De Gustibus Cooking Class with Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Cedric Vongerichten: Absolutley Superb

Hello foodies! A few days ago I went to a De Gustibus cooking class with Jean-Georges Vongerichten and his son Cedric Vongerichten. This cooking class was amazing. Both Jean-Georges and Cedric were interesting and had a lot of information to share. The food was so good, by just writing about their food, my mouth begins to water.

 Here is what the Jean-Georges and Cedric prepared:

• Santa Barbara Sea Urchin, Salted Butter, Jalapeno, Yuzu
• Meyer Lemon Gelee and Petrossian Caviar 
• Ribbons of Tuna, Avocado, Spicy Radish & Ginger Marinade
• Slow Cooked Halibut, Herbal-Chili Emulsion, White Asparagus
• Roasted Chicken with Spiced Jus, Chili-Onion Compote & Sugar Snap Peas
• Passion Seeds Sunflower

The Amuse-Bouche (An Amuse Bouche is a single or small bite, like an hors d'oeuvre) was the Santa Barbara Sea Urchin. The sea urchin was resting on a small 1.5' by 5' slice of pumpernickel bread with a thin slice of jalapeno, salted butter, maldon sea salt and yuzu.The sea urchin had an incredible texture and was very fresh. The jalapeno gave it a little kick just to make the dish exciting.

The first dish prepared was the Meyer Lemon Gelee and Petrossian Caviar. This dish was very refreshing and delicious. Jean-Georges scooped out the lemon pulp from a half of a Meyer Lemon. Cedric then made the gelee with water, Meyer Lemon juice, Elderflower, and Agar Agar (Agar Agar is the powdered form of a Japanese seaweed). Then the gelee was poured into the lemon cups and were left to sit at room temperature. Than they put creme fraiche, one dill pluche, and caviar. The caviar Jean-Georges used was Caviar Petrossian Paris. The caviar is sold at Petrossian in New York.

The second dish prepared was the Ribbons of Tuna, Avocado, Spicy Radish & Ginger Marinade. This was the best dish of the night by far and in my top five of the best dishes I ever ate. Jean-Georges also mentioned that this dish represented him as a chef and the flavors that he likes. The dish was plated with a spoonful of the avocado, salt, lime juice and olive oil mixture. Then it had three types of radishes on  top tossed with some chili oil. Then the tuna was placed on top and had more radishes on top . The dish was topped of with the ginger marinade drizzled all over. This marinade was incredible and could be used on anything like salmon or chicken.

The third dish was the Slow Cooked Halibut, Herbal-Chili Emulsion, White Asparagus. This dish was very good. The halibut was seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked in a convection oven set at 250 degrees for 12 minutes. The halibut itself was incredible. Jean-Georges said the best place to get Halibut is in Maine and Nova Scotia. It was on top of white asparagus and an herbal-chili emulsion. The emulsion was delicious with the fish and made with a lot of ingredients like Green Thai Chili (seeds and all), Green Finger Chile, cilantro root, cilantro, galangal (Galangal is in the ginger family and traditionally used in Thai cuisine), lemon grass, grape-seed oil (Grape-seed oil was used it is natural and has no extra flavor), and much more. This herbal-chili emulsion had a lot of components which made it so interesting and flavorful.

The fourth dish was the Roasted Chicken with Spiced Jus, Chili-Onion Compote & Sugar Snap Peas. This dish was delicious. The chicken was really good.When Cedric was preparing the chicken he coated the top with whipped egg whites and then dipped that side in bread crumbs. The egg whites made the breading lighter. The chili-onion compote was delicious with the chicken as well. Also the sugar snap peas that they used were the best sugar snap peas I have ever had. The snap peas were so fresh and big. They purchased them at the Union Square Market.

The fifth dish prepared was dessert. Jean-Georges and Cedric made Passion Seeds Sunflower. This dish was a bunch of meringue tips that touch each other in a circle, which made it look like flower petals with nothing on the inside. To make these circles of meringue tips Jean-Georges drew a few circles on parchment paper and put another piece of parchment paper on top so you can use the sharpie circle as a guide line. Then for the next part of the dish they made a Creme Diplomate. This was like a pastry cream and they filled the inside of the meringue tips with it. After that they took fresh passion seeds and poured them on top. This made the dish look like a sunflower. Besides the looks the dish was also incredible. The meringue was crunchy, the Creme Diplomate was creamy and the passion seeds tied everything together.

Besides talking about the food, Jean-Georges Vongerichten had some announcements and stories. Jean-Georges said that he has a new cookbook coming out this fall. This is Jean-Georges fifth cookbook. Also Jean-Georges said that his next restaurant is going to be quite unique. He recently bought a ferry and he is going to make a casual seafood restaurant on it. It will docked somewhere in New York City but that hasn't been determined. He said he just bought the ferry a few weeks ago so this restaurant won't be open for a while. Jean-Georges also said that he is looking to reopen Vong in a new location but as of now there is no big news on that. Also back in the kitchen or behind the scenes was Spice Markets chef, Anthony Ricco. He came out for a minute to greet everyone.

This class was probably the best cooking class I have ever been too. The food was out-of-this-world and both Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Cedric Vongerichten were amazing. Also, the spring season of De Gustibus is coming to an end which ends the new season of cooking classes will start in September. The cooking classes will be announced and go on sale somewhere around July 18. Keep checking back for more updates on everything food in New York City and Manhattan. By the way New York City Wine & Food Festival tickets officially went on sale today. Bon Apetit!

-Mike

De Gustibus Cooking Class with Harold Dieterle and John Fraser: Fantastic!

Hi foodies! Yesterday I was back at De Gustibus for a cooking class with Top Chef season 1 winner and owner of Perilla and Kin Shop, Harold Dieterle along with the owner of What Happens When and Dovetail, John Fraser. The class was amazing. They were both fun to be around and the food was outstanding. The food that they prepared was:

1. Grilled Avacado, peach gazpacho, seabeans, anise hyssop (prepared by John Fraser)
2. Seared Diver Sea Scallops with snap peas, banana blossom & coconut broth (prepared by Harold Dieterle)
3. Pecan Crusted Flounder with grits and moque choux (prepared by John Fraser)
4. Braised Beef Braciole with escarole, grapes, white beans & tomato (prepared by Harold Dieterle)

The first dish was the Grilled Avocado appetizer. This dish was incredible. There were so many components in this dish and it gave the dish many dimensions. The grilled avocado was delicious and very different. The reason John Fraser made this vegetarian dish is because he is a vegetarian and has Meatless Mondays at Dovetail every week. He said that he wanted to prove to everyone that vegetables can taste good and a dish doesn't need meat on it to make it good.

The second dish was the Seared Diver Sea Scallops. This dish was really good. The coconut broth was incredible and very flavorful. The scallops were cooked great too.

The third dish was the Pecan Crusted Flounder. I loved this dish. The fish was amazing and the crust had a great flavor. Also the grits it was on top of were incredible and a good combination with the flounder.

The fourth dish was the Braised Beef Braciole. First of all I now know what I am making for Christmas. This dish was outstanding and really easy to make. The sauce also was delicious and the grapes in it gave the whole dish a fresh crunch.

Both Harold and John had different personalities but meshed really well together. One hilarious story that Harold told was when he was working as a line cook in a restaurant, the wait staff were animals at family meal which is when the chefs put out food for all the staff to eat. Harold and the other chefs were never happy that the servers would eat everything so Harold took some dish towels and put them in flour, than in an egg wash, and than he breaded them. He threw them in the deep fryer and put some melted cheese and tomato sauce on top. When it was time for family meal the wait staff was so excited to see "Chicken Parmesan" and they dug in. Harold was just watching them attempt to cut into it and saw people get so frustrated they picked it up with their hands. He said that it was one of the highlights of his life.

Also I wanted to write a little bit about John Fraser's pop-up restaurant, What Happens When. This restaurant opened in January and closes October 31. Each month the restaurant has a new theme or as they say, a new movement. The movement this month is Movement No. 4.5 inspired by prohibition. The recently lost their liquor license so in the middle of the meal all the guests get a voucher to get one drink that are valid at a few bars in the area. Then the diners return and finish their meal. The movement before this was inspired by jazz. I hope to visit What Happens When very soon.

The De Gustibus class with Harold and John was a lot of fun and the food was spectacular too. Keep checking back to Foodie Finders NYC for more restaurant reviews and more food events and cooking classes. Also in the next few days expect a very exciting post about another De Gustibus class which I went to on Wednesday. I took a class with Jean Georges Vongerichten and his son Cedric Vongerichten. It was the best but I will save the details for my next post. Bon Apetit!

-Mike  

LI Restaurant Review - MP Taverna

Welcome back foodies! Last night I went to MP Taverna by Michael Psilakis and I had an incredible meal. Everything that I ordered was off the hook. I was also very fortunate to meet chef Michael Psilakis. He was very nice and personable. He also signed his cookbook, How to Roast a Lamb: New Greek Classic Cooking, for me.
Here is my review:

MP Taverna           1363 Old Northern Blvd. Roslyn, NY 11576

(Dinner)

It seems like you can't make a bad decision when it comes to ordering at MP Taverna by Michael Psilakis. Every dish I ordered was very good. All of the appetizers were delicious and my favorite was the Meatballs. They were full of flavor and were in a tomato sauce with olives and onions. My second favorite appetizer was the Loukaniko (or Greek Sausage). The sausage was incredible with an amazing texture. It wasn't a hard or soft sausage. It was somewhat in the middle. With a squeeze of lemon on top you can't go wrong. I also had the Spicy Pork Ribs. The ribs were seasoned great and had a lot of flavor. The pork ribs also came with smashed potatoes which was a potato wedge that was smashed. I have to say I still enjoyed the ribs tremendously but compared to the other two dishes, it comes in third place. Moving on to the entrees, my favorite was the Prawn and Green Vegetable Risotto with arugula, peas, fava beans, zucchini and dill. I enjoyed the flavors of the dish as well as the texture that the peas gave to it. My second favorite dish were the Dumplings with spicy lamb sausage, sun-dried tomato, pine nut, spinach, and tomato sauce. The dish was very unique. The dumplings themselves were like little fluffy cloud that sucked in all of the flavors on the plate. The lamb sausage gave it an interesting flavor and was definitely a highlight of the dish. My third favorite dish was the Simply Grilled Salmon. The salmon was cooked beautifully and was grilled with nothing but salt, pepper, and a little bit of an olive oil and lemon mixture. It wasn't oily at all and very good. The salmon also came with a side salad which was the MP Salad. It was pretty much a Greek Salad and I felt it was good. Another thing I ordered was the Beef Burger. It came with a spicy whipped feta and smashed potatoes. It was good but nothing super special. For desserts everything was great. The one that stood out the most was the Galaktoboureko Parfait which was a custard with kataifi, caramelized honey, smoked almonds, raspberries and cara cara orange segments. My second favorite dish was the Apple "Baklava" Napoleon. It tasted really great and phyllo dough layers gave the dish a great texture. One more dish I ordered was the Chocolate Halva Brownie with tahini creme anglaise and tahini ice cream. It was good but it wasn't my favorite dessert. Everything was truly spectacular at MP Taverna. I cannot wait to get back to MP Taverna.

• Service - Great 
• Decor - Great
• Atmosphere - Great 
• Food - Incredible 
• Price - Decent
• Highly Recommend (since everything was so good here is just a few of my absolute favorite dishes that I ordered):
• Meatballs
• Loukaniko (or Greek Sausage)
• Spicy Pork Ribs
•  Prawn and Green Vegetable Risotto
•  Dumplings
•  Galaktoboureko Parfait

 

I really think MP Taverna is one of the best restaurants on Long Island and I really want to return soon. I highly recommend this place. Check back soon for more restaurant reviews and more on what foodie things are happening in New York City and Long Island. Bon Apetit!

-Mike

Update #4 for March - July 2011 Event Calendar

Hi foodies! I have some more events to add to the March - July 2011 food event calendar.  I have a few to add right now because they are happening soon and the rest of the events should be up in the next week or two. Here they are:

New York, NY – Columbus Circle              (Borders – 10 Columbus Circle)

Meet founder &editor of restaurantgirl.com and judge on Top Chef Masters, Danyelle Freeman

Book Signing- Try This

Date & Time:

6/ 8/ 2011
Starts at - 7:00 p.m.

Book Costs $16.99

http://www.borders.com/online/store/EventView?city=&state=&zipCode=&within=&all_stores=&selectedStoreId=12278&eventId=368549&

New York, NY      (The Beard House –167 West 12th Street)

Enjoy a fabulous meal at the Beard House prepared by Anita Lo, owner of Annisa and former contestant on Top Chef Masters, and Jason Lett

Dinner Event

Date & Time:

6/ 9/ 2011
Starts at – 7:00 P.M

Dinner Price For:

James Beard Foundation Members - $130

General Public - $170

Contact: 212-627-2308

For more information and to see the menu visit:

http://www.jamesbeard.org/?q=node/2761

New York, NY      (The Beard House –167 West 12th Street)

Enjoy a fabulous meal at the Beard House prepared by Michael Lomonaco, Wayne Harley Brachman, and Roger Dagorn, all from Porter House New York

Dinner Event

Date & Time:

6/ 15/ 2011
Starts at – 7:00 P.M

Dinner Price For:

James Beard Foundation Members - $155

General Public - $205

Contact: 212-627-2308

For more information and to see the menu visit:

http://www.jamesbeard.org/?q=node/2765

New York, NY            (De Gustibus Cooking School, Macy’s Herald Square – 151 West 34th Street, 8th Floor)

Watch and meet Food Network Star and the executive chef of Butter and The Darby, Alex Guarnaschelli

Cooking Class

APP-earing on the Food Network: Class #2

Date & Time:

6/ 22/ 2011 (this class was rescheduled, the old date was 4/ 26/ 2011)
Starts at – 5:30 – 8:00 P.M

Class Price: $95

Contact: 212-239-1652

Click here to register              

For more information visit:

http://www.degustibusnyc.com/index.php?option=com_eventlist&Itemid=45&func=details&did=326

New York, NY      (The Beard House –167 West 12th Street)

Enjoy a fabulous meal at the Beard House prepared by Marc Forgione, executive chef and owner of Marc Forgione

Dinner Event

Date & Time:

6/ 27/ 2011
Starts at – 7:00 P.M

Dinner Price For:

James Beard Foundation Members - $130

General Public - $170

Contact: 212-627-2308

For more information and to see the menu visit:

http://www.jamesbeard.org/?q=node/2772

  All of these events have been added to the food event calendar. I have a few more events to add very soon as well as more restaurant reviews. Bon Apetit!

-Mike