farmer's markets & forks (S2E7)
ft. my hierloom tomato galette
i hosted a dinner this past weekend. it was lovely. i made an hierloom tomato galette. two, actually.
***
on july 27th, i went to chez panisse for the first time. the berkeley restaurant was founded by chef alice waters and is known as the birthplace of the farm-to-table movement. rebecca booked a table for two and i (very) happily accepted her invitation to join.
i never liked raw tomatoes. well, not by themselves anyways. they’re fine with other things or in other forms (they’re quite delicious when they’re roasted), but i always pick out the raw cherry tomatoes and i never order the caprese. it sounds funny to say because tomatoes are such a fundamental ingredient. you can sprinkle them on salads or slide them between a burger patty and lettuce or sauté with garlic and balsamic or stir-fry with eggs or smash and sprawl over pizza dough or across a hot dog. but for some reason, i’ve never been into raw tomatoes.
until chez.
i actually enjoyed the raw tomatoes at chez. like really, really enjoyed them.
so there i was, in absolute awe of these fresh hierloom tomatoes when our high-school-friend-turned-chez-chef will (whom we haven’t seen in years but still offered us the warmest of welcomes and notified the chez staff of our visit), comes over to our table and i start ranting to him about how much i loved the hierloom tomatoes and how i’ve never liked them before and always wince upon taking a bite of one but these ones… these ones were special. they were so sweet and fresh and bright and the perfect balance of soft but not soggy.
at the end of the meal, will gives us a tour of the kitchen and produce. he introduces us to the salad station chef, in charge of slicing and plating the star ingredient of the night, and i tell him how appreciative i am. we thank will and go our separate ways.
***
okay, back to dinner series. it went something like this:
night before, flip through some cookbooks. pick two new dishes (chile butter cauliflower from ottolenghi, hierloom tomato galette from bon appetit) and two dishes i’ve made before (pesto pasta, focaccia). john’s in charge of salad and mediterranean fish. 7:30 am wake up. 8:15 arrive at Ferry Building Farmer’s Market with john. 10:10 leave farmer’s market. 12:50 pm prep cooking setup. 13:00 start focaccia dough for first rise. 13:35 make galette dough (13:45 realize my cuisinart isn’t functional, substitute with two knives and a million cuts). 14:00 make second galette dough. 15:00 plan out oven timing. 15:30 go to birite to buy chile butter ingredients. 16:20 make chile butter. 16:45 deflate focaccia dough and proof. 17:00 john arrives with more ingredients. 17:15 toast pine nuts. 17:20 prep cauliflower and other veg. 17:25 burnt popcorn aroma fills the kitchen. it’s the pine nuts. send peter to buy more pine nuts. 17:35 blanche cauliflower. 17:45 coat cauliflower with chile butter, send suzanne to alex’s to roast since there’s not enough oven space. 17:54 start rolling out first galette dough. don’t have a rolling pin, opt for a wine bottle. 18:06 put focaccia in the oven. cut hierloom tomatoes in 1/4” slices. toss with salt and garlic, wait 5, drain. grate asiago onto dough. layer with hierlooms, fold crust over. throw in the freezer for 10. 18:30 focaccia’s out, oven temp change to 450. repeat process with second galette. 18:37 put first galette in the oven. send a running behind schedule text. 18:49 second galette into the oven. 18:54 toast new pine nuts — this time on the stove so i don’t forget about them. 18:58 throw toasted pine nuts into a blender with basil, freshly grated parmesan, olive oil. peel, crush, chop garlic. give it a few whirls. dishes. 19:17 suzanne comes back with roasted cauliflower. 19:25 guests start arriving. throw in focaccia next to galette for reheat. prep olive oil with balsamic. 19:30 welcome guests, seated. lay out focaccia. 19:36 first galette done, cauliflower takes its place for reheat. galette is topped with chives and basil, i introduce the dish. suzanne cuts and serves. 19:45 spicy cauliflower is served, take away empty galette pan. john introduces his little gem salad. guests top with freshly grated parm. 19:52 second galette done, oven temp to 425. boil water. 19:58 fish in. 20:01:26 orzo in. 20:07:56 orzo out, drain. stir in pesto, top with parm, serve. 20:12 i take a seat. 20:15 fish served, john takes a seat. pour a glass and a toast. to us. cheers.
***
“forks” is the title of season 2, episode 7 of the bear. carmy sends richie to a fine-dining restaurant to be part of the service staff for a week. but each day, from 6 am until service, all richie does is polish forks. he is bitter. he could not care less about polishing forks.
one day richie gets pulled to front-of-house. this is where he witnesses first-hand how much effort the service staff puts into creating meaningful experiences for their guests. later, richie overhears some tourists say that they’re disappointed they have to leave chicago without trying deep dish pizza. he races to and from chicago’s iconic Pequod's pizzeria, convinces the michelin star chef to ‘fine-dining-ify’ the pizza, and serves the table with the fattest smile. richie has discovered his sense of purpose.
the wonderful part about this scene is that it actually happened. restaurateur will guidara did this with a two-dollar hot dog at new york city’s eleven madison park, the number 1 restaurant in the world in 2017. one night, he overhead some guests: “what an amazing trip! we’ve been to all the great restaurants — per se, le bernardin, daniel, momofuku, now eleven madison park” “yea but the only thing we didn’t get to try was a new york city hotdog…”
you know what comes next. guidara strolls gracefully back into the kitchen, then takes off to the closest corner hotdog stand and begs the fancy four-star chef to plate it. then, right before the table’s last savory course (a honey-lavendar glazed muscovy dry-aged duck) guidara presents the dish:
“To make sure you don’t go home with any culinary regrets, a New York City hotdog.”
***
guidara is excellent because he pursues unreasonable hospitality. eleven madison park wasn’t always one of the best restaurants in the world; in fact, when guidara took over in 2006, it was a ‘struggling two-star brasserie that had never quite lived up to its majestic room.’ he transformed the restaurant by always over-delivering to guests.
there are three simple rules of unreasonable hospitality:
be present
take ourselves less seriously
create individualized experiences
this philosophy led guidara to create the dreamweavers program. the role of a dreamweaver was simple: to make guests feel seen. they bring ideas to life and give people more than they could ever expect.
one day, a customer called in advance to tell the staff that his dad was ‘more of a Budweiser, steak and potatoes kind of guy’ than a fine-dining kind of guy. that night, the fancy drink cart rolls up to their table. instead of the normal expensive champagne bottles, the cart was filled with every bottled bud that the dreamweavers could find at the neighborhood bodegas. it really is the little things.
“You see the light bulb turn on where Richie recognizes how fulfilling and how much nobility there is in providing graciousness to others. I don’t care what you’re serving, what you’re selling, the way you make people feel will be the thing that they remember more than any of that.”
— will guidara (‘become excellent. be unreasonable’ | the big think)
no matter what you do or where you work or who you meet, aim to create magic. a meaningful life is a magical life, both for yourself and for others.
***
acknowledgements
suzanne, for being my richie, for doing everything i couldn’t do without me having to ask — serving guests, washing dishes, entertaining, running back & forth to a friend’s house to cook one of my dishes and fetch a cheese grater. emma, for taking great food pics and setting up such a lovely ambiance. peter, for pinenuts. alex, for his oven and cheese grater (at a moment’s notice). will and rebecca, for inspiring me at chez.
my mother, for not only being the most wonderful cook, but also the most wonderful host. growing up, she made it all look so effortless. she greeted guests in between her last garnishes and salad tosses. all the dishes are served at once, hot. she taught me the joy of sharing a good meal with good people. i am forever grateful that i was raised by my greatest culinary inspiration.
john, for everything and more. i still don’t know whether he is truly my food soulmate or if he just silently yields to my taste to make me happy. how lucky am i to have found you. thank you for so wholeheartedly full-sending our adventures together.
a toast, to us, and all the friends we are so fortunate to share a good meal with. cheers.
quite the piece kaylee, now i have to watch the bear