David Kinch on "Mind of a Chef"

Having been to Manresa, having met David Kinch, and having bought his cookbook -- I am excited to see that he will be featured on the next few episodes of "The Mind of a Chef".

http://www.pbs.org/food/shows/the-mind-of-a-chef/

Recent episodes have been about Gabrielle Hamilton who runs a small restaurant in Manhattan called "Prune." Those were very enjoyable.

I recommend the show -- and if you click on the link there are recipes and trailers and descriptions.

[Jenise]

I've liked these when I've seen them in the past, but I can't seem to get my DVR to remember I like it so that I tape them. There's another PBS show called something like Life of a Chef that I keep mistaking for same--and it's not. Watched one episode. BORing.

The Life of a Chef is featuring a woman in North Carolina -- I agree that it isn't as good, but it's food I can relate to, growing up in Virginia with a grandmother who was a really good southern cook. I at least find the episodes interesting -- she does things like making dolmades with collards instead of grape leaves.

But David Kinch is a genius, and I am very much looking forward to what they show about his approach to food!

I've watched 2 of the David Kinch episodes of "Mind of a Chef" and found them VERY interesting. We ate there with Max Hauser in 2012 and the restaurant (Manresa) was started in 2002. In 2014 the restaurant burned down, evidently due to arson. It seems like someone threw a Molotov cocktail on the roof (my interpretation of the facts I heard on the show).

I am glad that we went before the fire. He has had to re-think everything, and did a lot of thinking during the six months or so when the restaurant was being re-built. I am glad that we went before the fire because post-fire, everything seems a little more "precious" and it looks like the servings have gotten smaller. I didn't mind paying hundreds of dollars for the "theatrical" side of a great restaurant, when I was getting nice platefuls of food. I do know that it bothers me a little when you keep getting three bites of this and three bites of that.

Still I have been stimulated to buy a few things to make it possible to make some things that he talked about. For example I bought an egg topper and egg cups (not expensive). At a minimum that means you can soft-boil an egg, make a perfect circular cut on top and serve it standing up. At a higher level you can make the "Arpege Egg" or the David Kinch version of it -- you top the raw egg, pour off the white, gently boil the yolk in the shell. The topped eggs float around in the hot water like "rubber duckies" and when they are cooked outside and soft inside you stop. Then you put in a little fleur du sel and some chopped chives and fill with whipped cream that was dosed with sherry vinegar. And put a tiny touch of maple syrup on top, so that when the diner plunges a spoon down to the bottom and withdraws it, you get a wonderful array of flavors, and a luxurious soft texture. Thomas Keller also has a rather different version of this in the French Laundry cookbook.

David Kinch also invented a drink called "The David." It uses a whiskey which is flavored with hops, a very complex red vermouth, Aperol, orange bitters and a twist of orange peel. He served it over a big spherical ice "cube". I found that all of the ingredients were available from Astor in NYC and ordered them. I also bought ice makers that produced spheres. I tried my first "David" tonight and it was really enjoyable but I don't think it's better than a glass of good Scotch. Which is probably a good thing.

If you Google "Arpege Egg" or "Manresa David Charbay" you can find recipes online.

I think there is a third episode and I am hoping I can find it and get it on my DVR. The series is really good and thought provoking, maybe one of the best things Anthony Bourdain has done on TV.

[Jenise]

Frank,

After you mentioned this I went hunting on my TV and found two episodes, which I watched and liked a great deal. I found them, or David, or both, more compelling and insightful than the episodes from the same series featuring Ed Lee and David Chang. I don't know if it's the chef or the director that made so much difference, though it's not hard to imagine that again, it's both. David Kinch is an insightful guy, committed to something bigger than food alone.

I loved that he drives a VW bus.

Somewhere between me watching the first episode and waiting for the second one to record there was also an episode of Moveable Feast on which also featured David Kinch where he cooked family style and much differently than he does for the restaurant.

I don't mind the three bites thing, but you have to give me 12 or 15 plates. Three bites if you order an appetizer off the menu and pay $25 for it is a little harder to take.

I like the sound of the David. AND, after being served the most perfect Negroni ever in a short tubby glass with a spherical ice cube in it in Hawaii, I'm in absolute love with spherical ice cubes--and Negroni's. This was at Spago Maui, and I went back the next day just to score the recipe which, happily, they gave me. I am now accumulating the ingredients to make my own Negronis. Yesterday, I found the vermouth I need--Antica Carpano. I already have the right gin (Hendricks). Two ingredients to go.

Antica Carpano is also the vermouth in a "David"! You just need your Aperol and some Charbay R5 Hop-flavored California whiskey and you're there. Well, he also used some orange bitters and a caracara orange for zest and about 6 drops of the juice.

[Jenise]

Antica Carpano is also the vermouth in a "David"! You just need your Aperol and some Charbay R5 Hop-flavored California whiskey and you're there. Well, he also used some orange bitters and a caracara orange for zest and about 6 drops of the juice.

The David sounds to my cocktail-deprived mind like it would taste very similar to an Old Fashioned. Not close?

Old Fashioned = whiskey, sugar, bitters, orange slice

the David is closer to a Manhattan = whiskey, red vermouth, bitters

But remember the Aperol which is close to Campari, there is an equal amount of Aperol to the red vermouth.

And that pushes you over towards Negroni land. In fact wikipedia says there is a cocktail called an "Old Pal" in which the gin is replaced by Rye Whiskey, but the three ingredients (Rye, Campari, Vermouth) are in equal parts whereas in the David the whiskey is doubled. Changing the whiskey can change the name to a "Boulevardier"

David Kinch is all about nuance and the slight bitter taste in the Whiskey from the hops blends with the very strong herbal flavor of that particular red vermouth. And then the Aperol kind of nails down the bitter flavor amid the sweetness that is also present in the whiskey and the vermouth.

What else is in your Negroni recipe? I'm very curious -- I assume it's Campari rather than Aperol? And a 4th ingredient?

[Jenise]

Frank, the Spago recipe is one ounce each Hendricks gin and Antica Carpano, and 1/2 ounce each Campari and Aperol. They finish it with a generous chunk of flamed orange peel (was about 1 x 4 inches). It was, to my tastes, the best Negroni ever--I've ordered a few here and there just trying to learn to like it and find out why everybody else is so nuts about it, but none sold me on the drink til now. This one, I loved. No other before had the excitement, elegance and balance that matched what, as wine lover, I can't help but look for. The Aperol smoothed out the edges of the Campari and gave the drink the most gorgeous orange hue.

Another important point besides taste in and of itself: up til now, to me pre-dinner cocktails were just about fun and relaxing as a precursor for a meal. Though in practice it seems I'm actually more apt to order a cocktail after dinner vs. before. I haven't thought through my preferences on that--it's just what's happened. But the cocktail, if pre-dinner, was certainly not something I considered integral to the meal. But Spago's 'Bespoke Negroni', as they called it, advanced the cause one big step forward because it made my mouth alive with anticipation, it put every taste bud I have on alert. I actually felt more discerning (and I'm very discerning, so this is saying something) throughout the meal because it started with that negroni.

So obviously with the Carpano Antico and the Aperol you are set to make a Boulevardier with whatever whiskey you want, or a David if you can find the Charbay stuff. Assuming you might be curious.

I think I will follow up and try to reproduce the Spago Bespoke Negroni. I have read a lot about the choice of Campari or Aperol but I had never heard of using BOTH which is probably a brilliant idea.

I stopped on the way home and bought Hendrick's Gin and Campari, and made the Spago Bespoke Negroni.

It's really delicious, I think it's more impressive than the David. Just the smell of that Hendrick's is really nice.

Burning the orange peel releases the aromatic oils and greatly intensifies the scent and flavor.

And you are right the Aperol softens the Campari. I can see why you liked it so much!

I tried to post a picture to FB from my iphone but it hasn't appeared yet.

[Jenise]

Frank, I just love you for going out and buying all the right ingredients to duplicate the Spago Negroni. And it sounds like it 'spoke' to you just the way it did to me. I still have to round up Campari and Aperol. Such are things in this town that I don't always know where to buy such stuff--however, I was convinced I'd have to go to Seattle for the right sweet vermouth, and I didn't thanks to the fact that Ms. Jones of this town's great wine shop Seifert and Jones is a Negroni lover so they had it. Wish I had a squat glass to put the drink in--not that I can make a spherical clear ice cube. But clear ice, I can do.

Louise really liked the Negroni. She said "that sure was easy to drink!" And I will take the fixings to our dinner party tomorrow, including glasses and ice "spheres" -- our friends have a special machine to serve Raclette and we will have a Raclette meal, which is quintessentially Swiss. They lived in Switzerland -- she's Malaysian Chinese and he's a big Don Draper type ad exec, and their son majored in Biochemistry, graduated from Rutgers at about 16 years old, and is now at Cambridge in England. The last time we had a Raclette meal with them my cholesterol was messed up for more than a week. So I had my blood work done this morning for my Dr. appt. on March 1. Anyway I know she likes special cocktails (and Champagne and Red Burgundy) so I can contribute significantly to the details of this meal. I will take both the gin and the Charbay hop-flavored whiskey so they can choose, but I know which one I'd recommend.

For what it's worth everything you need is available from Astor Wine in NYC and they ship. There are probably closer places on the west coast. Astor is down around 4th St, the NYU neighborhood, and I have been shopping there for many years, of course as well as other places in Manhattan.

So the Negronis were a hit before dinner. And so was a Morey St. Denis that I opened with the meal. Tons of melted cheese and tons of meat. I'm glad I don't live where people invite me for Raclette every other week! But it was quite a nice party.

Nobody wanted a "David" after their Negroni but of course there was plenty of other stuff to drink.

Thanks for the drink recipe Jenise!

[Jenise]

So the Negronis were a hit before dinner. And so was a Morey St. Denis that I opened with the meal. Tons of melted cheese and tons of meat. I'm glad I don't live where people invite me for Raclette every other week! But it was quite a nice party.

Nobody wanted a "David" after their Negroni but of course there was plenty of other stuff to drink.

Thanks for the drink recipe Jenise!

A friend of ours does a raclette event every so often. They have a machine with little baskets that rotate, like a ferris wheel, under a heating element. The results are good, but I don't think I'd want to own one, at least not like that. It doesn't at all resemble the pictures I've seen of the raclette being scraped off the big hot plate at the guildhouses in Switzerland. How did your friends do it?

They must be very proud of their son. Cool parties you go to! So nice of you to share your results. I haven't rounded up the Campari and Aperol yet, but will do so. They are definitely available here ('here' being a 20+ mile trip into Bellingham), but I just haven't sourced out such things since the state stores closed and I didn't know who in this town caters to specialty liquors. For awhile, I haven't desired anything more complicated than Hendricks or the makings of a good Sazerac (for which I bought the Pichaud's in Seattle). Anyway, I've learned where to go now--just have to get there. I really want to make my own!

They had a rectangular machine with a heating element -- you put the cheese in trays under the heat, four on each side. You put the meat on top on a ridged grill thing. The other guests were NZ and AUS and the NZ guy was allergic to garlic, he said, so on my end we were grilling Kalbi in a Korean garlicky BBQ sauce but there was also chicken and beef. The NZ guy's AUS wife kept refilling my tray after I had tried to stop -- those little rectangular trays get REALLY hot and I just didn't know where to put it!

I think if I ever tried to do this at home I might just use the microwave. I'm not sure I would ever try it at home. It is an issue because the host/hostess put their house on the market and it sold at once so they may be gone by April. It's a great house in Maplewood NJ, a very popular location and a really easy train commute into NYC.

It's a little depressing that half of my friends are retiring and moving away and my younger friends are moving away for other reasons! It feels a little like we will be alone soon! We'll see them at least one more time when Kai comes home from Cambridge, and they may not move too far.

[Jenise]

They had a rectangular machine with a heating element -- you put the cheese in trays under the heat, four on each side. You put the meat on top on a ridged grill thing. The other guests were NZ and AUS and the NZ guy was allergic to garlic, he said, so on my end we were grilling Kalbi in a Korean garlicky BBQ sauce but there was also chicken and beef. The NZ guy's AUS wife kept refilling my tray after I had tried to stop -- those little rectangular trays get REALLY hot and I just didn't know where to put it!

I think if I ever tried to do this at home I might just use the microwave. I'm not sure I would ever try it at home. It is an issue because the host/hostess put their house on the market and it sold at once so they may be gone by April. It's a great house in Maplewood NJ, a very popular location and a really easy train commute into NYC.

It's a little depressing that half of my friends are retiring and moving away and my younger friends are moving away for other reasons! It feels a little like we will be alone soon! We'll see them at least one more time when Kai comes home from Cambridge, and they may not move too far.

That's obviously very different from what I've seen before. Fun to use, but I can't say I'd ever want to own one. I don't have room for anything that isn't a multi-tasker.

Sad for your situation with people moving away. Talked to a new friend last night who moved into our neighborhood from Bellingham, just 20 miles away, for much the same reason. Their kids were grown and when both retired they realized everyone else around them either still worked or had moved away to new playgrounds. So they moved to my neighborhood, which has a high percentage of retired people without being a retirement community. It's why I get so many people at my wine tastings.