Lunch With: Audrey Slade, a woman for all seasons

Meeting so many folks in my line of work, every once in a while there is just someone who stands out, someone with a natural charisma and one such personage is Audrey Slade, the Director of Public Relations at the Baltimore’s Four Seasons Hotel.  We had interacted in a professional sense since the Four Seasons Hotel opened in Baltimore but it was at an Instagram gathering that we got to chat on a more personal level.  Audrey is a woman of substance; with numerous connections we share in Washington DC, I wanted to get to know her better.  Lunch was proposed and finally marked on our calendars  to meet at the Four Seasons preeminent restaurant, Wit & Wisdom Tavern, a Michael Mina restaurant.

Being a bit early, I walked around the bar and lounge area.  I've been before but not in daylight and it was nice to really take in the space.  There is a selection of social seating areas with couches and large armchairs.  Spying what seemed an insane amount of fresh citrus lined up at the bar, the bartender informed me that they easily go through that in an evening, especially since all their juices are freshly squeezed. 

The modelesque Audrey arrives, stunning and with a beautiful smile.  She is tall but not insanely tall but my late father would have called her high pockets.  Audrey explained she had modeled in her school days but just wasn’t animated enough and her preferences lied elsewhere. “If I wasn’t in public relations I would like to be a teacher – I love learning” states Audrey. She says she is reading Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom and Wonder by Arianna Huffington.

Dara: If you could have lunch with anyone living or dead?

Audrey: Nelson Mandela. I would like to talk about leadership. 

Audrey started her public relations career at the Ritz Carlton Tyson’s Corner as the diplomatic and business coordinator and then moved on to the public relations position at the Ritz Carlton in Georgetown.  She is a welcomed addition to the Baltimore region, spreading the Four Seasons good words with aplomb.  

Dara: What is the best dish that you cook?

Audrey: Steak tartare, but then again I’m not cooking that.  She side notes roasted chicken but doesn’t want to be held accountable for chicken that is great – too much stress.

Dara: What food could disappear and not be missed?

Audrey: Two things, mashed potatoes and gravy. I like other potato preparations; I like sauces and dips – just not mashed potatoes and no gravy.

Audrey took the banquette side of the table, both of us having a view of the harbor on a very sunny day.  Wit & Wisdom has an ala carte lunch menu along with an express 45 minute - two course lunch for $19.95 - Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.  On the weekends, one can choose from their brunch menu. 

Dara: What has been your epic culinary fail?

Audrey:  I tend to get engaged with my company when entertaining and lose track of time and what is in the oven. There was a pizza that was burned beyond  being able to be consumed.

Dara:  What has been your most memorable meal?

Audrey:  With my family, in New York at Le Bernardin for my mom’s birthday.  It was a special, over the top dining experience paired with a great group of people – engaging.  There was even ‘table envy’ as our group was heightening the experience, laughing on purpose – other diners were envious.

Dara: Iron Chef, Top Chef, Master Chef, Next Food Network Star, Chopped?

Audrey: Top Chef

We were into some serious conversation but etched out time to order.  Both Audrey and I chose one of the new fall items, the Chesapeake oyster stew with salsify, tarragon oil and potato. Our main course choices went two different paths, Audrey with the blackened salmon cake salad and me with the grilled shrimp salad with fennel, orange and Habanero vinaigrette.   You can check out the snapshots on the slideshow.

Dara: What is the oldest item in your refrigerator?

Audrey: Salad dressing and Worcestershire sauce.

Dara: Guilty culinary pleasure?

Audrey:  Foie gras and a great steak – I’m a carnivore, also a nice piece of carrot cake.

Dara: Truffle oil?

Audrey: Always

Dara: If you were to meet Julia Child at the pearly gates what would be the conversation. 

Audrey:  I would ask her to help teach me the basics of cooking.

In between courses, Audrey turned the table on me, by probing and asking me the same questions I asked her.  It only seemed apropos considering her thirst for learning. We wanted to linger a bit so we went with dessert, cookies and milk, warm chocolate chip cookies were the perfect finish.

Wit & Wisdom Tavern – Four Seasons Hotel, 200 International Drive, Baltimore, MD 21202 410.576.5800 www.witandwisdombaltimore.com  Twitter & Instagram @witwisdomtavern  www.facebook.com/WitWisdomTavern

Lunch With: Chef and forager Chris Amendola

Florida native and executive chef-at-large Chris Amendola joined me in Pikesville at Mari Luna Latin Grille for lunch. Fascinated how one learns to forage, what is edible and not poisonous, I wanted to learn more.  We were initially going to go into the woods and he was going to take me in search of what Mother Earth was offering but it is the end of the season and the weather just didn’t accommodate.

As with all my “Lunch With” guests, there are questions to answer and you will find them interspersed throughout this story.

Dara: What is the oldest thing you have in your refrigerator?

Chris: Ketchup – I hate it.  I will eat it on burgers or hot dogs but it is too sweet and acidic.

Dara: If you could have lunch with anyone, living or dead – who would it be?

Chris: I would definitely want to have lunch with Chef Marco Pierre White.  He has been a huge influence on my career and I think he would be someone I could just sit and listen to him talk about his past experiences.

One just doesn’t wake up and go off foraging, one needs a mentor to show them the difference between edible or non-edible but there is a big BUT there, foragers don’t wish to share their secret spots.  For Amendola he had the same difficulty finding someone to teach him. About seven years ago, Evan Strusinski, who foraged for Momofoku Restaurant, took Chris on his first forage.

Dara: What was your epic culinary fail?

Chris:  When I was younger I worked in a hotel in Florida. I was cooking a couple extra courses for a friend that was coming in for dinner and I spent most of the day working on a course that was a play on Oysters Rockefeller.  I was trying to present it in a modern way.  I was going to encapsulate the oyster in a spinach puree and then gel it. After spending all day on trying to get it to work, I tasted one them and it almost made me sick and that was just before service.  So then I had to scramble to make something else. Everything ended up work out for my friend’s dinner except that course.

Dara: What is the best piece of advice another chef has given you?

Chris: Chef Sean Brock, James Beard winner of Best Chef Southeast and former employer said to “respect the food – treat it like you would treat a loved one.”

Dara: What is the most memorable meal that you have had?

Chris: The first time I ate at McCradys in South Carolina.  At that point in my life I had never had any meal like that and every course just blew me away.

 Mari Luna Latin Grille seemed to be the perfect choice for lunch with Chris to go back to his Florida roots where Latin cuisine was a large influence. We were so busy talking and nibbling on the large popover with the mango butter, I felt bad for the patient waiter who wants to get our order and get it to the kitchen. A cup of Sopa de Frijoles (black bean soup) and a Emparedado Cubano (roasted pork sandwich) were Chris’s choices.  Even though it was Mexican Monday at Mari Luna Latin Grille the Sopa de Langosta (lobster bisque) and Gambas al Ajillo (sautéed shrimp in tomato garlic sauce), favorites, were my picks. 

Read the full story HERE.

Who is AK Stout and why did I have lunch with her?

 

Don’t let me being a senior fool you; I’m all over the social media thing. You can find me on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, Blogger plus a couple other sites.  It seems everywhere I turn in Social Media lately I see the name AK Stout (@akstout18) giving excellent advice on the latest trends and tribulations in social media. A Towson/Timonium gal, I like her style, the way she explains everything in an easy to understand format and wanted to meet her. What better way, than over food. AK was game; I guess a free lunch with me isn’t so terrible.  She picked one of her favorite restaurants, McFaul’s Ironhorse Tavern out on Cromwell Bridge Road by Loch Raven Reservoir for our tête-à-tête. 

Read the full story, interview and watch the slideshow HERE.

Lunch With: Maryland Humanities Council’s Dr. Phoebe Stein Davis

It was cool to have lunch with Phoebe Stein Davis, Ph.D., Executive Director of Maryland Humanities Council where “opening eyes, opening ears and opening minds” is their mantra. To sit with a stranger at lunch, discuss and share ideas; philosophies, art and food and I get to share that with you in this “Lunch With column.” There is something about breaking bread with someone new, taking the time to get to know what makes their world rock.

• Dara: Instead of St. Peter at the pearly gates, you met Julia Child, what would she ask you?
• Phoebe: If you love French food so much, why don’t you ever cook it? I think she would tell me to be brave and bold in my cooking and try making French food. I’m intimidated by all the steps.

Read the full interview, watch the slideshow and video HERE:

Enoch Pratt's Roswell Encina talks BBQ, truffle oil and his favorite dish to impress

BMoreMedia.com editor's note: Food writer Dara Bunjon has launched a new column, Lunch With, in which she shares a Baltimore personality’s love of food. On the menu the guest of honor’s biography sprinkled with delectable items from the menu and a generous sample of the food-related conversation.

Who better to kick-start the Lunch With column but Baltimore’s own bon vivant? One of Baltimore Magazine’s Top Singles 2013, Roswell Encina has been the director of communications at the Enoch Pratt Free Library since 2007. A Filipino by birth, Roswell spent numerous years back and forth living in the U. S. due to his father’s position in the U.S. Navy. No slouch when it comes to academics, he completed college in three years in the Philippines and graduated at 19.

He's not a cook by profession, but he knows a thing or two about food. Roswell is a certified BBQ judge, a title he picked up when he was on-air talent at a Memphis television station. Encina chose Mount Vernon’s City Café for our lunch date.

Enjoy Roswell's responses to the food focused interview HERE at www.BMoreMedia.com