Stephanie Izard | Stephanie Izard

this week we had the honor of cooking at the james beard house in nyc. in efforts to raise funds for the james beard foundation, the house invites chefs from around the country to cook wine paired dinners, selling tickets to supporters of the foundation. james beard and the foundation stand for culinary excellence so we were excited to be invited to cook, representing the new restaurant, girl & the goat. i had cooked at the house once before with a few other top chef contestants, but this was the first time as the sole chef, so i will admit i was a bit nervous heading out there.

as always i was a little last minute getting all of the loose ends tied up for the event. a winemaker who would be generous to donate wines for the evening was still needed which of course meant that i had not completed the menu that would pair with the wines…meaning i had not figured out where to get the food from, which had to be prepped ahead in chicago, or even where we were going to prep in nyc. and i wonder why i am always so stressed out.

since there is not a le cordon bleu campus (my alma mater) in ny, i was not sure where to turn. then a couple weeks before the event, chef neal from the culinary academy of new york sent me a message on facebook offering his help, the help of six students, and space to prep the sunday before. oh the joys of the internet!! one problem solved.

then i remembered that my good friend meredith, who is a sommelier, knows an abundance of great wine makers. i asked and she found abe schoener, the owner of the scholium wine project and he accepted! next i just needed to figure out what the heck i was going to make, and where we were going to get the food.

as always, allen brothers was generous enough to donate some meat, so that was covered. next i had a meeting with a friend who now reps sea2table in chicago, a fish company that connects chefs directly with the fisherman and supports only sustainable fishing practices. aside from always procrastinating, i always lean towards trying new products out for the first time during very important events. this was no different. triggerfish, halibut cheeks and florida stone crab claws were on the menu and though i had tasted them all before, i had never incorporated them into a menu. hey i think a beard dinner is a great time to just go for it!

in the end, some food was delivered to me in chicago to prep ahead and bring with us on the plane, some was shipped to the beard house, some to the culinary school, some the hotel and the rest we shopped for when we arrived. i am sure there was an easier way to approach this but until the restaurant is open, we will continue to do things the hard way. just to keep life interesting.

prep went well on sunday as we took over three kitchens at the school. not only did i have the help of many great students, but I also had a bunch of familiar hands join me in ny which was an unexpected treat. my two sous chefs along with some other future cooks at the goat came out for the experience. we were able to get through a bulk of the prep, leaving what seemed would be a smooth day at the beard house in the morning.

8:30 am and we are on our way to the school to transport the food to the beard house (and i’m sure at that moment some of the folks who came out from chicago were wishing they were back home sleeping). we loaded up a bunch of carts and pushed them through the streets of the city, which of course were filled with slushy snow after the big storm two days before, and safely made it with only a few smoked pear casualties. i am pretty sure in most cities we would have gotten strange looks as a herd of us pushed multiple carts of food down the sidewalk, but in nyc there are much stranger things to see—though i kind of wish my photographer tommy (who flew out for the event as well) had been awake to snap some shots of the insanity.

as with every event we do, there were a number of last minute changes leading to a few errands being run. luckily we had enough people stuffed into the tiny kitchen of the house that is was almost a relief when one or two were out picking something up because it meant we had a little room.

time came for the dinner and as much as i wanted to be stress free, i was feeling the pressure. i tried to keep things as light as i could and keep myself from freaking out. during pre-shift i wanted the servers to get on the same page of keeping things light. though dinners at the house are quite fancy and elegant, i wanted the evening to have a bit of the casual and fun atmosphere that we will have at the goat. i think the servers finally caught on as i was describing the menu and was giving them a helpful way to remember the ‘shibumi’ oysters. i told them to add in an ‘l’ before the ‘u’ and they should be able to remember and get a little laugh.

service began and just kept going as i tried to keep up with what all eleven cooks were doing. it at first seemed like an overabundance of people to be putting out this dinner, but since i lean towards many components on a plate, it was easy to keep everyone busy throughout the night.

in the end the dinner went well, though in my mind far from perfect. guests seemed to really enjoy everything and were all very intrigued by the fish/meat combos that very often appear on my menus. if i could do it all over again, would i make some changes? of course. but that is what keeps chefs going and improving. always knowing that things could use some changes to get a little closer to perfection.

thank you to everyone at the james beard foundation, especially susan and wendy, who made our visit possible. we all look forward to our next chance to cook in a house where so many amazing chefs have cooked before.

and here’s the food:

foie gras torchon - kumquat marmalade

broiled oysters - horseradish aioli – pancetta

nantucket bay scallops - acorn squash - brown butter

were all paired with, Champagne Paul Goerg Blanc de Blancs, Premier Cru, NV

then…

sweet onion soup - florida stone crab
The Scholium Project “La Severita di Bruto,” Farina Vineyards, California, 2008

duck fat poached alaskan halibut cheeks - duck confit ravioli - honeycrisp apples - apple jus
The Scholium Project “Marcher Sur La Lune,” Bokisch Ranches, California 2008