Marriott in the Kitchen

"You're a chef...what's your specialty?"

"Wow, you’re a chef…what’s your specialty?"

Can’t tell you how much I really dread that question. It usually comes at my kids' soccer games, at a party with people I haven’t met, or on an airplane with a chatty neighbor. “Gee, not sure what you mean, I like to cook a lot of things,” I think to myself. I love Mexican food, should I talk about the quesadillas I made for my youngest son last Saturday? Or the R/D in the test kitchen last week where we were working on bar foods and created a collection of sliders patterned after classic holiday meals? Or that I have always loved long and slow braised meats like shortribs or the classic pot roast, things no one cooks at home anymore?

Usually I opt out and say the truth that I have many favorites but just love to cook things I think my guests will enjoy. It’s really not a mystery, chefs just like to cook and hope people like what we have prepared.

Now, there are chefs who revolve their careers around a narrow but deep list of foods or cuisines. I have utmost respect for them and celebrate their cause of Spanish tapas, Malaysian street foods, or fish-only expertise. These are the true specialists, and they find as much comfort in their circle of knowledge as they do discomfort outside of that circle. Personally, I believe that the modern great chefs are good cooks first, and specialists second. The business is too diverse and guests too food-wise to be focused on just one topic. The chefs in Marriott, Renaissance, and JW Marriott hotels all have the challenge of being very good at many things, and I think they do a great job with that balancing act.  Each one may have their personal favorite, but their specialty is in running large, diverse kitchen operations that produce great food in their restaurants, bars, and banquet facilities. Being a hotel chef is a specialty, and not every chef out there can do what they do.

What’s on YOUR plate today?
 

14 Chefs Cooking In Texas & The Latest Culinary Thinking

My colleague Thomas Rebler and I have just spent the last 5 days in Austin, Texas, working with 14 key chefs, piloting a training class designed to educate and align chefs with the latest culinary thinking. Thomas is a great chef and was lured to Washington, DC from his post as executive chef of the JW Marriott Hong Kong, a fantastic hotel. We have conducted similar courses in Singapore, Germany, and England, but this was the first of many in the US. Utilizing the kitchens of the Texas Culinary Academy, one of Le Cordon Bleu’s many US culinary schools, we spent each day cooking and critiquing with the lens of the customer always in focus.

Usually when you get more than two executive chefs cooking in the same kitchen, a competition breaks out to see who has the most culinary prowess, resulting in innovation over flavor, presentation over practicality. We began the first evening with a session on dining trends and then started cooking. No one had a clue of what was in the fridge. An hour and a half later, 28 dishes are put up and we take a crack and dissecting each one to understand the chef’s intent and where the dish would most likely be featured. Some are slam dunks, easy to understand, easy to execute, and easy to comfortably place on a menu without a glossary of terms. Some are whims, some are wins, but those that even the creator can’t explain are the most interesting to dissect. Does tofu and balsamic vinegar really belong on the same plate together or is it just me? Sorry, I’ll take Chef X’s organic roast chicken with fingerling potatoes and leeks instead, thank you.

So what is the latest culinary thinking? Very simply, it is about getting the basics right. Bring great ingredients together with solid cooking fundamentals. Blend flavors that belong together, and keep it simple enough to understand while executing solid cooking techniques. Food is always changing, and much like fashion designers chasing the latest runway trend, chefs can get caught up in the wave of the moment. But in the same way that clothes fans won’t really wear the latest wacky and feather plumed outfit blasted over the fashion magazine headlines, most food fans are really not interested in eating the sea urchin jelly manipulated to look like a poached egg. Always the challenge, balancing the magazine masthead with what guests really want to order - honest ingredients, perfect cooking, and delights without surprises. If I want to eat asparagus, I want a perfectly cooked spear and not a plume of green foam. If I order a beet and goat cheese salad (my personal favorite combo), I do not want it smothered with a syrupy reduced vinegar dressing and drizzled with myriad of colored but unidentifiable oils.

Bringing chefs together for a week-long cook/think tank is the best way I know to create a creative yet focused culinary forum. We spend years honing our craft, and yet it always comes down to three things- great ingredients, solid cooking ability, and guest support. The latest in culinary thinking? Hot food hot, cold food cold. Pretty original right?

What’s on YOUR plate today?  

The Washington Restaurant Scene is Alive!

 I had lunch yesterday with a great food writer and blogger at Westend Bistro, the excellent new restaurant by Eric Ripert at the Ritz-Carlton DC. Amanda McClements is a freelance writer whose work has been in Food & Wine, The Washington Post, Washingtonian and many other publications .  She is tuned in to the booming restaurant scene in Washington, and even shared a tip on a new wine bar here in DC called Cork, a place I will surely seek out. Amanda has interesting posts on Metrocurean, and is now my first stop when looking for the newest must-go restaurant in DC.  Check out what she has to say, she’s good.

What’s on YOUR plate today?

This kind of saddens me.  In my opinion Eric Ripert is one of the most intelligent and skilled chefs of the last hundred years.  I knew at some point he would want to go beyond Le Bernardin, but I guess I had hoped it would be something other than a hotel restauarant.

While Ritz has the Escoffier tradition  in its culinary history, it rarely seems to get mentioned.  Perhaps it can be Ripert that will re-establish Ritz-Carlton as an authority in the dining world.

I certainly hope so.

-Kelby

Organics And The Hotel Garden

Herb gardens have been part of many kitchens’ arsenals for a very long time. A rosemary bush or a potted thyme plant was not an uncommon sight in many kitchens. The idea of having fresh herbs at one’s fingertips allowed for fresh flavors to be added whenever needed. Fresh herbs are one thing, but restaurants are now planting serious gardens, growing lettuces, vegetables, and a few fruits for exclusive use on their menus.

Melissa Kelly lives the credo of an organic lifestyle, and is one of the most gifted chefs I have ever met. She believes that running a restaurant carries responsibilities far beyond great food and service. Her flagship restaurant Primo in Rockland, Maine is certainly off the beaten track, but is right at the center of the organic movement, with a huge on-property garden and even two elite-breed pigs that assist with the kitchen recycling. (Primo’s prosciutto is excellent by the way…) Using the Maine location as home base, Melissa shuttles back and forth from Maine to Primo Grande Lakes in Orlando and Primo Starr Pass in Tucson, both at JW Marriott hotels.

Primo Grande Lakes has a huge garden. Throughout most of the year the garden teems with herbs, vegetables of all kinds, and incredible tomatoes that are picked and served nearly immediately. The cooks all share in the harvesting and garden care responsibilities, and are led by the charismatic and gifted chef, Kathleen Blake, Melissa’s hand picked envoy is the essence of Primo.  Now doubled in size from its original 20 beds, the garden has weathered 3 hurricanes and 5 years of development and is a primary supplier to the restaurant’s ever changing menus. I spent an afternoon with Kathleen in February, and had a chance to walk through the garden with her. She feels a direct connection to the food she serves, and just a few minutes with her leaves you with a sense of that same connection. All organic, there is nothing more local than a salad that was grown 50 feet away from the restaurant, and probably picked by the chef who just prepared it.  Kathleen’s enthusiasm is contagious; the staff of this incredibly talented restaurant echo the boss’ philosophy of local food, with an organic sensibility.  Primo uses the best ingredients possible and is a huge supporter of local and small farmers, and fishermen.  Check it out if you are in Orlando or Tucson.

What’s on YOUR plate today?

Healthy Flavors

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Worlds of Healthy Flavors conference at the Napa Valley campus of the Culinary Institute of America. Three days of leading scientists, chef demos, and over 50 company representatives such as me, all focused on one thing – healthy food that tastes great. The CIA has hosted this for several years, and its effort to make sense of the science and trends are admirable and informative. We all want to be healthier.  The diet we choose plays a large part in that overall goal.

Many of the seminars covered the disturbing trends of increased obesity, childhood and type 2 diabetes, and coronary heart disease throughout the world. Chart after chart showed these trends are growing at a rapid rate. Processed and sugary foods, saturated and trans fats, corn-based sweeteners and fat free yet carb laden products are all targeted as culprits of an epidemic. The solution was obvious to scientists, if only everyone would just eat daily 3 ounces of fish and lots of whole grains and nuts, with as much leafy green vegetables as possible, all would be well. I agree on paper, but most paying guests would like a little more than that.

  I have three kids under 12, and each one is thankfully healthy and active. I understand, though, the challenges a parent faces with enforcing a healthy balance in their diet. Whether it is what they see on tv, peer pressure, or just the fact of parents’ reduced time in this busy world. Even my own kids will trade a plate of healthy food for mac-n-cheese.(Except my daughter, who watches the school menu and on the days she cannot get a salad insists on making her own lunch). My kids like to make their own choices, and often they will choose the fruit instead of the fries, but not always, which is ok.

Translating this to our kids menus, we have long included choices of fresh fruit and vegetables, salads, grilled chicken, and other selections in addition to the obligatory chicken fingers, mac-n-cheese, pizza, and burgers. Let’s face it, traveling with kids is sometimes a challenge on its own, so a balance of menu selections can reduce the stress of both parents and their kids. 

Eating healthy while on the road is something that one does not have to struggle with. I eat out a lot, in our hotels, in others’ great restaurants, and in others’ not so great restaurants. Though many menus may seem to be dominated by the top of the food pyramid, it actually is pretty easy to eat well. All of our restaurants have high quality oil and vinegar ready for guests to dress their salads as they wish. Lighter vinaigrettes can easily be substituted for heavier creams and sauces, and there is no special request we won’t strive to honor. More importantly though, chefs are designing menus with selections that are healthier and chef crafted. Whole grains and vegetables, olive oils instead of saturated fats, and other great ingredients play a larger part in menus now and in the future. Bold flavors are prominent, and we borrow from the healthy habits of the Mediterranean and even Southeast Asia for inspiration. Comfort food can be healthy too, because just like our kids, adults can’t get enough of the grown up mac-n-cheese loaded spiked with lobster, but now it can be made with a lighter sauce and cheeses naturally lower in saturated fat. Of course, there is no end in sight of the popularity of a great steak and simply prepared potatoes, maybe even with a side of asparagus slathered in, dare I say, hollandaise sauce, so have no fear, the food pendulum will stay in balance for all!

What’s on YOUR plate today?