Food102

Tatsing menu 94

2009-07-07T15:12:00.000-07:00

I am repeating the crepe course for a photo shoot we have for Denver magazine on Friday. We will run this menu for the next 2 weeks, I will be taking next week off. We have a few concerts planned along with some rafting and some quality time with the kids.

Heirloom tomato carpaccio
Fizzy capers, crispy silver fish, basil gelee

Lobster crepe
Black truffle caviar, mornay, salt water bubbles

Berbere and beer braised pork belly
Israeli cous cous carbonara, 148 degree egg

Flur de sel ice cream with frozen pretzel dust
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 93

2009-07-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

I sure needed the last couple of days off. You really don't know what you are capable of doing until you are right in the middle of it. We have a lot of people out the last couple of weeks. I found myself running a omelet station in a banquet room at 6 am one morning. I have not worked omelets for awhile, my first couple really sucked. I will have to schedule my self for a few more breakfast shift to get the skills back.

Chicken and apple sausage
Compressed peppers, grilled onion jel, tomato bubbles

Bone marrow
Garlic Bruschetta, crimini

Sous-vide tiger shrimp in olive oil and herbs
Crab roll, dashi tempura, peach salad

Watermelon brulee
Watermelon textures made table side with LN

Bloody Marry Popcorn in Liquid Nitrogen

2009-06-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

This was one of the courses for the Gabby Gourmet dinner last night. I started by dehydrating roma tomatoes for 48 hours. I then placed them in the spice grinder with celery salt, Cayenne and sugar. We then sprayed vodka on the popcorn before it went into the liquid nitrogen. It was a hit.

Gabby Gourmet Radio Show

2009-06-29T16:21:00.000-07:00

Gabby asked me to come on her show this past Saturday. We did a remote brocast from Snarf's, a sub shop on 11th and Ogden in Capital hill. I had the Italian, one of the best sandwiches I have ever had. This is Snarf, he is from Chicago and he knows a good sand.

Tatsing Menu 92

2009-06-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

It has been a very hectic week at the hotel. We have been sold for rooms the past 8 days with another 7 ahead. The groups do not have many banquet functions so the restaurant is getting hit hard. I am feeling a lot more comfortable running the kitchen after my crash course the last 3 weeks. The chef is back so I can finally get some work done in the restaurant.

Curried grilled eggplant
Fennel foam, fried artichoke and fennel, coconut

Sweat pea and rosemary cream
Carrot caviar, grilled mussels

Basil and lemon Popsicle

Roasted leg of lamb
Mint, flexible potato, roasted garlic and onions

Peach cobbler with brown sugar ice cream
Made tableside with LN

Tasting Menu 91

2009-06-16T16:21:00.000-07:00

My wife and I had a amazing meal at 1515 market last night. Gene the owner invited us in for some food and wine. The best plate by far was the seared scallop with huitlacoche puree. I have not seen the corn mushroom since I worked at the Rattlesnake grill about 1o years ago. It is a underutilized ingredient. Basically they leave sweet corn out in a warm environment. Eventually a mold or mushroom will grow on the outside. It has a deep sweet flavor to it that complimented the scallop dish perfectly. I would say it was one of the better meals I have had in a while.

Coconut Grouper
Watermelon pop rocks, mint from the garden, dashi gelee

Compressed heirloom tomatoes
Garlic, dandelion leaves, Tasmanian pepper caviar

Chorizo
Brioche, plantain, fried quail eggs

Tiramisu ice cream with frozen lady finger dust

Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

A Chefs Wife

2009-06-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

This might be the most difficult job in any kitchen. She deals with my crazy dispositions, constant mood swings and hours that are never consistent. I met my wife in culinary school, she looked amazing in that jacket with her shy demeanour. We began to live and work together in a very demanding industry. We would lean on each other to get through the really hard times. I cannot imagine where I would be in my career without her support, she is the reason that I am where I am. It seems like it only gets harder, more hours, more stress but she always finds away to pull me back into the most important thing in this world, my family. Thank you Melissa, I love you

Real Photos

2009-06-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

Chris Davies from Wine Country International came up for a tasting menu this week. He sat on the patio for his dinner and took some nice shots of the food. All I have is my I Phone and it does not take great pictures on a dark line during service. Thanks Chris for the pictures

Chili calamari with avocado and fried yogurt

Heirloom carrot, curry jel, sweet pea powder

Tattooooo

2009-06-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

You rarely meet a line cook that does not have some crazy tattoo. Mike surprised me yesterday with this mustache on his finger. We talked about getting him a different expression on each finger. A living mister potato head

Tasting Menu 90

2009-06-08T12:39:00.000-07:00

What a difference a few days off makes. I had a great weekend celebrating some friends birthdays along with my daughter and I. People often ask why I live in Denver and why I don't move to more of a culinary city. My answer is quality of life. I have visited many places and lived in a few but Colorado is the place where I want to raise my kids. The quality of life here is amazing. For example we have the best concert venue in the world at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. We saw OAR along with Brett Dennon on Friday night. I feel much more creative when I am rested. We are back to our regular tasting menu rotations.

Ginger soy marinated pineapple k-bob
Chili squid, cilantro from the garden, fried yogurt

Green pea powder
Sous-vide carrots, curry jel, pita

Achiote grilled arctic char
Tomatillo, pepper crisps, pico de gallo noodles

Carbonated strawberry shortcake
Made tableside with LN

New Liquid Nitrogen Dewar

2009-06-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest set backs to using nitrogen is the rate it turns back into a gas. We have had a small 10 L dewar for the last couple of years. It was old and had cracks in the top. Every time we would fill it, it would evaporate back into a gas in less then 2 hours. With this new 25 L dewar with a built it thermal separator, the evaporation rate is very low because the nitrogen is under constant pressure. We can now fill this dewar and it will last the entire shift

Tasting Menu 89

2009-06-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

We will run the same tasting menu as last week except for the desert course. I am going to take the weekened off to celebrate my daughters birthday and mine on June 4th. The restaurant is in good hands, we just promoted Camilio to roundsman. He is an amazing chef that will help both the restaurant and banquets. Camilio and Mike will put the menu out this weekened. It has been a hard couple of weeks for me at the hotel. Change is good, it just takes a little while to get used to it. My blogging has suffered, learning something new takes twice as long. The cooking has always come easy, it is the financial side of the business that I need to work on.

Grilled scallops

Compressed apple chutney, pumpkin powder, pineapple sage

Lobster crepe

Mornay, black truffle caviar, salt water bubbles

Grilled Kobe beef

Smoke pudding, herb potato, red pepper

Creamy goat cheese cheesecake
Peach ice cream made tableside with LN

Erie Library Demo

2009-05-31T14:48:00.001-07:00

Jonathan from Mile High Eater asked if I would come to the Erie library to give a molecular presentation to some kids. I had a few extra minutes to run up there between doing some wedding prep and schedules. I made pineapple bubbles with vanilla ice cream and home made sprite. It always amazes me the great questions I get from these kids.

Tasting Menu 88

2009-05-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

We are doing the lobster crepe course again this week, we have had some people calling and requesting it. Hopefully I can get to the point where I can experiment again, right now I am learning the systems in this hotel.

Grilled scallops
Compressed apple chutney, pumpkin powder, pineapple sage

Lobster crepe
Mornay, black truffle caviar, salt water bubbles

Porcini mushroom space foam

Grilled Kobe beef
Smoke pudding, herb potato, red pepper

Grilled mini banana split
Floating toppings made table side with LN

Tasting Menu 87

2009-05-21T09:22:00.001-07:00

As you can tell by the lack of any post the past week I am very busy. We have a new chef and with his presence comes a whole new way of running this hotel. Every chef has a different way of running a operation, I am the quit type that manages through my actions. I expect my cooks to work as hard as I do in the kitchen. My new chef has the same outlook, far different from what I am used to. He will hold us all to a different level, making us better everyday. Our menu this week has some French influences sprinkled through out. We have some members of the French consultant coming in on Friday. We are also starting a promotion on our patio this week called fajitas and ritas on Friday nights. Cheap food and cold drinks, it will be packed.

Lobster crepe
Truffle caviar, mornay, salt water

Razor shaved snails
Garlic noodles, spring onions, warm mayo

Hoison braised buffalo short ribs
Pot roast vegetables, ricotta gnocchi, tarragon

Warm brandy cherries
Vanilla lavender ice cream made table side with LN

Grilled Nori Cream

2009-05-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

This has become a favorite pasta sauce when we want a little Asian influence. It is a basic Alfredo recipe with the addition of grilled nori and sesame oil.

Recipe

5 sheets Gori grilled for 30 seconds

2 cups white wine

2 tbl. garlic roasted

1 tbl. sesame oil

1.5 qts heavy cream

10 oz asiago cheese

1 tbl. salt

2 tbl. roux

Place nori, garlic and white wine in a sauce pan. Reduce wine by 1/2. Add heavy cream and reduce for 5 minutes. Add the cheese, salt and roux. Cook for 2 minutes and puree in a blender

Gabby Gourmet Dinner

2009-05-13T14:56:00.000-07:00

Sunday June 28th, 09

SOLD OUT

Gabby Gourmet Dinner
5 courses

Chorizo
Brioche roll, plantain, fried quail egg

Curried grilled eggplant
Fennel foam, fried artichoke and fennel, coconut caviar

Lemon and basil sorbet
Bloody marry popcorn in LN

Pear jell
Seared Atlantic salmon, rye gnocchi, roasted cauliflower

Chocolate caramel bread pudding
Banana foster ice cream made tableside

Tatsing Menu 86

2009-05-13T11:38:00.000-07:00

Sesame monkfish
Green tea noodles, carbonated tobiko, white soy

Curry hibiscious vinaigrette sheet
First herbs from the garden, baby vegetables, fried asadaro

Blackened Ribeye
BBQ gelee, malted potatoes, black vinegar

Pineapple raisin carrot cake
Cream cheese ice cream made tableside with LN

Musuem of Contemporary Art Mixed Taste

2009-05-06T18:24:00.000-07:00

I am very excited about this event coming up on August 7th. 2 speakers are invited to give a presentation on 2 totally random topics. After the presentation the audience asks questions about how the 2 subjects relate with each other. I will be presenting molecular cooking and Nancy Wadsworth will talk about Machiavelli. Tickets go on sale May7th
http://www.mcadenver.org/index.php/programs/calendar/8/7/206

Garden

2009-05-06T18:18:00.001-07:00

I just planted this herb, tomato and pepper garden on the patio outside the restaurant

Gabby Gourmet

2009-05-06T18:12:00.001-07:00

Pat invited us and a few other restaurants to channel 7 today to do a segment for Mother's day brunch coming up. I ran into Gene Tang of 1515 restaurant in lower downtown. I have not seen Gene since Ben Alandt worked there around 8 years ago. Seing Gene reminded me of Ben and all the great times we had together. I wonder if Ben is looking down on me lauphing his ass off. I was the chef that told him not to be to crazy when he worked for me at Indigo. Now I am that crazy chef, I miss you Ben.

Tasting Menu 85

2009-05-06T14:43:00.000-07:00

The tasting menu has been selling like hot cakes lately. 80% of the reservations last Thursday, Friday and Saturday were here for the menu.

Sweet green pea flan
Carrot cardamom caviar, pea shoots, smoked trout

Chipotle angel food cake
King crab, tequila mosaic, cilantro

San Francisco sourdough space foam

Snapper Veracruz
Flexible avocado, apricot rice taquitto, tomato
]
Hot chocolate ice cream
Shattered whip cream made table side with LN

TV Show Idea

2009-05-01T10:44:00.000-07:00

Two words Chef Swap. Take a fry cook and put him on the line at the French Laundry or put Thomas Keller in a Elementary school cafeteria for the day. That would be good TV

ColoradoBiz

2009-04-28T16:18:00.000-07:00

Here is the 2nd segment of 3. Here we demonstrate our floating plate using superconductivity.
http://www.cobizmag.com/videos/view/nitrogen-chef-demonstrates-superconductivity/

Tasting menu 84

2009-04-28T16:02:00.000-07:00

My wife and I did a demo at Mckinley-Thatcher elementary school yesterday. There is no doubt that I would rather cook for kids then adults. I have so much fun showing them how everyday products they buy at the store can be made at home using a little imagination. We are getting ready for Mother's day brunch next weekend. We should do around 800 for brunch and another 150 that night for early dinner. We have hired a new Executive chef for our hotel, I cannot wait for him to start. I need to learn a lot more before I become a hotel chef and he is the guy that will bring me to the next level.

Compressed Mexican papaya
Jerk shrimp, avocado pudding, parsnip

Spring ramps
Foie, tempura berries, coco nibs

Acidic yogurt space foam

Smoke bubbles
New York, jalapeno jelly, tamale pie

Pecan waffle with maple ice cream
Made table side with LN