STUDIOKITCHEN

Blackfish Part 2

Chip Roman and I hosted a guest chef dinner at his place last tuesday, things were a lot smoother this time.
Simple food, great flavors.
Menu is below, the rest of the pictures will be up later.

Early Season Corn Juice
Grapefruit . Leeks . Ginger

Scallop Carpaccio
Spicy Scallop Tartare
Tomato Sorbet
Menthol-Basil

Skate
Parsnip Puree
Fennel-Caper Brown Butter
Wild Watercress

Miso Cavatelli
Confit Duck . Morels . Lovage
Morel Emulsion

Chocolate Coffee Sorbet
Chocolate Amarena St Nizier
Whipped Butterscotch
Togarashi Caramelized Rice

The rest of the pictures when I return from dinner tonight.
Off to BENOIT for some bistro action.

Blackfish Menu 3.11.08

March on the East coast is the worst time of the year to cook, the seasons aren't quite sure what they want to be. Long range forecasts say it will be late winter as opposed to early spring.
We shall see.

Lentil Soup
Curry Leaf Froth
Eggplant Croquette

Crab Salad
Green Legumes . Poached Egg
Truffle Vinaigrette

Tilefish
Sicilian Pistachios
Pickled Mushrooms
Cumin

Duroc Pork Belly
Spicy Yuzu Curd
Daikon . Apple . Fennel

Duck Ravioli
Toasted Fenugreek Jus
Jerusalem Artichoke  Cream

Roasted Pineapple
Lemon-Brie Ice Cream
Basil . Orange

3.11.08

Late Winter Guest Chef Dinner.

I will be cooking on Tuesday 3.11.08 with my friend Chip Roman at his restaurant Blackfish in Conshohocken. Chip's a great guy, humble, driven to learn new things and in sync with the kind of food I like to cook.

Blackfish Website

Further details on the actual menu soon, suffice to say your proclivities should not lean towards overly comprehensive diet restrictions.

Behind the Scenes at Snackbar.

Thanks to all who came last night.
Nice Dessert Bobby-san.
Mr Katz you rock.
Even Marc Vetri stopped in for dinner in the kitchen.

A big thanks to Pat Brubeck at CREEKSIDE FARMS  for the fantastic herb salad.
Truly special stuff.

Unfortunately someone had to take the pictures that's why I appear in none of them.
I assure you I was involved and in fact hand made all 80 gyoza.

A great time had by all.
Cheers

The complete menu as printed by sir snack below.

Dinner with the Snackbarons

The next guest chef dinner is Monday November 5th.
Snackbar
253 S 20th St.
Philadelphia.

Cooking will be the below mentioned John Macdonald, Bobby Truitt and me.
Bobby Truitt is a great freaking guy, the kind of cook you want in your kitchen that you cant find anymore. Chronologically Bobby was Pastry Chef at Morimoto Philadelphia, came to Salt Philadelphia, opened and pretty much worked the duration with Will Goldfarb at R4D, Room For Dessert in Nolita NYC. Until 2 weeks ago, he has spent the last six months working at El-Bulli, Senor Adria's temple of gastronomic highjinks. This is a collaborative menu reflecting input from everyone, the focus as always is the ideal balance betwen creativity and deliciousness, it wont be the most innovative food but all attempts will be made to make sure it rocks.

The Menu.

Carrot Ginger Juice . Coconut . Salted Peanut Praline

Scallop . "Choucroute" of Fennel and Apple . Yuzu Kosho . Saikyo-Miso

Skate . Fig-Olive Tapenade . Nicoise Flavors

Hazelnut Scented Wagyu Beef "Tri-Tip" . Oxtail Gyoza . Trompettes de la mort . Parsnip Fondant

Chalancay Epoisse . Coriander Seed-Fennel Mostarda . Pumpernickel

Green Apple Trio . Chau . White Chocolate

Certainly we are inclined to make slight modifications such as nut allergies and a few other things but deconstructing the menu will be impractical, thus as much as we respect vegans and vegetarians, the specific manpower and operations flow of this dinner might preclude catering to such requests.
This is about food, in it's most elemental creative form with focus squarely on flavor.

Contact Snackbar for further information.

Click below.

SnackBar

M Dinner Retrospective.

The dinner turned out much better than expected and proves that as long as there is talent and interest, a lot can be achieved with a basic physical plant. I have never underestimated the capacity of human beings to learn, the most important thing about being a chef is to sorround yourself with good people. The M team is a solid crew and many thanks to Kibett Mengech who is a prince among men. The kitchen staff are quick learners and on point. Thanks to Brett Thomas for the sequential kitchen images. Till the next time, see you in july.

Guest Chef Series #2 M Restaurant

Over the next few months, I will be doing a guest chef series, basically cooking in different restaurants for a finite group of diners. Usually a maximum of 40 people at each location. The next dinner is scheduled for M restaurant on Washington Square in Philadelphia. The chef David Katz is a detail oriented young man who was my lead Sous Chef at one of my previous Executive Chef positions. This makes it a perfect fit to cook some delicious food. M also has the single best outdoor dining environment in Philadelphia and a lovely intimate interior. The date will be solidified next week. M restaurant can be found Here.