In the Kitchen: Part 2

Still on a high from the fantastic New Year's Eve dinner I hosted/ran this past December 31. Chef Diane and I knocked out a complete four-course dinner with wine pairings for 22 folks. Was a fantastic success... and now a jump-start for MORE restaurant/meal plans in 2010.

That's right: Am working on as I write this a 2010 restaurant plan. Will be meeting with JS soon to review/discuss/decide. Several ways this can go, including -- if we get CRAZY with this -- an authentic Italian pizza oven, for the outdoor patio.

And I even have chef 2 lined up: Domencio, who is C's husband. I had dinner with them the other night and D rocked the house! Stay tuned, I will announce which direction(s) we are going with this shortly....

Looking for the Big "C"

Perhaps the best thing chefs can do is cook, whenever possible, with heart.

~ Tony Bourdain, The Nasty Bits

Ah, yes, the fantasy rages.... And now, I'm happy (and, admittedly, a bit scared) to say is that others have been swept up, too. You see, I shared my idea with C., a young woman I met while schlepping drinks at Ms. M's (no web site) catering gig. Turns out, C's husband is from Italy... and has a dream of being a chef.... and, having heard about my idea from C, is VERY interested in being my chef.... (And C, of course, would make a GREAT hostess.) And that, of course, is what I need: a chef. You see, I can create a great place, and I can get people to go there--once. But you need a chef to keep those people (a) coming back and (b) telling their friends to go. (Ah, how old fashioned that sounds: 'telling their friends to go.' These days, with Yelp and TripAdvisor and blogs, you not only tell your friends, you tell the all-important Holy Grail-to-business-people OPLY--Other People Like You.) So lets just say that wheels-are-in-motion re: meetings, plans, sample menus. Here, for example, is a report from C re: her husband's culinary 'reach':

There are many dishes specific to that region. Delicious pasta dishes like "orecchiette, salsiccia e funghi" -- orecchiette means 'little ears' I seem to have trouble describing it! (We have been trying to perfect the art of making this pasta! His mother is the queen!) Anyway, so they do this pasta with sausage and cardoncelli mushroom (which is the MOST DELICIOUS mushroom you have ever eaten!) which we don't have here. A situation I plan to remedy!

They also do pasta with "cime di rape" which I have found the translation is turnip greens. I haven't come across them here but I guarantee this dish is delicious. It is sort of like a bitter broccoli. They also do pasta with broccoli, garlic, chili pepper and olive oil.

Simpler dishes would be chick peas in a broth, with rice, a couple tomatoes and garlic and olive oil. It is delicious. You can use cavatellini pasta instead of the rice. They do a similar dish with regular peas and rice. Seems nothing special but were some of my favorites!

Panzerotti: These are sort of what we know as a "calzone" It is a fried dough pocket with cheese and tomato mixed with oregano and a little olive oil. Simple and delicious!

They have special kinds of focaccia that are delicious! They use a lot of lamb's meat in some of the more traditional dishes. He knows some interesting things to do with fish as well! There are many holiday specific dishes that they do around Christmas and Easter and during other such events! Having worked all over Italy together with his passion for cooking he has also picked up on many other regional dishes. He can make delicious risottos, minestrones, and even a great vegetable broth that you can do with little pastas!

To end, a quote from Nietzsche: Live as though the day were here. Ciao. (And please, stay tuned for my coming Vegas jaunt, part 2. IF I hit big there, this might happen VERY QUICKLY. Jimmy Z: I leave Thurs. Think good thoughts for me, man.)

Simple, Simple, Simple

"Good food is very often, most often, simple food. Some of the best cuisine in the world -- whole roasted fish, Tuscan-style, for instance -- is a matter of three or four ingredients. Just make sure they're good ingredients, fresh ingredients, and then garnish them. How hard is that?

Tony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential

I was with A. and MAD last night at my/our favorite haunt, Pizzio's Restaurant, and two things happened that had my mind racing for hours afterwards. One, I told them about my fantasy of opening a restaurant, explained the concept I had in mind. They liked the idea. I mean, they really liked it liked it. I've shared my idea now with a few people, and they all get it. It all makes sense. In other words, my idea doesn't seem completely nuts.

And then Chef Roger blew my mind. We ordered, and Andy brought some bread and some olive oil to dip. Standard stuff (though great). But immediately I noticed that the olive oil didn't have the usual dab of balsamic vinegar. It had what looked like pepper in it. Anyway, I tried it, and WOW -- Zing! Olive oil with pureed garlic and herbs. WOW, WOW, WOW. I immediately dashed into the kitchen to try to get the recipe, but Roger gave me a quick kick in the groin, chased me back to the table with a boning knife. He did come out later to chat, though, and told us how that wonderful concoction of his was born out of necessity. One day he came in to work (as if anyone in the restaurant biz calls it 'work'!) only to learn that... the restaurant had run out of balsamic vinegar. So on the fly, so to speak, he threw this together. The mother of invention. What struck me most was the simplicity... and how any restaurant (i.e., mine) could make an IMMEDIATE and POWERFUL impression on guests with this simple, yet different, wine country recipe.

Anyway, that's it from Every Meal A Feast land. I vaguely remember what we had for dinner. But that olive oil: WOW!