STIR THE POTS

Jean Michel Bergounoux

When I think of the chef Jean Michel Bergounoux, the French term "terroir" comes to mind. It refers to the way a particular region stamps its mark on certain foods, such as a certain regional coffee bean or wine grape. With Jean Michel, the regions influencing him were simultaneously influenced by his presence, namely great  kitchens  such as Trois Gros, Connaught Hotel and Leon de Lyon.

He definitely influenced me, as both boss and mentor. There were two primary lessons he imparted to all of his cooks; use the simplest, but also freshest products, and then employ as much of that simple, fresh product as you can, never waste! From a secondary cut of beef and carrots, together braised in a white wine, Jean Michel could conjure a dish that left you with the sense that your soul, as much as your belly, was nurtured. Simple but so satisfying.

Luck was good to me introducing me to Jean Michel, as it gave me a chance to work alongside him at a turning point in both his career and my own. I spent three years under his eyes at Restaurant Raphael, the restaurant where he readied to open his own restaurant L'Absinthe. Working under this master chef offered a plethora of lessons, methods and techniques, each rooted in a French tradition. Today, I still follow many of the basics Jean Michel taught me; his braised rabbit in mustard, the way to roast a chicken, or even his vinaigrette.  His lessons could fill a book, if only he would write one. Such a book would be a page-turner, as I remember my years with him as a mix of laughs and wonder listening to his stories of working alongside some of the most important chefs in contemporary French cuisine.

During a visit to our restaurant by a well known critic, Jean Michel told his crew, "a person who knows food will judge you by tasting something so simple as a salad, so always season and taste!" A few words, but the power of the truth has remained. With this interview I have the opportunity to pay homage to the chef whose simple but lucid advice inspired so many ideas and  insight into managing a professional kitchen, a man who powerfully reflects his own words about cooking that "you really have to love it or you wouldn't want to do it!"

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Dilara Erbay

Istanbul (or Constantinople)  has rich layers of history where the  food is central to life in this metropolis. Yet in the United States, not much is really familiar about Turkish food, except maybe shish kebabs or baklava. One person changing that is Dilara Erbay of Dilara Sabra Cadabra. Check out her wonderful site!

Erbay is a chef and artist who I literally just discovered online via Momondo, while surfing for information on the similarly terrific chef Mehmet Gürs, interviewed here last week. My curiosity piqued by Erbay's ideas and charisma, I dispatched an e-mail to her asking her for an interview. Voila, the speed of the internet, the generosity of Turkish chefs. She quickly accepted. This week I finally called her and I am already invited to visit her restaurant in August.

Dilara reminds me of a Frida Kahlo of Turkish food; she is the real thing and  expresses herself quite eloquently on all subject's food and more. My favorite statement of hers is. "Art is anything!"

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My friend Mike!(Knorr, chickens and latex gloves!)

Anthony Bourdain always says people in kitchens are misfits who couldn't make it anywhere but the kitchen. I tend to agree with Chef Bourdain. The characters you meet come from all parts of the world or universe.  Some shouldn't stay in the business. Others just can't escape it. The hardest part is keeping in touch with people when your busy working those shifts  and staying friends... at least by anything more than email. Afterall, if you're a working chef, you're spending an awful lot of time in your workplace kitchen, leaving little time and energy at the end of the week for much socializing.

And honestly, it's tough making friends "in the biz." Beyond time restrictions, there's the competitive nature of the restaurant industry, as well as the seemingly intrinsic insecurity of kitchen positions. One day you're there. The next day you're not. Such harsh fate can stem from all sorts of things. The top chef decided one shift that the "plate of the day" was not up to snuff, and therefore it must be your fault. Gone. Or you screwed up their special soup on a day they were particularly sensitive. Out the door. Maybe you're showed up at work reeking of a late night bender. Or worse you show up in the middle of a bender. Whatever, really great food elicits great passion. Kitchens draw passionate people. Passionate people make for colorful but risky environments. At least for cultivating easy friendships.

Still, sometimes in this crazy wonderful business (even a bit more than sometimes... sometimes) you meet a fellow food professional who it doesn't matter if you see every day, every week, or just once a year. They may be someone who has your back. Or they just may be someone who is generous with their wisdom, humor, or good cheer. Whatever, such friends are precious. Take a certain chef whom I count on to take me to New York's Asian markets in Queens, introducing me to different ingredients and food not recognized in my culinary repertoire. All to say, I would like to make my own introduction to a friend of mine. Everyone, meet Mike Kobylanski. You will find him every once and a while leaving kind messages here. Or just adding his two cents. 

There are more than enough stories to tell  about Mike, you could fill a book with! One time we were in the kitchen after lunch. Mike and I put some latex gloves over our heads and were clucking like chickens when our top chef walked in. Worse, he was joined by Charlie Trotter. Mike and I scurried like hell to the walk-in fridge and hid. All of a sudden Mike turned to me. "Shit," he said. "The Knorr chicken base is on the counter!" For a moment we were scared. But then we broke into uncontrollable laughter, imagining how it would ruin our boss' reputation to see the chicken base as he showed the esteemed industry AND television food personality around his kitchen. We didn't even consider the latex gloves swaying on our own heads as we crowed and cuckled, knowing that our future no longer carried jobs with the legendary PBS-sanctioned Charlie Trotter. Hell, that is what a real food friend delivers, sharing war stories and kitchen mischief.

Thanks Mike for the memories. Oh yeah, when are we going to the Heidelberg to see Rosa?

 

 

Mehmet Gürs

Matt Lauer's series of travel adventures is where I first heard of Mehmet Gürs. Both his  Turkish and Finnish background caught my interest as well as his knowledge of Turkish cuisine. In my own neighborhood we have a large Turkish community, we can get just a sampling of some of the diverse ingredients, like yufka,pomegranate molasses. Or buy the bulgar to make pilaf which make up a small part of the Turkish kitchen repertoire.

Istanbul is the point where east meets west in a geographical sense, but in the culinary terms it's the city that blends many different cultures including Mehmet Gür's take on Turkish food by blending Finnish smoke with Turkish flavor,or as he says fusion without confusion. In his restaurants he incorporates the spices and staples of the bazaar, the Anatolian interior, and then combines it with  Finnish austerity  to stir the pot in Istanbul's growing culinary restaurant world.

From the Topkapi kitchens of the Ottoman sultans, Turkey has a rich history in food, from previous rulers and empires it has absorbed as well as spread it's cuisine across the world  bringing a unique flavor to the table. Mehmet has been described as the Jamie Oliver of Turkey, with his own  TV food shows in Turkey. He also wrote a book,(Downtown Cook Book) and is currently writing another, named after his restaurant Mikla. It will be published in both English and Turkish, if you can't wait take a listen.

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H. Alexander Talbot and Aki Kamozawa

Chef Alex Talbot and Chef Aki Kamozawa are the innovative team behind the blog, Ideas In Food. On the site, they share techniques and pictures to inspire, many sending the light bulbs in this chef (moi!) to light up in good ways.  Honestly, at first glance, some of the varied pairings have seemed like curve balls. Take Dr. Pepper marinated pork butt with kimchee. What to call it, nouveau cuisine re-visited? I don't know. I don't care. It hooked my interest. So instead of clicking Google to find some traditional recipe, consider the possibilities on Idea on Food. By utilizing new techniques that are designed to make a meal an experience defined by flavors and textures, these two chefs don't just provoke, they deliver some solid thinking around food.

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Jean-Robert de Cavel

Jean-Robert de Cavel is Chef and owner of Pigall’s in Cincinnati, but that isn't his only restaurant nor is it his only job being a chef.

Jean-Robert was my second French chef under my belt ,when I went to work for him at the Plaza Athenée. When I first met him I noticed his shy and very friendly demeanor with his cooks, something wasn’t right, a nice chef? Though my tenure with him was a short two years, he helped me out finding a job when I had left the restaurant I had left his kitchen to work for! He has  always been more than just my chef, I think he is a friend and someone I can look to for advice.

It's been years since I have actually seen him since he left New York to head west to Cincinnati. I have kept my eyes on his rapid succession of new ventures making him an important Chef not only in his community but also amongst his peers in the culinary world.

He talks about his extensive and interesting career, the climb to the top and some regrets, but never one to cry over spilled milk he is always looking for a new challenge ahead on his radar. Reaching  out to the community that has adopted him through  personal tragedy  as well an  important chef to his role as a businessman trying to revive a town center during race riots. Determined and not giving up he continued building his  dream restaurant, showing the nay sayers that this could be a dream city.

I can definitely say he is probably the nicest chef I have had the pleasure to have worked with and hope to do so again!

Oh yeah, all you all you local farmers, JR says, " Go and visit your local chef!"

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Anthony Bourdain

Tony Bourdain is a "star" chef, but his trajectory is the world table and he sits with his mouth wide open.Almost like Magellan he tastes his way from the Kalahari to Singapore and points in between, from the desert to the white tablecloth of Michelin starred temples of gastronomy! Without fail he looks at the little guy and shares his own experience not bemoaning it, but like characters that hearken from Orwell's "Down and out in Paris and London!" he describes the freak show it is! Debunking myth's about everything from Mario Batali's branded red clogs to Gordon Ramsay's food having a "sort of feminine touch! Of course this blogger was somewhat skeptical regarding Ferran Adria's food,but by conversations end I realized with an open mind your taste bud's, especially a chefs should be ready for anything.....it doesn't hurt  too that he is a fan of Iggy Pop like me!

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Josh Dechellis

Bogotá born, New Jersey raised Chef Josh Dechellis is a contradiction in all sorts of way's including his cooking and his appreciation of food! At Sumile Sushi his Greenwich Village restaurant he toy's with the traditional flavors, techniques of Japanese cuisine and that isn't easy for someone who admits his "mothers cooking was horrible!" Inspired by all kinds of food styles and not in the least critical of classical or modern techniques, instead he savors all things food for the love of eating. This interview is late in arriving on the site, but is worth a listen when I finally go to try his food I won't forget to do a full spread picture and taste article!

 

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The little owl

Last Sunday I was surfing channels on the tube and stopped to watch one of my favorite cooking programs,the Mike Colameco show. I haven't been successful in getting him on my show yet but I am trying!(Yo Mike!) On this particular show Mike showcased a couple of restaurants where the chefs are actually behind the stove rather than behind a clipboard or on some reality food show!
I was lucky to ask and receive a quick response from chef/owner Joey Campanaro from The Little Owl. What had impressed me about this chef was his esprit de corps, the sheer fact he was working in a tiny space and creating a real buzz with a well presented seasonal menu that has Manhattan talking.The name  sake of the restaurant(the little owl) sits perched on the adjacent building across the street where tour guides lead tourists around the west village neighborhood.The action takes place in a 30 seat restaurant managed by co-owner Gabriel Stulman in the dining room and Joey and crew in the open windowed kitchen.
If I am lucky to get a reservation I want to be someone who climbs for the wine against the wall, all part of the team effort including the guests.

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David Lebovitz

David Lebovitz pastry chef of Chez Panisse and Monsoon is  food blogger extraordinaire! He shares insights of his home, Paris, talks chocolat, and gives us information that sometimes is whimsical, but alway's a foodies mind is fed.My wish came true  when he responded to my e-mail for an interview and we chatted about everything under the sun, visit his site and you'll be hooked and take a "Tour de  Chocolat"  with him around Paris, I will! So listen to what the man say's

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