Trotter-Adria Friendship Luncheon March 2nd, 2006

On March second of 2006...

Charlie Trotter held a Friendship Luncheon for Isabel and Ferran Adria at the Culinary Vegetable Institute of the Chef's Garden. I live and work not far from the Chef's Garden and have enjoyed a good business relationship with the farm dating back six years. It is my good fortune to have an open invitation to capitalize on this proximity (tours, use of the CVI, etc.) including an occasional request to participate in top tier events. I was one of many local chefs recruited to assist Trotter's staff to execute the meal. Without spending too much time on the details of the event beyond the menu, suffice it to say that Charlie Trotter was instrumental in design and raising donations for the CVI.

The menu was themed for each course to highlight a different cooking method and offal (excepting the dessert courses) as well as showcase the Chef's Garden products. There are a few inconsistencies in the menu verbiage due to last minute, plating, component, and preparation adjustments (e.g. the kohlrabi dish did not have many recognizably dehydrated components and the rabbit kidney dish does not mention the parsley coulis, a major component).

POACHED: Celery, Granny Smith Apple, Wasabi and Monkfish Liver

This was my first opportunity to try monkfish liver. I am totally converted. It is fabulous!

...

SOUS VIDE: French Breakfast Radishes, Horseradish, Grains of Paradise and

Veal Heart

...

JUICED: Dragon Carrots, Cilantro, Tagarashi and Crispy Pouladre Skin

...

DEHYDRATED: Kohlrabi, Anise Seed, Cider Vinegar and Lamb's Tongue

Can't say I recall what was dehydrated about this one.

...

SAUTEED: Cauliflower, Cumin, Saffron-Sherry Vinaigrette and Veal Sweetbreads

...

GRILLED: Turnips, Red Wine Reduction and Rabbit Kidneys

...

STEAMED: Garlic, Garlic Shoots, Bitter Chocolate and Duck Liver

...

ROASTED: Bull's Blood Beets, Candy Striped Beets, Veal Reduction and Veal Brains

...

BRAISED: Fingerling Potatoes, Shallots, Black Trumpet Mushrooms and Tripe

...

FROZEN: Fennel Bulb with Pollen

...

BAKED: Celery Root and Celery Root Cream
...

FRIED: Okinawa Sweet Potato with Milk Chocolate

...

The chefs assembled. I'm in the front row to the right of Trotter.

More food pictures from the past

...photographs, still looking back...

Alas, it seems I lost oh so many of my food photographs from my tenure at Sans Souci. It could be that I remain unconcerned. Really there were only a few lost I wish I had. The rehashing of the past in this venue will not last much longer. It serves as foundation. And it gives me something fun to do as I enjoy the morning coffee. The food photographs posted so far are a few years old. Interestingly, I don't even remember some of the components. I do not bring a sensibility of permanence, or longevity, to my culinary creations. You eat your food and it's gone. It lives as art for so short a time. I find that I work best when I concentrate on each idea and plate mostly as a new entity, unencumbered by predecessors successes and failures, which is not to say building and improving on past ideas is foreign or shunned--not at all. However, it is with a sense of urgency and uniqueness that I approach each dish. All of this is to say it's no surprise to me that I don't remember everything about these foods. Take the first photograph, for example: I can see the components well enough to identify them. I recognize it as a style of food I once did. However, the fish really looks like sturgeon to me, yet that pairing of sturgeon and beurre blanc seems wrong. I would have been much more likely to pair something like halibut. But who knows? Enough rambling. Time for the pictures.

...

...

yawn, old school

...

These are duck confit ravioli in a butternut broth.

...

sea bass with bourride and basil oil (avec aioli crouton)

Provence

la source

Photographs capture much; however, they carry so much less than the actual impact of being in a place like Provence. Seeing photographs of Paris, for example, transports one more readily than these--where the intensity of the sun, the press of the wind saying "Je suis l'enfant de le mistral," and the dry, clean air conspiring to invigorate the senses do not present themselves.

Les Baux

Ca c'est obligatoire, ne c'est pas?

...

Le Marche, Place Lamartine, Arles

...

Typical lunch scene of me with vin rose in St. Remy-de-Provence

...

Pont du Gard

Still from the past

Pictures of food gone by...

A few photographs from my tenure at Sans Souci follow. Remember I'm a chef, not a photographer. These first four are all appetizers. Bon Appetite!

History first and a view to the future

For the last six years...

Having reached the threshold of the second half of my life, I find myself charged with new liberty, hopes and dreams. I quit my job to embark upon the path of self employment, and so am understandably at peace and full of trepidations. Wish me bon chance!

For the last six years, I was the chef at Sans Souci, a Mediterranean restaurant in the Renaissance Cleveland Hotel specializing in the cuisine of Provence. It remains a great restaurant. I will upload some pictures from my tenure there in a little while. Being the chef of Sans Souci afforded me many wonderful opportunities, not the least of which was working with a talented staff for a beautiful dining room, putting good food on nice china. I intend to elaborate on a few of the many facets of that job. Now, however, I would like to introduce you to my recent endeavors!

Petit Soleil comes to life...

This past summer, as we do every year, my wife and I vacationed in Europe. This was our fourth trip to France, yet our first to Provence. We spent a week soaking up the sun and sights from our base camp, Hotel Regence, in Arles. I blame this trip (in part) for my recent life change. I returned to Cleveland and work with my head somewhere far across the Atlantic. I could still see the colors, and sense the heat, smells and tastes. The realities of day to day work diminished in importance to me. I sensed something greater for myself. And so I created Petit Soleil, a catering operation that allows me to work for myself, directly engaging clients and creating specialized, multi-course diners and events. A venture into which I can pour all my culinary passions and life experience. Moreover, it acts as a precursor to my restaurant plans, which I will describe here in future posts.

I must beg your forgiveness for my inexperience with writing a blog. There are too many things to say, yet I believe this format lends itself more to short entrees, not to directionless rambling (is that redundant?) or memoir style installments. So I will leave it at that for now. As soon as the site allows me to post a few pictures, I will. Thanks for stopping by.