Marriott in the Kitchen

A Chef's Tour of Boston

Each year since 1998, Marriott and Renaissance Hotels nominate their chefs for the Award of Culinary Excellence, an internal company award based on creativity, overall dining, leadership, training of others, measured improvement, and personal development. The Chefs of the Year are the two highest scoring chefs. If you are at the Hanover Marriott in New Jersey, stop in and say hi to Philip Medora, the Marriott Chef of the Year. While in Boulder at the Renaissance Suites Flatiron, Alexander Porter, Renaissance Chef of the Year, will show you why his Flatz Restaurant has been such a local favorite!

Mid-September is a perfect time to visit Boston, and what better time for the Award of Culinary Excellence-winning chefs to see this beautiful city!

Our trip began with a New England reception on the fifth floor of the Boston Marriott Long Wharf, overlooking Boston Harbor. Chef Joe Chaves presented Wellfleet oysters with cranberry vinegar mignonette, crispy seared scallops, classic chowda’ (a great New England Clam Chowder– thick and creamy with loads of clams), tiny Dutch ovens filled with a personal sized Yankee pot roast, and a fantastic two bite Boston cream pie.

For those wishing for a little taste of Boston, make a big pot of Joe Chaves’ excellent Boston Clam Chowder. Just follow the recipe below!

Too much to write in one blog, so I will save the details for later of our farm visits and finale…an incredible 11 course final dinner at Arrow’s Restaurant in Ogunquit, Maine.

Boston Clam Chowda’

Ingredients for 1 gallon

2 slices applewood bacon, chopped
¼ cup clarified butter
¾ cup flour
½ gal milk

2 tbl butter
2 cups onion, diced
1 ½ cups celery, diced
1 tsp garlic, chopped
½ tsp thyme leaves
1 qt clam juice
2 lbs chopped clams (about 1 ½ pint by volume)
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp Tabasco or hot sauce

1 pint heavy cream
2 tsp parsley, chopped

Preparation:

1. Render the diced bacon until crisp.  Remove and reserve on an absorbent cloth for later use.
 
2. Add the clarified butter to the bacon fat.  Add the flour, mixing well. Cook the flour/butter mixture over moderate heat, making a roux. Stir often.

3. Separately heat the milk, but do not boil.  Add the hot milk to the flour mixture, whisk vigorously. Simmer over moderate heat for 15 minutes.

4. In a thick bottomed pot, melt the butter and sauté the onion, celery, and garlic 4-6 minutes.

5. Add the potatoes and clam juice, bring to a slow simmer until the vegetables are tender.  Add the tabasco, Worcestershire, salt and pepper.

6. Add the clams and bring back up to a simmer,

7. Add the thickened milk to the clam/vegetable mixture. 
 
8. Heat the heavy cream and add to the soup base with the chopped parsley. Season to taste with more salt and pepper if necessary.

What’s on your plate today?

8 Words Never Forgotten

I am inspired by food - a perfectly cooked steak, a salad that is tossed with just the right amount of acidity balanced dressing, vegetables crisp but cooked, and food that is actually seasoned.

This blog is about all my experiences with food. I will share memorable meals, showcase some of the great things our Marriott family of chefs are up to, engage in discussions about food, talk about technology in the kitchen, and virtually anything else that affects or impacts culinary thought. I have the unique opportunity to travel extensively, and my travel memories are all based on food experiences. Nothing is off limits... except my firm belief that good food starts with good ingredients and perfect execution.

By the time I attended culinary school, at the Culinary Institute of America, I had already been cooking professionally for several years and thought I knew a thing or two about cooking. Until one memorable day that is. For the day's assignment, I drew what was thought to be the easiest station of the class. The day earlier I had perfectly made a rather complex classical dish and today’s task was a just very simple seared fish. Easy, nothing to it. But, the fire was too low on the pan and I didn’t let the oil get hot. The fish immediately stuck, and once my spatula was done prying it out of the pan, my fish was only suitable for a chowder. The chef came by, noticed my distress and then said,

“You’re only as good as your last meal.”

Fast forward 25 years and that statement still stays with me. It reminds me that food is ever-changing and each preparation requires that the basics of cooking fundamentals be executed perfectly. As corporate chef of Marriott International, those fundamentals are the first place I focus on when developing menus. “Simple, fresh, chef crafted food” is our mantra, and with all of the variables in operating the kitchens of 2,900 hotels, it is the perfect execution of the cooking fundamentals that are most important and most appreciated. 

A memorable meal begins with hot food hot, cold food cold. You can keep all the drizzles, embellishments, bubbles and foams, and senseless pairings of ingredients never meant to be seen together on the same plate. Thomas Keller once told me, on a visit to his French Laundry restaurant, that his food is no different than any other chefs except that “he will only buy the best ingredient available and strive to cook it perfectly.”  An incredibly modest answer from the most influential chef of our time. Fundamentals, executed flawlessly.

What’s on your PLATE today?

Thank you for taking Marriott Cuisine to the next level.  I'm a big fan of your work! Fresh, chef crafted food...brilliant!

-Megan