Thinking Fall

It has in fact been a while since i updated this blog.... Summer came and left and now the leaves fall off the Trees creating a cornucopia of colors on the sidewalks... an inspiring canvas for a chef... Gone are our vibrant flowers and herbs, and lettuces that we have come to love all summer .. It is time to once again welcome with open arms the thick skinned gourds that have deprived us of there glowing comfort for the last 6 months or so..... Some menu Thoughts....

Sous Vide Elk, Hay Ash, Granola Polenta, Wild Ginger, Parsley Root, Juniper
Butternut Squash Soup, Smoked Banana, Serrano Ham Crouquette
Squid Ink Orrechetti, Wild Boar Proscuitto, Cress, Slow Poached Farm Egg, Comte

Summer is upon us!!

what are your favorite summer flavor combinations?

My Kitchen.....

The front of the club house my kitchen is in.
Stocked and Organized ready to rock

My View of the Atlantic Ocean

Le Mansion

I got it hard.

Private Mothers Day Dinner...

Six of the lucky 11 eating this night, patiently waiting between courses
Slow roasted beet salad wrapped in foscille pear with toasted pecans, lemony pea shoots, And truffled beet jus lie
and johnny jump ups from the garden
Man made Scallop, Bacon Kumquat Jam, Fuji Apple, Lava Salt, Micro Herbs
In the zone

Me and johnny plating the fish course

Vegan Supplement..same set up as the fish but with sweet sambal

Skate wing sauteed in brown butter, Pecaned green beans, Banana, Braised Chard, Caper Buerre Lemone

Sous Vide Strip loin, Charred , Rested, Sliced

Sous vide strip, butter poached Maine crab, Baby Golden Glory Carrots, Shallot confit, Pressed Potato, Beef Jus Reduction

Strawberry, Rhubarb, and Galangal Shortcake , Whipped Almond Milk, Crystallized Rhubarb, Candy floss and yes believe it or not it is 100% Vegan.

Happy Birthday Sarah Baby!

You are the Most beautiful, strong willed woman i have ever met and i love you more and more each day..You have brought my life so much happiness and for the first time ...Peace.... I am the luckiest man alive, You make me a stronger Man... Thank you for everything that you do and for every thing you are....Happy birth day, i look forward to a hundred More!!!!

Spring Menu

Macadamia Encrusted Ahi Tuna, Seaweed Salad, Bok Choy Quick "Kim Chee", Ginger Soy Paint, Pickled Compressed Plums, Wasabi Lime " Sea Foam" .....

Flash Cured Salmon, Roasted on Cedar, Jumbo Asparagus, Ratatouille Risotto, Smoked Puttanesca, Aged Balsamic

Do to the hiring of a new sous, My spring Menu was released about a month later than usual.. It has been a blast formulating and Creating This Menu, My cooking style in General changes up in the warmer months..This is something that has only recently occurred to me... I'm not just speaking of ingredient wise which is a giving but overall execution, I seem to cook like a creative New England er in Colder Months, But once it gets warm my cooking takes on a more global approach....kind of like my mind hibernates thinking of spring and summer!

What Is Your Favorite Part Of Spring?

Top Chef Masters

Season 2 Starts tonight..I got my Money on Wylie Dufresne, Marcus Samuelson, Graham Elliot Bowles and Rick Tramonto in the Finale...

Food and Wine Best New Chefs 2010

They Have recently released the list for Food and Wine Magazines 2010 Best New Chefs click here Congratulations to John Shields and Mike Sheerin two chefs that i admire, and are at the culinary forefronts on cutting edge techniques. Shields was on the opening team for Alinea, his food style and thought still carries influence there. Sheerin trained under Jean George, Wylie Dufresne and is currently at Black Bird in Chicago. The title of Best New chef from Food and Wine Magazine is epic stage in a chefs life to be labeled as the best in a pool of hundreds of thousands is an amazing feat. These chefs will be the culinary gods of the future, Look at pat winners in 1988 a few lesser known chefs graced the list names like Thomas Keller, Hubert Keller, Daniel Boulud and Rick Bayless They are all DemiGods... A list i wish to be on one Day

Tofu

Fresh Tofu and Peanut curry, Confit Pineapple, Bell Pepper, English Pea, Bell Pepper "siracha"

Kaffir Lime Scented Jasmine Rice, Hijiki, Stout Tempura'd Tofu.

Delicious!!

Happy Easter.

Hoping everyone had a safe and happy holiday!!

springing for spring

This time of year by now i always have a plethora of new menu dishes to discuss. but with my sous chef leaving and me trying to bring in a new menu, on top of the holiday... i have been a bit crazy. i am hoping to have something important to discuss very soon.

Artisan Breads..

From top, we have Marinated fresh Mozzerella and Tarragon Brioche Loaf,

A TANGY Tomato Foccacia, and a Farm Egg Challah with Sea salt

Black and Tan..

A Revisit from last years menu. Click Here This years version is a Butterscotch Mousse, layered with powdered peanut brittle, Milk chocolate Mousse and whiskey cream. We tapped a Cocoa Shamrock via stencil and served it chilled in a mini stout glass.

Traditionaly Untraditional.

6Hr. Corned Beef, Braised With Toasted Pickling Spices, Guinness Honey Mustard Glaze, Black Pudding Roasted Potatoes, Aged whiskey and Bacon Scented Cabbage, Beer Boiled Bangers, Grilled White Pudding, Soda Bread

Why not try to honor as many remarkable ingredients as possible on one memorable plate after all it only comes once a year!

Snicker Doodles

Chocolate Brioche Bread Pudding, Nougatine, Dry Roasted Peanut, Caramel, Ganache

ThrowBacks...

" Cappuccino " of Jasmine Rice Pudding, Coconut, Saffron, Curry Caramel

Savory Chicken Tart, Porcini Mushroom Emulsion, Micro Salad

Served on Antique China

Some times it's fun to go back a bit!

Fish Heads, Fish Heads, Rollie Pollie Fish Heads...

There is nothing like going to work on a typical Wednesday and have a cooler full of fresh caught cod fish. There is a bit of nostalgia that comes over me when i think of whole fish. I was raised in a poor Portuguese neighbor hood off the New Bedford waterfront. Fish was bounty and we used every part of the fish the "head to tail concept was alive than" Fillets for the obvious, Bones for broth, Heads for soup, and fried eye balls.. Now to the norm thoughts of fried eyeballs don't sound to appealing, But to those that have had them there actually quite great. unlike animal eyes balls , fish are more gelatinous and carry a rich savor of the waters they swim in. This lends to a creamy outside with a sea jello inside perfect for frying.

So this dish is a ode to my child hood, and further more to my heritage.

Battered Cod eyes, Chourico Aiolli, Salted lemon, Paprika

Chocolate In Several Textures.

97 Degree Valrohna Semi Sweet

Caramelized White Chocolate

White Chocolate Gelee

White Chocolate Shards

Milk Chocolate Air

Dark Chocolate Dirt

Frozen White chocolate Ganache

Dehydrated Chocolate Cake

Crumbled Cocoa
White and Dark Mousse

German Chocolate Shards

Thinking Spring..

It's that time of year again. the thoughts of warm comforting flavors and aromas submit to bountiful life and the cleansing lightness of springs cuisine. Gone are the tough skinned gourds that we practically have to force feed to some by winters end, Replaced by the vibrant colors of flowers and delicate ferns all eagerly awaiting some culinary attention. Spring marks the beginning for me, A plethora of amazing produce and life , A gift from Demeter for the return of Persephone... I could go on... "I have found that if you love life, life will love you back" - Arthur Rubenstein.. " I am today, or some future day, What i establish today. I am today what i established yesterday or some previous day" - James Joyce. Something about the thought of spring and the way it relates to art, poetry, music, and food is wondrous to me. ...

Hand Made Pea & Truffle Fettuccine with English Peas, Black Truffle, Grana Padana, Buerre Monte