SFA Demo @ McCradys …
Great southern cooking has evolved over the years and Sean Brock is part of the reason this progression has occurred…. It might had been a collective of chefs that make Charleston Interesting ,nevertheless Charleston is in debt to McCradys for putting southern Dinning in the map, to one ambassador more than others in my humble opinion…
It was not that Sean Brock has invented the cuisine itself… Its more the fact that Sean has reinvented it, utilizing what he could combined with what can be done with todays perspective and technology … The base was there .. Sean has made Southern food interesting and exciting again without sacrificing tradition in favor of novelty … He rather reinvented and added to this by respecting tradition and applying technique and technology to elevate the ingredients from simple and delicious to simple yet exciting and delicious…
No it wasnt as simple as it might sound… Hours and hours of work , brainstorming and testing and trial , failure and eventually success ,compose this journey into food…
I think in simple words Seans selfless dedication to this vision was part of what was this demo is all about.. It was a presentation of how much love and dedication and thought goes into this kitchen before anything comes out of it …
Listening to Sean explaining the thoughts and process behind Nitro Grits and the use of liquid Nitrogen to achieve a better product is a lesson in ingenuity ..
Talking about all these beautiful ingredients that he wants to see resurrected and use , like Benne ,his own vision for the future and his plans on a more expanded farm, is like listening to a 5 year old want list for Christmas : You could see his sincere love for food , his humble dedicated soul to the art and craft of cooking, his eyes glowing with excitement …
It was a great lesson, a lesson in excellence by a charismatic chef… If anything could define Sean, that would be his relentless pursuit of excellence and his passion that fills every square inch of this restaurant…
I could probably continue ranting about Sean Brock but we would probably exhaust the technical limitations of this blog and this post… Instead here are the pictures and the menu from a beautiful Demo and lunch Chef Sean Brock has prepared for very important guests and friends of one of the most important organizations in the country… The SFA , the Southern Foodways alliance….
By the time our guests entered the kitchen puffed pork rind , Bologna with cheddar , Seans own cured ham from the pigs in the farm and oysters were placed for everyone to taste. Sorry no pics as everyone is on high gear ….
The Menu....
Talking about ingredients of the old South....
How the liquid nitrogen saved flavor.....
Demonstrating the process....
Almost done ....
I didnt have the luxury to take all of the shots i wanted , time is of the essence here and things have to move along … The demo is moving towards the end soon and there is work to be done to get this out perfect and in timely manner …. I got as much as possible out of it between plating /cleaning /rearranging and generally helping any way i could… Again picture taking takes the back seat …Its all about the food now ….
Sean Plating....
With Travis.......
And Jeremiah....
The shrimp...
The finished plate....
the next course ready for fire...
Plating like crazy , Travis Sean and jeremiah leading the way Chris Matt Danno and Ben preparing and me and Angelo trying to keep up with all the action helping as much as we can …There are more people in this kitchen getting things going….
Finished Second course....
The dessert course is underway as we finish second course and we are moving towards the finish …. At one point even Richard Blais appears in the Kitchen only to take plates following Andre to the tables… Richard Blais is awesome like that….
Pluff mud dessert… Nothing i havent seen but it seems it is reproduced in new ways every time … In 5 days i seen this 3 times but all three times its composed in a different way with only the main concept intact and a playful list of things added subtracted or multiplied in numbers …. Resourcefulness and ingenuity at its best….
First 5 ingredients plated...
Chocolate powders added...
The finished plate with frozen chocolate powder using liquid nitrogen ...
Now its time for dinner preparations and there are 140 very important guests that will have dinner at McCradys tonight and as it will unfold later on, most of them will have multi course tasting menus….
The Fun continues…. More to come….
Paul Liebrandt & Sean Brock Dinner… The Backstage photographs…..
Taking pictures while staging for one of the most important Chefs in the country can be tough… Having two of the most important chefs in the country doing a dinner collaboratively can be of insane importance and magnitude…
In a lot of cases i take pictures on my stages and whenever that is possible or even allowed…. I take pictures not only to document the journey we take in and out of the kitchen, but also to capture the beauty of our profession and share with anyone that really cares ..
Last Friday i took very few pictures of the food… My simple responsibilities, to reassure that all the tasks assigned to me were completed with success were of the only important thing in the days agenda …I had to make sure i am in my best possible focus and try not to let my gracious host and his team down in any way …
With great food comes great responsibility.. Picture taking was unimportant and in all truth nearly impossible in some cases… So i missed multiple captions ,but i did manage to get some and along with Photographer and fellow Blogger Joan Perry that has managed to capture some of the action…. More about Joan to come soon in a dedicated post which is coming up ….
It was hard even for her to capture all the magnitude … There were simply so many things going on at the same time…. The Plating was split between two kitchens … Unfortunately we both failed to capture the finished course of the seared scallop that was sitting on top of the most beautiful Black Sable i have seen ….
In retrospect we did manage to take enough pictures of the action and i had taken some pictures from the preparations that took place in the McCradys Kitchen prior to the service …. Some valuable shots were taken by Photographer Joan Perry that was covering the event and are tagged as being so… I cant thank her enough for allowing me to use some of her shots on my posts…. Her input was valuable in every way…..
The menu....
Yes its fresh... For the First course....
In the Vacuum sealer....
Compressed....
Garnish...
Daniel with Paul Liebrandt....
For the reception before the dinner....
Fiddlehead ferns /Nori Furikake /miso....For the reception...
Uni dish breakdown list....
Butter for table service....
Kevin was in the Kitchen and so was Eli....
Its time for Sean to start the Dinner with the Uni dish which was simply amazing ….
Sean & Kevin Finishing First Course with buttermilk and shiso powders....
Joan Perry shooting the plate up...
Kevin finishing plate up....
Last row of plates...
Andre silently watching the action ...
Time to pick up....
While this unfolded in the Banquet Kitchen The Foie Gras Dish was being finished by another group in the other kitchen space ….
Jeremiah and Lucas leading the way with Paul directing and an army of people following...
The only other action shot from Foie Plate Up....
Talented chef and fellow stage Jonathan Ori toasting perfect colored Brioche and making sure it is kept warm but also not dry … Eli , Ann , Gabe and others also pitching in, helping and making sure plate up is perfected… Paul Liebrandt amazingly being in 2 or three places at the ‘same time”, in person or in spirit…
Zero hour is upon us… Its all going to be down hill from here…
Joshua smith and i have already started the assembly process of the multi component third course that is 3 plates in reality One with scallop one with the Truffle and the espuma and one with the seared scallop and the sable…. Paul liebrandt in all his glory in every detail…. I am in the back ready for Paul to command the flow of service that will be done table by table to ensure absolute perfection! Thanks to Joan Perry Again for all the action shots ….
Joshua is finishing the component, while Paul Liebrandt is plating....
Attention....
Attentive to even the smallest detail....
Espuma.... A very good parmesan espuma....
Finishing the scallop with seared Deer island scallops from Maine... These were perfect in every aspect ...
The Sable /Scallop dish being plated...
Chef Eli Kirhstein and Ann ex McCradys Alumni, finishing plate up....
While all these are unfolding in the front in the back preparations for the next course are underway with trotters being prepared and components being reheated or prepared for the next step….
Kevin watching the action while staying busy....
Sean setting up demo plate....
If Paul Liebrandts dish was an overwhelming testament to culinary perfection and idealism , Sean brocks Dish that followed , was a testament of Southern culinary legacy and cooking Charisma…
Pork dish Breakdown...
A beautiful picture courtesy of Joan Perry...
Plating the Pork dish...
The dinner was almost there, but there was one more plate … The Dessert was next , a sweet and subtle way to end this dinner… Grand Finale shots from Joan Perry ….
The finished plate...
McCradys Own Pastry Chef Winburn Carmack and Chef Sean Brock plating
Yes this dinner was a success… The tone was now more relaxed and smiles were all around across the board….
In the other kitchen ....I always miss good shots...
Wow it took a while to make this post but i must admit that without some great pictures from my trusted NIkon and some great help from Joan Perry all this wouldnt be possible… So thank you Joan Perry for your great pictures and thanks to all that made this dinner possible…
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Is Sean Brock the next great American chef…?
Last year he was Nominated by James Beard Foundation Rising star chef of the year….
This year James Beard wants him again….Another Nomination….Now a semi finalist….
He is humble. He is energetic … He is a creative juggernaut … He is the friend you wanna have in this industry …All the best the south has to offer plus more….
Sean is running the operations of Mc Cradys restaurant and he is also taking care of the restaurants farm …He is known for his avant garde cooking style and amazing food … Fresh local ingredients become really amazing food in his fingers….
Sean is not only the local hero in charleston but also the role model of the new American Chef, the chef that respects tradition but also incorporates the advanced , the chef that respects the bounty of nature and respects nature, the chef that is a student but also a mentor to his peers…. That man is Sean Brock…..
So hopefully this year Sean will be the winner …. Because Brock is Americas next great chef .And he worths it……
If you havent bump into it yet please visit ping island strike Seans Blog ..<
The Fat Duck reopens….
A very very extensive search for clues as to what has caused the unexpected and severe incident that led Heston Blumenthal to shut down his restaurant in Bray England for two weeks has turned out pretty much nothing as expected…. Yesterday Heston reopened the restaurant with a fully booked lunch and a pretty fully booked week ahead of him as well….Despite suffering a staggering financial loss for two weeks and despite facing the uncertainty of a rather complicated issue the doors open to erase the fears of the past and reassure once again all of us that everything is past news now and all will become normal again …
Great food will continue to flow from the restaurants kitchens , except for a temporary removal of shellfish from the menu , an extra precaution while more tests will continue to be conducted as usual every week …..
Well seems that the worst is in the past right now….. The best though will continue being produced from those kitchens…
Workbook…..
Please make sure to check out Michael Laiskonis “Workbook” … This is one of the most influential chefs in the country… He has offered not only keen insight from a pastry chefs perspective but also invaluable advice and guidance for blogging, cooking ,and living the chef life…..His latest effort is the “workbook”…..
And yes sometimes saying the most simple things is hard….
