Archive for the ‘Chef’ Category

Celebrating 40 years is a big deal. I know because I’m turning 40 this year! But that pales in comparison to Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (LEYE) celebrating 40 years in the restaurant business when Rich Melman first opened RJ Grunts. This year, he finally won (after being nominated seven times) the James Beard Outstanding Restaurateur award which was well earned and a great way to kick off an anniversary year. When I got wind of this story, I decided to take a different approach…why look back? I wanted to know where they are headed. 

RJ Melman and I spoke briefly on the culture and future of LEYE. They decided to celebrate their employees rather than throwing a big lavish party honoring themselves. Even winning the James Beard award was another day at the restaurant. From what I heard, Rich Melman didn’t pay much attention the day the event took place. But RJ notes that Rich works just as much today as he did forty years ago. He still has the creative energy and wants to grow the business along with continuing to develop the people that work for the company. That’s a good thing considering his kids RJ, Jerrod and Molly have taking a bigger grip on the reins. 

The real message RJ gets across is LEYE is a healthy company and the goal is maintaining a thriving enterprise. With so many partners involved in LEYE, each family member plays a significant role. The Melman’s are all very aware of trends and staying on top of their game but trends don’t define who they are in the business. Researching is key and they do a great job at it. But setting trends rather than following is in the forefront of their strategy. Ultimately, it’s paid off. When asked about upcoming projects, RJ was his usual charming and evasive self. “There is always something in the works” but nothing he can discuss. While Rich overseas the entire company, his kids focus on Paris Club, Hub 51, RJ Grunts and two restaurants in Santa Monica, California, M Kitchen and Stella Rosa Pizza Bar. Looking back, we can put the landscape of Chicago dining into perspective based on what LEYE has generated on purely talent alone. With so many great chefs in the market, many of them began in a Lettuce kitchen. So, we can only hope that the innovative thinking of the Melman’s carries us through many more decades. I, for one, always look forward to a dining experience with each new restaurant they open. 

The big news flash this week for Lettuce is the soon to be reinvented space at Water Tower’s mezzanine level just outside foodlife. LEYE will be expanding the market place which entails 4,500 square feet of space and will be called foodease which will hold everything from an M Burger, a wine bar to a chocolate room. And for those more into the nightlife in town, Paris Club hopes to debut their roof top, Studio Paris, within the next few weeks. I’m sure it will be the most swank yet difficult roof to get into this summer! 

I found RJ’s last comments to be the most interesting and telling, “We don’t want the next forty years to be quantified by just opening more restaurants but staying on top of what’s going on already for us. It’s the quality.” 

Congratulations to The Melman family and their employees! 

I’ve always wanted to go to culinary school. But Prince Charming wasn’t so keen on the idea knowing it was one more excuse for me to stay out late eating and drinking while he was at home with the kiddies. And really, I have a decent culinary acumen having grown up with a mother and grandmother who’s hearts were in the kitchen. With food, the learning starts at home. Thus, SCRATCH that off my bucket list. 

But then I had this nutty idea to follow a chef around for a day so I could fulfill my dream of working in a professional kitchen. I asked Chef John des Rosiers of Inovasi located in Lake Bluff, IL if he would mind me tagging along in his kitchen. A date was set and I already had questions. What time does he get there? How does the prep start for the day? How does he write his ever-changing menu? I wanted to be inside the fish bowl rather than the dining table. 

I arrived at 8.30 am at Inovasi to meet up with Chef John. Let me preface this post with the fact that I arrived slightly hungover, starving and somewhat disheveled, not the best way to start your day in a busy kitchen. Luckily, my good friend at Eater texted ahead with an official warning and order. Chef John surprised me with the best breakfast sandwich of eggs, homemade bacon, arugula and cheese. 

We first sat down, over coffee and my hangover treat, to chat about his menu, new ventures and his philosophy. We then hung out in the kitchen for a couple of hours prepping and  taste-testing some items and later headed to the roof to start his rooftop garden. It was a full morning of pro-kitchen activities. Not to mention I left with muddy paws after pitching in to plant some lettuce.

Chef John trained at CIA in New York and returned to Chicago to work under some of the best, Chef Gabriel Viti and Chef Charlie Trotter. He left those kitchens with a sense of structure but desire to create outside the traditional kitchen. Patrons of Inovasi get it and are thrilled to have a forward thinking chef outside the city. John changes the menu every six weeks. There are no recipes for the kitchen staff to follow. He creates, he shows them, and everyone needs to catch on quick. The majority of his staff has been with him since he opened and he will only hire people based on friends or family recommendations.  The menu changes are just a small part of their day considering John has branched out with his gourmet to-go Wisma locations, Lake Bluff and Libertyville, with more on the way throughout Chicagoland. 

The staff arrives at 6.30 am to start prepping for Wisma by making huge batches of everything on the menu. It’s then bagged and moved to each Wisma where the staff there packages everything. The concept is to feed customers high quality meals at great pricing. I can’t help but compare Wisma to Trotters To Go but with a whimsical, carefree environment. That probably comes from the design team behind Wisma, Robert Silton and Jenny Sweeney. While the notion is “to go”, it’s a place you will want to hang out. It breathes, “hanging with the cool the kids”.  John’s philosophy of Wisma exudes his passion as a chef. It’s hard not to get wrapped up in conversation with him and it’s clear he has an edge about the industry based on experience. 

Part of that edge comes from the fact that he went out on a limb and opened a cutting-edge restaurant outside the city limits. Whereas most chefs of his pedigree would try to open a place in the city, he knows he took a risk by debuting in Lake Bluff. But he still wants credit, rightly so, for an exceptionally composed menu. Michelin wouldn’t come out that far of Chicago to review it and most publications don’t regularly feature Inovasi which I’m sure has to do with location.  With 22 - 25 dishes and nothing staying on the menu for very long, Inovasi is a quite a production. They just celebrated their two year anniversary and John is going strong. Like most chefs these days, he buys mostly from local purveyors and only uses good sustainable sources. The kitchen is stocked more than most because of the frequent changes. The menu shows his personal side rather than listing dishes from a traditional category. Categories like: MUSIC, ON THE LINE, TRADITION OF COOKERY, CHILDHOOD + FAMILY and THE INGREDIENT ITSELF. This is a very small representation of John’s creativity. For example in MUSIC, he has a dish called BLACK AND GOLD, BY SAM SPARRO. It’s a Florida Panhandle Porgie, English cracker crust, Bolivian white quinoa, saffron-vanilla bean sauce. While this is long gone off the menu, it’s a great indication of where his head is in the culinary game. And the entire menu reads outside the box. Inovasi is a place to go to experience food in another context, it’s a not a place to go to just eat. The few times I’ve been able to hang out with John, I realized that cooking isn’t just about what ends up on the plate. It’s just as much about how it got there. He has this contagious passion for creating an out-of-this-world dining experience. John has figured out how to keep customers coming back for more. 

He also offers a blind course that not even the server knows what’s coming out. The dish is listed on the menu as: FISH SWIMMING YESTERDAY which basically translates to freshly caught yesterday and on your plate today. If you order it, it’s different every time for every diner. No two alike. It’s John’s way of saying, “trust me”. 

In the works is a cookbook based on foundation. It will address all levels of cooking and includes purchasing guidelines and relays common sense for cooking. The book won’t be about traditional recipes…go figure! John wants to give you a playbook for your kitchen and he promises by the end of the book, you will be a better chef. 

For more information on Inovasi, click here.

For more information on Wisma, click here. 

Sometimes cooking is intimidating. And sometimes chefs are are even more intimidating but it doesn't deter me from my goal of learning from the best. So, when I showed up at MK to master Grilled Octopus, I quickly realized  that they run a tight ship and I was the oddball in high heels, looking like a glazed donut from the heat in the kitchen. Just like they say…if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. But Chef Erick Williams was a good sport and I can promise him, I will be grilling octopus this summer. I've always envisioned octopus as being tricky to work with. You, too, will see that it's not difficult to prepare. Most of the prep work is done in advance and the flavor was fantastic. 

Look for baby octopus in your local grocery stores and specialty markets, or ask the fish monger. I don't have an exact recipe from Chef but I can give you the basics. 

4 Baby Octopus
Red wine, to cover octopus
1 celery stick, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped

Chef Erick had me put the above ingredients into a small stock pot and bring to a boil. We then turned it down to slow boil and cooked for roughly 20 minutes. If you notice in the video, he removed one octopus and tasted a small part of the leg to check for doneness. Once done, he removed them from the stock and tossed them in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil, thyme, rosemary, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. You then char them on a hot grill, turning so they don't burn. The goal at this point is to crisp up the octopus because they are already cooked. I requested for the heads to be removed but they can be eaten as well. 

You can serve them over a nice green salad, sauteed red peppers or even splashed with a vinaigrette. I was amazed and exited at how easy this dish came together. It's a nice walk from the standard calamari.

But please, enjoy the video with Chef Erick Williams for Cooking with Beauty! 

MK Chicago
868 N. Franklin
Chicago
312.482.9179

Coming soon: Davanti Enoteca with Chef John Beatty

I'm happy to announce the birth of a new charity here in Chicago, In Chef's Hands. The organization aims to TO PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL CULINARY EXPERIENCES TO INDIVIDUALS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS through food therapy. Award-winning chefs, Rodelio Aglibot (Sunda, Koi, Yi Cuisine, BLT Restaurant Group), Todd Stein (The Florentine, Cibo Matto, David Burke) and charity co-founders Jeremy Dubin and Scott Crane have assembled a stellar collection of Chicago’s foremost chefs for involvement in a new foodie-driven non-profit organization, In Chef’s Hands, Food Therapy for the Soul. Award winning chefs are giving back to truly deserving food connoisseurs with unique culinary experiences that are both personal and educational. 

The recipients of these unforgettable epicurean adventures aren't just your average aficionados—they are those with special needs who literally “live” for the art of cooking. Whether a physical disability, cancer or a debilitating illness, the truly inspiring goal of this organization is to provide these individuals with a welcomed respite from the distress that often accompanies their condition, hence—using food as therapy for the soul.

In Chef’s Hands is designed to identify the personal interests and special needs of each individual to create a stimulating culinary session with a chef who shares that same passion. Whether it’s preparing a dish behind the scenes in a restaurant kitchen, selecting locally sourced produce at a favorite market, or simply swapping recipes and cooking stories over a meal, each encounter is meant to be as rich in experience as it is in flavor.

To spread the word, they have planned a kick-off event at Old Town Social on Tuesday, June 14th from 6 - 8 PM. Enjoy drinks, passed appetizers and a charcuterie station. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. Below is a video featuring Chef Todd Stein inviting YOU to help make a difference. For more information visit www.inchefschands.org 

Old Town Social is located at 455 W. North Avenue