FEATURE STORY
Sardinian Flavor, Southwestern Success
By Elaine Khosrova
It’s a long way from Sardinia to Texas—more than 5,000 miles, in fact, with an ocean and a continent in between. Despite this great divide, both of these territories share a local hero in chef and restaurateur Efisio Farris. Born in the small town of Orosei, Sardinia, Farris emigrated to Texas in 1986. Two years later he opened a small trattoria-style restaurant, Arcodoro, in Dallas, partnering with his American-born wife, Lori. Over the past 20 years the restaurant has moved and expanded, now seating more than 200 in an elegant house. The Farrises also operate another, similarly robust Arcodoro restaurant in Houston, which opened in 1996. And currently in the works is a boutique hotel and restaurant in Sardinia, located near the white sandy beaches of the Mediterranean. “After working for 20 years in the restaurant business here in America, this will be my dream come true,” Efisio declares.
Read more >>
|
Tips of the Tongue
By Bernard Guillas and Ron Oliver
For a chef, there is no greater resource than a diverse crew. From pot washer to sous-chef, each individual brings prior job and life experiences to the kitchen team, and this diversity enriches the work environment. Culticultural teams, however, often involve many languages. In an environment where accurate, lightning-fast communication is pivotal, language differences often breed major problems. Multilingual mix-ups—a plate of feta cheese being served instead of a side of fettuccine and 36-hour veal stocks going down the drain instead of into the walk-in—serve as reminders that, despite its benefits, having a culturally diverse staff in the kitchen can lead to costly mistakes. Fortunately, with the right environment and a cross-training program, a multilingual team can work harmoniously and get the job done well.
Read more >>
|
|
Cooking Up a Television Career
By Christina DiMartino
Not only are chefs a welcome sight in the dining room these days, but they also have found a comfy niche in the plentiful food media outlets. For chefs who aspire to become celebrities, television is the Holy Grail. Although TV shows provide a tremendous amount of exposure, they are also the hardest gigs for the newly well-known chef to land. Even chefs with glittering kitchen skills will flop if they lack generous helpings of on-air poise and charisma.
Read more >>
|
|
Scaling Back Stress
By Tom Gray
Anybody working in the restaurant business today knows that stress is part of the routine. If we didn’t thrive on stressful situations, we’d be in another line of work. It hones our skills and keeps us sharp. But while the capacity to prosper under pressure often makes us successful, stress can reduce productivity and create tension among staff members. So how do you find the right balance for you and your staff?
Read more >>
|
|
Brandt Beef Congratulates Bocuse d'Or USA Semi-Finalists
Brandt Beef – The True Natural, a single family owned, premium natural beef producer, congratulates the semi-finalists that have been selected to compete in the Bocuse d’Or USA Cuisine Competition. As the official beef purveyor for Bocuse d’Or USA, Brandt Beef is supplying the eight semi-finalist teams with its natural beef products for use in training. The semi-finalists will compete in the Bocuse d’Or USA competition on September 26 and 27 at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
List of semifinalists.
|
|
Going Underground
A new trend is emerging where, to enjoy innovative food and drink, people throw a "dinner party," hiring a professional chef, and charging guests for the privilege. Underground supper clubs are springing up north of the border providing foodies with a fresh alternative to traditional restaurant dining. What are these underground "restaurateurs" offering consumers that mainstream establishments are not? "Not everyone wants waiters hovering over them. They don't want background noise from the tables. They want exclusiveness. And this gives them exclusiveness," said a local restaurant manager attending a recent gathering. Perhaps this is a model for "above ground" restaurants to examine more closely.
Learn more.
|
|
Waste Not, Want Not
Although many traditional French bistros would tell you that they never went out of style, there appears to be a renewed interest in serving rillettes and other house-made charcuterie in restaurants across the country. "It’s probably just the culinary world going: ‘What haven’t we done yet?" That’s how Grant Achatz, the edgy, award-winning chef of Alinea restaurant in Chicago, sums up this new trend.
Read more about how chefs are getting the most from their scraps.
|
|
Best Street in the House
When traveling abroad, the opportunity to sample the best cuisine a city has to offer does not require a reservation, only a sense of adventure. Street cooks are magicians: With little more than a cart and a griddle, mortar, or deep-fryer, they conjure up not just a delicious snack or meal but the very essence of a place.
Learn more about the best street food around the globe.
|
|
Arizona implements Arizona Smart Choice Program
The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) has developed the Arizona Smart Choice Program to help restaurant customers identify healthy menu options. As awareness of the consequences of a poor diet and lack of physical activity spreads, more individuals are taking steps to manage their weight and improve their well being by making healthy choices when eating out.
In order to participate, restaurants submit at least one recipe for nutritional analysis. There is a fee for the analysis. If the recipe meets the stated criteria, one of which is for the plate to be less than 700 calories, then the restaurant is enrolled in the free program which gives them the option to display the Smart Choice logo and become part of the marketing campaign for restaurants to offer healthier choices.
More>>
|
|
Slow Foods Comes to America
This is the first-ever American collaborative gathering to unite the growing sustainable food movement and introduce thousands of people to food that is good, clean and fair through tastings, entertaining events, and educational activities. Slow Food Nation is dedicated to creating a framework for a deeper environmental connection to food and aims to inspire and empower Americans to build a food system that is sustainable, healthy and delicious.
Slow Food Nation, the largest celebration of American food in history, will take place in San Francisco over Labor Day weekend (August 29 to September 1, 2008). Slow Food Nation will bring together tens of thousands to experience a range of activities highlighting the connection between plate and planet.
Slow Food Nation will bring together local citizens and visitors, farmers and food artisans, political leaders, environmental advocates and health-care experts, community educators and artists. Participants will savor food from across the U.S. at Taste, a 50,000 square foot pavilion; meet farmers and producers at a marketplace surrounding a 10,000 square foot newly-planted urban garden in the heart of the City; learn from speakers; and engage in political discourse to shape a more sustainable food system. Slow Food Nation will also feature a music festival, workshops, films, dinners, hikes and journeys.
More>>
|
|
Hotel Chains Enlist Celebrity Chefs to Beef Up Bottom Lines
Hoping to boost their bottom lines, hotels such as The Ritz are hiring big-name chefs to turn their restaurants into local hot spots. Big hotel chains have long tried to emulate developments in popular culture, and recently they have turned their attention to the celebrity chef culture that has invaded American cities, making near rock stars out of Ripert and Wolfgang Puck and Tom Colicchio, the head judge on the popular TV show "Top Chef."
Source: Washington Post
|
|
August Is National Catfish Month
A traveler making his way through the South from other parts of the country might come upon the unfamiliar sight of acres upon acres of similarly shaped, artificial ponds and wonder what in the world they are. But for many Southerners, these freshwater catfish farms are as common a sight as rows of cotton and soybeans, and just as valuable to the region's economy.
The month of August was designated as National Catfish Month by Congress in the late 1980s to highlight contributions the U.S. catfish industry makes to the economy, while providing consumers with a healthy, safe and great-tasting product. Each year, four states that produce the majority of the nation's catfish - Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi - recognize their most respected and successful farmers as "Catfish Farmers of the Year."
Source: Marketwatch
|
|
Semi-finalists for the Bocuse d’Or Announced
Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, Jerome Bocuse and many of this country’s leading chefs are uniting their efforts in support of the Bocuse d’Or USA, the not-for-profit organization created to recruit, train, and support an American team for the world’s most prestigious culinary competition: the Bocuse d’Or World Cuisine Contest. The latter is an Olympic style event for professional chefs created over twenty years ago by Paul Bocuse and now held biennially in Lyon, France. Written applications for USA team candidates were due June 30, 2008.
Based on these written applications, eight semi-finalist teams (one chef plus one assistant per team) were selected to compete in an elimination contest to be held on September 26-27, 2008 at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Before a live audience, the eight teams will prepare elaborate fish and meat platters for a panel of prominent chef judges. They will be evaluated for their excellence in taste, presentation, creativity and technical precision. The competition will be open to the public.
Details>>
|
|
BCA Celebrates 5th Annual Global Food and Wine Experience in New York City
Over 50 chefs and wine merchants will create a platform for more than 75 culinary students to be mentored at New York City restaurants for the ultimate culinary experience. The event titled "Excite your Senses" is scheduled to take place on Tuesday September 23rd at Tavern on the Green in New York City.
"The BCA is an incredible organization that offers opportunities to young ethnic students who need and appreciate guidance in the culinary field. It's my pleasure to be involved and to teach these young people what they can't learn in culinary school," stated Sue Torres owner of Sueños Restaurant. A diverse organization with over 500 members nationwide, the BCA strives to educate the public about the value of its mission. A good part of the focus is on spreading the message to young students of color about endless career opportunities in the culinary and hospitality fields. "This event is incredibly important to increase awareness of these opportunities within the wine and beverage industry. Students gearing to start a career in the hospitality industry need to be aware of this," comments Peter Morales, President and owner of 57 Main Street imports.
Details>>
|
|
from the june 2008 issue of santé magazine |
Chocolates and Confections: Formula, Theory, and Technique for the Artisan Confectioner
Peter P. Greweling and The Culinary Institute of America
Wiley
International Association of Culinary Professionals 2008 Cookbook Awards Winner
Written by master confectioner Peter Greweling of The Culinary Institute of America, this 400-page hardcover is a comprehensive guide to the ingredients, theory, techniques, and formulas needed to create every kind of chocolate and confection. Illustrated throughout with nearly 200 full-color photographs and illustrations, Chocolates & Confections offers accessible explanations of theory as well as illustrated step-by-step guidance on technique, from tempering chocolate to candying fruit. It also includes charts that pinpoint common candy-making pitfalls and how to avoid them, guides to the best quality chocolate and other all-natural confectionery ingredients, as well as information on packaging and storage.
Buy at amazon.com >> Fish Forever: The Definitive Guide to Understanding, Selecting, and Preparing Healthy, Delicious, and Environmentally Sustainable Seafood
Paul Johnson
Wiley
International Association of Culinary Professionals 2008 Cookbook Awards Winner
Book Description: Few people know more about fish than Paul Johnson, whose Monterey Fish Market in San Francisco supplies seafood to some of the nation's most celebrated chefs, from Alice Waters, Thomas Keller, and Michael Mina to Todd English, Daniel Boulud, and Alain Ducasse. . . . Written for people who love seafood but worry about the overfishing of certain species as well as mercury and other contaminants, Fish Forever pinpoints today's least-endangered, least-contaminated, best-tasting fish and shellfish species. Johnson provides in-depth guidance on 70 different fish along with 96 stylish international recipes that highlight the outstanding culinary qualities of each. . . . Complete with over 60 beautiful color photographs, how-to tips, and fascinating sidebars, Fish Forever is a must-have kitchen resource for seafood lovers everywhere.
Buy at amazon.com >> The Kitchen Table: Brennan's of Houston
Randy Evans
Bright Sky Press
Beating out 2,689 other contenders in this year's Eleventh Annual Independent Publisher Book Awards, Executive Chef Randy Evans, of Brennan's of Houston, recently took home the gold medal for his new cookbook, The Kitchen Table. The mouthwatering hardcover, filled with images, stories, and recipes collected from nearly 40 years' worth of menus, is divided into nine chapters beginning with lagniappe (a small taste given gratuitously, thus an amuse), moving through soups, salads, charcuterie, seafood, and meats, then finishing off with desserts and special house cocktails. For those in the industry, it defines the value of offering a "chef's table" experience for guests and provides the inspiration to do so.
Buy at amazon.com >> The Food Encylopedia
Jacques L. Rolland and Carol Sherman
Robert Rose
Chefs who shop the world for ingredients, ideas, and inspiration will find the new Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland, Carol Sherman, and other contributors(published by Robert Rose) an astute companion. With more than 8,000 entries on foods, beverages, tools, techniques, and notable people of the food world, this 700-page reference guide is the most comprehensive available. The hardcover describes a multitude of terms such as murmura, rhea, lussekatter, and many more culinary exotica. In addition, readers can cull the world of food personalities, including profiles on the real Chef Boyardee, Roy Plunkett, Eisai, and others. Easy cross-referencing, large type, color illustrations, and a listing of multiple names and spellings all add to the guide's smart usefulness.
Buy at amazon.com >> Truffles
Elizabeth Luard
Francis Lincoln Limited
Focusing on the subterranean fungus known as the truffle, the award-winning author, Elizabeth Luard, digs deeply into the mystique and history of this "nugget of vegetable matter . . . that looks like a lump of roughly cracked earth" yet somehow has become the world's most beloved, highest-priced culinary jewel. Truffles is Laurd's 176-page answer to the question of how and why the homely truffle arouses such passionate admirers, sending them "scrabbling in the earth or emptying the purse---whatever it takes to hold it in the hand, to smell, to taste, to savour."
Buy at amazon.com >>
The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution
Alice Waters
Clarkson Potter
This 416-page hardcover from Chez Panisse Founder Alice Waters includes recipes chosen to enhance and showcase great ingredients. Waters' philosophy on everything from stocking your kitchen to mastering fundamentals and preparing delicious, seasonal inspired meals all year long are included.
Buy at amazon.com >> Amazing Dairy-Free Desserts
Penny Wantuck Eisenberg
Surris Books
This 216-page paperback includes a comprehensive collection of original dairy-free desserts as well as information about dairy-allergic, lactose intolerant, kosher, and other individuals who want to restrict diary. Recipes include ice cream, pound cake, brownies, and more.
Buy at amazon.com >> |
