Starchefs ICC 2010….

Starchefs Congress gathers a rather impressive collective of chefs every year for one unique , exciting ,must-attend-show in the center of NYC…. For years the calendar is marked well ahead of time , requests are being made months ahead and the dates are blacked out of any other agenda …

If this year you want to see whats really cooking , make your plans to attend the 5th Annual International Chefs Congress September 20-22 2010 In NYC …

The Theme this year will be Art VS Craft and there is a lot of buzz already about who is going to be on main stage those three days… Having attended all but the first congress i must say it doesnt really matter as year after year this has been the show to be from any standpoint….In all honesty Will, Antoinette and the Staff at Starchefs spend countless hours planning ,organizing and putting together one of the best shows in this side of the Globe …

The Early bird tickets are out on sale price until February 15th then the price will go up just a bit …Don’t miss a great opportunity , this is a must do , get your ticket now!

Fresh Origins….

This is one post that i wanted to put up for a while …. I met David Sasuga in NYC at their booth at the Starchefs event in 2009… Before those days i have been hearing a lot of good things about them ,from friends and professionals that use their product and their service…
David has been a warm supporter of the starchefs event as well …. His products have been on some of the most ” Haute ” creations around the country… And his variety of micro greens flowers and vegetables are grown with respect to nature and the environment…

David is passionate about what he does , his passion fills every box of product …This is what fresh origins is all about …And that my friends is good news for all of us…

David Sasuga

David grows a lot of the things we want to put on our plates, a lot of the things we should put on our plates and have a large variety of micro greens, vegetables, shoots and mixes that could improve what we do with food on our plates ….

One of the mantras for cooking has always been high standards of product …Those high standards you can expect from fresh Origins.. Fresh Origins allows the creative mind to improve past ideas, re imagine current ideas and create future concepts…

Sure there are other venues for excellent products as well ,like the Chefs Garden ,or the even more specific Koppert Cress; In his own right though, fresh origins has a unique collection of micro greens, petite vegetables, shoots and edible flowers, not only of excellent quality but competitive in pricing as well …

petite pumpkin green

[caption id="attachment_1291" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="delicata mint"][/caption]

fava leaf

micro verdolaga

golden shoots mix

tiny veggies carrot mix

The truth is in the product… Take the citrus mix for example: Bright flavor , the citrus shines through from the start, clean aftertaste.. Product is bold enough to stand on its own but also works as a supporting component in a composition allowing the main ingredient to shine on its own ..There is a great variety of interesting ingredients like that: The micro fine herbs and the mirepoix, the golden shoots , the delicata mint, the petite celery and so many other things ….The possibilities are truly endless ….

Fresh Origins should be on your list if its not … Trust me you will fall in love with the colors ,the flavors , the aroma , the quallity, the service…Great people , great product , great service… What else can one ask for?

Enough with the talk ..If you want to find more about Fresh Origins please visit their website at for more info …

Let it snow….

When i left Ohio a few years back i thought i was done with snow …

Well i was wrong….

Over the past 2 days we had one of the worst snow storms in Virginia Beach in years , a rather unusual phenomenon ….

Driving in snow is a lesson in patience and composure, working with less people is a lesson in efficiency and practicality and looking at snow falling outside your window can be a welcome change despite the nagging and complaining it “drags” along….

Let it snow… It is always beautiful after a storm ….

New guidelines……

I have recently been thinking and distiling a lot of information related to our approach to food…. I decided to outline the parameters that the food is going to be examined from now on and the way we are going to approach food composition , at least in the near future ….

1. Consider the “end” before the means; Then secure the means that will get you there….

2.Focus on no more than 3 distinct flavors or major ingredients at the outset, keeping in mind balance and proportion …. Ingredients are your potential; its what you do with those ingredients that determines the outcome…

3. Consider range of taste ( sweet, salty , acidic, bitter)… Explore Umami and its role…

4. Place equal importance on textures and colors.

5. Make sure there is a focal point ; Remaining aspects should support rather than compete…

6. Consider the functionality and Ergonomics of the dish, as a whole, on its own , as well as part of a greater vision.. Form follows function…

7. Work with your knowledge and experience and fully flesh out the process, plus possible contingencies… Process is more important than Form..

8. Begin with what makes it familiar rather than what will make it different…

9. Work with a subtractive attitude…pair away the necessary.. Consider how well it eats and what makes it delicious… The simplicity of food is directly influenced by the complexity of execution…

10. Obsess with causing other people to appreciate perfection … There might not be perfect men in this world but there are certainly perfect intentions….

Food inc….

The food industry has evolved more in the past 50 years than in the last millennium indeed… Extended life Orange juice, Frozen vegetables and shelled frozen beans , dry soup packages, bases and frozen stock and sauces, freezer stable desserts, beer and beverages in pop top cans , prepackaged cut lettuce, processed chicken beef and seafood, vacuum sealing and modified atmosphere packaging … In the process of moving forward we have embraced the convenience of the grocery store sometimes ignoring the risks of what this new age of processing might have on food ….

Food Inc makes us realize the level of naivety while casually strolling down the isles of the grocery store, the misconception of who controls our food , who produces it and how it gets there… It reveals how little we know about how our food is grown , handled, processed and how it reaches our table… Despite the shell shock effect this movie might have to some , Food INC is not another loom prediction and it doesn’t wish to employ scare tactics to scare people into food “hysteria”… It is more a testimonial about the inconsistencies of a terribly flawed system that surrounds food and its production and distribution grid ,that has sacrificed common sense in some cases for convenience…

It is clear that without the packaging industry , we had fewer options in the past when it came down to handling and distribution of food… But in this new era of conscious consumerism people are concerned about their food supply as much as any other social agenda … In that mindset the movie becomes a grim reminder of mistakes and food politics of the past and present , a voice of reason about how we consume, what we consume ,and how our choices affect the environment in this “fragile” moment in human history …

Not all is critical… This documentary offers another perspective, the other side of the story, the voice of farms and farmers and their effort for more sustainable food sources and the dynamics of a new food “culture”… One of them , one of the local heroes from Polyface Farms right here in the State of Virginia…

The documentary also reveals the concerns and problems of GMOs and dives in the genetic engineered and the politics surrounding them, a sensitive subject for United States agriculture policy makers… GMOs are banned in Europe and despite efforts of Mosanto and other lobbies its rather unlikely that the laws of European community will “bend” in favor of GMO products anytime soon… There are a few good reasons and this is a good opportunity to ask why…

We are what we eat … The message of the movie is that we can make a difference and we have choices , choices that can change this system for a better tomorrow… Take this opportunity and watch this documentary and draw your own conclusions out of it …It will raise your awareness in the most definite ways ….

For more reading try these:
Food inc. the book
The Omnivores Dilemma
In defense of food:An eaters manifesto
Harvest for hope: A guide to mindful eating

FOOD FOR THOUGHT…..

The Beginning…

Starting your own project takes a lot of guts …. Its the epitome of going solo, with fear on one eye , vision on the other and fire in the heart… Mike Gleason is a friend , a friend that i had the pleasure of meeting and working side by side while staging at Bluezoo in Orlando Florida..I remember the conversations we had about the bussiness the future , whats cooking right now, the stories about food and restaurants , the food itself …. Well a year later and Mike is ready for the next step forward…

The Avery Creek bistro is the distillation of one mans dreams in a small corner of this earth… Its the distilled , refined knowledge of fine cooking and the epitome of another chapter in the great things to come… I chose this to be my first post for 2010 because this will be a great year and this was the most important thing in my mind coming into the new year… It has given me a new sense of direction, a realigned view of pragmatics and reaffirmed my commitment to my own dreams and aspirations…. While Mikes journey is a personal one first, his experience and perspective will be invaluable to all of us with the same hopes, dreams and passion….

This humble beginning, this step forward ,with culinary courage and passion ,is an undeniable truth about cooking and even about our own identity..We will continue to watch and learn from someone else’s experience …What does the future hold..?

This is what i have embraced for 2010 : This Year more success less fear….

The Avery Creek Bistro is located 339 Avery Creek Road, Arden, North Carolina, and you can find the Blog at the top of my Blogroll…..

Merry Christmas…..

A Merry Christmas to all the friends, and my best wishes for a better new year… I have a sense this year will be much more productive and challenging as well for all of us but i have a sense it will be less extreme from this one….

I have been in a mini “break” from posts, taking up old projects finishing them finally , finishing up necessary steps to implement better things , while keeping busy at work and at home and occasionally reading and indulging in as much information possible from multiple sources… This past 3 months have been challenging yet rewarding … It is important now to reflect on a great year and see how much was accomplished despite the unforeseen difficulty and the challenges we faced and plan ahead for an even greater year ahead …

This year as any other will be as good as you can make it … For this year i say more success less fear…

Tough times….

The international economic turbulence doesn’t seem to have finished just yet… In these hard times the restaurant world is always affected in one way or another … When money gets “tight” people usually make those budget “cuts” from different areas of their spending and almost always dinning out is either drastically reduced or in some cases even eliminated for periods of time… In this credit and money crunch era, a lot of fine establishments have seen a turn for the worst…

Take Gordon Ramsay for example that has seen his multinational empire go from profitable prosperity and growth to staggering loses.. Mr Ramsay has fine tuned a number of restaurants across the globe striking deals and investing in LA , Paris and New York… Earlier this year he made a conscious decision to opt out of 2 of the restaurants and the word is out that he is turning ownership of the New York location as well just this past week…

Never afraid of a challenge Gordon fights back with downsizing what makes sense to , adding more simple approachable ingredients to his menus and dropping a big amount of money from the savings account into his business… In this tough times hard decisions and courageous steps forward are sometimes necessary…

As usual the New York Times have the full story so please follow the link

Cryoseared duck….

A great technique from the upcoming 1500 page book in the works that Dr Nathan Myhrvold ,Chris young and their team is preparing for next year…. It was a great technique demonstration to watch at the starchefs congress this year and is already creating waves in culinary as well as in scientific circles….

The New York Times has the full article and the video so please visit the link to watch part of the Starchefs Congress demo…</a>

Last days of Gourmet…..

Pictures of a sad goodbye … You will be missed…..

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