Taste of Elegance Competition

One of our favorite events is coming up next Thursday. It will be held at Mile High Station this year instead of D.U. I was given my wines yesterday to pair with my dishes. I received a Proseco and a Petite Sirah. I am going to make the graham cracker soft shell crab with tropical fruit, coconut mousse and soy dipping dots to go with the Proseco. I will match the Sirah with a blueberry allspice sorbet with frozen honey crystals. There are tickets still available for $100 a pop. There will be 18 chefs competing this year from all over the United States. http://www.denverwinefest.com/order.html#toe

Tasting menu 103

We had a huge snowstorm come through Colorado this week. It dropped 2 and 1/2 feet of snow at our house ( this is our air conditioner in the back yard) It reminded me of mountain snow, very light and fluffy. I will spend a little time on making some snow textures with liquid nitrogen this week.

Graham cracker encrusted soft shell crab
Coconut mousse, tropical fruit, soy dippin dots

Grilled goat cheese
House made caper bread, goji berry carpaccio, tomato caviar

Berbere sous-vide pork loin
Grilled banana puree, brown sugar gelee, compressed apple salad

Lavender honey baklava
Roasted pumpkin ice cream made table side with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 102

Not a lot to talk about this week, things are pretty quit around here. I am just sitting back and watching the homemade kid driven space balloons fly over the hotel. The world is definitely coming to a end.

Garlic grilled New Zealand mussels
Fried dynamite, pickled vegetables, lemon grass air

Smoked Buffalo sausage
Guinness gelee, porcini, red wine glass

Sous-vide ½ lobster
Yuzu, caramel carrots, fried avocado

Smore spring roll with smoked sea salt ice cream
Served table side with liquid nitrogen

What I have learned about liquid nitrogen

1. This stuff can really burn you. I have had 3 serious burns with this -320 liquid. The worst one happen about 3 months ago when I did a demo at whole foods with my wife. I filled my sorbet bowl with strawberry puree to accommodate all the people watching. I had to much product and not enough spoon. The nitrogen will freeze your nerve endings so quickly that you don't react to the pain like you would a heat burn. My thumb was in the liquid for over 10 seconds. My thumb blistered to about 3 times it's normal size and it was pretty jacked up for about 6 weeks. Nitrogen burns take twice as long to heal as a heat burn would. I would compare the pain to frostbite if you have ever had the pleasure of experiencing it

2. When filling your dewar you need to make sure that the container is cold. Liquid nitrogen is expensive and you loose a lot of it when you are filling a warm container. I will leave our 25 L dewar in the freezer overnight before I fill it the next day. We do this so it takes less nitrogen to bring the dewar to a temperature that will hold the nitrogen.

3. Don't trust anyone to handle it. Especially look out for drunk people and small children. It is the chefs responsibility to make the demonstration safe and lets face it kids don't know and drunk people don't care.

4.Make sure the liquid nitrogen is completely evaporated before giving it to someone. The space foam is a favorite technique here. The structure of the foam will allow small pockets of nitrogen to form. I have burned my tongue pretty bad because I did not wait long enough for the nitrogen to burn off. We also like to do marshmallows in LN for the kids. Kids have very sensitive tongues so it is important to make sure that it is safe

5. Where protective glasses, not protective gloves. My first thought was to wear latex but that was a very bad idea. I have also tried to wear welding gloves but I actually had some spill inside and they are not very sanitary. My advice is to get a very long spoon. The nitrogen will splash out of the bowl so it is important to wear glasses and make sure you are far enough away from the guest so you don't splash them

6. It is a great show. Remember table side when it was fun. Ceaser salad, banana foster, you just do not see it anymore. This gives us the opportunity to say hello to the guest and make them a unforgettable course at the same time. Again I will point out that it sucks making sorbet for drunk people, everything is a joke

7. This is not science fiction. This is the best way to make ice cream and sorbet. As a chef I am always looking for the best technique to make the best product. If I could throw a steak in the microwave and it would be the best steak I ever had I would repeat it again and again. Yea its a fucking microwave but it made the perfect steak. Yea it's nitrogen, a very cold mysterious liquid, but it makes the best product. I will take a tank of the cold stuff against your hand crank any day.

8. By a new dewar and not a used one. Even a small crack in the tank or the plastic top will allow the nitrogen to escape. A 4 liter dewar will loose it's contents in less then 2 hours.

9. Have fun, this is the most amazing medium that I have ever played around with. Next I am on to liquid helium and super flows

Tailgating with liquid nitrogen

I do a lot of charity work for http://www.projectpave.org/, a local organization that helps at risk youth. Joe Hubbard (pictured here on the right) asked Greg from the Broadmore(pictured on the left) and myself to cook a tailgating party to help raise some money. I can honestly say we had one of the best spreads ever in that parking lot. Roasted tenderloin, seared scallops, lamb chops, smoked sausages and liquid nitrogen ice cream were just a few of the items we put out.

Tatsing menu 101

Thank you to everyone who came in to help us celebrate number 100, the support for our tasting menu has been incredible over the past couple of years. The unbelievable part to me is not how many tasting menus we have done but more so where we are. If I can pull this off in Westminster Colorado, it can be done anywhere, it is all in the approach. My advice, make people comfortable with the food, they will be more open to trying news things. Simple is the best- not to many ingredients or flavors. Use the best tool to come up with the best product. Don't make it about a label, let the food speak for itself

House made pancetta
Green beans, compressed heirloom tomato, honey-dijon jel

Dashi broth
Chinese mushrooms, lump crab, sriracha caviar

Sous-vide duck breast in hoison and orange
Celery root puree, tempura grapes, foie wonton

Sweet potato and maple ice cream with streusel
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tasting Menu 100

Well here it is number 100. I pulled from a lot of different menus to come up with this all star menu. I am doing a extra course for the special occasion this week. I truly believe that we are going to move into some pretty exiting things in the near future. It takes a lot of work to be creative and if you are not in the right situation or frame of mind, creativity is a very hard thing to come by. I have learned a lot in 100 tasting menus, the thing I will take with me the most are the smiles I get when I can introduce a new food memory to someone.

Vanilla poached lobster
Apple lego, apple meringue, compressed apple salad

Blackened sweet breads
Chipotle battered onion ring, fried mayo, grits

Foie Benedict
148 degree egg, avocado, lump crab hollandaise

Floating truffle
Ice wine sorbet with blackberries

Sous-vide tenderloin
Loaded baked potato gnocchi, smoked air, black truffle blanket

Mexican fried ice cream
Frozen caramel powder
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 99

It is nice that the kids are back in school because my wife and I have some free time during the days to try some places out. We had a great lunch at Encore the other day and ran into some old friends. It feels like I have lost my creative fire for the time being. I used to have time to experiment and see if my crazy ideas work. Now it seems like I am just filling a notebook for sometime in the future when I will have time again. I am starting to plan for the next menu, number 100. I never thought that I would reach it.

Brown sugar grilled peaches
Smoked brie, compressed apples, butternut squash wonton

Duck confit relleno
Avocado paper, honey, red pepper

Butter, thyme and saffron sous vide Alaskan king crab
Corn shitake succotash, cauliflower chip

Pineapple bread pudding with coconut ice cream
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tasting Menu 98

Luck has it that I was selected to sit on a jury last week. It gave me an appreciation for our justice system. The gentleman was found guilty of 3rd and 1st degree assault on a person of risk. Sometimes I wonder if I could have had the patients to be a lawyer or a judge. Instead I chose a profession where I am constantly judged.

Lobster popcorn fritter
Tempura seaweed, yuzu jel, bok choy

Buttermilk fried tarragon chicken
Corn flan, sous-vide ranch potatoes, coconut gravy

Berbere grille New York
Smoked plum puree, compressed portabella, cheddar bacon risotto

Blackberry ice cream with hazelnut cream
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 97

I have jury duty tomorrow, something I am not looking forward to at all. Don't they know that a crazy chef should not make any decisions pertaining to anyone else. I can barley keep my shit together as it is. Here is the menu for the next 2 weeks

Pear, apricot, plum gastrique
Poached shrimp, goat cheese marble, vanilla

Smoked trout Bruschetta
Salt water caviar, frozen tomatoes, chili threads

Sous-vide lamb chops
Peppers from the garden, Colorado corn, chayote chips

Crème brulee ice cream with burnt palm sugar
Made table side with liquid nitrogen

Real Photos 2

Marc Piscotty from http://www.marcpiscotty.com/ shot these photos for the Denver magazine issue. He was nice enouph to send me some pictures to put on the blog. Thanks Marc

Edible chalk line

I was building a shed out back yesterday when my father in law pulled out his chalk line. I asked him," What about putting edible powders inside and snapping perfectly straight flavored lines." He looked at me like everyone else does and just laughed and shook his head. Back to the hardwood store!!!

Musuem of Contemperary Art Mixed Taste Lexture

This past Friday I fortunate enough to be invited to mixed taste which is a 30 minute presentation given by 2 people on unrelated topics. At the end of the presentation the audience ask questions that try to connect the 2 subjects. The other presenter did Machiavelli, a 15 century political philosopher. We arrived around 5:00 and set up a station where people could grab some strawberry sorbet before sitting down. My presentation went fairly smooth. I started off with Herve talking about how the term molecular gastronomy is wrong. I moved on to talk about the presentation I went to in New York where Harold and Linda talked about taste. People were fascinated by the supertaster theory. I then talked about molecular products that people use everyday with out knowing it. We then moved onto to the additives where I included a lot of pictures from the blog. The zebra steak got the biggest roar. The question and answer session was fun fun. One of the questions was what would the menu look like at the Machiavelli cafe.

I ended off the night freezing a pickle and shattering it on the ground and sucking down some space foam. Mixed taste happen every Friday night at the MCA. It was a blast and I can't wait to be invited back

Rasberry pistachio nougat

Denver Magazine

Thanks to Denver Magazine for including us in their performance and visual arts issue
http://www.denvermagazine.com/savor/2009/07/plating-style

Tasting menu 96

I am getting pretty nervous about my presentation at the museum of art for mixed taste next week. I have to build a keynote presentation which I have never done before. It will be hard to sum up molecular gastronomy in 20 minutes. I will rely on the two speeches I heard from Herve This and Harold McGee to explain the base premise of the movement. I will throw in some of my crazy experiences and highlight some dishes from other chefs. We will end up the evening like always, next to the nitrogen take whipping out batches of creamy sorbet. This tasting menu will run from Wednesday 8/2 through Saturday 8/12

White anchovies
Heirloom cherry tomatoes, basil paper, mozzarella sheets

Chorizo
Dirty rice puree, old bay shrimp, cashew clams

Buffalo short ribs
Pumpkin powder, pineapple gnocchi, hearts of palm

White chocolate mousse ice cream
Chocolate dipped raspberry nougat
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Warning

We just got a new slicer that has a automatic setting

This was the label attached to the new death machine

Notice the fingers have been cut clear off

New Menu

We have started a new menu here at the hotel with some major changes to our menu format. We have cut our menu by 40% changing most of what we have done in the past. Our tasting menu will now be offered for 2 weeks instead of one and we will now offer it 4 days a week Wednesday through Saturday. With a smaller menu you can produce better plate presentations. Our new chef is all about quality, a trait I admire. We have no more mixed greens rather a array of baby greens to garnish plates. All of our tomatoes are heirloom giving lots of color and flavor to salads. With new ingredients and some molecular technology, I am very excited about this menu.Here is a list of some of our dishes:

Lump crab cake, avocado relish, salt water bubbles

Crispy shrimp, Mexican papaya salad, ginger caviar


Compressed apples and beets, goat chesse vinaigrette, puffed wheat

Berbere rubbed pork belly, Israeli cous cous carbonara, 148 degree egg

Lemon grass salmon, blue crab rice, wasabi pop rocks

Tasting Menu 95

I am back after a very nice vacation. It will be a very busy couple of weeks for me. We are changing all menus right now including room service. Someday I will have time to get caught up on some post and get some of the pile of recipes I have on the blog. I will have some exciting news coming up pretty soon.

Grilled baby leeks
Chicken cigar, edamame hummus, red pepper pipette

Apple wood bacon powder
Blue cheese-apple-walnut terrine, baby iceberg, smoked grapes

Lemon grass salmon
Tobiko champagne jelly, lump crab fried rice, compressed melon

Bloody marry sorbet
Crystallized celery made table side with LN2

Tatsing menu 94

I am repeating the crepe course for a photo shoot we have for Denver magazine on Friday. We will run this menu for the next 2 weeks, I will be taking next week off. We have a few concerts planned along with some rafting and some quality time with the kids.

Heirloom tomato carpaccio
Fizzy capers, crispy silver fish, basil gelee

Lobster crepe
Black truffle caviar, mornay, salt water bubbles

Berbere and beer braised pork belly
Israeli cous cous carbonara, 148 degree egg

Flur de sel ice cream with frozen pretzel dust
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 93

I sure needed the last couple of days off. You really don't know what you are capable of doing until you are right in the middle of it. We have a lot of people out the last couple of weeks. I found myself running a omelet station in a banquet room at 6 am one morning. I have not worked omelets for awhile, my first couple really sucked. I will have to schedule my self for a few more breakfast shift to get the skills back.

Chicken and apple sausage
Compressed peppers, grilled onion jel, tomato bubbles

Bone marrow
Garlic Bruschetta, crimini


Sous-vide tiger shrimp in olive oil and herbs
Crab roll, dashi tempura, peach salad


Watermelon brulee
Watermelon textures made table side with LN

Bloody Marry Popcorn in Liquid Nitrogen

This was one of the courses for the Gabby Gourmet dinner last night. I started by dehydrating roma tomatoes for 48 hours. I then placed them in the spice grinder with celery salt, Cayenne and sugar. We then sprayed vodka on the popcorn before it went into the liquid nitrogen. It was a hit.

Gabby Gourmet Radio Show

Gabby asked me to come on her show this past Saturday. We did a remote brocast from Snarf's, a sub shop on 11th and Ogden in Capital hill. I had the Italian, one of the best sandwiches I have ever had. This is Snarf, he is from Chicago and he knows a good sand.

Tatsing Menu 92

It has been a very hectic week at the hotel. We have been sold for rooms the past 8 days with another 7 ahead. The groups do not have many banquet functions so the restaurant is getting hit hard. I am feeling a lot more comfortable running the kitchen after my crash course the last 3 weeks. The chef is back so I can finally get some work done in the restaurant.

Curried grilled eggplant
Fennel foam, fried artichoke and fennel, coconut

Sweat pea and rosemary cream
Carrot caviar, grilled mussels

Basil and lemon Popsicle

Roasted leg of lamb
Mint, flexible potato, roasted garlic and onions

Peach cobbler with brown sugar ice cream
Made tableside with LN

Tasting Menu 91

My wife and I had a amazing meal at 1515 market last night. Gene the owner invited us in for some food and wine. The best plate by far was the seared scallop with huitlacoche puree. I have not seen the corn mushroom since I worked at the Rattlesnake grill about 1o years ago. It is a underutilized ingredient. Basically they leave sweet corn out in a warm environment. Eventually a mold or mushroom will grow on the outside. It has a deep sweet flavor to it that complimented the scallop dish perfectly. I would say it was one of the better meals I have had in a while.

Coconut Grouper
Watermelon pop rocks, mint from the garden, dashi gelee

Compressed heirloom tomatoes
Garlic, dandelion leaves, Tasmanian pepper caviar

Chorizo
Brioche, plantain, fried quail eggs

Tiramisu ice cream with frozen lady finger dust

Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

A Chefs Wife

This might be the most difficult job in any kitchen. She deals with my crazy dispositions, constant mood swings and hours that are never consistent. I met my wife in culinary school, she looked amazing in that jacket with her shy demeanour. We began to live and work together in a very demanding industry. We would lean on each other to get through the really hard times. I cannot imagine where I would be in my career without her support, she is the reason that I am where I am. It seems like it only gets harder, more hours, more stress but she always finds away to pull me back into the most important thing in this world, my family. Thank you Melissa, I love you

Real Photos

Chris Davies from Wine Country International came up for a tasting menu this week. He sat on the patio for his dinner and took some nice shots of the food. All I have is my I Phone and it does not take great pictures on a dark line during service. Thanks Chris for the pictures

Chili calamari with avocado and fried yogurt

Heirloom carrot, curry jel, sweet pea powder

Tattooooo

You rarely meet a line cook that does not have some crazy tattoo. Mike surprised me yesterday with this mustache on his finger. We talked about getting him a different expression on each finger. A living mister potato head

Tasting Menu 90

What a difference a few days off makes. I had a great weekend celebrating some friends birthdays along with my daughter and I. People often ask why I live in Denver and why I don't move to more of a culinary city. My answer is quality of life. I have visited many places and lived in a few but Colorado is the place where I want to raise my kids. The quality of life here is amazing. For example we have the best concert venue in the world at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. We saw OAR along with Brett Dennon on Friday night. I feel much more creative when I am rested. We are back to our regular tasting menu rotations.

Ginger soy marinated pineapple k-bob
Chili squid, cilantro from the garden, fried yogurt

Green pea powder
Sous-vide carrots, curry jel, pita

Achiote grilled arctic char
Tomatillo, pepper crisps, pico de gallo noodles

Carbonated strawberry shortcake
Made tableside with LN

New Liquid Nitrogen Dewar

One of the biggest set backs to using nitrogen is the rate it turns back into a gas. We have had a small 10 L dewar for the last couple of years. It was old and had cracks in the top. Every time we would fill it, it would evaporate back into a gas in less then 2 hours. With this new 25 L dewar with a built it thermal separator, the evaporation rate is very low because the nitrogen is under constant pressure. We can now fill this dewar and it will last the entire shift

Tasting Menu 89

We will run the same tasting menu as last week except for the desert course. I am going to take the weekened off to celebrate my daughters birthday and mine on June 4th. The restaurant is in good hands, we just promoted Camilio to roundsman. He is an amazing chef that will help both the restaurant and banquets. Camilio and Mike will put the menu out this weekened. It has been a hard couple of weeks for me at the hotel. Change is good, it just takes a little while to get used to it. My blogging has suffered, learning something new takes twice as long. The cooking has always come easy, it is the financial side of the business that I need to work on.

Grilled scallops

Compressed apple chutney, pumpkin powder, pineapple sage

Lobster crepe

Mornay, black truffle caviar, salt water bubbles

Grilled Kobe beef

Smoke pudding, herb potato, red pepper

Creamy goat cheese cheesecake
Peach ice cream made tableside with LN

Erie Library Demo

Jonathan from Mile High Eater asked if I would come to the Erie library to give a molecular presentation to some kids. I had a few extra minutes to run up there between doing some wedding prep and schedules. I made pineapple bubbles with vanilla ice cream and home made sprite. It always amazes me the great questions I get from these kids.

Tasting Menu 88

We are doing the lobster crepe course again this week, we have had some people calling and requesting it. Hopefully I can get to the point where I can experiment again, right now I am learning the systems in this hotel.

Grilled scallops
Compressed apple chutney, pumpkin powder, pineapple sage

Lobster crepe
Mornay, black truffle caviar, salt water bubbles

Porcini mushroom space foam

Grilled Kobe beef
Smoke pudding, herb potato, red pepper

Grilled mini banana split
Floating toppings made table side with LN

Tasting Menu 87

As you can tell by the lack of any post the past week I am very busy. We have a new chef and with his presence comes a whole new way of running this hotel. Every chef has a different way of running a operation, I am the quit type that manages through my actions. I expect my cooks to work as hard as I do in the kitchen. My new chef has the same outlook, far different from what I am used to. He will hold us all to a different level, making us better everyday. Our menu this week has some French influences sprinkled through out. We have some members of the French consultant coming in on Friday. We are also starting a promotion on our patio this week called fajitas and ritas on Friday nights. Cheap food and cold drinks, it will be packed.

Lobster crepe
Truffle caviar, mornay, salt water

Razor shaved snails
Garlic noodles, spring onions, warm mayo

Hoison braised buffalo short ribs
Pot roast vegetables, ricotta gnocchi, tarragon

Warm brandy cherries
Vanilla lavender ice cream made table side with LN

Grilled Nori Cream

This has become a favorite pasta sauce when we want a little Asian influence. It is a basic Alfredo recipe with the addition of grilled nori and sesame oil.

Recipe

5 sheets Gori grilled for 30 seconds

2 cups white wine

2 tbl. garlic roasted

1 tbl. sesame oil

1.5 qts heavy cream

10 oz asiago cheese

1 tbl. salt

2 tbl. roux

Place nori, garlic and white wine in a sauce pan. Reduce wine by 1/2. Add heavy cream and reduce for 5 minutes. Add the cheese, salt and roux. Cook for 2 minutes and puree in a blender

Gabby Gourmet Dinner

Sunday June 28th, 09

SOLD OUT

Gabby Gourmet Dinner
5 courses

Chorizo
Brioche roll, plantain, fried quail egg

Curried grilled eggplant
Fennel foam, fried artichoke and fennel, coconut caviar

Lemon and basil sorbet
Bloody marry popcorn in LN

Pear jell
Seared Atlantic salmon, rye gnocchi, roasted cauliflower

Chocolate caramel bread pudding
Banana foster ice cream made tableside

Tatsing Menu 86

Sesame monkfish
Green tea noodles, carbonated tobiko, white soy

Curry hibiscious vinaigrette sheet
First herbs from the garden, baby vegetables, fried asadaro

Blackened Ribeye
BBQ gelee, malted potatoes, black vinegar

Pineapple raisin carrot cake
Cream cheese ice cream made tableside with LN

Musuem of Contemporary Art Mixed Taste

I am very excited about this event coming up on August 7th. 2 speakers are invited to give a presentation on 2 totally random topics. After the presentation the audience asks questions about how the 2 subjects relate with each other. I will be presenting molecular cooking and Nancy Wadsworth will talk about Machiavelli. Tickets go on sale May7th
http://www.mcadenver.org/index.php/programs/calendar/8/7/206

Garden

I just planted this herb, tomato and pepper garden on the patio outside the restaurant

Gabby Gourmet

Pat invited us and a few other restaurants to channel 7 today to do a segment for Mother's day brunch coming up. I ran into Gene Tang of 1515 restaurant in lower downtown. I have not seen Gene since Ben Alandt worked there around 8 years ago. Seing Gene reminded me of Ben and all the great times we had together. I wonder if Ben is looking down on me lauphing his ass off. I was the chef that told him not to be to crazy when he worked for me at Indigo. Now I am that crazy chef, I miss you Ben.

Tasting Menu 85

The tasting menu has been selling like hot cakes lately. 80% of the reservations last Thursday, Friday and Saturday were here for the menu.

Sweet green pea flan
Carrot cardamom caviar, pea shoots, smoked trout

Chipotle angel food cake
King crab, tequila mosaic, cilantro

San Francisco sourdough space foam

Snapper Veracruz
Flexible avocado, apricot rice taquitto, tomato
]
Hot chocolate ice cream
Shattered whip cream made table side with LN

TV Show Idea

Two words Chef Swap. Take a fry cook and put him on the line at the French Laundry or put Thomas Keller in a Elementary school cafeteria for the day. That would be good TV

ColoradoBiz

Here is the 2nd segment of 3. Here we demonstrate our floating plate using superconductivity.
http://www.cobizmag.com/videos/view/nitrogen-chef-demonstrates-superconductivity/

Tasting menu 84

My wife and I did a demo at Mckinley-Thatcher elementary school yesterday. There is no doubt that I would rather cook for kids then adults. I have so much fun showing them how everyday products they buy at the store can be made at home using a little imagination. We are getting ready for Mother's day brunch next weekend. We should do around 800 for brunch and another 150 that night for early dinner. We have hired a new Executive chef for our hotel, I cannot wait for him to start. I need to learn a lot more before I become a hotel chef and he is the guy that will bring me to the next level.

Compressed Mexican papaya
Jerk shrimp, avocado pudding, parsnip

Spring ramps
Foie, tempura berries, coco nibs

Acidic yogurt space foam

Smoke bubbles
New York, jalapeno jelly, tamale pie

Pecan waffle with maple ice cream
Made table side with LN

Denver Restaurant Examiner

Jake came in last week for a tasting menu. He is a good friend that has given our restaurant a lot of support. http://www.examiner.com/x-2954-Denver-Restaurant-Examiner~y2009m4d24-molecular-gastronomy-denver-westminster-os-ian-klienman

My First Mixology Gig

I had a local entertainment company call me a few months ago about doing a mixolgy demo for a party. I have never bartended, in fact I hate alcohol. I will have a occasional beer but I like to stay away from the ruff stuff. We had a liquid nitrogen tank delivered to the Curtis and we hand carried all of our other props, pumps and ingredients in. We had 3 drinks last night.

First was a carbonated blueberry vodka martini. My sister Rachael took this station and it was a good thing. She added the finishing elements to the drink.

My wife dished out the whiskey caviar and cream. This was the most popular drink of the evening. We counted 10 shots for one guy.

The final drink was coconut ice cream with rum, compressed pineapple and pineapple bubbles. We had a absolute blast doing the event. It was nice being in the front for a night, less sweat and swearing.

Tasting menu 83

This is Jacob Williams. He is working with us for his day on the job project through Stanley Lake High School. What do I tell these young culinarians about my business. Don't do it unless you really love it. The hours are horrible, the stress levels are sometimes unbearable and if your looking to get rich, look somewhere else. I have a school demo coming up this week. The kids at Mckinley-Thatcher have challenged me with homemade root beer, should be fun to learn how to make it.

Sage derby cheese
Roasted cauliflower, pear jel, shaved bread

Hamachi carpaccio
Togarashi aioli, fennel, “fried rice”

Mustard braised pork belly
Israeli cous cous carbonara, black truffle sheet, spinach

Pineapple crème brulee tart
Coconut ice cream made table side with LN

Herve This Building A Meal

Ever since my wife and I went to San Francisco to see Herve speak, I have been fascinated with his passion and his ability to come up with new concepts. The other day I was contacted by Philip Leventhal from Columbia University Press. He wanted to see if I was interested in obtaining a copy of Herve's new book along with a invitation to interview him. Of course I would I said, I have a few crazy theories I want to run pass him. My book arrived yesterday in a horrible spring storm. While I was waiting for it I exchanged some interesting emails with Herve. Here is Herve's take on the term molecular gastronomy and molecular cooking.

"Indeed, the confusion between the two terms will be soon over, as chefs don't want any longer the term molecular cooking (they are probably afraid of some reactionary media that attack them for using "additives"). On the contrary, I shall never drop the term "molecular gastronomy" for science, because it's entirely legitimate.
And when all chefs will have new tools, ingredients, methods in their kitchen, the job of molecular cooking will be over, and, as I long to have for decades, we can move to something newest... such as "note by note cooking".

Note by Note cooking is a new concept that Herve is exploring. From what I can gather before I completely read the book is it is a way of adding notes or ingredients to obtain new and precise flavors. You can check out this site under the question and answer page for his comments.http://www.agroparistech.fr/mmip/tice/agrovideo/this/ Our menu still says molecular tasting menu but I cannot wait for the day where we all are looking for the best technique, not the best label. I will have a full review after I get through my copy. Thanks Herve

The Coldest Beer in the World

We will be starting a mixology program here at the hotel in the next couple of weeks. This is a Corona super cooled with LN with lime juice powder sprinkled on the frozen foam. There is nothing better then a super-cooled beer

Colorado BizMagazine

Mike the editor came up and did a little video and article about how we like to use nitrogen in our kichen. This is the first part of the video with more segments to come. http://www.cobizmag.com/articles/nitrogen-chef-puts-cuisine-in-the-deep-freeze/

Westword and eGullet

Jason called and interviewed Steven from eGullet about his meal he had with us a couple of weeks ago. Jason makes a very interesting point at the end of the article. Sometimes geography can be your biggest enemy. There are restaurants all over the world that get looked over because of where they are at. Would this be a better restaurant if It was in New York, maybe, maybe not. I am proud to live in Colorado and I want people to know that there are great meals anywhere you go. http://www.westword.com/2009-04-16/restaurants/ian-kleinman-and-o-s-get-a-rave-from-egullet/
http://blogs.westword.com/cafesociety/2009/04/just_a_little_bit_more_love_so.php

Tasting menu 82

I have a mixology gig coming up that I am getting ready for. I am not a bartender by any stretch but I am going to lean on my experiences with flavor to execute the menu. We are doing coconut sorbet with spiced rum and pineapple bubbles, whiskey caviar and cream, carbonated blueberry vodka with compressed apples. The event is at the Curtis downtown and it should be a good time. We have some media friends coming up in the next couple weeks to play in the kitchen with us.

Oregano grilled clams
Potato confit, pancetta foam, nitro mirapoix

Carbonated cantaloupe consommé
Scallop ceviche, roasted apples

Black truffle popcorn

Sous-vide pork and goji berries
45 second parsnip cake, date power, garlic honey

Caramel banana bread pudding
Barley malt ice cream made with LN

CO2 Machine 2.0

We can now carbonate 2 different beverages at the same time

Are You A Supertaster

I first heard about this when I did the miracle fruit demo at the New York Academy of Science. The premise is simple, some people have more taste buds then other people. It is believed that 20% of the population are super tasters, 60% are regular tasters and another 20% are non tasters. I have really never thought about the fact that a customer might not have the biological make up to enjoy a meal. Super tasters are believed to be attracted to the food industry either working in it or being a foodie. It would be interesting experiment to take a picture of all of the great chefs tongues to see if the theory is correct. My other thought would be to have a scanner at the host stand when the guest walks in. A kind of molecular finger print to determine someones taste profile.

Tatsing Menu 81

If you have children or will in the near future you will get my take on fruit salad. A friend brought a Wiggles tape in for me and my wife after we had our first girl Taylor. She would play this video over and over. Anyway one of the songs is called Fruit Salad Yummy Yummy. Unfortunately the song has been burned into my psyche and now I cannot say the word without singing the song. We have this little Mexican taco fast food place by our house that serves a horchata drink on ice. I am having a few of the cooks help me with making the recipe but apparently you soak rice for a day, not cooking it at all. You take the remaining liquid and add sugar and vanilla. Some variations also have nuts in it. We will make the ice cream and then roll it in croquant, a puffed sweet rice.

Fruit salad “yummy yummy”
Lavender legos, yogurt crisps, mint

Southern grit French fries
Buttermilk aioli, greens, fried chicken

Pina Colada space foam

Smoked corn powder encrusted halibut
Lobster gnocchi, papaya pipette, coconut blanket

Horchata ice cream
Croquant, agave
Made tableside with LN

eGullet

Steven A. Shaw Founder and Director of eGullet was in town for the IACP awards. He was gracious enough to make the drive from Denver to try us out.
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=123222

8th Continent Demo

I did a extended demo in banquets last night that was attended by some very interesting people. As I started my demo I could tell that everyone in the room was familiar with using liquid nitrogen. I found myself surrounded by astrophysicists and engineers from different firms around the area. I started talking to Rainer Kunz, founder and president of ColdQuanta in Boulder. Come to find out that his company makes Bose-Einstein condensates. This is a type of matter that happens before absolute zero where it is not a gas, solid or liquid. It is a new matter that behaves in ways that we can't quite comprehend. I have had a theory about being able to combine flavor atoms using a condensate. As of today they are only able to produce the condensate using non edible atoms. Maybe some day in the near future we can use this theory in the culinary world to make new flavors on a cellular level. He has invited me down to the lab to talk about some of the theories that I have. http://8cproject.com/

Cookstreet

We had a great class at Cookstreet the other night. We demoed everything from a A-1 sphere to the coconut air freshener. I have learned that it is very hard to pull off a class when I am not here at the hotel. The amount of equipment and prep I need to take is insane. Thanks to my wife for coming and assisting me again.

Channel 2

http://www.2thedeuce.com/news/daybreak/

The Secret Session to Change "Molecular Gastronomy"

I just received an email from a chef friend in Spain. He told me of a secret session in Costa Brava with some of the most influential people in the molecular movement. The premise of the meeting is to find another term besides molecular gastronomy to describe the movement of this radical cuisine. The argument is that we need to change the term or it will destroy movement. The consensus seems to be leaning towards the word ORGASMIC, an acronym for ORganoleptics, Gastronomy, Art, & Science Meet Cuisine. A final vote is scheduled for tomorrow morning with a press conference to follow. They will announce the final name by creating giant edible alphabet letters that will be suspended by hot air balloons. As they move across the country side in Spain, they will drop to form the new term for "Molecular Gastronomy" After the letters have been used, they will go to feed some lucky school children in Spain.

Going Nuts

I am a little pissed off today. I woke up this morning to hear of another recall, this time its pistachios. What is going on in these plants. At our hotel we have 2 kinds of health inspections, one is done on the state level that happens a few times a year. The other inspection is done by a company that our corporate office hires to come in. This inspection is like the states inspection on steroids. The inspector is ruthless, which he should be as he goes through our property. Even if my temperatures are off by 2 degrees, it is a violation. My question to the health department is, how are we suppose to protect our customers when the raw ingredients are contaminated? Are these products being tested before they leave the factory. If someone knowingly distributes unsafe product, they should be jailed. Its murder playing with people's lives like this.

Tasting Menu 80

I should have kept my big mouth shut about not getting any snow. Last Thursday we had a good size storm that dropped around 20 inches. The hotel was slammed, we did around 600 covers for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That is the main difference from working in a independent. If I was in my own restaurant, I wouldn't have made it off the couch that morning. I would have called it a snow day but here at the hotel we have customers that are here everyday and when it gets really cold out we get slammed. I will have a small news segment on Wednesday on channel 2 in the 9 o'clock hour promoting the cookstreet class

Grilled butter shrimp
Old bay popcorn, mint tabbouleh, rainbow caviar

Berbere rubbed pork carnitas

Sopapia, smoked grapes, fried sour cream

Ice wine sorbet

Sous-vide duck with honey and clove
Cranberry beans, warm root vegetable brulee, soy sugar

Mexican vanilla ice cream

Cinnamon tortilla, frozen caramel powder

A Little Greener

We just purchased this water filtration/carbonation system for the restaurant. We now can bottle our own water in reusable glass containers. I am anxious to play around with the machine to see how I can implement it into our molecular work.http://www.naturawater.com/

Westword Best of 09

Westword gave us the top really American menu. Thanks Jason, Patrica and the whole staff at Westword. http://www.westword.com/bestof/2009/award/best-really-american-menu-1053570/

Tasting Menu 79

Next week will start to pick up for us again. I have a wine dinner on Thursday night that is sold out. We are hosting the event along with Buil & Gine winery in Spain. Xavier Buil is personally making the trip over from Spain for the dinner. It should be a great night. I am also getting ready for April 1st. The iapc conference is here in Denver this year. They have asked me to help gather equipment and organize the event. There are some great professionals speaking at the conference including Alex and Aki from Ideas in Food, chef Andonu Luis Aduriz from http://www.mugaritz.com/ in Spain and one of my favorite chefs Michel Nischan. After helping with the conference I will be teaching a molecular class at Cookstreet that night.

Plantain
Avocado, blue crab, strawberry caviar

Risotto
Bone marrow, blueberry sphere, lobster mushroom

Vietnamese spring roll
Cilantro wrapper, shrimp and pork, salty peanut ice cream

Honeydew consommé
Mascarpone noodles, plum ice

Floating Caprese

Molecular Class

I will be teaching a class on molecular techniques at Cook Street in Denver on April 1st. The cost is $175 and we will be covering liquid nitrogen, compression, safety and sourcing, pectin, spherification and activa. I am bringing the big tank, should be a fun night. http://www.cookstreet.com/index.php?option=com_classesmgr&Itemid=62&cid=443

Chive Rocks

This has become my favorite garnish for consomme. They actually look like little rocks sitting in the bottom of a pond. I use the cold oil method to make them. 1# of chives are blanched and shocked. They are then placed in a blender with a little water, honey and salt. I add a small amount of xantham to help keep the mixture emulsified. I then use a ration of .45% agar to the the weight of the puree. I then cook the mixture until it comes to a boil

We then place a bowl of oil over a bowl of liquid nitrogen. This will get the oil cold enough to set the shape of the rocks

The chive puree gets dropped into the frozen oil using a squeeze bottle with most of the top removed. I let the puree sit for about 30 seconds. I will then gently push the side of the bowl giving me a rock like shape instead of a sphere. The rocks keep the flavor and color for up to 5 days when they are submerged in oil. They will be rinsed in hot water before being place in the consomme bowl

Tasting menu 78

It has become increasing difficult to keep up with my blog lately. Being a GM requires a lot of time and patients. You have to be like Switzerland, remaining neutral when talking and dealing with employees. When I was independent I was able to dismiss people when they were not doing their job. Being in a corporation is much different. We must document the behavior of the employee no less then three times before we are able to act. I believe that it protects the employee and gives them another chance to perform. This is a good thing but lets face it, some employees just don't get it no matter how many chances you give.

Lemon grass salmon
Blue crab rice, wasabi pop rocks, watercress

Foie Gras Consommé
Grilled lobster, chive rocks

Floating caprese salad

Smoked brown sugar cured pork
BBQ pudding, garlic blossoms, pineapple augratin

Chocolate covered almond marshmallows
Raspberry ice cream made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Sage Confrence

We hosted our parent companies awards gala here at the hotel last Monday night. The banquet room was transformed into this amazing set. I was asked to give a sorbet/floating food demo on the main stage as we served the final course. The next day I took a team down to the Curtis hotel to make our ulitimate wonton with soy bubbles for a reception for all of the Sage executives in town. For the most part it was a boring event except for a ballon animal artist and a guy walking around on stilts. I finagled the ballon man to make me a flower arrangement for my wife. The stilt guy was hillarious, he always had a joke about his height as he walked buy. "This is why I am so skinny" he yelled down to me. "I can never reach the food"I should have tackled him at the knee caps before I left but I had to be on my best behavior

Tasting menu 77

It looks like it should finally calm down a little this week. I have been so caught up with keeping prep levels up that I have had no time to play or work on anything new. I am finalizing a class that I will be teaching at Cookstreet in Denver. It looks like we are shooting for a April 1st class. The weather has been nothing short of bizarre this year. It has been 70 degrees in Denver for the past 3 days. We have had no snow fall this year. Cold weather reminds us to cook in different ways. It's hard to be in the mood for a good casoulet when it is so hot out.

Carbonated grapefruit
Palm sugar cured line caught tuna, tarragon, taro

Duck prosciutto
Fried risotto, black olive jell, black trumpet mushrooms

Passion fruit and sage sorbet
Poached grapes, blue champagne

Spicy shrimp blanket
Artichoke dirt, corn gnocchi, shallot

Mexican vanilla ice cream with frozen caramel apple crunch
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Food Allergies

Michael Natkin from herbivoracious.com sent this interesting post to me that he did on food allergies. We have all kinds of food allergies coming through this hotel everyday. It is something we take very seriously here.http://www.herbivoracious.com/2009/02/understanding-deadly-food-allergies-this-post-could-save-a-life.html

Hilarious, She Ment No Clams

RIP Berkinstock Clogs #18

You were better then #8 but not as good as #12

Tasting menu 76

I enjoyed a extra day off this past week to recover from restaurant week. Whenever I take a extra day off something inevitably goes wrong. This week it was a horrible headache that I could not control. I had a small bump develop around my ear this past month. I thought I had brain cancer or something along those lines. Come to find out that I am starting to get severe migraines. I got some medication that I can take when I feel a attack coming on. No doubt that it was caused by stress. DAMN YOU RESTAURANT WEEK

Grilled scallops
Yuzu curd, Fennel pollen, Treviso jelly

Watermelon powder
Oregano nuggets, Tomato, Fried feta

Guacamole space foam

Sous-vide black lime and all natural pork
Chimichurri, Sour cream rice, Compressed tomatillo salsa

Chocolate filled doughnut holes with espresso ice cream
Made table side with liquid nitrogen

Goodbye Rocky Mountain News

It is truly a sad day in Colorado today. The Rocky Mountain News, a celebrated newspaper shut it's doors just a few days prior to their 150th birthday. I grew up with the Rocky, I used to read it every morning on the bus on the way to school. After I moved down to Denver I became enthralled with the food reviewer John Lendorff. He always explained everything with such passion and insight. I have a few funny stories about John. I use to work for this crazy owner ( who am I kidding all owners are crazy) that would sit outside a local radio station and snap pictures of the food reviewers as they came out from doing special programs with Gabby Gourmet. We had a whole wall of profile shots and makes and models of the cars they drove. Pretty crazy right? Well I never had a picture of John, all I new was that he was a heavier set gentlemen. John slipped into the restaurant with out anyone knowing it one night. Instead of posting his review, he called me the next day to tell me about his experience. How was the duck?"It was very good but the taro cake was horrible. How was the steak pizza? " It was OK, the blue cheese flavors did not go with the rest of the dish." I was so taken back that John would call me up and speak to me as a friend first. He still wrote about how bad the taro was and the pizza flavors but he cared enough about me to call and have a conversation. I finally got to meet John the other night. He looks nothing like what I thought he would. I gave him a giant hug and thanked him for all of his support over the years. He gave a glowing review to the James Beard House to get my father and I in the first time 8 years ago. I will miss reading his stories and his passion for gastronomy. I will also miss Penny Parker's column. She was the gossip columnist for the Rocky. I was one of Penny's spies letting her know about different events or people coming through Denver. You could not go a morning with out reading her buzz. I will truly miss their dedication to journalism. I hope they find homes doing something that they are passionate about. We will miss you Rocky

Congrats Hosea

I did not have a chance to catch the episode last night but my wife called right after to tell me Hosea took it. I have heard a lot of shit talking about Hosea but in the end he was the chef that came through. Hosea, looks like lunch is on you next time

Tasting Menu 75

This is probably suicide but we are going to do a tasting menu this week. I will bring in a few extra chefs this weekend to help with service. We only have 1 restaurant in this hotel so we must have a little something for everyone. If I need someone to help that night I can pull from banquets. That is the best part about working in a hotel, we can flex people from other departments when you need it. There is always someone that can help. The short rib dish is inspired by Grant's short rib at Alinea.

Smoked oyster sheet
Warm shitake foam, compressed soba, crispy red bean paste

Coconut poached vegetables
Tomato cloud, yuzu, frozen puffed wheat

Buffalo short rib manicotti
Beet, housemaid ricotta, green bean “casserole”

Peanut butter sorbet
White chocolate-strawberry jelly mousse

Dear Restaurant Week

I am writing this letter to tell you how much I hate you. In theory you seem like a good thing, a chance for people to try restaurants that they have not before. This is where your fun stops. Your days are long with prep and nights are full of ass kicking. Your friends are very demanding and seem like they only like to be your pal during this week. Let them know that when the dinning room gets busy that it will generally be loud. If your friends are looking for a romantic dinner, restaurant week may not be the time. Also if you could mention that we are doing some molecular techniques on the menu. If they want floating islands or miracle fruit gum, we offer our menu on Thursday, Friday's or Saturday's. I would like to be everything for you but lets be realistic. In closing thanks for back dooring me for another week. I look forward to all of our time together.
P.S
My wife would like to thank you for letting me spend so much time with you
Thanks again
Chef Ian Kleinman

NYAS Podcast

http://www.nyas.org/snc/podcasts.asp

Manhattan in 14 hours, Miracle Fruit and Harlod Mcgee

It is 3 days after my quick trip to New York and I still can't believe that I made it. The Miracle Fruit Manhttp://www.miraclefruitman.com/ asked me to come to the New York Academy of Science and help them present the miracle fruithttp://www.nyas.org/events/eventDetail.asp?eventID=12759&date=2/12/2009%206:30:00%20PM. How could I say no after I found out that Harold McGee was going to be one of the speakers. I was asked to come up with the snacks for 300 people to try after they sampled the miracle fruit. They also asked if I would speak about my experiences with the fruit. I settled on a menu of some sliced citrus fruits, balsamic caviar, compressed balsamic apples, rice wine yogurt meringue and a yuzu ginger elixir. I treated it like a Beard House event. I would make all my textures here at the hotel and ship them to the event. The day before I left I packed my serving bowls, knives, cutting boards and the textures and overnighted them to the NYAS.

On Thursday I woke up early and made my way to the airport. I was on a very tight schedule, I had my trip planned to the minute. As I walked down to my gate I noticed that my departure time was not right. They announced heavy winds in Newark and a 1 hour delay. I thought that if this was the worst thing that was going to happen I could handle it. We all waited and after the delay began boarding the plane. As I walked up to the line I saw a guy falling backwards out of the corner of my eye. As I turned my head I saw his head smack against the pavement. I rushed over to see if he was ok. It turns out he was drunk off his ass (literally) He mumbled something about Dramamine. A short ambulance bus arrived and picked him up. I got on the plane and took a seat. I am not a great flyer to begin with, I have a week stomach. So the landing in Newark was one of the worst experiences of my life. I thought I was going to die on 3 different occasions. I felt sick and dizzy and my day had just begun.

After landing I ran to catch a cab. I was not going directly to the event rather then a detour stop on 38th at the W Tuscany. Mike Wurster the executive chef had bought some dry ice for me for the event. I called him and asked if he could hand off the ice while I drove past. Thanks Mike. I then had the cab driver take me to the hotel next to the event at 7 world trade center. To my surprise I could not pay the cabbie with a credit card. Instead he watched my bag like a hawk as I ran up and down the street looking for a ATM. 90 dollars later I was at my hotel

I met up with Curtis and Fernando and we headed down to the event. The building was amazing, it had a open glass lobby with little cubes that lit up like the water cube in China. We went up to the 40th floor where the NYAS is located. I found my package which had been dropped many times. It did not even look like a box anymore. I opened it to find that my meringue textures were broken but the cold items were still cold. I began to organize and gather my prep. Where is the fruit that was suppose to be delivered at 3:00? After I got set up I walked this amazing space and stared at the view. As the event grew closer I ran my speech through my head. Where the fuck is the fruit?

Out of the corner of my eye I see Mr. Harold McGee walk in. This man has inspired me on many different levels. First and foremost he has made me ask why and if I don't have a answer to try to find one. I wanted to walk up and have a conversation but I still needed to cut my fruit. Lots of people began to arrive and fill the auditorium. In the end the fruit showed up with about 20 minutes to spare. We cut it as fast as we could and we were ready for the flavor tripping party. Towards the end of the lecture I got up and talked about how I like to use the fruit. It was pretty amazing looking down at this scientific community and relating my experiences. After I was done everyone came into the lobby and experimented. It was a great event. After it was over I got to talk to Harold about a few therioes that I have. It was nice that he did not lauph in my face rather talked through my therioes with me. It was a plesure meeting him and Linda.

As I walked out of World Trade Center 7 all I wanted was my pizza fix. It was 11:00 and not a pizza place in sight. I settled for a banana, a snapple and retreated to my hotel. I only had to call the police ounce that night on the couple beating each other up in the room next to me. I got my 45 minutes and was back up at 6. I would like to say that my plane ride out the next day was better. A plane had gone down the night before out of Newark so everyone was a little on edge. It made for great flying. As I landed back home I could not believe what I had just done.

There is podcast of the event coming out on Friday that I will post

Tasting menu 74

I am enjoying a slower start to this week. We are getting ready for 52.80 week to start on Saturday. I have to remind myself not to put myself in situations like I had last week. When I have to much going on there is something that suffers. Last week it was my lack of time with my wife and kids. Undoubtedly the hardest part of this job is not being chef rather then being able to let it go when I leave so I can spend quality time at home. I would like to be recognized as a hard working thought full chef but in the end it is about if your family recognises you.

Curry pancakes
Tea smoked salmon, lemon grass syrup, yogurt

Crispy silver fish
Wonton noodles, toasted nori cream, roasted peppers

Floating buffalo chicken and celery

Pork belly Oscar
Puffed pearl barley caramel corn, carrots, onion

Oven baked palm sugar crepes
Cherry and vanilla ice cream made table side
Using liquid nitrogen

Yellow Scene Magazine

Yellow scene came out with their top 25 dishes we love. Our tasting menu was featured as the #1 dish. They gave us a great wright up and they were the first to take a picture of our floating plate. For the article we did a floating white chocolate macadamia nut brownie with coffee ice cream and peanut butter ganache. It is a small portion that can be picked off the floating plate and eaten in one bight.http://yellowscene.com/2009/02/07/our-favorite-dishes/

The busiest week of my life

I am going to attempt to get caught up on some post today. This past week seems like a dream or a funny story I would laugh at if someone told me. Here are a few thoughts from this past week: I am going to die on this airplane today. Will 6 ice packs and 1 pound of dry ice keep my items cold until I open it 3 days later? Am I really standing here asking Harold McGee my theory of combining flavors using absolute zero? Is that right, we sold 110 tasting menus this week? I am glad I do not drive a cab. I hope I can sleep tonight. Are my global serving tongs going to make it through security? Holly shit, my tongs made it through security, what else are people getting on the plane? Am I going to see my wife on Valentines day. This is what I do with my vacation days? I am in New York and I did not get my pizza fix

Newtenderlambsirloinribeye steak

We have had some great success using activa. We have made a zebra steak in the past that was organic chicken glued to tenderloin. This time we wanted to use all of the cuts of meat that we feature on our menu. I first trimmed all of the steaks and then seasoned them. They were then tosses in a 3% mixture of activa to water. I then placed them in a vacuum bag being careful to layer them so there was no gaps in the meat. I then sealed it 0n a setting 0f 10 and placed a weight over it. We let the steak set for 12 hours. The next day I put it in the freezer for 2 hours so the outside will freeze and it will be easier to cut.

52.80 Week

The last week and February and first week in March we will be featuring this menu for 52.80 per couple. It is a great deal and a chance to get out and support your local restaurants

1st
Lumb crab cake with avocado relish, watercress and siracha caviar
148 degree egg with grilled tomato, prosciutto and cherry balsamic
Apple tarragon puree with smoked bacon wrapped mushrooms
Mixed greens with compressed apples, beets, goat cheese vinaigrette

2nd
O’s roasted prime rib with baby Yukon potatoes and onion jus
Sou-vide Dijon chicken with pastrami hash and rosemary air
Grilled salmon with shitake, asparagus and hoison brulee
Root vegetable pot pie with curry and green pea paper

3rd
Vanilla custard with peach air and tapioca pearls
Hawaiian doughnuts with white chocolate mac nut dipping sauce
Liquid nitrogen whipped blueberry ice cream with grilled yuzu # cake and caramel

Tasting menu 74

I have some interesting projects coming up in the next couple of weeks. I have been asked by the miracle fruit company I work with to come to New York on the 12th of February to help them at the NY Academy of Sciences. We will present the miracle fruit along with some samples of products you can take with it. I am very excited to go knowing that Harold McGee will be there. I also received a email this week from http://www.countrybobs.com/ asking if I would try and wright about their product. First of all I am a steak sauce freak. My favorite is mixing a little Heinz with A-1 and a little ketchup. I swear that Bob has nailed that flavor combo in this bottle. I don't think he had a flan in mind when he sent it to me but I will do his sauce proud. I am also getting ready for my Will Powder demo this next week

Sous-vide pork
Smoked sugar, apple, fried sour cream

Peanut butter daqoius
Grape jelly gastrique, line caught tuna, compressed watercress

Floating kampachi sashimi

Tenderloin-New York-Ribeye-Lamb chop-Sirloin steak
Country Bob’s steak sauce flan, parsnip, asparagus powder

Flexible raisins and carrot foam with cream cheese ice cream
Made table side with liquid nitrogen

Floating Plate Set

I received my package from Robert today. He sent me this floating plate set. I now have 8 small plates that can hold a small sphere and one large plate that can hold up to 25 pounds while still turning. The larger conductor and ring gives even more lift then the smaller plates. I have only played for a few hours but have already measured a 2 inch gap from conductor to magnet. We have many dishes in mind for this new presentation. Starting next week we will feature our floating plate on the tasting menus.

Potato terrine

I have been using pectin a lot as a fruit and vegetable glue. (thank you alex) I have also been doing a lot of sous-vide vegetables since I got my vacum sealer. The best temp is around 83 C or about 181 degrees Fahrenheit. (thank you chad) For this component we have combined both techniques to make this colorful terrine for our menu this week. Is this a terrine? No , not in the classical sense of being baked in a mold but the finished product resembles a baked and sliced product. To make it we mixed 15 grams pectin with 80 grams melted butter and .5 grams calcium bicarbonate. We then tossed the potatoes in the pectin mixture. I then layered them in a bag with salt and rosemary. They went into the vacuum sealer at #9 pressure setting and #8 seal setting. We cooked them for 50 minutes and then shocked them in ice water. The key was compressing the potato slices together after they finished cooking. This insured a tight seal between the layers.

Valentines day 09

Valentines Day 09

Warm Avocado and Spicy Shrimp with

Ginger Caviar Papaya Salad
$12

Sweet Corn and Jalapeño Consommé with

buttermilk Fried Oysters
$10

Sous-vide Maine Lobster with

White Asparagus Tapioca and Vanilla air
$30

40 Second Rose Pedal Cake with White

Chocolate Ice Cream and Frozen Caramel
$8
Tasting of all 4 courses
$50

Tasting menu 73

As you can probably tell by the lack of post and pictures I have been crazy busy. I usually have a few hours a week that I can devote to experimenting but the last 5 weeks have lent me no time. I have agreed to take on the position of GM/Chef here at the hotel. It is a very unique opportunity for me to be apart of decisions that happen in the front of the house. This will mean that I will need to be even more organized in my efforts to better my restaurant. It will take a few months of growing but I am excited at the opportunity to gain more skills. I can finally concentrate on the ideas that I have had instead of running into road block after road block. We will hire a front of the house manager in the next few weeks with our new lunch and dinner menus after that. I wanted to improve on service and here is my chance.

Lump crab Benedict
Foie hollandaise, avocado, 148 degree egg

Sous-vide potato terrine
Pancetta, fig pudding, black pepper paper

Tempura vegetables
Edamame, frog legs, dashi noodles

Caramel apple cracker crust pizza
with cinnamon streusel and clove ice cream
made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Bison Confrence

I had a great time doing a demo for the bison conference this past week. I did it with Robert Long, a rancher from Halltown Missouri and the Flintrock bison ranch. He talked about how they smoke 1/2 carcasses of buffalo under their ham so the buffalo can absorb the fat and flavors of the ham. He has a huge facility that raises, slaughters, and processes meat. My part of the demo was explaining how different cooking methods can yield some amazing textures. The best conversation we had was about how sous-vide could help him in his operation. His biggest concern is listeria. Listeria is a food air borne illness. If you do sous-vide correctly you can portion, cook, cool and ship all in the same package, the product will never be exposed. It would also save him in labor and would help his consistency. It was a pleasure meeting everyone and learning about all of the care they put in to their side of the industry, and the buffalo they brought was amazing

Tasting menu 72

We have our annual bison council meeting this week along with a speech from Mr. Buffalo himself Ted Turner. I have been asked this year to do a demo on unused cuts of buffalo. It should be a great event. The cooking class on Saturday is sold out. I am doing a demo at nobel sysco on February 9Th to launch the companies affiliation with Will Powder. There will be a few other chefs demoing including Keegan Gerhard from Food Network andhttp://www.dbardesserts.com/. I am also starting work on the Miracle Fruit project. Things are starting to move again after a couple very slow weeks.

Purple yam éclair
Tobiko fondant, scallop scramble, coco nibs

Smoked pecan waffle
Mushrooms, corn, goat cheese bubbles

Loaded baked potato gnocchi
Buffalo sirloin, dandelion, cayenne

Hot chocolate ice cream with broken whipped cream
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Absolute Zero

I have been fascinated with this subject ever since I wanted to learn how liquid nitrogen was made. Absolute zero is a temperature around -273 C. It is the point when temperature meets pressure. Heat can go up and up but absolute zero is believed to be the coldest point that can be reached. When temperatures almost reach absolute zero, atoms behave in a very weird way. A new matter that is not a solid, liquid or gas is created at this temperature. Atoms no longer have a individual quality to them. They actually mix together and become one wave like structure. I have been trying to think how absolute zero could be used in foods. Imagine isolating atoms of flavor and being able to mix them together, a kind of molecular mixing bowl. Actually building a flavor on a molecular level. I theorize that this is how food could be replicated. If you had a machine that had 100's of different flavored atoms and a process of mixing and emulsifying, you can replicate anything. Absolute zero is not something that I could do in my kitchen today. Only about 10 years ago at a lab 20 minutes away from me in Boulder was absolute zero almost achieved. They had to use lasers and magnetic fields to cool heavier periodic elements to come within a billionth of a degree. It took centuries of scientist and chemist theorizing and experimenting to get where we are today. We take for granted many useful products that were invented because of mans quest for absolute zero. Items like walk-ins , flash freezing, and air conditioning. Without these inovators pushing their boundaries, we would not enjoy the common conveniences of today.

Mark

Mark has a laugh that can be recognized throughout the hotel. As I turned the corner yesterday I saw him in tears wearing this very "special" uniform that only Mark could pull off.

Cooking Class

I will be doing a cooking class at www.kitchentablegv.com on January 24. It should be a fun evening of molecular cooking in a small classroom setting. The session will be hands on with the oppurtunity to use some ingredients like liquid nitrogen and the thermal circulator.

Tasting menu 71

The restaurant is going to be going through some major changes this month. We have lost our GM of 6 years to some unfortunate circumstances. I had a good relationship with him but we did not agree on a lot of service issues. One being that he refused to have a expediter. The food would sit for 5 maybe 6 minutes before it was run. A lot of our molecular presentations must be run right away or we lose the textures we worked so hard to create. I had to take some items of our last menu because of the timing issues. With a new GM comes new ideas and a wiliness to work with each other to improve our guest experiences. I know I have been pulling this place in so many directions, hopefully we can settle it down and have fun and create

Poussin
Caul fat, goji berries, red pepper

Buffalo short ribs
Shitake wonton, mint, pickled watermelon

Tomato Brushetta Space Foam

Maine lobster tail
Chipolte, corn gnocchi, Cilantro tapioca

Banana foster ice cream sandwich
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Cooking at the Governors Mansion

Last night I was invited to cook a few courses at the Governor's mansion. The event was for file://www.projectpave.org/, a organisation promoting alternatives to youth violence through education. Chef Greg Barnill from the Broadmoor along with Joe, Phil and myself prepared and served this menu in a amazing setting.





Walking into the house was like stepping back into time. The dinning room had a large wooden table with very fine linen and set with china from the 1800 and 1900's.


The kitchen was nicely updated with a large buthcer block and a commercial stove. It reminded me of the Beard House kitchen before the remodel a few years ago.


There was a long corridor behind the dinning room where staff could move freely as they cleared plates and poured wine. The dinner went perfect. Chef Greg's dishes were based on Colorado ingredients, solid in flavors and technique. My dishes were challenging with some surprising textures and flavors. It was a perfect balance of new and old styles. It was a quite a honor to be there, we found out that it is a very rare site to see outside chefs come in and cook. The staff of the house always takes care of all functions, they made a exception for us and I will never forget it. We ended our evening sipping Colorado distilled whiskey with the Governor and his wife.

The Governor’s Dinner
with Colorado Governor & First Lady Bill & Jeannie Ritter
Benefiting Project Pave
Honored Guest David Scanavino & Friends

Amuse Course
Seared Ahi in Wonton Cup with Chucka Salad Wasabi Tobiko Caviar
Paired with Philieponnat Brut Royal Rose, Rems Champagne

Salad Course
Compressed vegetable Salad with Colorado Goat Cheese Marbles and Balsamic caviar
Paired with Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc

Fish Course
Smoked Colorado Trout with Apple Textures and Tempura Cranberries
Paired with Cakebread Reserve Chardonnay

Intermezzo
Wild Strawberry and Yuzu Sorbet with Frozen Olive Oil Dust
"The Floating Egg"

Meat Course One
Juniper Crusted Colorado Elk with Maple Roasted Root Vegetables and Colorado Chokecherry JusPaired with Cakebread Syrah

Meat Course Two
Grilled Colorado Bison with Blue Cheese Crust, morel mushroom ragout and stone ground grits
Paired with Cakebread Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

Dessert Course
Chocolate Cinnamon Flan with Homemade Churros and Hazelnut Cream
Paired with Monastrell, Olivars, Jumilla Spain

Presenting Chef’s
Greg Barnhill, Executive Chef, Charles Court, The Broadmoor
Ian Kleinman, Executive Chef, The O’s Steak and Sea Food, Westin
Joe Hubbard, CPA, Sommelier, Chef at Anne Hubbard’s Kitchen
Sommelier, Phil Laramore, Baroness Distributing & Insatiable Wines

Tasting menu 70

We are getting back to normal business levels this week. We are continuing to work on our new menu. I will be out of the restaurant on Friday, I have been asked to cook at the Governors mansion that night for Project pave. I have never been inside but I am very familiar with the building. I used to live across the street. I have always wondered what the inside looks like.

Goat cheese fondue
Compressed vegetables, black pepper puff, bing cherry air

Lagastino risotto
Smoked peas, shitake paper, lemongrass brulee

Sou-vide tenderloin
Coffee, malt, mustard greens

Yuzu sphere with blueberry dippin dots
Made table side with liquid nitrogen

look Ma I am a Top Chef

One of my regular tasting menu customers came in tonight and told me he saw my photo on the Top Chef website. He told me to go to season 5 on Hosea's photo page. Sure enough there is a photo of me making liquid nitrogen sorbet for a wine tasting I had here a few months ago.( It is the 5th photo on the page) I have no head in the picture but it is my coat, table set up, restaurant, everything. I will have to give Hosea some shit when I talk to him next time. http://www.bravotv.com/Top_Chef/season/5/photos/gallery.php?e=photo_diary_hosea