Charleston, with all its innate beauty and fun-loving spirit has finally crept into my soul and settled into a permanent place in my heart. I can say for sure that I will be here for the rest of my days, as a home base to return to after many an adventure (god and bank accounts willing).
Growing up in New York had me wanting for more, a strange concept seeing as I grew up within arms reach of arguably the greatest city in the world. However what was missing for me was peace and calm. Charleston and its' surrounding areas has a different energy, a way of life that is in tune with the natural world around it. It is almost as if the people here hum with the same pulsing force as the earth.
The seasons change and the people change with it. For a chef there is no greater gift than seasonality, it allows us to try new things, to constantly change what we keep in our fridges and pantries. A variable that challenges us to be aware of the ground from which we grow our food.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Monday, November 28, 2011
Mexico and Mole
Mexico was every bit the culinary adventure that I had imagined. In the days leading up to the trip I had semi-pornographic mental images of pulled pork tacos dripping in succulent salty fat, zesty fish ceviches, and mind-blowingly complex and spicy nuanced mole sauces.
So different from the Italian food that I know so intimately well, Mexico offered a peek into the wild. Big, bold flavors with no rules or regulations, barely a knife and fork in sight. Was it possible for me to love such a pedestrian cuisine? What I found as I explored the culinary landscape of the Yucatan was that although this is a food "of the people", it is in no way pedestrian. The flavors are well-balanced and layered with the same precision and attention to detail one might expect to find in a high-end city bistro.
The first meal in Mexico was a sign of what was to come, a delicious meal from a hole-in-the wall, made with love and by a family. This little restaurant was located right outside of the bed and breakfast we were staying in Tulum called La Selva Mariposa. The family that ran the place had relocated from Mexico City and brought with them some of their regional favorites. The menu was entirely in Spanish and we had a tough time placing even the simplest of orders, but whatever misgivings we had initially were completely forgotten once our food came out. I ordered the enchiladas mole, my favorite Mexican dish of all time.
Mole is the generic term for sauce, but the mole that I am talking about is red mole. A beautiful symphony of earthy and other-worldly flavors that harken from a tradition much older than all of us gringos. Mole is the delicate balance of two very fundamental Mexican flavors, chilli and chocolate...and about 20 other ingredients. It is very easy to mess up a mole, if it's too sweet, too bitter, too chocolatey, or not chocolatey enough. In culinary circles, the ability to pull off an authentic and properly balanced mole is a technique that takes years of study and a great deal of trial and error, something not often achieved and rarely perfected. Once I tasted the mole at this restaurant I knew that this was a recipe that that family had passed down over generations, something tried and true, done the same way every time. It was incredible. Topped with a little crema and queso fresco, the enchiladas were really only a vessel manifested for the sole purpose to transfer the mole from plate, to mouth.
The first of many culinary adventures on this, my first trip to Mexico, this was a huge success. I was shown, right off the bat, that the food of Mexico is complex, flavorful, and unique. I am now a true lover of Mexican cuisine and will forever be searching for a mole that can rival that from a tiny little restaurant in Tulum.
So different from the Italian food that I know so intimately well, Mexico offered a peek into the wild. Big, bold flavors with no rules or regulations, barely a knife and fork in sight. Was it possible for me to love such a pedestrian cuisine? What I found as I explored the culinary landscape of the Yucatan was that although this is a food "of the people", it is in no way pedestrian. The flavors are well-balanced and layered with the same precision and attention to detail one might expect to find in a high-end city bistro.
The first meal in Mexico was a sign of what was to come, a delicious meal from a hole-in-the wall, made with love and by a family. This little restaurant was located right outside of the bed and breakfast we were staying in Tulum called La Selva Mariposa. The family that ran the place had relocated from Mexico City and brought with them some of their regional favorites. The menu was entirely in Spanish and we had a tough time placing even the simplest of orders, but whatever misgivings we had initially were completely forgotten once our food came out. I ordered the enchiladas mole, my favorite Mexican dish of all time.
Mole is the generic term for sauce, but the mole that I am talking about is red mole. A beautiful symphony of earthy and other-worldly flavors that harken from a tradition much older than all of us gringos. Mole is the delicate balance of two very fundamental Mexican flavors, chilli and chocolate...and about 20 other ingredients. It is very easy to mess up a mole, if it's too sweet, too bitter, too chocolatey, or not chocolatey enough. In culinary circles, the ability to pull off an authentic and properly balanced mole is a technique that takes years of study and a great deal of trial and error, something not often achieved and rarely perfected. Once I tasted the mole at this restaurant I knew that this was a recipe that that family had passed down over generations, something tried and true, done the same way every time. It was incredible. Topped with a little crema and queso fresco, the enchiladas were really only a vessel manifested for the sole purpose to transfer the mole from plate, to mouth.
The first of many culinary adventures on this, my first trip to Mexico, this was a huge success. I was shown, right off the bat, that the food of Mexico is complex, flavorful, and unique. I am now a true lover of Mexican cuisine and will forever be searching for a mole that can rival that from a tiny little restaurant in Tulum.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Turn For The Better
Life has taken a turn in a not-so-unexpected way. After several months of indentured servitude as the pantry chef at Trattoria Lucca I have quit my post in search of bigger and better things. It is completely unlike me to quit a job, I usually don't have the guts to do so. However after a break from the kitchen and a much needed vacation to Mexico with Matt and the parents Pontius I came to the decision that my future does not lie in the restaurant world. I no longer yearn for culinary greatness the way I did in school, I don't want my own restaurant. My goal now is to have balance in my life. To have a successful career that revolves around food and a loving family that I actually get to see.
Matt has a client named Merrit who is a private chef and is looking to expand his business and plans to meet me this week to discuss possible employment. I need to work and I need to learn more. I feel like I am heading in the right direction but I am a little scared.
Matt has a client named Merrit who is a private chef and is looking to expand his business and plans to meet me this week to discuss possible employment. I need to work and I need to learn more. I feel like I am heading in the right direction but I am a little scared.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The Dinner of the Critics
I had my first experience with the Charleston culinary elite this past week.
My usual day off is on Wednesday, however this past week I was told on Tuesday night that all of the back-of-house staff were required to be at the restaurant by 9am Wednesday morning in order to prepare for the Critics Dinner. The Critics Dinner is a four course culinary spectacle in which five chefs are selected by the top food critics of Charleston in order to delight and indulge the rich foodie patrons of the low country for the reasonable price of $300 a person.
In a town this size, reputation means everything and who you know means just as much as how good your food is. Therefore the usual suspects were in attendance: Sean Brock of Husk and McCrady's was the highlight for most diners, offering gastronomic wonders such as fish fume foam and flounder "head cheese"
Jacques Larson of Wild Olive totting along a cacophany of black truffles.
Mike Lotta of the highly acclaimed Fig restaurant, and my Chef, Chef Ken Vedrinsky of Trattoria Lucca. I accompanied my chef and leader, Chef Ken Vedrinsky and we put out what I and many others considered the best course of the night, a thrice-smoked deckle steak with a peanut potato and grilled lobster salad on a puree of parmeggiano reggiano fonduta.
There were so many talented chefs at this event I felt more than honored to be able to meet all of them and more importantly to meet their sous and line chefs. After all, the line chefs of the world are ones that really keep things running. I found a great connection with a guy named Mick, the line chef that accompanied Chef Jacques Lawrence from Wild Olive to the event. They prepared a fantastic salad of barley, rabbit confit, and black truffle. the combination was earthy, seductive and aromatically intoxicating. The rabbit was unbelievably tender and it was by far my favorite of the night besides Chef Ken's deckle, of course.
The whole event took place on Fort sumpter, a mysterious and desolate island off the coast of the Charleston harbor that reminds us all of the turbulent past of the south and of America as a united nation. The location itself was less than beautiful, a brick facade filled in with black concrete in order to create the illusion of a fully established space. The night went off without a hitch and everyone praised us all for the unbelievable meal that was put before them. For my part, I felt undeserving of any praise , for after all I am only a lowly prep cook and student of masters.
The most amazing thing that came out of the night was the opportunity to get to know some of the biggest names in the Charleston food scene. 
I got to meet and talk with Sean Brock, who is obviously the wonder boy of low-country food and who is likely to be up there with David Chang and Wiley D. in the next few years. It was a perfect place to let people know who I am and that I am a force in the world of food, little package, pony-tail and all.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
An Evening In
What does a new chef do on her day off? Cook, of course.
Last night Matt and I planned, cooked, and ate a three course feast to rival any restaurant in Charleston. The food was all Italian of course, starting with homemade farfalle in a brown butter and roasted garlic sauce with button mushrooms, broccoli rabe, homemade sausage, and topped with a poached egg. I started cooking around two in the afternoon, after all I had two doughs to make, pasta to cut, shape, and dry, and a tart shell (I made a tart for our dessert course) to let cool.
The pasta was perfect. The dough came out flawless due in large part to the utilization of my new favorite kitchen toy, the kitchen aid stand mixer. The kitchen aid took all the grunt work out of kneading the dough into submission and gave me a product my little arms could actually handle properly. It was a shame to throw a large part of it away, but after producing an entire tray of little bow ties out of half of the dough ball I didn't have the motivation to completely cover the kitchen in drying pasta.
The dish was inspired by one Matt and I had at my very own Trattoria Lucca a little over a week ago. However, I put my own spin on it and I think it came out almost, if not as good as the original.
The second course was a pan seared tilapia over an eggplant and tomato agrodolce on a bed of sweet pea puree. It was delicate and the flavors worked well together. I think at that point Matt was impressed by my culinary prowess.
The final dish was a fig tart with a marscapone cream filling. For the crust I used a recipe from the restaurant because I admit, I am not a skilled baker naturally. It came out crispy and sweet, I will definitely be reusing that recipe in the future. The filling was a makeshift recipe I came up with myself, with a little advice from Conrad, the guarde manger at Trattoria Lucca. I softened the cream cheese in the mixer and then added the marscapone to it, then I added two egg yolks (should have used three) and some whipped cream to fluff it up. I then added the entire mixture to my pre-baked tart shell and cooked it at 350 degrees for twenty minutes. I then added the figs on top and baked it for ten more minutes. After it cooled we each devoured a large slice and our feast was over.
It was a pretty fantastic evening accompanied by extraordinary food (if I do say so myself)
Last night Matt and I planned, cooked, and ate a three course feast to rival any restaurant in Charleston. The food was all Italian of course, starting with homemade farfalle in a brown butter and roasted garlic sauce with button mushrooms, broccoli rabe, homemade sausage, and topped with a poached egg. I started cooking around two in the afternoon, after all I had two doughs to make, pasta to cut, shape, and dry, and a tart shell (I made a tart for our dessert course) to let cool.
The pasta was perfect. The dough came out flawless due in large part to the utilization of my new favorite kitchen toy, the kitchen aid stand mixer. The kitchen aid took all the grunt work out of kneading the dough into submission and gave me a product my little arms could actually handle properly. It was a shame to throw a large part of it away, but after producing an entire tray of little bow ties out of half of the dough ball I didn't have the motivation to completely cover the kitchen in drying pasta.
The dish was inspired by one Matt and I had at my very own Trattoria Lucca a little over a week ago. However, I put my own spin on it and I think it came out almost, if not as good as the original.
The second course was a pan seared tilapia over an eggplant and tomato agrodolce on a bed of sweet pea puree. It was delicate and the flavors worked well together. I think at that point Matt was impressed by my culinary prowess.
The final dish was a fig tart with a marscapone cream filling. For the crust I used a recipe from the restaurant because I admit, I am not a skilled baker naturally. It came out crispy and sweet, I will definitely be reusing that recipe in the future. The filling was a makeshift recipe I came up with myself, with a little advice from Conrad, the guarde manger at Trattoria Lucca. I softened the cream cheese in the mixer and then added the marscapone to it, then I added two egg yolks (should have used three) and some whipped cream to fluff it up. I then added the entire mixture to my pre-baked tart shell and cooked it at 350 degrees for twenty minutes. I then added the figs on top and baked it for ten more minutes. After it cooled we each devoured a large slice and our feast was over.
It was a pretty fantastic evening accompanied by extraordinary food (if I do say so myself)
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
New Beginings
Life has sure changed drastically in a few short weeks. It wasn't long ago that I was begrudgingly returned to the United States, dreading the impending boredom that I suffered the last time I called Charleston, South Carolina, home.
I am pleased to report, however, that this time around everything is different. I am beyond happy in my new surroundings and have already secured a dream job in the kitchen of the best Italian restaurant in town, Trattoria Lucca. The chef stays true to classic flavors but adds his own creative twist to classic dishes, creating a cuisine that is both modern and elegant. My boyfriend Matt and I went to dinner there on Saturday night and came away with aggressively full bellies and huge smiles. Chef Ken will be a fantastic mentor and I can't wait to start work on Thursday.
I am pleased to report, however, that this time around everything is different. I am beyond happy in my new surroundings and have already secured a dream job in the kitchen of the best Italian restaurant in town, Trattoria Lucca. The chef stays true to classic flavors but adds his own creative twist to classic dishes, creating a cuisine that is both modern and elegant. My boyfriend Matt and I went to dinner there on Saturday night and came away with aggressively full bellies and huge smiles. Chef Ken will be a fantastic mentor and I can't wait to start work on Thursday.
Friday, May 27, 2011
The End
It's all over, or its all just beginning, I have yet to decide.
After a sad farewell to my beloved Guardigrele, Luca, the Tinari family, and the entire staff of Villa Maiella I boarded a train and headed to Bologna for the weekend. I met up with Pete and we did what we do best, eat, drink, and sight-see. It was a nice weekend that was gone too quickly. On Monday we returned to ALMA for the final chapter of our culinary school story.
It was nice seeing everyone again. Our finals were spread over two days. The first day we got to cook our dishes, the plates we had most likely been obsessing over for the entirety of our stage. The second we were all required to complete the same two dishes, a pan-seared sea bream with julienned vegetables, and a traditional spaghetti vongole (spaghetti with clams). The entire thing concluded with a graduation ceremony and a final gala dinner. the ceremony was great, the ALMA staff made a slideshow presentation with photos of us cooking and of our final dishes. We got a diploma, shook the hands of Chef Bruno, Chef Jessica, Marchesi and Luciano Tona. I got choked up hugging Chef Bruno, it was overwhelming that moment, the end of the entire experience. I still can't believe it's all over. The gala dinner was wonderful, I sat with Pete and his parents and we all had a fantastic time eating and drinking and saying our goodbye's.
After the dinner the entire class went out for one last rager at the pub. We drank, told stories from stage, recounted stories from months past, and discussed where our paths would lead from here. The next morning was truly the end, as I packed up my belongings, said my last good bye's and headed to Milan, hitching a ride fron Tony and his gracious parents who had rented a car.
The hotel in Milan was like my cave for the next two days. I ordered room service, slept for hours, and had many tearful conversations with Pascal and Luca. My last night in the hotel I took the shuttle into downtown Milan and met my friend Henry for dinner. I could not have asked for a sweeter ending to my Italian adventure than this dinner. It was held at Ristorante Sadler, a two-Michelin star restaurant with an outstanding reputation, it also happened to be the restaurant where Henry spent his two months of stage. The food was the best I have ever had, truly. The chef was creative and inventive in a way I have only ever seen on television. His plates were colorful and whimsical and exciting. I could not have shared this meal with a better group of people either. There was Henry and I, his parents, and his roommate from Milan and his girlfriend. They were all such warm and charming people.
By the end of the meal I felt that I was making a huge mistake in leaving the following morning. I arrived back at my hotel around one in the morning, knowing that I would have to arrive at the airport in three short hours. I made one last call to my sweetheart Pascal and began weighing my options if I were to purposefully miss my flight. In the end, I regret to inform all of you, I got on my plane, and have now been in Charleston, South Carolina for over a week.
I have still yet to understand why I did get on that plane when my heart feels its fullest in Italy. I guess it was partly fear, and for that I am mad at myself. I am enjoying my time in Charleston immensely, and I know I will be here for a fair bit of time. However, I am determined to return to Italy, and to stay there. I am never more happy then when I am in that country, amongst its people, eating its food, and speaking its language.
Until then...I have a lot of work to do
After a sad farewell to my beloved Guardigrele, Luca, the Tinari family, and the entire staff of Villa Maiella I boarded a train and headed to Bologna for the weekend. I met up with Pete and we did what we do best, eat, drink, and sight-see. It was a nice weekend that was gone too quickly. On Monday we returned to ALMA for the final chapter of our culinary school story.
It was nice seeing everyone again. Our finals were spread over two days. The first day we got to cook our dishes, the plates we had most likely been obsessing over for the entirety of our stage. The second we were all required to complete the same two dishes, a pan-seared sea bream with julienned vegetables, and a traditional spaghetti vongole (spaghetti with clams). The entire thing concluded with a graduation ceremony and a final gala dinner. the ceremony was great, the ALMA staff made a slideshow presentation with photos of us cooking and of our final dishes. We got a diploma, shook the hands of Chef Bruno, Chef Jessica, Marchesi and Luciano Tona. I got choked up hugging Chef Bruno, it was overwhelming that moment, the end of the entire experience. I still can't believe it's all over. The gala dinner was wonderful, I sat with Pete and his parents and we all had a fantastic time eating and drinking and saying our goodbye's.
After the dinner the entire class went out for one last rager at the pub. We drank, told stories from stage, recounted stories from months past, and discussed where our paths would lead from here. The next morning was truly the end, as I packed up my belongings, said my last good bye's and headed to Milan, hitching a ride fron Tony and his gracious parents who had rented a car.
The hotel in Milan was like my cave for the next two days. I ordered room service, slept for hours, and had many tearful conversations with Pascal and Luca. My last night in the hotel I took the shuttle into downtown Milan and met my friend Henry for dinner. I could not have asked for a sweeter ending to my Italian adventure than this dinner. It was held at Ristorante Sadler, a two-Michelin star restaurant with an outstanding reputation, it also happened to be the restaurant where Henry spent his two months of stage. The food was the best I have ever had, truly. The chef was creative and inventive in a way I have only ever seen on television. His plates were colorful and whimsical and exciting. I could not have shared this meal with a better group of people either. There was Henry and I, his parents, and his roommate from Milan and his girlfriend. They were all such warm and charming people.
By the end of the meal I felt that I was making a huge mistake in leaving the following morning. I arrived back at my hotel around one in the morning, knowing that I would have to arrive at the airport in three short hours. I made one last call to my sweetheart Pascal and began weighing my options if I were to purposefully miss my flight. In the end, I regret to inform all of you, I got on my plane, and have now been in Charleston, South Carolina for over a week.
I have still yet to understand why I did get on that plane when my heart feels its fullest in Italy. I guess it was partly fear, and for that I am mad at myself. I am enjoying my time in Charleston immensely, and I know I will be here for a fair bit of time. However, I am determined to return to Italy, and to stay there. I am never more happy then when I am in that country, amongst its people, eating its food, and speaking its language.
Until then...I have a lot of work to do
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