A portrait of James Beard provides a focal point for the dining experience at the Beard House in New York.
The James Beard House is a shrine for American gourmets. Food writer Joan Namkoong worked there last month as part of George Mavrothalassitis' team when he served as guest chef in the famous New York brownstone. This is her tale of the experience.
NEW YORK >> The James Beard House is Mecca in the gourmet world. Once the home of culinary pioneer James Beard, this four-story brownstone in Greenwich Village hosts hundreds of dinners each year, prepared by guest chefs who consider it an honor to present their food. Diners are members of the James Beard Foundation -- culinary professionals and other serious aficionados of good food.
Plan to visit New York City?
At the James Beard House, dinners created by award-winning chefs are served nearly every night, with prices between $90 and $125. Check the calendar at www.jamesbeard.org or call (212) 675-4984.
Chef George Mavrothalassitis of Honolulu's Chef Mavro prepared dinner at the Beard House last month, one of many he has done over the past several years. A James Beard Foundation Award winner (best chef Northwest/ Hawaii, 2003), Mavrothalassitis looks forward to this annual pilgrimage, which he sees as an opportunity to promote his restaurant -- and Hawaii's regional cuisine -- among the most sophisticated diners.
While cooking at the Beard House is an aspiration for many chefs, it is an expensive reality. Airfare, hotels and meals for the chef and his or her assistants can easily add up to several thousand dollars.
With his small, 60-seat restaurant, such trips are beyond Mavrothalassitis' budget. Instead he asks Hawaii companies such as Lion Coffee, Hawaiian Vanilla Co. and American Express for sponsorships, and features their products in his New York dinner.
Assistance from the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau is sometimes available and restaurant purveyors donate food, supplementing the $20-per-person food allowance provided by the Beard House.
Craig Sako of the Halekulani Hotel and Royden Sato of the Four Seasons Maui, both experienced cooks who worked with Mavrothalassitis when he was at their hotels, joined the chef on this trip, as they have several times before, taking personal time off to travel.
"The chef picks up the tab for airfare, hotel and meals," explained Sako. "Whenever we go, we eat at great places. It's like free school: We get inspired by what we eat."
Hawaii chef George Mavrothalassitis serves up portions of onaga in the kitchen of the Beard House.
Besides the dollars and cents, cooking at the Beard House is a major effort in planning and organization. The menu is submitted months ahead of time and wine donations must be secured.
Food preparations began several days in advance at Chef Mavro's Honolulu kitchen. Sauces were made, lobster cooked and diced, brioche dough shaped around foie gras to make Mavro-style manapua, squab boned, pineapple cream prepared. Whole onaga and hamachi were filleted.
All the foods were placed in resealable plastic bags (how did chefs travel before Ziplocks?) and packed into ice-pack-lined foam boxes for the 10-hour flight to New York City.
Chefs are limited by what they can carry in coolers, agricultural restrictions on fresh produce and airline restrictions on luggage pieces allowed per person. Continental Airlines, however, at the last minute allowed the Mavro contingent's eight cooler boxes, plus luggage, to be checked at no extra charge.
Arriving early Friday morning in New York City, the team's first stop was the Beard House to unload. After dinner and a good night's rest, everyone was at work by 9 a.m. the next day, portioning fish for two courses.
The Beard House kitchen is home-size. It was, after all, Beard's personal kitchen. A cramped dishwashing area and two six-burner stoves are the only concessions to the fact that 75 to 100 people are served here almost every day of the year. One countertop, 10 feet long at best, is the only preparation area.
It can be a tight squeeze in the James Beard House dining areas, which are spread throughout the New York City brownstone that was Beard's personal residence.
Mavrothalassitis posted six sheets of paper, each one illustrating a dish to be prepared. These served as points of reference through the day.
Lettuce was cut, washed, dried and stored for sautéeing later. Dried pineapple slices were recrisped in the oven, then set out on trays (no need to worry about humidity turning them soggy in New York).
Grace Choi, a student at the French Culinary Institute, arrived around 10 a.m. to assist. Like other students, Choi volunteers to gain experience alongside the many well-known chefs who cook at Beard House.
One glitch: A honey-lavender ice cream from Ciao Bella, a local vendor, had not arrived. "Me, I'm not worried," the chef said, throwing up his hands.
And in fact, the ice cream turned up during lunch. It was scooped onto baking sheets and stored in the freezer. Later, a cut was made in each scoop for the fragile dried-pineapple garnish.
Coconut milk was warmed and mixed with the puréed Okinawan sweet potato. It would later be heated and foamed atop tapioca balls, diced lobster and nage (aromatic seafood poaching liquid), served in a martini glass to be sipped with a purple straw.
"Usually I stay away from trends," said the chef, who emphasizes traditional cooking of the French Mediterranean. "But tonight, we're not taking ourselves too seriously."
Plates were chosen and labeled by course. Around 4 p.m. the activity level calmly rose. The onaga portions, just a few at a time, were placed in a non-stick skillet, skin side down, and slowly crisped to red perfection. Hamachi portions were arranged on a metal screen, lowered into olive oil at 130 degrees and slowly poached until barely cooked through, retaining their softness.
Sauces were heated, finished and placed in a water bath to keep warm. Lettuce was sautéed and mixed with quinoa that had been cooked in Honolulu. Mushrooms were sautéed with shallots and garlic in small batches. The squab was grilled, then coated with porcini dust. Salmon roe was scooped into service cups, portioned so the cooks could estimate quantities as they made up the plates. The bite-size foie gras manapua was glazed with egg. Everything would be warmed on the stove or baked just before service.
The service staff arrived and set tables. These waiters and waitresses get a workout at each event: Dinner guests are seated in the former living areas and bedrooms on the floors above, accessed by narrow stairways. At 5:30 the chef explained the menu, going over each ingredient and preparation.
Two more student volunteers from the Institute of Culinary Education arrived at 6 p.m. to help with the "dishup." A steward helped with the plates and service line; the maitre d' assisted, too.
Promptly at 6:30 p.m., guests arrived, walking through the kitchen as they were handed a glass of champagne and greeted by the chef. At 7 p.m. the maitre d' signaled the start of the meal. Bubble tea martinis and foie gras manapua were passed among the guests, to be quickly consumed.
For the next 2 1/2 hours, the team was in motion, plating each course as quickly and as perfectly as possible, towel in hand to wipe up any errant drops of sauce. This is show time, when the adrenaline rush of which chefs speak is in full swing.
"In the restaurant we have tables of two or four or six, and we cook a la minute (each dish to order)," said Mavrothalassitis. "Tonight we have 78 to be served all at once. This is not banquet food; what we are cooking tonight is what we cook in the restaurant."
All went according to plan: No trays spilled, no missing ingredients. Portions had been counted precisely with a few to spare. There were brief lulls between courses as the onaga and squab were cooked properly and items warmed in the oven.
Once the ice cream dessert was plated and served, the team took a deep breath. The students, anxious to taste the food, grabbed plates that had been set aside. The cooking crew took just a bite or two, knowing they were headed for a late-night dinner afterward. A champagne toast was made: The annual pilgrimage had been deliciously successful.
On Sunday
In the Travel section: Culinary adventures in New York continue with a foodie's tour of the city.
Mavro's menu
From the May 8 dinner, "Beard Birthday Fortnight":Appetizers
Hawaiian Vanilla Keahole Lobster Bubble Tea
Duck Foie Gras "Manapua Style"Confit Hamachi, Lomi Lomi
Yellow-tail fish with lomi lomi salmon, Maui onion, tomatoes, salmon roeDay-Boat Onaga with Pacific Oyster
With braised radicchio, fresh oyster veloute and garam masala accentsRoasted Squab, Hamakua Mushrooms
With quinoa and wilted Manoa lettuce, fava bean purée, jasmine tea roasting jusPineapple Creme, Kula Lavender-Honey Ice Cream
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