Stephanie Izard | Stephanie Izard

last night was the first annual starving artist event presented by the chicago artists’ coalition. the event set out to be ‘a unique sensory experience’, which it really turned out to be.

each of the four chefs (koren grieveson from avec, randy zwieban of province, hillary blanchard-rokower of one sixtyblue and myself) were paired up with a local artist to create both a pice of art for auction and a dish inspired by the artwork. i am always big on themes when choosing menus or dishes for events, it makes it easier to narrow down the many ideas in my crazy head. so having a painting to take inspiration from was fun, different and challenging all at the same time.

i was introduced to my partner artist richard hull a couple of months ago. our first interaction was a bit strange because neither of us fully understood the project at hand, nor did we know each others style. we looked at richard’s work online, which is full of color and beautiful shapes as we sat at girl & the goat one afternoon. but it wasn’t until i saw his home studio and work in person that i was able to get the full effect of the textures, brush strokes and all of the details that make his work remarkable. in the same manner, richard was only able to get what i am all about once he dined at the goat one night and i stuffed him and his girlfriend with as many dishes as they could handle. it turned out that putting us together was a great fit.

richard sent over a photo of the painting earlier in the week and it took me until yesterday (yes, the day of the event) to finally decide the direction i wanted to go. the painting itself is beautiful (and even moreso in person) with so much color and so many shapes that i found myself identifying dishes from the goat each time i looked at it. “there is the pig face!” “oh look the crab stuffed squash blossom!” “is that pasta with rosemary vinaigrette?!” i had not spoken to richard about the artwork yet, and began to think maybe i was over analyzing. but he confirmed last night that the painting did encompass much of the menu at the goat, and in addition, the bold colors and “fun” feeling of the painting really captured the atmosphere we try to create at the restaurant.

as for the dish, i decided to go with an ethiopian style beef tartare, kitfo. i was in madison this past weekend doing a fundraiser with my chef friend dan fox, raising funds and awareness for 1000 gardens in africa, so when i saw the color palate of the painting my mind went back to african cuisine. kitfo was such a pleasant surprise for me when i made a version of it for the first time last week… the thought of melted butter mixed in with diced beef just did not sound right… but it is beyond delicious. the butter is infused with spices (for last night we put a bit of star anise, fresh rosemary, black peppercorn, red pepper flakes and a splash of soy) which really come to life when added to the beef with a nice seasoning of kosher salt. it is best eaten right away before the butter cools back down, but even after it sits for a couple of minutes the richness and spices are still a great compliment to the beef. (i love reading about foods from places that i am unfamiliar with and coming out with new favorites.)

because of the many colors in the painting and the many different foods i could see in the painting, it seemed fitting to bring in a few other complimentary components and flavors. we compressed some “sweetie” melons from seedling farm with a bit of soy, rosemary and cayenne (though i think peter from seedling made up the name, the melons are a delicious cross between cantaloupe and honeydew). once sliced thin and compressed, the melon looked almost like beautiful stained glass and was just spicy and savory enough to compliment the natural sweetness.

also under the beef was a bit of tuna aioli for some salty richness and acidity. we poach tuna in olive oil with lemon and spices to about medium, then once cooled we make a basic aioli with the oil and blend in just enough tuna to bring out the flavor and thicken, like tuna salad turned into a creamy sauce. to bring in a bit more of summer, we added a drizzle of ajvar, a sauce made from roasted eggplant and peppers that we feature on our goat chorizo pizza these days. and finally a little nichols farm sweet corn for some crunch and freshness, tossed in a little piri piri sauce for herbs and spice.

yes it was a lot of ingredients, (which made me nervous until we tasted it just before the event got underway) but to me it was just like the painting: while it’s composed of so many colors and shapes, it comes together in the end. the dish seemed to work, and kitfo will be making it on to menus that i do for a long time to come.

thank you to the chicago artists’ coalition for hosting such a fun event and inviting us to participate! see you next year!

see a couple of pictures below:

richard and me