From hole-in-the-walls to Michelin-starred institutions
After enjoying the Ferran Adrià exhibit, we made our way back to Daphne’s kitchen at Suite ThreeOhSix to make a vegan version of banh mi and pho. To say Daphne loves pho would be an understatement - she confessed that she ate pho for 21 days straight. Mad respect.
Read MoreThe first thing you see is a larger than life portrait of Ferran Adrià overseeing his domain, the elBulli kitchen, eyes focused on his brigade. A fitting image for a chef whose culinary creativity sparked a revolution and ushered in an era that has influenced every chef since.
My first memory of Ferran occurred on Feb 19, 2011. When I first began reading recipe books and chef memoirs at the local Barnes and Noble, Ferran’s name was always mentioned so when my friend Steven invited me to attend a screening of the documentary El Bulli: Cooking in Progress at the MoMA I jumped at the chance to catch a glimpse of the elBulli universe. Besides the insider "behind the scenes" look at what went into the R&D sessions, the highlight for me was the slideshow at the end of the film. Bold colors, juxtaposition of textures, odd shapes, whimsical presentations, Picasso/Tim Burtonesque creations that looked like they came out of a dream sequence. I had never seen food by a man who was so disciplined and driven to push the boundaries.
Read MoreFor Anna’s birthday dinner a few weeks ago, I took her to Quince, a restaurant located in the in Jackson Square neighborhood of San Francisco. Chef Michael Tusk's menu is French and Italian inspired and sources local ingredients from Northern California. Walking into the restaurant, you couldn’t help but feel at ease. The host made eye contact, smiled, and welcomed us warmly. Coats were taken and we were shown to our table in under a minute.
Read MoreI recently had the fortune of enjoying a delicious brunch with two of my favorite people at Hearth, a restaurant I read about in Timothy Ferriss’s book, the 4-Hour Chef. In the book, Timothy emphatically describes the culinary prowess of Marco Canora, the chef-owner of Hearth and Terroir. After seeing many positive reviews about the brunch, I booked a table shortly after the new year.
There was still snow on the ground when Anna and I stepped out of the cab. We were running 10 minutes late and Miho had already texted that she was close by. We gingerly stepped over newly formed slush puddles, a result of New York’s bipolar weather.
The entrance to Hearth isn’t where you think it is. The correct entrance can be found around the corner on 12th street. The first thing I noticed was a beautiful bookshelf filled with cookbooks, memoirs, and Marco’s book, Salt to Taste.
Read MoreMy first meal of 2014 was at Sushi Nakazawa, a restaurant that I couldn't get a reservation for last year.
The early buzz was due in part to the fact that its head chef was Daisuke Nakazawa, the hard-working apprentice seeking perfection in the documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi. In the film, he made over 200 tamagoyaki before getting a nod of approval by Jiro. That tireless commitment to exacting standards would translate well when Nakazawa made his American debut in 2011 at Shiro’s, a restaurant owned by a fellow Jiro apprentice. My friend Kevin recounted a positive experience and said that a flight to Seattle was warranted just to try the omakase.
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