FOODSERVICE MONTHLY'S Sauce on the Side

Philly Fare: Day and Night

OK, Philly fans ... here's a tease on my Philadelphia column for the April issue ... I was so impressed with a couple of stops that I feel compelled to share tonight some general observations ... maybe my initial euphoria can be the side effects of that "newness" quality, since it's my first visit in years to the city. I doubt it though ...

First, let me tell you about the Loews Philadelphia Hotel ... it is an architectural marvel -- a reclaiming of a 1930's bank skyscraper and while I walked around in awe of its majestic strength, I felt like I was experiencing it from the inside a Discovery or History channel documentary. Originally built as the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society (PSFS) Building, Loews converted the first skyscraper in the U.S. to a hotel in 1999-2000. If you want the view that I was fortunate enough to capture here ... ask for 3017 (the fotos are from my room with my camera against the window) ... you can say you know someone that recommended it highly.

I had lunch in chef Thomas Harkins' SoleFood in the hotel. The Yellow Fin Tuna tartare has a delicious counterpoint flavor and texture to add to the taste quotient: a dollop of Tabiko caviar on top ... flavored with Wasabi to add pizzaz. Cucumbers and fried wontons add to the dish, but I kept going back to the crunch of the simple caviar and the pristine quality of the tuna.

After lunch, I went to the rum haven of Cuba Libre in Old City ... where Bobby G. lined the bar with his extensive rum portfolio and his defining mojitos -- the classic and the pomegranate. They make their mojitos with the juice of sugar cane that has been squeezed daily (pressed through rollers) ... the "guarapo" adds a smooth sweetness with uncommon body. Later that evening my friend had a raspberry mojito made with a Three Olives Raspberry Vodka ... she said it fit into the "best ever" category.

More in the April issue of Foodservice Monthly -- where I returned to Cuba Libre for dinner and then went on a walking tour of places to eat for my next visit -- including Amada where the chef Jose Garces is in the running for a James Beard Award with Eric Ziebold, Cathal Armstrong and Cindy Wolf. I also spent some quality mixology time with Loews bartender Christian Roberson as he made a parade of house cocktail favorites. I like this Philly thing we have working here.

And the RAMMY nominees are ...

A day after the James Beard Foundation announced its regional and national nominees, the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington announced its local award nominees at a reception at The Ritz-Carlton Washington. The winners will be announced June 29 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. Congratulations to all!

For some pictures of the nominees in group fotos check out my FOTO GALLERY.

Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year
Citronelle
Equinox
Oval Room
Restaurant Eve
Vidalia

Upscale Casual Dining Restaurant of the Year
Oyamel
Poste Moderne Brasserie
Vermilion
Willow
Zaytinya

Neighborhood Gathering Place of the Year
Ardeo
Belga
Billy Martin's Tavern
Hank's Oyster Bar - DC
Mark & Orlando's

New Restaurant of the Year
Brasserie Beck
Central
Hook
Proof
The Source by Wolfgang Puck
Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert

Chef of the Year
R.J. Cooper, Vidalia
Todd Gray, Equinox
Michel Richard, Citronelle/Central
Robert Wiedmaier, Marcel's/Brasserie Beck
Eric Ziebold, CityZen

Rising Culinary Star of the Year
Nathan Anda - Tallula
Tony Chittum - Vermilion
Tony Conte - Oval Room
Joe Raffa - Oyamel
Barton Seaver - Hook

Pastry Chef of the Year
Heather Chittum - Hook
Michelle Garbee - Bastille
Kate Jansen - Willow
Melanie Parker - Equinox
Josh Short - Neighborhood Restaurant Group

Wine & Beverage Program of the Year
Dino
Mendocino Grille and Wine Bar
Oya
Passion Food Hospitality
Tallula/Eat Bar

Power Spot of the Year
Bistro Bis
Charlie Palmer Steak
Monocle on Capitol Hill
Oceanaire Seafood Room
Seasons at the Four Seasons

Hottest Restaurant Bar Scene of the Year
Brasserie Beck
Central
Poste Moderne Brasserie
Proof
The Source by Wolfgang Puck

National Harbor Reveals New Dining/Entertainment Commitments

After months of postponements, cancellations and no news, National Harbor has announced a slew of commitments to join the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center and the remaining cast of original tenants that we reported on in January. The list of restaurants committed to an April opening dwindled to zero when McCormick & Schmick's pushed their date back to June. It does look like the Westin Hotel has a chance to make its April date.

Good news has jumped from the banks of the Potomac with these additions to the original lineup:

Warren Brown's (Warren at last month's St. Jude's event in the foto) CakeLove, Potbelly Sandwich Works, Redrock Canyon Grill, Maggiano's Little Italy, Bobby McKeys, Cadillac Ranch, Public House and Timothy Dean Bistro were all on the new list.

Stay tuned.

'Deconstructing Time: Memories,' it's art folks.

OK folks, no music this week ... it's art news day -- specifically my wife Acquaetta Williams. She currently has a show in the still funky lower east side of Manhattan at the Tribes Gallery, an extension of the art world of owner Steve Cannon. The show is curated by noted artist Sana Musasama. The umbrella organization headed by Cannon is A Gathering of Tribes at the same 285 E 3rd St address ... with a small office team and an ambitious group of interns from Sarah Lawrence, Steve manages to publish books for up and coming writers like Chavisa Woods and they are currently reviewing selections for a poetry magazine. I met Steve for the first time at the opening reception and we had a wonderful chat about some favorite writers: some he had met including Pablo Neruda and Octavio Paz. In the summer there are outdoor readings and jazz events and he organizes a Charlie Parker Festival.

Acqua's latest series of work Deconstructing Time: Memories is there and I'll let her statement stand on its own: "Our relationship to time, at best, is incomplete and imperfect. Let yourself recapture the fragmented bits of time exposing them for what they are: a resting place where we once passed through. The totems are a representation of a reality that exists in our imaginary world." Acqua will be giving a Gallery Talk on March 30 from 3 -5 p.m. -- where you could address questions/comments ... or you can just send her an e-mail.

The YouTube video you see here was show with a Flip camera ... and it was given a glowing review in the NYT by David Pogue. Our friends Linda Goode Bryant and Paul Goode shot the scene at the opening reception ... I did the modest editing and added the music ... from last week's iMix ... A Taste of Chocolate from the movie Chocolat. Not the most professional, but hey, you can always click away.

OK, hope you enjoy ... and don't forget March 30 in case you're in town ... we're coming in a day early to go visit Fabio Trabocchi at Fiamma. Hey, it's a celebration! And if you want, he's teaching a class at the restaurant at 11 a.m. in the 29th: Le Paste.

Get the Scoop on March Madness

In these days of deconstructing meals and menus (even my wife's latest art series is called "Deconstructing Time"), it is refreshing to find someone in the kitchen reconstructing a dish from my past. As a kid, a culinary treat in Macon, Ga. was french onion dip ... and a bag full of salty, greasy chips. Over the years, I have the occasional craving, but I'm not quite satisfied with the grocery dairy case or the dehydrated onion soup mix. The Madison's executive chef Stefan Jarausch has come to the rescue ... he has recreated the icon dip and shared the recipe so I can make it at home.

But there is more to his madness, he is giving the dip and chips away in the hotel's PostScript lounge during the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on March 20 and 21 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Any drink order will be served with a side sampling of the tasty fare, enabling patrons to enjoy scooping their chips in dip while watching hoops. His chips are handcut to the perfect thickness -- sturdy enough for the generous, greedy scoop of dip. Jarausch was a little more secretive about the seasoning mix for the chips (meaning he wouldn't tell me) -- so that's the subject of another scoop for another time.

Go Terps ... oops, I guess that's the NIT this year. How about them Hoyas!

Onion Dip
Recipe by Executive Chef Stefan Jarausch

Ingredients:
2 cups onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons beef broth
1 teaspoon thyme, dry powder
16 ounces sour cream
½ cup mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste
Yield: around 30 ounces

Preparation:
In a shallow sauce pan, combine butter and onion over low to medium
heat. Cook slowly until onions begin to turn light brown. Add garlic,
continue to cook for 30 seconds. Add beef broth, thyme and
Worcestershire sauce; cook until liquid has evaporated.

Allow cooked mixture to cool to room temperature. Once cooled,
combine ingredients with sour cream and mayonnaise. Mix well. Adjust
seasoning to taste.

Serve chilled with chips.

FOOD WINE DRINK 20

For the many new subscribers, let me introduce you to my FOOD WINE DRINK series and explain briefly what is going on here ... Since the blog began in September I've featured 20 iMixes of songs that have some connection to food, wine and/or drink. Some are more obvious than others, but generally there has to be at least some reference to the theme in the song. It is part of iTunes world so it is better organized than I can do; it is legal since if you want the song, you have to pay them (I don't share in this, so I have nothing to lose or gain). It is just for fun and maybe you'll find something you like. Even better maybe, you will let me know of a song to add into a future collection.

This week is an odd assortment but I've enjoyed listening to them ... my wife suggested Church and it is a great song ... and then there is the tea and oranges (Constant Comment, and they even make a green tea version now) from Leonard Cohen since I am on a total LC revival.

Foodservice Monthly, March 2008, vol 7 #3

The latest issue is being readied for the post office ... and soon will be in the hands of our readers. But you don't have to wait for some of your favorite columns and features. The cover story is a recap of the Maryland high school culinary competition that determined the winning teams to represent the state at the nationals in San Diego. Alexandra Greeley's Life Work column features the chef Karen Hayes who can be found running the kitchen at the Kennedy Center's Roof Terrace Restaurant. We have all the latest gossip and news from Philly, DC and Baltimore in Philly Fare, The Latest Dish and Whining 'N Dining. Jay Treadwell treats us to a not so usual visit to the Philippines and Henry Pertman gives us his popular, occasionally irreverent, tour of the technology world of restaurants. Don't forget our photo recollections of our travels around the region -- from Ocean City to the Ovarian Cancer event in DC to A.M. Briggs and Metropolitan Meat Poultry & Seafood food shows. Don't forget the namesake of the Web log ... Sauce on the Side in print.

For those who read Sauce on the Side and don't know Foodservice Monthly, my magazine is a regional trade publication for the hospitality industry and is mailed to foodservice professionals in Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, Delaware and Philadelphia.

Don't Forget Wolfgang

It's like some kind of food time warp ... Friday was the beginning of the blur when I met chefs at Weyanoke Elementary School as part of National School Breakfast Week where they served a special breakfast for students, their parents, and staff members. They are members of the American Culinary Federation and the Nation’s Capital Chef’s Association. Chefs Chris Britton, David Ivey-Soto and Don Shaw and the NCCA partnered with the Fairfax County Public Schools Food and Nutrition Services and its director Penny McConnell, who was also on hand.

Later I interviewed the creator of the new shot glass mini-dessert for P.F. Chang's ... more on that in my print magazine ... but it means they have now have eight desserts with 300 or so calories made from a "kit" of ingredients.

Then it was on to The Source to meet with a small media group for lunch with Wolfgang Puck. I worked at a hotel El Encanto in Santa Barbara in 1980 where Wolfgang brought his kitchen and service staff from his Melrose Avenue LA Ma Maison (yes, there was a Wolfgang before Spago). We rekindled a memory or two before lunch (I have a DVD made from the old VHS tape of the event and my interaction with him in the kitchen on that evening) -- and then sat down to enjoy another Scott Drewno orchestrated meal. The resident Puck-ite is doing his interpretive culinary work with pizzaz -- and Wolfgang is at ease with sharing the local limelight as he travels about the world. He told me he travels 200 days out the year -- with a trip that night to Toronto to sell some pots and pans on Home Shopping Network and then he's got on the schedule trips to NYC, Las Vegas and Tokyo ... I lost track as he seemed to recite them in precise chronological order.

Saturday it was a trip to NYC for my wife's gallery opening at Tribes Gallery in the Lower East Side ... and then we came back Sunday for Michel's birthday celebration (see below). Tonight it's tequila/food at Oyamel and tomorrow it's back to NYC for the end of the Restaurant Show. So that's my excuse for this haphazard collection of posts -- not quite in order. Welcome to the CHAOS. At least I haven't been distracted/blinded by fancy hookers like the Governor of New York.

I can't complain.

Michel Richard Turns 60

Michel Richard (center) celebrated his 60th birthday this weekend ... culminating with a surprise party Sunday night orchestrated by his wife Laurence and hosted by Eric Ziebold at CityZen in the Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C. The chefs present are too many to list (you know I'll miss someone) but those who stopped by included Thomas Keller (on Michel's left shoulder) and Jean Joho of Chicago's Everest ... and DC chefs that included Todd Gray, Roberto Donna, Xavier DeShayes, Kaz Okochi, Ris Lacoste, Francois Dionot, Jeff Bubin, Cesare Lanfranconi, Robert Wiedmaier, Mark Furstenberg, Eric Ziebold and his team of culinarians and many more. The Champagne flowed freely; the duck confit in the Parkerhouse rolls was decadently divine and who could pass on the apple crepes with foie gras butter.

But the evening was for Michel and celebrated in song, with cake of course .... and with many toasts, hugs and kisses.

Foie Gras Phobia Meets Its Match in Maryland

I tell restaurateurs and chefs that there is one organization that you need to join -- and that's your local state association (and in our case here, the District as well) and with it comes membership in the National Restaurant Association. Who has the time to watch every whim, regulation and potential law that comes into the minds of the politicos who often make a move for show and live for sound bites over substance. Once you join the Association, they work for you to help protect you from the misguided and ill-informed. Take foie gras ... or not. That's your choice and the market will determine if its position in the marketplace. If no one wants foie gras ... if no one buys foie gras ... guess what -- no one will sell foie gras.

In the endless debates leading up to the months away presidential election, I have yet to see foie gras on the list of critical subjects. Where does it fall ... no, not top ten ... let's be honest not even in the top 2,000. But for a hot moment, foie gras joined the legislative agenda in Maryland ... and the Restaurant Association of Maryland mobilized the chefs and restaurateurs of the state to beat back the effort to not only ban foie gras in food establishments but to ban its transport across the state. Led by Association VP Melvin Thompson, the homework was done, the information/facts gathered and off they went to Annapolis -- organized and vigilant. Thank you Melvin and the team of supporters you met with in Annapolis. Melvin is the foodie in the center in the suit and power tie -- he knows how to get it done.

The legislation that would have removed foie gras from Maryland restaurant menus was withdrawn today by the sponsors. The legislation, sponsored by Senator Joan Carter Conway (D-43, Baltimore City) and Delegate Tanya Shewell (R-5A, Carroll County), would have banned the production, transport and sale of foie gras in Maryland. There are no foie gras farms in Maryland.

“This is a critical win for restaurants because banning foie gras would have set a precedent for banning other menu items,” said Melvin Thompson. “The activists who protest the serving of foie gras have also protested poultry at fried chicken chains and veal served at many Italian restaurants. Banning foie gras was only the beginning.”

RAM credits the grassroots efforts of its members for helping to kill this legislation. Restaurateurs made phone calls to legislators, sent e-mails, met personally with the bill sponsors and testified against the bill at a Senate hearing. Melvin thanked the following industry representatives who participated in the Senate hearing: Sergio Vitale of Aldo’s, Michael Gettier of Antrim 1844, John Carter of Brewer’s Art, Erik Rochard of Café de Paris, Cindy Wolf of Charleston, John Walsh of Chef’s Expressions, Dan Wecker of Elkridge Furnace Inn, Francesco Marra of Euro Gourmet, Erik Oosterwijk of Fells Point Wholesale Meats, Brian Boston of Milton Inn and Steven Miller of Puttin’ on the Ritz.

After learning of the victory, Sergio Vitale of Aldo’s Restaurant in Baltimore said, “it a good feeling to know that legislators listened to our concerns, allowed us to correct the misinformation surrounding this issue, and we won.”

California passed legislation in 2004 to ban the production and sale of foie gras. However, the new law does not become effective until 2012. The City of Chicago banned the sale of foie gras in 2006. Other proposals to ban the sale and/or production of foie gras have failed in Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Philadelphia and Washington.