.
But I think the 1% that do, it makes it from a great to euphoric moment, the moment that it all maybe makes sense, the moment where the plate is perfect and truly memorable.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Tomorrow
Some years ago, a bit over seven, is where my story of working in restaurants and cooking began. I had miraculously been offered a job at a French brasserie in Richmond, and was surely an admirable restaurant rookie at the time.
One of our Sous Chef's had come from New York City and was a fantastic cook and better mentor. Currently, he is at The French Laundry in California. Sometime during my tenure, he brought to my attention the Wednesday New York Times, and enlightened me on the dining section and food critic, at the time Frank Bruni. He taught me about the weight the reviewer carries and the paper not only in New York City but around the world. and about how he always bought a copy on the way to work in New York City. So, following my newly gained knowledge, every Wednesday before school I would stop by the convenience store on the way to school and buy a copy of the paper, $2.10. I would look forward to reading it and seeing who the review was of, perhaps I had heard of the restaurant. It was the best day of the week for me, and I soon too felt the weight of the paper and the reviewer. As I would work on Wednesdays, I would bring Chef Joe the copy ever week (I learned a lesson one week of not having it and the disappoint he felt!) and he would read it and then we would talk about the review, the restaurant.
Since those days I have been an avid follower and acknowledge the weight of the "Grey Lady; All the News Fit to Print." Full circle, tomorrow our review comes out here at Racines. Following three visits, we are very hopeful that the current reviewer Pete Wells will be kind to us and award us a positive review (we are of course wishing for 3*, but firmly content and elated with a solid 2*). What a feeling it will be tomorrow to see our humble restaurant following three months of service and dedication by our small team in the New York Times! A dream, and closure of a lifelong dream. Be sure to wish for us, send us Champagne, and check out the article online tomorrow and in print Wednesday. Thank you Chef Joe distilling in me at a young age an appreciation for the true and highest authority in the restaurant industry, the New York Times.
One of our Sous Chef's had come from New York City and was a fantastic cook and better mentor. Currently, he is at The French Laundry in California. Sometime during my tenure, he brought to my attention the Wednesday New York Times, and enlightened me on the dining section and food critic, at the time Frank Bruni. He taught me about the weight the reviewer carries and the paper not only in New York City but around the world. and about how he always bought a copy on the way to work in New York City. So, following my newly gained knowledge, every Wednesday before school I would stop by the convenience store on the way to school and buy a copy of the paper, $2.10. I would look forward to reading it and seeing who the review was of, perhaps I had heard of the restaurant. It was the best day of the week for me, and I soon too felt the weight of the paper and the reviewer. As I would work on Wednesdays, I would bring Chef Joe the copy ever week (I learned a lesson one week of not having it and the disappoint he felt!) and he would read it and then we would talk about the review, the restaurant.
Since those days I have been an avid follower and acknowledge the weight of the "Grey Lady; All the News Fit to Print." Full circle, tomorrow our review comes out here at Racines. Following three visits, we are very hopeful that the current reviewer Pete Wells will be kind to us and award us a positive review (we are of course wishing for 3*, but firmly content and elated with a solid 2*). What a feeling it will be tomorrow to see our humble restaurant following three months of service and dedication by our small team in the New York Times! A dream, and closure of a lifelong dream. Be sure to wish for us, send us Champagne, and check out the article online tomorrow and in print Wednesday. Thank you Chef Joe distilling in me at a young age an appreciation for the true and highest authority in the restaurant industry, the New York Times.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
The lessons you carry with;
Not long ago I was a soccer player. For a short tenure of my career as a soccer player, I had a certain young coach who wasn't the best, but a certain lesson was garnered from him.
Thinking back, I seem to think I had this coach for two years time. In no way was he a good coach for soccer or a whole team, we would get screamed at during half time(this was serious soccer leagues.) But I did learn one lesson that has been applicable to life. One that was drilled into us everyday, one that you carry with you.
Always, give it your all. As he would say, "110%." Every, single, day, he would say this. And never had I realized that how important it was or that I had taken it upon myself until the Tuesday night practice after a tournament when at the beginning we were told to stand on the line. He began to ask whom had been substituted during the first game and if the answer was yes, they were to sit. Again with the second. Third. And finally the fourth game, the Championship game, who had been substituted during the game, and if yes, to sit. Who was still standing? Just me? Weird. He pointed it out, in front of the whole team. Why was Collin the only one standing? Because he thought I had been giving it my all, no matter the circumstance, 100% at all times. and that's it. He went as far to say that should you have energy or spirit to run off the field at the end of a game you didn't work hard enough during the game. And this is the way I feel after a difficult dinner service that requires 110% percent concentration. No, I won't clean up quickly. My brain and emotion is shot, and drained. I just gave my all to the service, and haven't much left. It doesn't matter your skill level or intelligence in the end, should you give it your all to a difficult task, in the end promise and success will come.
I carry this philosophy with me in the kitchen. No matter the day circumstance or "weeds" you should be in, if you give it your all in the end no one can be mad at you. You might not be quick enough but who cares, that's you and you worked as hard as humanly possible. That's it.
Kitchen work is hard and grueling. Should you work hard enough respect will come and no matter the circumstance those around you will notice.
Thinking back, I seem to think I had this coach for two years time. In no way was he a good coach for soccer or a whole team, we would get screamed at during half time(this was serious soccer leagues.) But I did learn one lesson that has been applicable to life. One that was drilled into us everyday, one that you carry with you.
Always, give it your all. As he would say, "110%." Every, single, day, he would say this. And never had I realized that how important it was or that I had taken it upon myself until the Tuesday night practice after a tournament when at the beginning we were told to stand on the line. He began to ask whom had been substituted during the first game and if the answer was yes, they were to sit. Again with the second. Third. And finally the fourth game, the Championship game, who had been substituted during the game, and if yes, to sit. Who was still standing? Just me? Weird. He pointed it out, in front of the whole team. Why was Collin the only one standing? Because he thought I had been giving it my all, no matter the circumstance, 100% at all times. and that's it. He went as far to say that should you have energy or spirit to run off the field at the end of a game you didn't work hard enough during the game. And this is the way I feel after a difficult dinner service that requires 110% percent concentration. No, I won't clean up quickly. My brain and emotion is shot, and drained. I just gave my all to the service, and haven't much left. It doesn't matter your skill level or intelligence in the end, should you give it your all to a difficult task, in the end promise and success will come.
I carry this philosophy with me in the kitchen. No matter the day circumstance or "weeds" you should be in, if you give it your all in the end no one can be mad at you. You might not be quick enough but who cares, that's you and you worked as hard as humanly possible. That's it.
Kitchen work is hard and grueling. Should you work hard enough respect will come and no matter the circumstance those around you will notice.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Evolution of a Restaurant
One of the craziest weeks of my life, opening a restaurant this has been.
Fun. Hard. Exciting. Scary. Push.
This restaurant is one incredible place already, and what we have accomplished is just the beginning.
The journey of evolution of what will come will be one remarkable thing to watch and be a part of.
All the best from NYC and a Happy Easter.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
New York City
"If you want to gamble, where do you go? Las Vegas. If you want to cook or be a professional in the service industry among the best, where do you go? New York City." ....
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Top 10 Wines of 2013
I drink a lot of wine, and over this past year have been able to share many great bottles with an array of people. In part to remember for my own sake, and also maybe one or two of you out there might be interested, I have narrowed the best down from memory to ten wines from this past year. Four white, four red, and two sparkling one being true Champagne and the other from elsewhere. If you get the chance to taste these wines, do it!
Gerard Boulay Sancerre Chavignol 2011-
Tasted in the Spring soon after its arrival, this wine instantly hit me. It was a nice Spring early afternoon turning to night, and upon opening the aromatics were intense and beckoned you to pay attention. Ah! How could a ~$30.00 wine be so grand and great!! Flint, smoke, cool Loire air, turning into mineral with nice acidity. In my mind I could picture the Loire River, meandering through vineyards and seeing a house in the distance billowing smoke from its chimney, with that and the fresh river air, the nose was made. Impeccable. The way Sauvignon Blanc should be.
Clemens Busch Marienburg 1er Felseterracen 2008-
Consumed after harvesting this historic and breathtaking vineyard, Felseterracen is the Busch family's prized plot. 80+ pre-phylloxera vines terraced between two dramatic gagged stone formations on an intense slope of the Marienburg Mountain. Light blue slate makes up the soil. Electric laser acidity in the mouth! Think the scene from Moonraker where they are fighting in space with lasers. No malolactic here. Acidity and coolness gives way to minerality that is unmistakable. This will be even more amazing with age.
Scholium Project Phillips Farm "Rhododactylos" 2011-
Named after the Goddess of Dawn, with the colour to match. Chef Tucker at the Clifton and I had ordered an eight pack of wines from Abe at Scholium following the brilliant New York Times article on the winery and Abe, and were slowly working our way through the wines after work. If you have ever had or seen his wines before, you know that the labels are all similar in that it may say the name of the wine or vineyard site, but doesn't tell you much more than that. Tucker and I would mostly go in blind with them, and read about them after to figure out what was special about the wine and where and from what it was made from. We popped this bottle, and began tasting. Almond, a little oxidative, but acidity and the clutch to make you want more. So mooreish, quaffable, attention grabbing, just, utterly unbelievably delicious! I hadn't any idea what I was drinking, I just knew that I loved it and could drink it till eternity's end. After a quick search, with disbelief we were drinking 140 year old vine Cinsault, from California! Wow! Made with a little skin contact, Tucker called it from the beginning that there was bit of tone in the pigment of the wine, a slight sparkle of orange-ish to pink, to drink until dawn.
Donnhoff Grauburgunder Trocken 2011-
Surprising. Cleansing. Refreshing! Made from the greatest winemaker in the world in my opinion, this was drunk in the wee hours in the morning at Maision Ilan in Nuits-St-Georges, Burgundy. We had been sorting all day (Monts Luisant if memory serves..) and were finally getting cleaned up. We had gone through a bunch of bottles that day, including other wines from Donnhoff ('08 Oberhauser Brucke Eisweine,) but this was really singing and so, so refreshing and delicious. Nothing to think about and nothing out of place, just a clean straightforward wine that was firing on all cylinders at the moment on a damp cold night in Burgundy.
Whites
Gerard Boulay Sancerre Chavignol 2011-
Tasted in the Spring soon after its arrival, this wine instantly hit me. It was a nice Spring early afternoon turning to night, and upon opening the aromatics were intense and beckoned you to pay attention. Ah! How could a ~$30.00 wine be so grand and great!! Flint, smoke, cool Loire air, turning into mineral with nice acidity. In my mind I could picture the Loire River, meandering through vineyards and seeing a house in the distance billowing smoke from its chimney, with that and the fresh river air, the nose was made. Impeccable. The way Sauvignon Blanc should be.
Clemens Busch Marienburg 1er Felseterracen 2008-
Consumed after harvesting this historic and breathtaking vineyard, Felseterracen is the Busch family's prized plot. 80+ pre-phylloxera vines terraced between two dramatic gagged stone formations on an intense slope of the Marienburg Mountain. Light blue slate makes up the soil. Electric laser acidity in the mouth! Think the scene from Moonraker where they are fighting in space with lasers. No malolactic here. Acidity and coolness gives way to minerality that is unmistakable. This will be even more amazing with age.
Scholium Project Phillips Farm "Rhododactylos" 2011-
Named after the Goddess of Dawn, with the colour to match. Chef Tucker at the Clifton and I had ordered an eight pack of wines from Abe at Scholium following the brilliant New York Times article on the winery and Abe, and were slowly working our way through the wines after work. If you have ever had or seen his wines before, you know that the labels are all similar in that it may say the name of the wine or vineyard site, but doesn't tell you much more than that. Tucker and I would mostly go in blind with them, and read about them after to figure out what was special about the wine and where and from what it was made from. We popped this bottle, and began tasting. Almond, a little oxidative, but acidity and the clutch to make you want more. So mooreish, quaffable, attention grabbing, just, utterly unbelievably delicious! I hadn't any idea what I was drinking, I just knew that I loved it and could drink it till eternity's end. After a quick search, with disbelief we were drinking 140 year old vine Cinsault, from California! Wow! Made with a little skin contact, Tucker called it from the beginning that there was bit of tone in the pigment of the wine, a slight sparkle of orange-ish to pink, to drink until dawn.
Donnhoff Grauburgunder Trocken 2011-
Surprising. Cleansing. Refreshing! Made from the greatest winemaker in the world in my opinion, this was drunk in the wee hours in the morning at Maision Ilan in Nuits-St-Georges, Burgundy. We had been sorting all day (Monts Luisant if memory serves..) and were finally getting cleaned up. We had gone through a bunch of bottles that day, including other wines from Donnhoff ('08 Oberhauser Brucke Eisweine,) but this was really singing and so, so refreshing and delicious. Nothing to think about and nothing out of place, just a clean straightforward wine that was firing on all cylinders at the moment on a damp cold night in Burgundy.
Reds
Henri Gouges "Clos des Porrets" Premier Cru 1957-
A word to the wise, when opening something as epic as this don't wait till the end of the night. Last night working at Maison Ilan with Ray Walker, whom works out of Henri Gouges old house and cellar. He left a few bottles that were there when Ray started renting the place, this being one of them. Drank on the same day as my mom's birthday, from her birth year. Jaw dropping. Still intact. Brown leather, dark old red cherry and deep anise-y spices ground into a mortar and pestle. Potpourri. Still some acidity. How much longer could this live on for?!
Olivier Cousin Grolleau Vielles Vignes 2010-
First meal out after days of intense harvest work and little to eat in Burgundy. It was luxurious and needed to have a warm meal, and we decided to go to "Les Comptoir des Tontons" in Beaune following a recommendation from my friend. I have been seeking out Cousin's wines for sometime after reading about his fight with the government over AOC rules and him scoffing the system. This wine was 18E!!! on the list and I forced the table to agree to ordering it. (We were in Burgundy after all, and they were just as educated in wine as me, so I had to be forceful to get what I wanted!) Right as this was being poured the first courses came, and the pairing was a hit. I had ordered a braised tripe dish that was sitting in a pool of gelatin rich jus, and the wine ceremoniously stood right alongside it. This wine was pure funk. Black olives and gripping tannin followed by steel and copper. Dark and deep looking in the glass with an edge of neon purple on the lip. So fun to drink, a brilliant and just great wine from an honest farmer in the Loire. So utterly cheap! A reminder that great wine doesn't have to be expensive to be life changing. Search it out!
Domaine Fourrier Gevrey Chambertin aux Echezeaux Vielles Vignes 2008-
Taken blind against 2? other wines during an afternoon in Burgundy. The other was a Henri Jouan from same vineyard site and year?(memory is foggy). The Jouan was nice, easy going, bright fruit and easy to digest. (As I soon came to perceive all of his wines as.) The Fourrier on the other hand was in a tough spot. It had so much to tell, so much power sitting in the glass. It wasn't expressing it at the time, but it was there. It was emanating and contagious. On that day I was singular being the only one that enjoyed this more than the Jouan, and it was without a doubt in my opinion the clear winner. It was so intense, so focused, perhaps confused at this time, but the wine was a thinking and one day will be so brilliant. It makes me excited to this day, and confused at the same time. I hope to revisit it one day in the future, and see how far along it has come. These are the wines that make you love wine, ones that don't show everything, they seduce you and for the true wine lovers, make you come back for more.
Domaine Francois Berthaeu Bonnes Mares Grand Cru 2010-
Blind, same day as the Fourrier above. Enamored. Pure pinot. I hadn't a clue what was in my glass, only that it was the purest and most beautiful expression of pinot that I had ever tasted. Cherry, anise, and herbaceous. The room fell silent and the air was tense-everyone was pulsing. This wine was beautiful.
Sparkling
Vigneto Saetti Lambrusco Rose 2011-
Man oh man this wine is utterly delicious. Drank on multiple occasions. Beautiful pink hue, strawberry but a bit darker. Flush mousse with yeast acid driven pink and red fruits. My god this is just a beautiful and delicious wine, drinkable everyday and reminds you why you love wine so much. A true crowd pleaser!
Jerome Prevost La Closerie "Fac-Similie" Extra Brut Rose 2010-
I have a giant crush on this producer, and last year searched out this rare bottling for my birthday present to myself. The regular "Les Beguines" bottling is absolutely beautiful and search worthy, and this is no exception either. 100% Pinot Meunier, I wish we had decanted this or given it more time and attention. Nonetheless a beautiful rose Champagne, bread, yeast, and ripe red stone fruit and roses on the nose. Oh my is this a fantastic wine. I hope to taste one day a bottle with some age on it, and I hope in 2014 I will get the chance to taste this again. Heaven is found here. Who doesn't love rose champagne???
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