Gallagher's Travels ~ Extra Virgin

by Mary E. Gallagher
GallaghersTravels.com
writer/editor/producer
National Television, Radio, Print and the Web
www.GallaghersTravels.com

Longtime residents of south Arlington have for years watched the changing landscape of Shirlington Village with interest. After the initial renovation nearly 20 years ago, developers tried a retail/restaurant mix but it wasn't enough of a mix to satisfy visitors -- too few restaurants and uninteresting stores.

Some say the county was to blame for the slow start by refusing to acknowledge the hidden assets of this accessible location and ignoring the need for parking. This is the historical (and hysterical) way of Virginia government - ignore the cars and their need for roads and parking don't provide public transportation, and someday your troubles will be over. Well, a lot of some days have come and gone and the cars and people are multiplying like Easter bunnies, including in Shirlington.

At last things have settled, leaving a nice mix of price range and ethnic choices for before and after live and movie theater performances for snacks and anytime dining. The Curious Grape wine shop has an active schedule of tastings and seminars.

My tastes, interest in quality and desire for the elusive trained server seems to be on a more demanding scale than those who pack themselves in like sardines for abuse and noise at the Carlyle. At last I've been rewarded, and after a number of incantations at its prime corner location rises Extra Virgin, a restaurant featuring "Tuscan cuisine" with a modern flair.

Opening the restaurant in the summer of 2005 and experiencing a shaky few months from miscast personnel, owner Shary Thur and General Manager Tim Woody have now gathered an impressive team and regrouped the open kitchen with an outstanding executive chef, Rachid (Niko) Amroune.

Let me start with entering the restaurant. Tim Woody literally lives on-site, keeping a watchful eye on all details. The hostesses on my visits have been quite nice, alert, and have understood their purpose, though unfortunately following the popular hiring mode of only skinny young girls in black. How I long for the days of dining when mature sophisticated men and women like Ann at geranios or the longtime hostess at Loews L'Enfant Plaza wore stunning outfits, knew us all by name, and I didn't feel like an empty box being passed off to one child after another burdened with walkie-talkies, beepers, and floor plans.

As suggested by its name, olive oil is the (forgive us) "running" theme at Extra Virgin --not only in the cuisine, but in the decor as well. All space is enhanced by warm golden colors, moving water, and yards of luxuriously plush draperies flowing from the windows allowing one to observe the active pedestrian street scene yet shielded a bit from the day's realities. I loved the similar posh decor of now closed Ortanique in Washington, one of the most romantic restaurants ever. Luckily Extra Virgin offers a similar great escape. Press information says drizzles of olive oil are suggested throughout by the interior design, but I felt enveloped in gentle euro-style, sophisticated comfort with a sense of peace.

By now you've probably guessed that the total "experience," not just the food, is highly important to me. We can quickly forget the luxurious silken chocolate mousse if the server slams the dishes on the table. This is not to say the food at Extra Virgin is anything but superior. Owner Thur insists on the best and has worked diligently to correct early lapses. The staff is truly professional and knows the menu and every item on it.

Blowing out all the stops, I had the "tasting" menu, featuring whatever the chef feels creative about that evening while allowing for any allergies or peculiarities you might have. I don't eat "raw" and out of courtesy always inform the kitchen well in advance. The choice of that day's special ingredients inspires and allows Chef Niko poetic license. Extra Virgin charges a reasonable $65 for their five-course tasting experience. And it is a rare occasion that Niko doesn't send out an extra amuse-bouche or two. There is a generous full range wine list to accompany your choices.

We started with a little portion of scrambled eggs laced with truffles set in a riotous egg cup. On the same plate was a delicious smoked salmon flower and fresh herring. Then a delicious terrine of rabbit and onto ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta, saffron risotto with mussels and shrimp, tortellini filled with a lamb ragu, and roasted salmon. So far I was doing fine but starting to fade and we're not at the end! By the way, the end was a wonderful white chocolate raspberry cheesecake and very nice espresso.

Do you ever have the experience when you see the first course delivered on a tasting menu and hopefully it's just a bite or two, but you're thinking "will I have the famous Chinese takeout syndrome: hungry in three hours" Well, never fear; a few bites of no fewer than 10 items and probably exceeding 20 adds up to a lot of food!

Not up to the tasting menu? Try the hand-tossed brick-oven pizza that friends of mine rave about or house-made pastas including ravioli filled with veal ragu. Enjoy lunch to test out entrees like Scaloppini di Maiale--pork scaloppini with grilled herb polenta, braised pancetta, cabbage, and porcini mushroom sauce for only $13, or a radicchio salad with Bartlett bosc pear, imported Gorgonzola terrine and toasted walnuts. Add chicken or salmon for a small additional fee. Lunch prices run $7 to $15 and dinner $10-26. Reasonable enough for a nice dinner out or blow out all the stops with three or four courses.

Chef Niko likes to try various creations as specials and those that clients ask for over and over get added to the regular menu. Like a one-hit-wonder--as we used to call it in the country music business--chefs can never take these classics off the menu.

Chef Rachid 'Niko' Amroune, was born in Mount Pelier, France and always carried a passion for the culinary arts. A career as a chef inevitable, he attended the Oxford Culinary School in Oxford, England at age 19 and received an apprenticeship at the Ritz Carlton, Oxford. At 21, he moved to the United States, launching his stateside career. Unmentioned in this formal training resume is the years that every great chef spends learning to cut vegetables, cook rice and stocks plus perform the other mundane repetitive kitchen tasks under the masters. Then you go to school.

Almost immediately upon his arrival in the Washington area, Niko began working with the esteemed Roberto Donna at his 'award' winning restaurant, Galileo. After a few years in this highly regarded kitchen, he joined the culinary team at Teatro Goldoni with Fabrizio Aielli. Four years later, Chef Niko headed to the kitchen at Tosca, working with Cesare Lanfranconi. Now we are lucky to have him in Arlington at Extra Virgin.

Very young and handsome, Niko is a serious threat to the area's kitchen glitterati, creating great masterpieces--some with humor, some classic, and all incredibly good. His shy ready smile, good looks and willingness to chat with guests is a plus.

The bar area has a slightly "lighter" feel than the main dining room and features a full premium of drinks. Some of the banquettes in this area view the open kitchen, stop off before or after a movie, have a glass of wine and appetizer, or maybe skip straight to a couple of desserts!

When warm weather is here the sidewalks of Shirlington flower into a proliferation of outside dining where one can watch the parade going by as they watch you!

Stop in at Extra Virgin, say I sent you, and receive a free appetizer through June 15th, 2006. You’ll enjoy it, whatever the occasion.

Extra Virgin
4053 S. 28th Street - Shirlington Village
Arlington, VA 22206
(703) 998-8474 / (703) 931-8189 Fax
(703) 998-8474 or http://www.extravirginva.com/


Hours: M-Thur dining 11:00am-10:00pm Bar until 2:00am
F-S dining 11:00am-11:00pm Bar until 2:00am
Sunday Brunch 11:00am-3:00pm Dinner 5:00pm-10:00pm Bar until Midnight Happy Hour M-F 4:00pm-7:00pm
Live Music: Thur- Sat 8:00pm - 12 midnight Sundays 6:00pm - 10:00pm
Parking: Complimentary Valet Thursday, Friday and Saturday after 5pm, on street and ramps.

Is There Such a Thing as Too Many Desserts?

The press release says, "Heralded as the year's most highly anticipated restaurant opening, owner Sirio Maccioni will once again welcome friends and guests at his renowned Le Cirque when the restaurant opens its doors on May 30, 2006 at its new home within the prestigious One Beacon Court in New York City." "Le Cirque has always been a place where the worlds of food, fashion, art and culture converge," said Maccioni, who has wined and dined high society in New York for nearly half a century."

With the advent of the reopening of this prestigious restaurant I must recount a very memorable dining experience at Le Cirque 2000 and if there were pictures, they would be posted here. Jacques Torres, the pastry chef at Le Cirque at that time and star of two public broadcasting series Dessert Circus had extended a tour of the pastry kitchen at Le Cirque when I had visited his TV set months earlier.

So with my Fancy Food Show posse of two women friends, we rode into Le Cirque for luncheon and the pastry kitchen tour. Jacques Torres' girlfriend Kris Kruid said once at the restaurant just walk back into the kitchen. We weren't comfortable with that so we announced we had an invitation and were escorted back past the enclosed kitchen table, the magazine photographer at work, passed the open kitchen stirring with chefs galore to the far hinterlands of the kitchen. Jacques, the handsome and charming Frenchman that he is gave us a wonderful welcome. This was a spotless, specially cooled room with everything a pastry chef would dream of having. We saw parts to desserts, like Lego toys that would be assembled later into great structures. Jacques suggested that we have our lunch and he would send a "Dee~Zert Saompling" (trying to get the French accent in there) to our table. Off we went to dine!

Luncheon was kicked off by a glass of Champagne. We started with appetizers and in-between the appetizer course and entree a complimentary lobster risotto from the chef was placed before us. Entrees came and went and everything was wonderful! We were quite full though dessert was on our mind.

One of my two companions suggested we order Jacques trademark Stove dessert. I suggested we wait and see what the "Dee~Zert Saompling" might be. As the same said companion was off powdering her nose, seven, count them seven full-sized assorted desserts were sent to our table. All breathtaking in their artistic glory and assembled yearning to reach the sky, their arrival to our table created a silence in the dining room ~ all eyes were focused on our circus of desserts.

Upon returning to the table, my companion looked like Lot's wife, she turned white as salt and frozen in her tracks at the vision of the seven confectionary creations overloading our table.

Today's trends with desserts and dining out, a dessert is ordered with 2 to 4 forks and everyone shares the dessert. The ratio had changed that afternoon, 2 1/3 desserts for each of us. Good foodies that we were we would just rotate the plates amongst us and sample everyone. We put a serious dent in all 7 desserts, something I don't think we are proud of but when would this ever happen again ~ we were living in the moment.

They cleared dessert plates from our table but why were they taking the centerpiece from the table? It seems we weren't finished. Jacques sent out his own centerpiece, on a mirrored base came a chocolate tree with confections hanging from it armatures and lining the base. It took about five minutes for us from staring at it to munching (only God knows where we got the room) as well as extracting the remaining delicacies from the tree into tissues and then into our purses.

The question I asked,"is there such a thing as too many desserts?" For that day, time and place the answer was "no, it was just the right amount!"

Summer Cooking Classes for Children

'Tis not the season but 'Tis the Time' to think about activities for your children during the summer. Chef Nancy Longo is again offering her popular "Summer Cooking Camp" for children between the ages of 11 and 17 to be held at Pierpoint Restaurant at 1822 Aliceanna Street in Baltimore.

Each class is $75.00 or $250.00 for the entire week per student. Along with the instruction, recipes, and aprons the students are supplied lunch, snacks, and beverages as well as food to take home.

Classes start at 9:30 a.m. and end 2:30 p.m.

Classes limited to 10 students each.

Week One

Tuesday, June 20, 2006 ~ Ice Creams and Desserts
Curriculum: Tarts, cakes and icing, cookies, and ice cream.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006 ~ Soups
Curriculum: Vegetable crab soup, cream soups, seafood bisque, stocks, gumbo, and roux making.

Thursday, June 22, 2006 ~ International Appetizers
Curriculum: Appetizers from Italy, Greece, Japan & Mexico.
(i.e. ~ tacos, tortillas, salsa, spinach and cheese pie, Italian flatbreads plus.)

Friday, June 23, 2006 ~ Asian Dim Sum
Curriculum: Dumpling making, egg rolls, spring rolls, satés, sushi (cooked), shrimp toast plus.

Week Two

Tuesday, June 27, 2006 ~ Breakfast Foods & Crepes
Curriculum: Muffins, waffles, crepes, blintzes, quiche, and frittatas along with biscuits and bananas Foster.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006 ~ Vegetarian
Curriculum: Creative vegetarian entrees and salads along with Indian and Asian dishes including working with tofu.

Thursday, June 29, 2006 ~ Chocolates
Curriculum: Molded chocolates, truffles, chocolate cake, ganache icing, and chocolate mousse.

Friday, June 30, 2006 ~ Pastas
Curriculum: Homemade pasta noodles, raviolis, sauces, tortellini, and lasagna.


Chef Jackets can be provided for $ 25.00 per chef to keep!
Black aprons can be provided for $ 10.00 per chef to keep!




Along with the successful Pierpoint Restaurant in Baltimore, Chef Longo's other achievements include an ACF bronze medal in the Cold Foods competition in 1986. She was a past board member of BICC. She won Honors with the National Dairy Council for the Best Ice Cream in 1992. In addition in 1992, she won second place in the National Pork Producers Council contest. In 1994, she was one of Restaurants and Institutions nominees for one of the "Best Restaurants in America". She and the restaurant have been given consistent high reviews since Pierpoint opened. In 1995, she was a guest of the James Beard House as well as TV Food Network's Ready, Set, Cook. And recently, she was also named as one of Maryland's 100 most successful Women by Warfield's Business Record


Registration & Information

Chef Nancy Longo, Pierpoint Restaurant, 1822 Aliceanna St., Baltimore, MD 21231
(p) 410-675-2080 (f) 410-563-3007 (e) redchef1822@earthlink.net

www.pierpointrestaurant.com

Requirements

Each child must have permission from a parent to take the cooking classes and permission in writing to use a paring knife. Most classes are designed to use a food processor and are knife free.

Payment

A $50.00 deposit is required at registration to secure the students space in the class. The balances on the class fees are due 48 hours prior to the class by check or cash.

Cancellation Policy

Forty-eight (48) hours notice is needed for a full refund. Any cancellation less than 48 hours from the class start will receive a partial refund based on expenditures and is discretionary.


Classes tend to fill quickly ~ register now!

Who is Dining Dish?

Dara Bunjon is a graduate of the La Varenne Cooking Classes at the Greenbrier and extended education courses at the Culinary Institute of America-Hyde Park. She has coordinated over 100 cooking classes in Baltimore's leading restaurant kitchens. Once a regular cooking demonstrator on WBAL-TV in Baltimore, you now will find Dara behind the scenes as a food stylist for chefs and cookbook authors, or planning special culinary events.

Known as Dining Dish to many in the Baltimore/DC area, Dara writes a free 'foodie' e-newsletter under the same name and maintains a food-related blog: http://www.diningdish.blogspot.com/

Her passion for food - its source, preparation, and consumption -keeps her hands in assorted aspects of the food industry. Bunjon started her culinary endeavors as president of the Epicurean Club of Maryland, moved on to charitable activities to end hunger, and recently opened her consulting business, Dara Does It ~ Creative Solutions for the Food Industry. A stint as Marketing and Public Relations Director for Vanns Spices also called upon her culinary knowledge for product development and sales.

Dara is a board member for the Maryland Hospitality Education Foundation and the American Institute of Wine and Food/Baltimore, MD, as well as a member of the national public relations committee for Women Chefs and Restaurateurs. She is a contributing writer for Foodservice Monthly and has written for Style Magazine, Mid-Atlantic Restaurant Digest, Urbanite, Fruit Growers, Baltimore Eats and assorted websites.

YUM - Tasty Recipes from Culinary Experts is co-authored by Dara and will be in all market
October, 2007.

Recent clients have been the International School of Protocol, Sun Moon & Stars Cafe, Canola Council of Canada, Pazza Luna Restaurant, Donna Shields, The Grapevine Cafe, The Rooster Cafe, Sotto Sopra, Amano Artisan Chocolate, Grape Events and MyCity4Her.com.

Rosebud Was Taken

From Cosell to Croissants

How did the producer of the Howard Cosell Show become a talented pastry chef, entrepreneur and retailer in New York City? My curiosity was piqued. The 'starter' of the story was Marion Rubin, who overheard my conversation at the gym about my food styling for cookbook authors. Marion asked, "Have you ever heard of The City Bakery in New York City?" My reply, "Yes," knowing in the back of my mind it had an excellent reputation. She replied, "My son Maury owns it."

Call it serendipity or call it coincidence, but Maury Rubin and Steven Raichlen, the BBQ guru on PBS and the Food Network, both attended Baltimore's Milford Mill High School. Raichlen used to hang out with Maury's older brother, Barry. Two great food talents from my alma mater (I don't think I count for the 3rd). My curiosity drove me further, and my writing instincts screamed, "This is a story to be told!"

Maury Rubin's interest in high school was sports; he was the sports editor for the school paper and went on to the University of Maryland's WMUC as the Sports Director doing play-by-plays. His passion ran deep, and he became a 'gofer' for all the sports programs when they came to Baltimore or Washington, DC. Rubin said, "It was the Baltimore Orioles that decided my future during the '79 World Series. ABC Television was in Baltimore more, and I kept getting additional work on Monday Night Baseball and the Wide World of Sports." Eventually, the sports raconteur Howard Cosell hired him to produce his show. Maury made the move to New York City and hasn't looked back since.

"It was challenging working seven days a week for five years, and then Cosell retired," Rubin expounded. It had been a hard five years, and it was time for a break. Maury moved to Paris and took a pastry course that changed his life's path. Maury was very close with his maternal grandfather who was a baker. Rubin reminisces, "He baked for, I believe, 53 years. Every Tuesday night, he and my uncle would come to our house and he would bring Danish from the bakery. My deciding to try my hand at baking when I did was very much with him in mind, and always has been."

A French federation of pastry chefs had designed a six-day course for Americans, and Maury dug in with both hands. With the first bit of pate brisee under his fingernails, a new passion evolved, and Maury was on the flour-covered path of a baker. Chef instructor Denis Ruffel arranged a stage at his friend's bakery, Patisserie Rouseau-Seurre, where Maury interned for six months and then completed an additional apprenticeship at La Maison du Chocolat. Rubin left Paris for New York in 1987, his goal to continue his apprenticeship for greater knowledge. Reality hit once back in the Big Apple: the pastry shops in New York weren't all that good. It was then he decided to open his own bakery.

Dara: "Is the La Maison du Chocolat at Rockefeller Center the same bakery you worked for in Paris?"

Maury: "Yes, and this is a particularly exalted business in the mindset of chocolate and pastry in France."

The King of Tarts

It took three years to turn his vision into a reality. In December, 1990, the doors opened at City Bakery. With his mind set on sustainability and organic ingredients, Chef Rubin opened the doors to City Bakery at 22 E. 17th at the northwest edge of Union Square known for its farmers Greenmarket.

Dara: "Maury, when you opened City Bakery in 1990, sustainable agriculture/using organic was in its infancy. What was your influence?"

Maury: "My girlfriend taught me about cultural politics. The farmers market (Greenmarket) really got my attention, and that became the basis of my learning of local farming/local food supplies/organics. You are right to say that organic was in its infancy; I used only organic flour from the day we opened (1990). Looking back, that was easily ahead of its time by about 10 years."

His minimalist tarts are legendary - simplistic but mind-lingering. Jeffrey Steingarten, the food critic, author, and persnickety judge on Iron Chef America said, "If a baker at home or in commerce cannot make a better pastry than Maury, he or she should simply follow Maury's recipe or throw in the towel and find other work." (Buy Maury's pastry cookbook ~ book of tarts at Amazon.com and you won't have to throw in the towel.)

It was not just the tarts that sent City Bakery into the stratosphere; consider the pretzel croissants, homemade ice creams, hot chocolate with homemade marshmallows. Add the talented savory chef Ilene Rosen with her penchant for world cuisines, the largest salad bar in New York, and the lunch counter called Lucille, and the popularity continues to grow ... so much so, they moved to larger digs at 3 W. 18th Street, a couple of steps off 5th Avenue.

Solid C

"I was a solid C student in high school," Maury explained with a slight laugh in his voice. The solid C now stands for clever. Not only a talented baker, Rubin is a marketing genius! For over 13 years, he has organized City Bakery's Hot Chocolate Festival. During the month of February, the City Bakery offers a rotating menu of 25 flavors like ginger hot chocolate, dark darkest hot chocolate, sunken treasure hot chocolate, mango tea hot chocolate, etc. "Interesting," you say, "but clever?" Read on...

Dara: "I have a little bit of information on your Hot Chocolate Festival. Which was the best festival so far?"

Maury: "Last year was the biggest and best: we closed 18th Street down from 5th Avenue to 6th Avenue. We brought in 2 tons of snow from upstate NY, lined the street and set-up a portable ice-skating rink and outdoor grills for toasting marshmallows. The NYPD said that 15,000 came for the day. In terms of marketing, I like to bring a lot of creative energy to our customers. (5,000 cups of hot chocolate served)

The City Bakery Hot Chocolate Festival has its own website where they sell the beautifully-designed festival posters, the calendar for February that reflects the hot chocolate flavor-of-the-day, hot chocolate news, essay contests, and more.

When Rubin wanted to promote his pies reminiscent of the ones you might find at the state fair, he transformed City Bakery to the City Bakery State Fair. He brought in picket fences, put straw on the floor, and had the staff in big ol'e country overalls and straw hats. Corn dogs and lemonade, games for the kids, and all you can eat down-home country food. If you were able to spit a watermelon seed 12 feet on to a small tart they anteed up 100 free tarts.

Dara: "You seem to be the true entrepreneur, the whole package - do you sleep?"

Maury: "First, I'll take that as a compliment. Many people have asked me through the years about the sleep question. Retail requires a lot. I like doing it a certain way; I'd say overall, it's an old-fashioned approach, like a mom and pop business where they live above the store. That is how I have grown City Bakery over the years. Answer to the actual sleep question: one day I won't do this anymore, and when that time comes, I plan on catching-up on my sleep."

"C" is for Coast

City Bakery has gone bi-coastal with a second City Bakery, 5,000 square feet, in Brentwood Country Mart, a small collection of shops and restaurants in a circa 1948 red barn building. Nestled between Westwood and Santa Monica in Los Angeles, the new City Bakery will flourish. Rubin's Barnum & Bailey, big show sensibilities and commitment to organic, farm-to-table will flourish in the land of starlets and glitter. The big question is how long does two tons of snow last in Los Angeles?

"G" is for Green

The hot gossip on the food blogs around Manhattan and just making the papers in New York is the new bakery in the East Village on 1st Avenue between 13th and 14th. It has no name and when you ask the staff the name they tell you there is no name. If you go the website, http://www.buildagreenbakery.com/, the best you come up with is Birdbath, which is an e-mail address. It's a green bakery, a bakery that is environmentally good with sustainable, biodegradable, recycled, renewable surroundings. The bakery has walls of wheat, milk-based paint and cork floors. So it's a business, it's a statement, and it's the first green bakery (and hopefully not the last).

Dara: "Can you shed some light on your goals and the statements you are making with the green bakery?"

Maury: "Easy: I didn't want City Bakery's reputation to undermine the idea behind Birdbath. If people know it is City Bakery when they walk in the door, then their perception is already largely formed. I'm not the type of business person who cares to put a 'mission statement' over our front door, but Birdbath is in fact a business with a particularly narrow 'mission.' I want people thinking about the connection between food made with environmentally-virtuous items to the built environment made of the same."

Dara: "Why the secret code word 'Birdbath'? What ecological significance does that have over possibly a name like 'earthly delights'?"

Maury: "Birdbath' begins with the letter 'B' as in 'bakery', a word I like. It was conceived as a codeword, but it has clearly already taken hold with the public. Now, the best I can do is to let that be. And finally, Orson Wells beat me to 'Rosebud'."
~~~~~~~~
©Dara Bunjon, Dining Dish 2006

Photograph of Maury Rubin by Chris Callas

Simply Shellfish Reception ~ Leslie Glover Pendleton

The Center Club ~IntraClub Gourmet and Dining Dish cordially invite you to a reception to meet author and former food editor for Gourmet Magazine, Leslie Glover Pendleton on Friday, April 21st at 6:00 p.m. Ms. Pendleton will talk about her experiences at Gourmet Magazine, her new cookbook ~ Simply Shellfish and why seafood offers easy, healthful, quick meal choices.

Hors d'Oeuvres
(a sampling of recipes from Simply Shellfish)

Shrimp Tempura with Ginger Dipping Sauce
Hot Crab and Artichoke Filo Tartlets
Miniature Center Club Crab Cakes with Ms. Pendleton's Orange Chive Mayonnaise
Chilled Lemon and Basil-Marinated Scallops
BLLTS (Bacon, Lobster, Lettuce, and Tomato Miniature Sandwiches

Beverages

Red & White Wines
specifically chosen to compliment the seafood selection
Ice Tea

Cost Per Person ~ $50.00 plus tax and gratuity

First Edition Copies of Simply Shellfish will be sold at a discount.


For further information and credit card form please contact Dining Dish (aka Dara Bunjon) at 410.486.0339 and we can fax or email the reservation form to you.

Location:
The Center Club
100 Light Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

Free parking after 5 p.m.

The Bistros, Brasseries and Wine Bars of Paris

The Bistros, Brasseries and Wine Bars of Paris
Learn the Difference, Learn the Recipes and Learn How Parisians Dine

Greetings and Readings in the Hunt Valley Towne Center, in Hunt Valley, Maryland invites you to meet and greet, up-close and personal, former food critic, French food and culture authority, Daniel Young on Friday, February 17 from noon to 2 p.m. He is the author of Made in Marseille, The Rough Guide to New York City Restaurants, and The Paris Cafe Cookbook and has written about French food and culture for many publications, including Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Conde Nast Traveler, the New York Times, and others. Formerly the restaurant critic for the New York Daily News, he now lives in Paris, London, and his hometown, New York.

Daniel Young's latest cookbook, The Bistros, Brasseries and Wine Bars of Paris: Everyday Recipes from the Real Paris, picks up where The Paris Cafe Cookbook left off. This new volume expands the scope to include bistros, brasseries, and wine bars - the other institutions that together comprise the Paris of Parisians, the real Paris.

You can spend years in Paris and never hear the same answer twice to this cookbook's underlying question: what is the difference between a bistro, a brasserie, and a wine bar? In his third cookbook, acclaimed author and expert on all things French Daniel Young explains the nuances that distinguish one from another among the three categories, as he takes home cooks on a vibrant, spirited tour of Paris's best eateries.

Daniel explains that, as true Parisians know; a bistro is a small, informal restaurant serving a few simple, hearty dishes, while a brasserie is a larger, cafe-restaurant providing continuous service and rough-and-ready food. In a wine bar, expect to find a large selection of wines by the glass and light bites to go with them.

Follow Daniel Young as he leads a tour of this Paris of Parisians by way of its definitive eating spots. Young explores the distinctions among bistros, brasseries, and wine bars before leading you to 38 of his favorites, from landmark brasseries like Lipp and La Coupole to little-known gems like the bistro Clementine and the wine bar La Petite Syrah. He shares more than 100 of their recipes, all house specialties adapted here for use by North American home cooks.

As this array of delicious dishes and the book make clear, bistros, brasseries, and wine bars define what it means to be out and eat out in Paris - to dine simply yet very well. Theirs is the food that nourishes and sustains the Paris of Parisians - the real and everyday Paris - with local flavor, style, sophistication, personality, and attitude.

Daniel also introduces home cooks to many of his favorite spots (some are famous, others are his own best-keep secrets) and presents classic recipes from each, including Salmon Terrine with Leeks and Pesto, Cream of Carrot Soup with Cumin, Pan-Grilled Rib Steak with Bearnaise Sauce, and Warm Almond Cake with Caramel Cream. Bistros, brasseries, and wine bars, define what it means to be out and eat out in Paris, to dine simply and very well. Theirs is the food that nourishes and sustains the Paris of Parisians - the real and everyday Paris - with local flavor, style, sophistication, personality, and attitude.

If you are unable to meet Daniel personally than take advantage of Greetings and Readings Advanced Order and Autograph service, call 410-771-3022 and pre-order your autographed first edition copy of Bistros, Brasseries and Wine Bars of Paris.

For further information contact Greetings and Readings in Hunt Valley Maryland at 410.771.3022, info@greetingsandreadings.com , or visit their website at http://www.greetingsandreadings.com/

What a Week In Food

I'm still recouperating and doing follow up to the Women Chefs and Restaurateurs Conference in Seattle. Early and late flights, FABULOUS food, the best company and a rainy town. There are lots of stories but little time to write.

Top off the WCR conference with Jose Andres' Tapas Cookbook launch at Jaleo in Arlington, Virginia last night. Food, wine, music and the who's who in food. Tomorrow night Tom and I are going to the silent opening of Oceanaire Seafood Restaurant. I will have to swim for a week to burn off all the calories.

Stay tuned for details on this week.

This Week in Food!

Monday was a busy day. Jeff Spear picked me up and we went to the new, largest ever built Wegman's food store in Hunt Valley. Thinking there would be fewer people but no, it was Columbus day and people had off. It was a beautiful store to look at and I'm sure some of the items were wonderful if I could get near them.

I did have a shopping list in hand, knowing they have over 300 cheeses I knew I would get the Buffalo mozzarella for the special recipe for the evenings gathering. Off course, on that day they only had 299 cheeses...no Buffalo mozzarella so we did an artisan mozzarella. Went to pick up unsalted butter, Wegman's brand to save $$$ and guess what, like the Buffalo mozzarella it was extinct.

We decided to have lunch there and I got in line at the chicken and pizza line. I saw they had seafood pizza down the end of the line and ordered a slice of that with 3 chicken wings and a drink. When I picked it up the seafood was the processed Asian fish crab legs. The pizza was sweet from this concoction and I tossed the slice and ate my three little wing drummettes. I got flowers for $3.00, free potatoes and dozen extra large eggs - not a bad deal. It will be 3 or 4 weeks before I consider going back.

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The Baltimore Women's Culinary Sorority met at my casa! As the hostess I got to choose the theme which was recipes from any Marcella Hazan cookbooks. Some had a book or two and some hit the library.

I really didn't monitor the dishes, what shows up is what we eat and it always seems to work out. I was especially pleased with a shrimp, artichoke and mozzarella dish - I would have never thought of this combination but it is a "company" do again dish. I also did a pasta with pancetta, chili flakes and plum tomatoes with bucatini which I made again for Thursday's night dinner. I did a salad of cabbage and avocado with a little red wine vinegar and olive oil.

The ladies did a lamb, stringbean and vinegar dish, a pasta with raisins, veal tonnato, baked fennel, and an apple custard cake...oooh ooh, a pate as well. I was so busy organizing the food from oven to table I can't tell you what was in the pate but I believe some olives.

Our next gathering will be at Maria's house for our holiday gathering. We do a $5.00 gift and a cookie exchange. I really hate baking cookies....baah humbug on me.

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Thursday started very very very early. I was up at 3 a.m. to be out the door at 3:30 a.m. to pick up Steven A. Shaw, author of Turning the Tables and founder of eGullet.org in Washington D. C at 4:45 a.m. I had water and a buttered bagel waiting for him as he tried to function. He got in around 1 a.m. from a party thrown in his honor.

At that time I left there was little or no traffic and we were headed for Baltimore for an early morning TV appearance on WJZ TV. We had time to spare so I gave him the downtown tour which went fast and easy. To the studio where we had about 30 minutes to wait until he was on air. The segment done we were back in the car heading to DC. Not so lucky this time, accidents on wet roads caused the hour drive to be 2 hours and 15 minutes. I guess we got to know each other better than we thought. It was an entertaining ride, learned more about his efforts at eGullet.org. With him safely back at his hotel I turned around and drove back to Baltimore - it took about an hour.

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Friday had me going to Columbia, Maryland for a luncheon meeting. My name was brought up to be on the board for the Maryland Hospitality Education Foundation with Marshall Weston, Executive Vice President and Henry Pertman at Aida Bistro. We talked about what the Education foundation does in education from food safety to scholarships. I agreed to be on the board which is a three year term. The board meets 4 times a year. They seemed to be thrilled to have me bring a fresh out look to the board.

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And a week ago Saturday I did a cooking demo at the Waverly Market in the pouring rain. I was under a tent and 8 people did come by. I did a steamed leak with fresh herb dressing that is a "do again" recipe. I have been invited back to do other demonstrations.

Okay that's a wrap......

New York, New York!!!

My only sibling lives in Palm Desert, California and visits New York City about 5 times a year where she has a 2nd residence. So in my economical struggles it is cheaper to take the day bus to New York for a visit than fly cross country.

I forced myself awake to catch the 6:30 a.m. bus, grabbed my Food & Wine, Urbanite, and a couple other mags for the bus ride. I played catch up on my reading and pretty much finished when the sister called to switch our plans to meet at the Marriot Marquis. I was to meet her at the apartment on CPS (Central Park South). The day was grey, a bit coolish - actually great for the trek. I got to her apartment in about 20 minutes.

There wasn't much planned for the day other than a lunch reservation at Naima at 531 W. 27th Street and a 3 p.m. appointment at YC Media, a Chelsea kind of afternoon. Sister's friend was in from California so we hooked up with Ronna and off we went to Canal Street where we visited every shop that had pocketbooks. Sister knows her stuff and knows who to talk to get the real knockoffs. After 2 hours and 4 purse purchases later and knock off Louis V pens we were on our way to lunch. I was starving.

We hopped a subway that let us off at 23rd street at 7th and hiked to the restaurant. We found that 27th doesn't go all the way through, there is a school and park so we were up to 28th and then down to 27th. Voila, Naima's. Nice, small - lunch prices were amazing considering the quality of the food. Sister got pasta with Cockles and I had a spinach salad with grill portabello and a bowl of pasta with fresh tomato sauce. Salad was $6.00 and pasta $7.00.

My appointment went well but it was short and it was 3:15 and the bus leaves at 6 p.m. I got the bus at 10th Street and got off at 45th Street where I meandered across towards Broadway. Aaah, a "Nails" sign. I inquired on the cost of a pedicure...$13.00 dollars, good price - time to kill. Not the best pedicure, the water was cold, she didn't turn on the jets, the flip flops they gave me started slide off and mushed the polish - call the Toe Truck! Well they cleaned up the mess, my toes are a nice fuschia and I killed an hour.

Still time to kill so I preceded on my quest for carry-out for dinner on the bus. I was heading down 9th to Cottage Noodle House when I stopped at the diner for an eclair to go-they were out. In New York, go 2 steps and there is another restaurant, actually a bakery and I acquired my desired dessert.

A couple more doors down to the Cottage Noodle house where I ordered a 1/4 of a duck, duck soup with rice noodles, and shrimp dumplings. I walked back to the Richard Rogers Theatre and sat on the steps and waited for the bus. It was a little after 5 p.m. Two girls came out of the theatre and one looked like the young thin gal on American Idol last year, the hip one with the auburn fro. Someone walked by and acknowledge that I was correct in my assumption.

So for 30 minutes I peopled watched. I was actually across from the Church of Scientology and thought about going over and asking if they had anything for post pardum depression.

Bus arrived - few passengers so I was able to spread out. The movie was Monster in Law, just enough to keep me occupied for a bit. I was at Pikesville Shopping Center by 9:30 p.m. and damn tired. I grabbed my leftover soup, my magazines and hustled home to sleep the day off.

Influences in How Americans Cook

Susan Spungen was the founding food editor and editorial director for food at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia from its launch in 1991 until 2003. She wrote a bimonthly column called "Easy Entertaining" for the magazine until June 2004, and helped launch MSO's first all-food title, Everyday Food. She was coauthor of the best-selling Martha Stewart's Hors d'Oeuvres Handbook. Never in her early days working in restaurants did Susan Spungen even consider that she would hold an "influential position on how America cooks and entertains."

In her new cookbook, Recipes-a Collection for the Modern Cook, she outlines the basic skills that, once learned, make cooking a breeze. With 100 color photographs, making it a "wish book" for those of you who like to eat with your eyes.

There are two great opportunities to meet Susan in Baltimore on Sunday, November 20th at Atwaters at Belvedere Square and on Monday, November 21st at redDog Cafe in Silver Spring.

Read on for further details.

Joins us at COOKING MODERN -
Monday, November 21st at 6:30 p.m.
at the redDog Cafe on Grubb Road in
Silver Spring, MD to meet Susan
Spungen and taste a selection of her
dishes from her new cookbook being
prepared by Chef Janis McLean.

The menu for the evening is as follows:

Passed Hors d'Oeuvres

Risotto Cakes
Caramelized Onion and Bacon Tart
Mini-Mushroom and Taleggio Pizza
Endive and Orange Salad
Charles de Fere Rose NV

Seated Dinner

Roasted Squash Salad with Lentils and Goat Cheese
Morgan Sauvignon Blanc 2003
Monterey, CA

Pan-Seared Striped Bass
Polenta with Caramelized Corn
Cline Viognier 2004
Sonoma, Ca

Boeuf Bourguignon
Roasted Fillet of Beef with Mushroom Sauce
Calera Pinot Noir 2001
Central Coast, CA

Caramel Apple Tart
Coffee


COST
Individual - Dinner, Wine and RECIPES Cookbook $95.00

Couples - 2 Dinners with Wine and 1 Copy of RECIPES Cookbook $164.00

tax and gratuity are not included in pricing

To attend, please call Janis McLean at the redDog Cafe at

301-588-6300
www.reddogcafe.com
janis@ reddogcafe.com

Cancellation policy: money will be refunded up to November 14th with notice. All reservations will be confirmed upon receipt of full payment.

*******


For the Baltimore people come and meet Susan Spungen on Sunday, November 20th at Atwater's at Belvedere Square from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Chef Ned Atwater will have prepared a selection of Susan's soup recipes and will have first edition copies of RECIPES available on sale at a discount off the cover price of $34.95.

www.belvederesquare.com/storedirectory.html

I'm Officially a Chef

I'm officially a chef. That is what it says in print in the flier for the 10th annual Baltimore Book Festival. It said Chef Dara Bunjon, who knew! I've organized numerous cooking classes, attended La Varenne classes at the Greenbrier and took a 4 day course at the CIA in Hyde Park but have I truly earned that title.

I have never worked behind the line in a restaurant kitchen though years and years ago I was a short order cook at my parents patent drug and luncheonette and did the same at Read's Pharmacy while in high school to earn money for my drivers education class.

I was hired by Rebecca Katz and Mat Edelson to do the cooking segment from their cookbook "One Bite at a Time". A book fashioned for cancer patients that is pumped up on flavor - as Rebecca calls it "The Yum Factor". I presented a ginger carrot soup with a cashew cream topping. All went well, Mat was thrilled - the audience had questions and I knew the answers. Even an 11 year old wanted to have her picture taken with me.

There were moments of humor when two volunteers who came on stage to taste the soup were named Skip and Lou. I quipped "Skip to my Lou".

I told my story about salt being a conundrum or contradiction it sweetens, it draws moisture, removes bitter, makes water boil hotter, it adds moisture when brining - it is the only spice that has a place on our tongues - i.e. salt, sweet, sour, bitter.

Yesterday I worked for two authors doing the food prep for their demo's on the Ultimate Frozen Dessert Cookbook and the Peanut Butter Cookbook by Mark Scarborough and Michael Weinstein. I made lemon gelato for tastings and the fellows did two savory dishes from the peanut butter cookbook. Their next book is the Ultimate Cookbook. I asked, "is that a compendium of all your Ultimate themed books?" Mark replied, "no, it is all new recipes - 2,000 exactly" and rolled his eyes. I will need to start pumping iron just so I can lift the book.

Oooh, oooh-before I forget I was awarded a plate thanking for me for participating in the 10th annual Baltimore Book Festival. I was excited, thinking they spelled my name correctly in the paper....uh oh, the plate said Dana Bunjon.

Well that is it, no Five Dollar Sunday today. I'm too tired to cook, its a 25th anniversary of when hubby and I met so no sweating over the hot stove. Stay tuned in............... Chef Dara

Barter for Food

With starting a new business I was looking to see where I could save the outflow of cash and struck a deal with Cathy Rubin who does my electrolysis. She was planning a gathering for her husbands 50th birthday party so this seemed to work. My cooking services for her electrolysis.

First I was going to make a couple of dishes for a large party then her husband didn't want a big deal then 5 days before they decided to have some close friends over. Cathy and I talked a bit about the food. Her guests like to do a long cocktail hour so we figured on hors d'ouevres.

Lemongrass Chicken on Skewer

Spicy Shrimp - New Orleans Style (with bread for dipping)

Tomato & Olive Bruschetta

Crab Imperial Spread

We planned for a Caesar Salad, Asian Brined Turkey Breast, Poach Salmon with Dill Cucumber Sauce and Italian Brisket of Beef. Her friend was bringing a cheesecake though we did decide to do a Grand Marnier Chocolate Ganache dipping sauce for pineapple and strawberries.

With shopping, planning, prep, heating, serving and clean up it was about 17 hours of my time.

The Lemongrass chicken turned out awesome. I combined a couple recipes I saw, nuked the chicken for about 1 1/2 minutes and then on the stove top grill to caramelize the sugar that was in the marinade. I get the minced lemongrass at Lotte which made this easier to prepare.

Cathy's son is a finicky eater, has allergies, plus wants the food to be organic. Interestingly enough, he likes beef. He really enjoyed the brisket as well as his friend (they put a serious hurting on it) so the balance went in the fridge for her husband. He asked if I could teach his mother how to make the brisket.

I left the party before dessert went out. Other than a couple bruschetta all the hors d'ouevres and spreads went. I saw a guest dipping the chicken in the sauce from the shrimp. So the arrangement was a success all-the-way-around.

So as it stands now I have more services coming from Cathy, the Lemongrass Chicken is on my do again list and I'm eating regular.

Conquering Crab Cakes

Conquering Crab Cakes

I don't know how many times I have tried to make crab cakes and they have fallen apart in the pan. I have tried numerous recipes. Just last week one called for 1 1/2 cups of mayonnaise and melted butter for one pound of crabmeat. I refrigerated the mixture for an hour to help set up to no avail, they crumbled in the pan.

So tonight I used one tablespoon of mayonnaise, one egg, teaspoon of Dijon mustard, teaspoon of old bay, parsley, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, splash of Worcestershire sauce and chopped red pepper. After forming the crab cakes I rolled them in additional breadcrumbs and put them in the fridge for an hour. At last a crab cake that didn't fall apart when sauteed. Success!

All You Can Eat Shrimp

Yesterday I journeyed to Baltimore's Harborplace to watch "Old Bay" seasoning 4th annual peel and eat shrimp contest. Rather than incur the rising cost of gas and parking in downtown Baltimore I took the subway - something I haven't done in about 4 years. That is another story.

So tented under the noon day's sun were 8 contestants from all over the country, 7 men and 1 woman looking to gorge themselves on shrimp in the hopes of winning $10,000.00. Each contestant was given a bowl of shell on shrimp and as the bell sounded we got to witness the dexterity of how fast a shrimp can be peeled and consumed. Let me state these were not small shrimp they were 21-25 count per pound if they were identical to the samples giving out to the audience.

As they counted down the last seconds 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, contestants stuffed whatever they could in their mouths. Cheeks were ballooned like Louis Armstrong's cheeks when he plays his horn. Organizers vocalized that the contestants should take their time to chew the last of the shrimp before swallowing. One contestant in obvious distress from all the food laid down on the platform in what seemed an effort to equalize the shrimp throughout his body.

The contest organizers called for a woman, man and child to participate in a one minute contest and the young man one a prize package of branded items. By this time they had finished the tally and the winning total was 89 shrimp consumed in the 10 minute contest. (equal to about 4 pounds of shrimp).

There was some controversy prior to the national contest from the "competitive eaters association" when a professional competitive eater called foul.

So before I packed up my Old Bay samples and went into the pavilion to cool down for a bit I enjoyed some steamed shrimp. Of course the little cup with 2 shrimp each wasn't enough so I went back for more. I stopped feeling guilty when I saw one woman with a plastic Old Bay cup the size of a Big Gulp brimming with shrimp.

There is a lot of back story to Old Bay Seasoning and how it came about. One interesting story is that many years ago the Arcadians in their travels before arriving in New Orleans spent time on the Eastern Shore and possibly could have started the seasonings for crabs. It is also said that it was a general store owner at the docks who would take the last of each spice bins and mix it with the other leftovers and sold it off to the crabbers. There is probably truth in both.

If you haven't used Old Bay seasoning you should, it isn't just for shrimp and crabs...try it in a Frogmore Stew, corn on the cob or potato salad.

I Should Be Working

I should be working, working on my public relations, marketing, media service company but I'm intrigued with blogging and I'm typing my first post or in food venacular, putting my fingers in the frosting.

A couple months ago I started the Dining Dish E-Newsletter and have found the information piling up that I want to write about so I thought blogging is the next best way to make the 'foodie' news more timely and available to my subscribers.

My goal is posting anything from local Baltimore & Washington DC food news to new cookbooks hitting the shelves. As I learn the capabilities of blogging the site will be expanded.

Grab a seat as a "child of the 60's" navigates the world of blogging.

May I direct you to two stories in the August 31,2005 Washington Post one from self exiled restaurateur David Hagedorn called On Cheapskates and Scams (POINT) and Phyllis Richman's Ex Critic: Hey! 'Rude' Diners are your Meal Ticket (COUNTER POINT). The conflict is a restaurateur who is burned out by all the shenanigans of the public who tend to abuse restaurants to the former food critic of the Washington Post taking the consumers view. Some where in the middle is the truth. I've waited a table or two in my day and more so, as an avid consumer of many restaurants from the 'quick bite' sandwich shop to the most formal restaurants in the country I see both sides.

You need to sign in at the Washington Post site but its worth the read and would love to hear your comments.