Category — Restaurant News & Reviews

A kitchen’s mise en place gives away what it thinks it’s doing. Peter Merriman, one of the founders of what’s called Hawaii Regional Cuisine, once told me about the ribbing he took from Mainland chefs over the ginger, garlic, chilis and lemongrass on his. These were the flavors that expressed Hawaii and all the cultures that had influenced its food. But the rubes from the Continental 48 just didn’t get it.
Ditto for the mise en place at India and Beyond, the new Mumbai outpost of my husband’s cousin, restaurateur Rahul Limaye. The restaurant’s ambition to merge Western and Indian cuisine couldn’t be told any more clearly than by the gulab jamun in the bain-marie or the mise en place stocked with chaat masala, turmeric, ground fenugreek and chili powder. So much fun to take this little tour — check it out.

Check out that naan. Watch the way the naan walla rocks back and forth with the skewers, romancing the bread, forward and back as he loosens it from the side. I love the way the dough just becomes a disc as he slaps it around and then the way he pats it onto the side of the tandoor with that funky potholder, like a giant, red-checkered eraser. And look at him — he almost smiles. We made him mess up.

Shot this while invading the kitchen at India and Beyond, a new Mumbai restaurant owned by my husband’s cousin, Rahul Limaye. Stay tuned for more India videos very soon.

Pastry chef Varin Keokitvon, Spanish Ambassador Jorge Dezcallar and Jose Andres. © Stephen Gosling

Bigotry and arguments in Congress have made “immigrant” a nasty word. So it’s nice to see foreign-born Americans being honored for the contributions they make to our Melting Pot. And it’s nice to see the actual pot — that is, the culinary arts — being recognized as an area of worthy achievement.

Tomorrow night at a dinner in New York,  The Vilcek Foundation will bestow its 2010 prize for achievement in the arts on Spanish-born chef Jose Andres. Andres, credited with pushing Spanish culinary culture to the forefront of American consciousness is best known for his Washington, DC-based restaurant empire and for his gastronimc experimentation at award-winning establishments including minibar and The Bazaar in Los Angeles.

The Vilcek Awards, created by Czech-American Jan Vilcek, are designed to raise awareness of contributions made by immigrant Americans in the sciences, arts and culture. This is the fifth year the prizes have been given, and the first time one  is being bestowed in the culinary arts.

Andres will share the stage with Laos-born pastry-chef Varin Keokitvon, a Chef Instructor for the Seattle-based FareStart, who trains homeless and struggling individuals for careers in the culinary arts. Keokitvon is taking home the prize for Creative Promise in the Arts.

Judges included Dan Barber, Executive Chef and Co-Owner of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, editor of the late-great Gourmet magazine Ruth Reichl, Food and Wine editor Dana Corwin and James Beard Foundation president Susan Ungaro.

Four finalists also include:

• Malaysia-born Michael Cheng, Director / Associate Professor of Culinology at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, MN.
• Japan-born Yoshinori Ishii, Tasting Menu Chef at Morimoto in New York, NY.
• India-born Nandini Mukherjee, Chef/Owner of Aamchi Pao, New York, NY.
• Russia-born Boris Portnoy, Consulting Pastry Chef, Candybar; California Walnut Commission; Blue Bottle, San Francisco, CA.