Marriott in the Kitchen

Sydney to Singapore

 

I have always loved the food photography coming out of Australia (see Donna Hay), so a recent first trip to Sydney was whetted with the anticipation of getting a chance to taste some of that incredible food I had only seen in pictures.

Right between the bridge and Opera House is Wildfire, a huge restaurant that Mark Miller worked on when it first opened in 2003. Mark also has collaborated with us in Phoenix at Blue Sage in the JW Desert Ridge Resort. The Wildfire dining room surrounds a kitchen that is virtually a wall of fire, perfect for the churrascerria inspired grilled/roasted meats and fish they do so well. A selection of chilled seafood seemed like the best way to start, and our group devoured the Australian oysters, “bugs” and “yabbies” towering before us. Loved the interesting mignonette, an Australian take using lemon grass, black vinegar, and mirin in place of the classic shallot and vinegar. “Bugs” are a crustacean also known as slipper lobster, that are incredibly sweet and an Australian must-try. As to the “yabby, if you like New Orleans crayfish, you will love these! I had the Tasmanian rib-eye steak for an entrée. Perfect medium rare enhanced by an adept sprinkle of sea salt, the steak was extremely flavorful with a hint of wildness that evoked thoughts of the Tasmanian range. No hint of gaminess as often plagues the flavor of grass fed beef, but a deep richness that was remarkably wonderful and yet different from that of the stalwart US grain fed cattle. Dessert was simply “jelly donuts”, except these jelly donuts were beautiful little golf ball sized beignets with injection tubes filled with raspberry coulis. Stick a donut with the injector and squeeze the sauce into the donut as you plop it into your mouth. Great idea!

Next stop was Singapore and great street foods found at Newton Circus’ night food market. Singapore is a fantastic city with beautiful hotels, including the Singapore Marriott on Orchard Road, a fantastic location for the shopping minded. Clean streets, wonderful people, and excellent restaurants with globally recognized chefs. But it is the street food scene that steals the show in my opinion. My first visit to Singapore was part of a culinary training week for our Asian region executive chefs, held at a cooking school in the city. Long days of cooking were followed by visits to great local restaurants, where the chefs could experience inspiring meals. But the essence of every culture is found in the food consumed very day. Call it comfort, call it traditional, but this is the food upon which every culture looks for a safe haven of familiarity. If I am in Germany, I am going to have schnitzel…if I am in the UK, I’ll seek out the best fish & chips shop…but when in Singapore, I am heading straight for the street foods such as chili grilled king prawns, spicy dry curry Singapore noodles and definitely a bowl of Laksa – a fragrant coconut and lemon grass soup loaded with seafood.
 

What’s on your plate today?

Humane Consumers

Knowing where our food comes from is as important to our chefs as having the skills to prepare it properly. We have an interest and a responsibility to cite whether the produce is local or not and in which waters the fish last swam. More and more, guests are asking too, wanting to know the source of the meal they are about to order.

In January, I saw that a video tape had been released showing sick cows being abused at a small slaughter facility in southern California. Now some, three weeks later, the US Department of Agriculture has issued the largest recall of beef in history, 143 million pounds and the entire last two years of production for this single offender of humane animal treatment. The uproar is just starting now, as some are now discovering that they may have been unsuspecting consumers of the slaughterhouse’s products.

Thankfully, I don’t lose sleep for fear of hearing the Marriott name in conjunction with anything like this. We spend a lot of time working with our suppliers, and only deal with those that can pass intensive auditing of production and handling methods. The beef we serve has been handled appropriately and with care, whether it is a USDA Prime New York steak headed for one of our steakhouses or a tender filet mignon showcased as the star of a banquet for 1500.  Hamburger is even more closely scrutinized, with requirements of source integrity, prior-to-shipping microbiological food safety testing, and individual temperature monitors on every package of fresh ground beef. If it doesn’t pass the tests, it doesn’t get shipped, period.

I have visited many ranches, feedlots, slaughter facilities and meat packing plants. Quality is impacted at each step of the life cycle, and it is important to know first hand the policies followed by those in charge of those functions. Integrity of product starts in the pastures and fields, long before it gets to our kitchens.

The fact is that we put great effort into everything we buy, not just beef, and aggressively invest our resources to insure we do business with suppliers we have confidence in. This knowledge provides a great sense of comfort that we are serving food our guests can enjoy, and our chefs can trust.

Love to hear your thoughts…what’s on YOUR plate today?

Thanks for the recipe. adding it to my cook book

-Gourmet

Eating Our Way Through Paris

I spent a few days recently in Paris, and while there I had a chance to do additional research on my never ending search for the perfect oyster. In fact, I believe actually I found it! It was on the first night, the 14th oyster slurped of the evening, a beautiful girardot splashed with lemon and nothing else. Light and of the sea, fresh and crisp, a perfect oyster. I have been eating oysters all my life, and have a penchant for the varieties of the Northwest, but this was unbelievable. The French love their oysters, and again I was reminded why.

The occasion was a reception in the recently renovated Paris Marriott Rive Gauche located on the Left Bank. This was my first visit, and the hotel is stunning. The restaurant’s two levels are anchored by a spectacular lounge ringed by social seating areas for whatever the mood, quiet intimacy to communal dining to private group nooks. Our chef, Fredric Nef, put together a collection of oysters, foie gras and rillette, superbly baked cockles with a crisp garlic crust, livarot (a beautiful cheese from Normandy made of cows milk), saucisson. Just enough to whet the appetite for the great food to come. 

Just a few blocks away from the Champs Elysees is a hotel that is one of my favorites, the Renaissance Paris Vendome. The restaurant, Le Pinxo is a contemporary refuge in the historical area surrounding the Place Vendome, originally designed in 1702 and then later embellished by Napoleon with the imposing tower. The food served at Le Pinxo is modern Mediterranean, all done from the tiny but efficient show kitchen. Lunch for our group of 20 was a collection of small plates of roasted oysters (yes, oysters again!), steak tartar on crisp baguette toasts, garlic laced shrimp, grilled calamari on a skewer. All great, and expertly presented by Chef Fabrice Dubos and his crew.

Paris is a city of energy and passion. Great art, incredible museums, inspiring cathedrals. It is the French way with food however that makes it such a special place to visit, at least for a chef. Little food markets tucked away on side streets, bakeries that still bake just for the day, tiny little bistrots where owner-operators still cook simple classics that never disappoint, these are the things that make Paris a destination for all members of the food religion. Only in Paris can you duck out of a December rain into a corner bistrot, order a steaming bowl of gruyere laced onion soup and then a rich and satisfying cassoulet – brimming with tender white beans, confit, and sausages. That’s just what I did one afternoon of down time at Bistrot Paul Bert in the 11th Arrondissement. Bistrot Paul Bert is worth the long taxi ride from the center of the city, and is actually the only place I went twice to while in Paris.

French cooking gave us the fundamentals of cooking and created the base for most modern cuisines, (except for classic Asian or Indian cooking). Classic history tells us that the Italians brought a love of fine food to the French through the Medici’s, but it was the French who refined it. Still though, it is the cooking of the bistrot that inspires me, primarily because it has not changed. A steak frites, confit of duck, croque monsieur or croque madame, crisp green salad vinaigrette, and of course the ubiquitous “French” onion soup are what make dining in Paris so wonderful. There are also great sushi bars, Italian trattorias and restaurants of every concept imaginable, but when in France, I eat French.

What’s on your plate today?

This is going a bit off tangent from your entry, but in your opinion, how do you define "fine French food"? Or "French food" in general? People always talk about how the food in France is one of the beauties that draws us to the country but here in North America, it's not often you'll hear someone say "let's go eat French today" or the more colloquial "I feel like French tonight" because the kinds of French food aren't really defined the way Oriental food or Italian food is (aside from the foods that still retain their French name like baguette, escargot, and fois gras). After reading your post though, I'm starting to think perhaps it's more the way in which the French create their food? The passion they put towards it? The way everday people enjoy their meals and treat them all like something special? I've been to France a couple of times before but all three times I suppose I've never had the chance to really reflect and appreciate the cuisine there because I was too young to do so. In that sense, this comment may seem a bit naive (I suppose most people my age wouldn't be visiting these kinds of blogs), but I'm still curious as to what a chef's view on this is. I really enjoy your entries and thoughts. Thanks for sharing.

-Francis Kim

Trans Fats (check), what’s next?

In January of 2007, Marriott announced we would eliminate trans fats from frying oils, French fries, and fried foods prepared in our hotels, which was accomplished in April. Frying oil was the most problematic. We were not willing to sacrifice taste or quality. I like to think the media pressure pushed the large oil manufacturers over the brink, as finally we could land on a specification that delivered a great tasting product, trans fat free, and distributable to our hotels. Much has been written about trans fats and why they are unhealthy, but what are they really and how do they impact cooking and the work we, as culinarians, do? 

First and foremost, a small amount of trans fats are naturally occurring in meats and dairy. Stop serving steaks or cheese? I don’t think so. The trans fats we are talking about are those formed in processed foods containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. These oils are typically used in replacement of saturated fats like butter because of their increased shelf life and long thought health benefits of lowered saturated fats. Remember the advertising slogans for margarine and all of the studies attributing butter and eggs as the cause of public concern? “That was then, this is now," say the food police, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are actually harmful (an opinion backed up by the science). At least eggs are good for us again…Ok then, back to using butter? Maybe for some things, but saturated fats are still a topic, and a global movement is underway in the use of olive oil, canola, and other unsaturated fats for pastry, frying, baking, and general cooking. The fact of the matter is that avoiding and eliminating trans fats is relatively simple if you are using fresh, less processed foods in the first place, such as we advocate. Yes, there are things in the global pantry still manufactured with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, but these are being eliminated by people like us who refuse to buy them until they are changed. Can it be done? Absolutely.

What is on the public conscience in 2008? Wellness first comes to mind – wellness of self, wellness of environment. What better way to focus on wellness than through food? Great food, with fresh and pristine ingredients, cooked with a skilled hand and steeped in flavor.  We will have a lot to say about wellness in 2008.

What’s on your plate today?

I think its about time they ban those fats, but i will also say this, the other fats are NOT dangerous for the hart that is a myth from a science dude from the 50s, carbs from white bread, white rice and nudels those are not good.

Best of Boston

  As I mentioned in my last posting, I had the pleasure to host Marriott’s outstanding chefs of 2006 in Boston. A chefs trip to Boston could not begin without a visit to Sid Wainer and Sons, a specialty food and produce company and stalwart supporter of small local farmers. Touring the New Bedford plant is like taking an amazing journey through the hundreds of little farms Mr. Wainer supports. Complete with separate ripening rooms for tomatoes and melons, and coolers stocked with the unique fruits and vegetables ready to be delivered to many of our chefs, this is one of the finest collections of great fresh produce I have ever encountered! In addition to all of the fresh stuff, they carry a great deal of specialty products that Henry sources himself, like a great olive oil from southern Italy and the most fragrant toasted African peanut oil ever tasted.

We then drove to Jansal Valley Farm where Henry Wainer (the son of “and Sons”) treated us to a full tour of the acres of tomatoes, beans, beets, and last of the season lettuce that were growing in the September sun.  We ended the afternoon with a “five mile lunch,” – everything served including the wine, from within a five mile radius of the farm. Great organic chicken, rod and reel striped bass, Jansal’s own ratatouille, and an excellent local lobster-butternut squash bisque.

We spent the next day touring through the Gloucester fish market, including a trip 6 miles offshore to pull a string of 100 lobster traps with a local lobsterman and the great people at Steve Connolly Seafood, a long time Boston seafood company. Dinners at Todd English’s original Olives (Todd has the Fish Club with us at the Seattle Waterfront Marriott) and Jasper White’s phenomenally interpreted lobster joint, Summer Shack.

The finale was an incredible 11 course dinner at Arrow’s Restaurant in Ogunquit, Maine. Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier have owned and cooked at Arrows since 1988. Surrounded by gardens with some of the most incredible vegetables, lettuces and herbs ever assembled, the restaurant is set in a New England house that harks back to a simpler time. The food is simple and complex, innovative yet grounded, and an experience foodies flock to. Always listed with the top restaurants in the country, Mark and Clark have expanded their stamp on the culinary world with their more casual harborside restaurant Perkins Cove, and have just opened Summer/Winter at our very own Burlington Marriott, near Boston. This restaurant is a MUST DO when in Boston. From the greenhouse on property (doesn’t get more local than that), to the menu of seasonal ingredients and Mark and Clark’s inspired touches, we are thrilled to be working with them.

Here is Clark’s menu from final dinner, and check out the link to the photos of Boston.

Arrows Restaurant
Chef/Owners Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier
Chef de Cuisine Justin Walker

Amuse Boche   Warm local corn chowder

First Course    Pemaquid Point oysters, caviar, mignonette

Second Course   Three hors d'oeuvres

Third Course   Baby lettuce, Reggiano parmesan, heirloom tomatoes

Fourth Course     Day boat halibut, lasagna, sage oil

Fifth Course   Four grains, baby carrots, albino beets

Sixth Course  King salmon, crab apple, risotto

Seventh Course Veal strip loin, crispy sweet breads, parsnip fondue

Eighth Course    Beef tenderloin, smoked plums, ruby streaks

Ninth Course Cabrales blue, Capra Cremosa Tartufo, condiments

Tenth Course    Giaduja torte, caramel creme fraiche ice cream hazel nut Florentine

What's on YOUR plate today?