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February 2009
Martha Stewart Makes Her Mark
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
MOVIN’ AND SHAKIN’ WITH MARTHA: Chef-owner Joe Truex of Repast will appear with the foodie maven on her show next week.
Hello New York: Repast’s chef-owner Joe Truex will appear on the Martha Stewart Show Thursday, March 5. The deal between chef and Stewart was struck as part of Stewart’s recent visit to Atlanta last week. “I got a call from one of the show’s producers,” explains Truex. “And they asked me to come and cook. I said absolutely.” It was Friday the 13 — talk about luck. Truex plans to make his Asian/European-inspired crab cakes, made with Georgia shrimp mousse with cream infused with lemongrass, ginger, star anise and chiles, then dusted with cornmeal before they hit the skillet. Truex’s wife and partner, Mihoko Obunai, will accompany him to New York for the taping — the show is aired live before an audience — but will not be beside him on TV. Annnnnd: the two are expecting their second child later this year. Congrats!
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Chefs Dish on Their Favorite Dish(es). And Tongs. And Other Tools
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
GOTTA HAVE A GIMMICK: Chefs can’t live without their blenders
My Hotplate column this week takes a gander at two tools in the kitchen I can’t live without: Silicone baking mats and my cast iron skillet.
I asked local chefs to share, too:
Anne Quatrano, Bacchanalia: Microplane: “The uses for a microplane are endless………you can zest/shave the skin of citrus, rocks of salt, horseradish, watermelon radish, marcona almond, cinnamon stick, chocolate, deer jerky, raw beets, hard cooked eggs, dried bread, your knuckles, toasted pecans, bottarga, meringue, nutmeg, pork rinds, frozen lardo, celery root, cured tuna heart, sweet onions, ginko nuts, calluses (use the one you keep in your bathroom at home)……..and on and on…. it is a perfect tool for imparting the essence of a food into a dish or as a garnish in it’s simplest and often raw form.”
Scott Serpas, Serpas True Food Peeler: “I like to make sure all my vegetables are clean—whether I’m making sauces, stocks or using it for making carrot, potato or beet chips.”
Justin Smolev, Dressed Salads with Style The mezzaluna: “The tool and basis of chopping at Dressed. The mezzaluna rolls through greens, herbs and vegetables in such a way as to not bruise the product.”
Tom Harvey, ONE. midtown kitchen: A Blender: “We use this piece of equipment the most in an average day. Every soup in the restaurant is blended in this half gallon, by half gallon, then strained. It goes so far beyond what a food processor can do in terms of texture and efficiency. Cooks wait in line to use it all day long. When I am giving a cooking demo, I always say that if you are going to indulge in one piece of restaurant quality equipment then go with a pro blender. We use the Vita-prep.”
Todd Ginsberg, TROIS A kitchen-aid stand mixer: “It can do what my hands can do, but so much better. It makes sausages, breads, whips, creams, etc.”
Tom Colicchio, Craft, Craftbar: “A sharp knife.”
Lis Hernandez, Stella Pizza Pasta and Spirits and Osteria 832 Ten Inch Knife: “I use it in all of my daily food preparation.”
Richard Blais, FLIP Burger Boutique Sauce spoon: “Super heroes have weapons. Mine is a sauce spoon. There are many spoons, but this one is mine. You can throw away the nitrogen. Smash the circulators and Paco jets. At the end of the day, I need a tool to taste with. One that touches the food, and well, I guess touches me. It’s the most sensual of tools. And when I pack extremely light. That’s all I carry.”
Ian Winslade, Spice Market and Market MAC chefs knife: “It holds a consistently very sharp edge.”
Executive Chef Ben McPherson, Eclipse di Luna at Miami Circle “My fingers and tongue! Actually, I’d have to say my staff is the tool I can’t live without - I wouldn’t be able to do anything without them in the kitchen.”
Executive Chef Michael Harnage, Toulouse: Robot Coup: “It’s pushing 16 years and it just keeps on going! I can’t live without it because it’s the most reliable tool I’ve ever had - it slices food just right, better than any of the other newer food processors.”
Executive Chef Tony Ballester, Morton’s The Steakhouse in Buckhead: Santoku knife: “I need it for dicing and chopping up all the vegetables that make up Morton’s popular steakhouse side dishes and salads!”
Chef Christian Messier, The Sun Dial Restaurant, Bar and View $22 Dexter Russell Chinese Chef’s Knife: “After 20 years in this business, if I was stuck on a deserted island this would be the tool I would want with me because it does everything and lasts for years.”
Chef Shaun Doty, Shaun’s Bamboo Japanese Steamer purchased at the International Farmer’s Market: “It’s perfect for steaming vegetables and fish. The only problem is it’s cheap and catches on fire easily, so I’m constantly buying a new one.”
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Grant Achatz at Flip Burger Boutique
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
BOYS WITH BURGERS: Celebrity chef sighting at Flip. And it wasn’t Tom Colicchio
Photo: Becky Stein
CORRECTION: PLAY ON WORDS. My original post said “citing,” not “sighting.” I meant the latter, and have changed it, above (too many espressos, I guess). Ready reader and colleague John Kessler pointed it out to me … I don’t think Grant Achatz has been cited at Flip for doing anything but eating burgers ….
Talk about molecular gastronomy: I’m told the American answer to Ferran Adria, chef Grant Achatz of Chicago’s Alinea, was at Flip last night, along with partner Nick Kokonas, to try out the groovy burgers and shakes.
According to creative director and chef Richard Blais, Achatz, known for mixing bacon with butterscotch and turning bubblegum into dessert, kept things simple: the Flip bacon and cheese burger, sweet potato tots, and of course, Blais’ fabulous foie gras milkshake (it’s amazing how good fat can taste when it’s frozen). Is a Flip location headed for Chicago? Maybe, but Achatz and Blais worked together years back and the visit was most likely pleasure, not business.
Meanwhile, it’s National Pancake Day for goodness sake. Get out there and pour some syrup.
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Top Food Allergies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ARE YOU ALLERGIC TO SHELLFISH?
Photo: Pat Wellenbach/AP
The peanut/salmonella issue has brought to light more than just a look at foodbourne illnesses: More and more people in the United States are developing food allergies, too.
From peanut butter to gluten, we are becoming a society that can’t eat its own food. According to the Mayo Clinic, the top 8 food allergens are
Milk Eggs Peanuts Tree nuts (such as almonds, cashews, walnuts) Fish (such as bass, cod, flounder) Shellfish (such as crab, lobster, shrimp) Soy Wheat
While people who don’t have allergies to much of anything (like me) find it hard to empathize, these allergies pose very real problems for the growing number of people who suffer from them.
The best way to guard against an allergic reaction is to read labels and avoid foods that contain known allergens that you react to. This is hard to do at a restaurant, when it’s not just your judgment, but many others’ that you are relying on. Many menus have allergen statements these days, but it’s still hard for someone with say, an allergy to seafood, to avoid a sauce or soup that might be made with seafood stock.
Ultimately, it’s up to you to protect yourself, but what other things can restaurants do to aid in the process? Have you ever had an allergic reaction (not food poisoning) to something at a restaurant? How was it handled?
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What’s the Worst Food In the World?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
YUCK: Sea cucumber is sooooo gross
Photo: Becky Stein
In today’s Hotplate, I list the five foods I hate most in the world. What I really just can’t stand, even though dining critics are supposed to like everything, right?
Well, we don’t. I hate sea cucumber. It’s slimey and disgusting. And if I never eat a fried chicken liver again it will be a welcome change.
What foods do you hate most? Are there any foods that you’re ashamed to say you like (I love sugar-free Jell-O, but am scared to say it out loud)?
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Sad to See These Restaurants Go
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THE CANNELONI AT ALLEGRO: Sad to see it close
Photo: Becky Stein
The list keeps growing, I’m afraid.
I was so sad to hear yesterday that Allegro, a fine Italian restaurant in Midtown, and Havana to U — serving groovin’ Cuban in Alpharetta — have both closed.
Allegro’s chef, Joe Rego, was a culinary student at Johnson & Wales University when I was an instructor there, though I never had him in any of my classes. He is actually Portuguese, like so many folks from Southeast New England (including Emeril).
I communicated via email with him yesterday, and he is “looking.” Chefs such as Rego may have to move from the area — out of state — if the restaurant economy (and the economy in general) doesn’t improve.
Good news: Leon’s Full Service in Decatur, from the beer geniuses at Brick Store Pub, has opened, bacci balls and all. I’m looking forward to checking out the ambitious menu from chef Eric Ottensmeyer. Plus drinking a few brews.
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Where’s Your Favorite Indian Food?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
PHOTO: AHHHH, RAVA MASALA DOSA AT MGR PALACE
Photo: Becky Stein
In this week’s In Search of, I give my five fave Indian spots, in honor of Slumdog Millionaire’s 10 Oscar nods, of course. But a few readers have already emailed to ask: where’s great Indian food inside the perimeter?
Well, that’s a first. Usually, I’m getting knocked for never going outside the perimeter. But I’m scratching my head trying to come up with some spots, other than the ones I’ve already mentioned in the piece (Udipi and Royal Sweets are both ITP). There’s Bhojanic, which I know many of you love, but it’s never been a favorite of mine. Let me know of Indian restaurants — anywhere — that you love.
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Rexall Grill Celebrates 40 Years
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OMG GOOD: Rexall Grill in Duluth celebrates 40 years with lots of birthday cake
Photo: Nick Arroyo/AJC
Forty years is a milestone for any tradition, but in the restaurant industry it’s a miracle.
Rexall Grill in Duluth is celebrating its 40th birthday next week by giving out slices of its outrageously good peanut butter, strawberry, chocolate and coconut cakes. Drop by the Grill on Tuesday, February 24, for a piece of cake and a lot of memories.
Peanut butter, Coca-cola and strawberry cake are all part of a grand Southern tradition. Rexall is the only place I know of that serves peanut butter cake; Sweet Auburn Curb Market’s stalls can sometimes yield incredibly moist, sweet strawberry and Key lime cakes; The Four Seasons and Carver’s Country Kitchen are the only spots I would indulge in Coca-Cola cake.
What other bakeries and restaurants serve slices of these tried-and-true Southern sweets?
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Restaurant Bathrooms
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THE LADIES ROOM AT NAN: How do you make that water flow?
Photo: Jean Shiffrin/AJC
First, a big congrats to the Atlanta semifinalists for James Beard Awards
I think there should be nominations for bathrooms in restaurants. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stood in front of a sink in the ladies’ room and wondered how the heck to turn the water on. All the new-wave grooviness of motion sensors has me playing hop scotch in front of the sink.
I wave my arms, nothing happens. I wave my feet, nothing happens. I grasp handles in all directions. Nothing happens. I hop three times backwards and make incantations. Nothing happens. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have to ask a server how to turn the water on?
This has happened so many times I can’t count: at the old Joel at the new Serpas. At JCT Kitchen. At Craft.
Have you ever needed instructions for the hand sink in a restaurant bathroom?
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Edible Books?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CAN YOU EAT YOUR BOOK? An entry in last year’s Edible Book Festival
Photo courtesy of The Art Instititute of Atlanta
Would you like to read and eat your book?
Literacy Volunteers of Atlanta (LVA) and the Southeast Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers are sponsoring the 6th Annual Edible Book Festival, Saturday, March 28, 2009, beginning at 3 pm. Culinary and educational organizations, restaurants, artists, bibliophiles, and the general public are all invited to compete or attend.
Here’s how to participate: Create a piece of edible art related to books - old or new - fiction, non-fiction, plays or poetry. Adults and children can enter. The adult creations will be exhibited at the gallery of the Art Institute of Atlanta-Decatur Campus and the children’s edible art will be displayed at The Cook’s Warehouse & Sherlock’s Wine Merchant in Decatur.
The Edible Book Festival is a benefit for Literacy Volunteers of Atlanta and entries and registration fees will be accepted in four categories: • Professionals $25 • Culinary Student $15 • Home Chef $ 5 • Child (K-6th ) $5
The entries can promote anything related to books: a scene or character from a book, play, short story, comics, or poem; a book cover; or a book’s structure. All the ingredients must be entirely edible. The deadline for registration is Friday, March 20, 2009.
More details here, or send your check with your registration form to Literacy Volunteers of Atlanta; 246 Sycamore Street, Ste 110; Decatur, GA 30030. Or call (404) 377-READ.
AND …
Members of the Board of Directors of the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame Foundation, Inc. hosting its 4th Annual Chefs of the World: A Taste of Fame on Monday, March 2, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Hotel, Regency Ballroom, 265 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, (404) 577-1234.
A reception and silent auction will begin at 6:00 PM. Chef Marvin Woods, former host of Home Plate and last seen in Atlanta as executive chef of Spice, is host.
Chefs of the World: A Taste of Fame is a fundraising event to showcase exquisite creations by top chefs of the world, recognizing their extraordinary culinary accomplishments. A portion of the proceeds from the event will support scholarships for students pursuing a degree in Hospitality or Culinary Arts. The remaining funds will be used for training and capacity building for Alumni and student leadership organizations.
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Maxim Prime “Moves”; Sotto Sotto is Ten
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THE DEVILED EGGS AT MAXIM PRIME: Will Atlanta get another taste?
Photo: Becky Stein/Special to the AJC
“Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow and Real Estate Developer David Marvin have come to an agreement which would allow the Glenn Hotel to expand its meeting and banquet space and give Maxim Prime the opportunity to move to larger quarters.”
So says the press release. It further explains that Maxim Prime’s “new location” will be announced shortly.
Here’s my take: Maxim Prime, Jeffrey Chodorow’s palace of prime beef and super-soft porn in Downtown’s Glenn Hotel, hasn’t made its numbers. And while Chodorow et al probably has the intention of staying in the Atlanta area, there’s no location as of yet. So this “move” sounds a lot more like a “close” to me. The agreement reached is effective March 1st. The hotel is purportedly looking to expand space for convention use, and real estate developer David Marvin has agreed to buy out the remainder of Maxim’s lease.
Meanwhile, Riccardo Ullio’s Sotto Sotto, in Inman Park, is turning ten. Ullio is rolling out the original menu from 1999 (which includes goodies like strozzapreti with braised sausage and spaghetti alla bottarga), including the prices. The celebration is Wednesday, Feb. 25 and lasts all night, with a champagne toast at 10:30 p.m.
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What Cooking Gear Gets You Going?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WANT GREAT CORNBREAD? Bake it in a cast iron skillet.
Photo: William Berry/AJC
A friend who likes to cook asked me the other day what one cooking utensil, gadget, pot, pan, etc. I would absolutely NOT be able to live without.
Hmmmm … so much gear, so little time. I finally whittled the list down to two things: My iron skillet, which is the best thing to happen to man since the discovery of fire; and my silpats — thank goodness for this tidy French invention that makes baking such a breeze. I broke down and bought silicone muffin bakers, too, which I love. Cupcakes pop out gorgeous. And I use a 9 X 9-inch silicone baking pan for brownies, marshmallows — anything.
As for my iron skillet, I have two: a 10-inch and a 12-inch. Not only do they add trace elements of iron as you cook in them, they get very hot for deep-fat frying (like chicken or chicken fried steak) or to stir fry. You don’t need a wok, trust me. I cook Everything in them, from pancakes to Dover sole. And of course, baking cornbread.
Here are other items I really can’t live without:
Pastry bag and tips
Dough/bench scraper
My Kitchen Aid 5-quart mixer
My knives — all of them, especially my French and paring knives
Small copper pots for cooking sugar
French rolling pin
Really good vegetable peeler
Offset spatulas
Ice cream scoops for scooping muffins, cupcakes and ice cream
You can get great professional kitchen gear at J. B. Prince.
I’m working on an upcoming column about things you can’t live without in the kitchen. I’d love your input. What kitchen gear is your favorite?
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Top Chef Auditions
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The casting folks from Bravo’s “Top Chef” will be in town on February 22 looking for the lastest lineup for season six. Think you’ve got the skills to make it? Show up at Craft in Buckhead from 10 a.m. to 2p.m. and prove it.
You’ll need to bring more than your muster, so check out the application requirements, including a photo and a tape, before you go.
Meanwhile, a blog post a month or so back brought me news that Phnom Phen had closed. It did, due to a fire, but now the owners tell me they are back in business.
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Pano’s & Paul’s Extends Last Day
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CHEF GARY DONLICK WILL KEEP THE FIRES GOING UNTIL FEBRUARY 28: Pano’s & Paul’s will remain open two week’s past its original closing date.
I’m informed by Buckhead Life Restaurant Group today that the huge outpouring of support for the group’s iconic Buckhead restaurant, Pano’s & Paul’s (which was to close February 14, five days shy of its 30 anniversary), has the restaurant rescheduling its closing date to February 28. So there’s still time to grab one last fried lobster tail and indulge in a spectacular cafe diablo, made tableside by maitre d’ Sam Than, for dessert.
What other restaurants do you consider Atlanta icons?
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If Joel Can Make it There …
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
He’ll Make it Anywhere, Right? The Oak Room Takes a Bit of a Beating From Bruni
After opening three months ago, the newly refurbished and grandiose dining room at the Oak Room in NYC has been reviewed by the New York Times.
Times critic Frank Bruni gives chef Joel Antunes homage in terms of training and skill, but mostly pans his efforts in the grand restaurant’s kitchen, giving the Oak Room one star, with lots of verbal battering: “There were letdowns, huge and many. Thanks to overcooked pasta, a lasagna appetizer with a sunchoke purée degenerated into mush — and pricey mush at that. It was $58, reflecting a bevy of black truffles. But the truffles in this dish, and in many others, had little taste.”
Joel’s salmon with mustard ice cream, the Atlanta version a favorite at his eponymous restaurant in Buckhead, falls flat with Bruni: “The salmon in another appetizer was frigid and hard, and the fish’s flavor was lost among a literal blizzard of effects, including mustard ice cream.”
Meanwhile, breakfast is what it’s all about in the BIg A, and I’m not taking New York: Esquire Magazine has has named its first-ever guide to America’s best breakfast in its March issue, and Atlanta’s own Ria’s Bluebird and Thumbs Up Diner have made the list. Where’s your favorite breakfast in Atlanta?
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New Cookbooks & Food Musings
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
COOKBOOKS: Recipes are easy come, easy go.
Photo: Mikki K. Harris/AJC
Cookbooks come across my desk regularly — a particular perk of the job, if you see it that way. I don’t actually use cookbooks often, unless I need formulas for baking.
Formula? Did I say formula? Yes. The science of cooking needs to be very precise in baking, so the word formula is preferred by professional chefs. Example: a line cook can add any number of ingredients — butter, booze, even certain spices — to a dish and still have it come out tasting dandy. Add a pinch more of baking powder to a cake recipe and disaster can occur.
Professional bakers and chefs work in ratios, and they’ve been doing it since, well, there have been professional bakers and chefs. One of the first “bench tests” (practical tests) for a baker is knowing the ratio of ingredients in a pie dough. Or short dough. The ratios it takes to make a thin, medium and thick ganache.
So I’m a little befuddled by Michael Ruhlman’s new cookbook, “Ratio” (Scribner, April 2009, $26). Ruhlman, you may remember, is the dude who set Thomas Keller’s ratios to pen and helped write “The French Laundry Cookbook” as well as “The Making of a Chef.”
“Ratio” basically gives the cook permission to throw away recipes and use simple ratios and fundamental techniques to “make food come together, effortlessly.”
Duh. While this is a well-researched and involved book, it makes me a little squeamish that suddenly Ruhlman is given the “king of ratios” title, as if he’s discovered something new. Let me say this again: we’ve been cooking and baking this way for thousands of years.
Perhaps home cooks who don’t realize that they’ve been cooking in ratios all these years might find this interesting. For me, I’m sticking to the basics I learned in culinary school.
Other semi-new cookbooks of interest: “The Flavor Bible” (Little Brown & Company, 2008), by award-winning authors Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, capitalizes on the same “throw your recipes away” theme (which I love — I just don’t like Ruhlman’s book) and focuses on pairing flavor combinations in a reference format.
I also really like Clark Wolf’s “American Cheeses” (Simon & Schuster, December 2008, $25), another reference book of American cheeses — regional, artisanal, who makes them and where to find them — that includes recipes. Like Wolf, it’s concise and to the point, with flourishes throughout.
What cookbook has meant the most to you over the years? Which one has taught you the most about cooking?
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What’s Your Idea of Romantic Dining?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WHAT’S ROMANTIC TO YOU? Romantic dining is in the heart of the beholder
Photo: Joey Ivansco/AJC; cake and styling by Meridith Ford Goldman/AJC
Every year towards the end of January my editors ask me the inevitable: Can you come up with a list of romantic restaurants for Valentine’s Day?
Why sure I can.
But what I find each year is that romantic to some ain’t so romantic to others. “That’s what you call romantic?” an email will bound. “That’s about as romantic as a four dollar bill,” another will chastise.
Well, in Friday’s Go Guide (and online Wednesday in accessAtlanta) you’ll see the list I came up with.
But for now, I’d like your input: What’s romantic dining to you? Is it candlelight and champagne, quiet ambiance with catered service? Or are you a little more rambunctious, like me?
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