I thought it could be fun describing a day at Two Chefs, not a normal day, but a day that makes it fun to go to work, a day that challenges one’s craft and knowhow.
It all started in September when I received the following mail from Drew. Drew and I have worked successfully in the past, more than a few times in fact.
Dear Chef Jan,
How are you? We hope this email finds you doing very well! We wanted to inquire with you about our group coming back to Two Chefs for an event, likely in October. After hearing about the wonderful Bordeaux event you did in June, we are very interested in having our group return to your restaurant.
The event we have in mind would be a dinner, and it would be educational in nature. The purpose is to illustrate how to pair wine with food, and how important this concept is to the proper enjoyment of fine Burgundies. Our club has inducted several new members over the past couple of years. Many of them enjoy the “trendy” dining scene in town despite that many of these restaurants serve cuisine that is not wine friendly (too much smoke, hot spice, harsh raw elements, “sweet & sour,” etc.), especially for more delicate Burgundy wines.
We want to use this event to educate the group on the importance of pairings, and reinforce that our group is a Burgundy Appreciation Society and our events should include food, presentations and venues that permit our wines to show at their best.
We are imagining a five course dinner (small plates) that would include a fish, a vegetable/egg, a fowl, a meat, and to finish with cheeses. The idea is to show two presentations of each, one that is a classic, wine-friendly French/Continental preparation and the other a more modern “trendy” preparation. We welcome your thoughts on how best to do this. The following are initial ideas we had:
Fish – 1 3-4 oz. filet per person, to be grilled/poached (or however you think best) accompanied by a traditional sauce on one side of the plate and another more aggressive fusion/trendy type sauce on the other side. This would be paired with a white Burgundy from the Cote de Beaune (Corton Charlemagne GC and white Corton GC).
Vegetable/Egg – a little pot or vol au vent filled with roasted mushrooms and fall root vegetables covered with a poached egg. This is very traditional, but perhaps to contrast it with trendy cuisine you could put a little pile of picante type spice that the diners could apply themselves to see how this changes how they perceive the wine. This course would be served with a red Burgundy from the Cote de Beaune (Volnay 1er Cru).
Fowl – Roasted Duck prepared two ways. Perhaps this could be the breast simply sliced with a traditional sauce, and a more aggressive, shredded/confit type presentation with the legs. This course will be served with a lighter/aromatic red Burgundy from the Cote de Nuits (Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru).
Meat – One thought I had was to roast a bone-in pork loin, then separate the ribs from the loin, serve the roasted loan sliced with traditional sauce and then do a more aggressive (smokier or spicier?) presentation of the rib. This would be served with a heavier red Burgundy from the Cote de Nuits (Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru).
Cheeses – A selection of cheeses to accompany the final wine, which will be a Cote de Nuits Grand Cru. Your usual assistance with this will be greatly appreciated!
Given that there would be five courses the amount of hors d’oeuvres can be smaller than usual (and would likely be paired with sparkling Cremant de Bourgogne). The estimated number of diners would be 20.
We look forward to hearing your thoughts on this, and to another wonderful evening at Two Chefs!
It was a challenge right up my alley! … Wine pairing or understanding a wine friendly
Kitchen has become my style of cooking, not to mention my passion in my approach.
My approach:
I have thought a lot about how to plate basically two dishes for each course, I didn’t want two sauces to marry with each other on plate, etc.
So, plate up will be “to be determined.”
Some sauces will be served family style.
As I’m writing menu… Understand that #1 will be the wine friendly part of the dish
And # 2 will be the not so friendly part of the dish. I will underline the not friendly part.
Horsdouvre’s
** Thin Slices of Tuna on Grilled Toast, Mushroom Slaw
** Still Thinking.. Something with smoked salmon
First course
# 1
Butter Poached Halibut or another white fish.
#2
Asparagus, Lump Crab meat, Sauce Bearnaise
“The thought here is the classic setup ‘Oscar’ the tangy Sauce Béarnaise
And the not so friendly asparagus separated the wine friendly butter poached
Halibut.”
Second Course
#1
Tartlet, Spinach En’ Branche, Poached Egg.
#2
Roasted Pepper Relish
A breakfast with Mexican roots came to mind “Chili Relleno”
What’s better than eggs and spicy peppers?
But earthy flavors (spinach) and the buttery tartlet, was the friendly part
Of the dish, the peppers took the palate on a different path.
Third Course
#1
Galantine of Chicken, Foie Gras, Mushrooms.
#2
Duck Confit Toast, Ginger Aioli.
“This one was easy, but also easy to ‘ruin.’ The classic Galantine, the fat from the foie gras would compliment and and add to any wine selection.But the Ginger aioli took the wine for a ride.”
Fourth Course
#1
Pork Tenderloin “Wellington.” Pork Terrine “Head Cheese.”
#2
Baby Back Ribs, Black Bean BBQ.
“Wellington, Head cheese and Rib, all VERY friendly, together and on their own, but any palate and wine would be challenged by the prominent BBQ sauce, especially the licorice flavor from our signature fermented black bean BBQ.”
Notice that it was decided to omit the cheese course. Many times in these kinds of menus, more is not better.
Following is the finalized menu.
For information visit www.twochefsrestaurant.com.
