Sante, Vitamix

It's been a crazy last couple of weeks around here and it's not slowing down. We're marching into season with a new menu and tons of special events lined up. I attended Star Chefs ICC this year with a little more on my mind than usual. I competed in the VitaMix Challenge this year and we took home 2nd place. Not a bad showing. Here is a picture of our dish that was presented. Loup de mer steamed in the blender. I poured in a hot aromatic fume using the bones of the fish into the base of the blender, then suspended the fish at the rim of the blender top using plastic wrap, poked a couple holes, oiled the surface, placed the lid on top and wrapped the top in plastic wrap. Turned on the blender and let it work it's magic forcing hot steam up through the holes cooking the fish. Later I added some peeled baby tomatoes, touch of xanthan, and mounted the sauce with some house cured lardo. Other components consisted of carrot and espellete noodles, pickled squash, anise hyssop blossoms, compressed malabar spinach two ways, purslane, carrot powder and various herb garnishes and flowers that tied into my theme of summer and fall coming together.



I don't like losing so much but I had to step back and look at it as a learning experience and in the end I did learn a thing or two as well as had the opportunity to cook with some great chefs. I missed the announcement of the winners as I was gathering all my equipment and getting ready to hop on a plane home. Just before I left the armory I got a call letting me know the outcome. I don't enter many competitions but this was a way for me to be a part of star chefs after learning and networking with great chefs in the past years of attendance. I felt obligated to at least enter and maybe provide some level of entertainment and participation after what they have done for me. A big thanks goes out to the staff at Star Chefs, VitaMix, multivac, and my bros Tony, Kevin and Mac from Olives for letting me ship a bunch of stuff to their NYC kitchen and taking care of it until I got their.

On to the next bit of exciting news we received today. Sante Magazine awarded bluezoo with a award in Culinary Innovation representing the Southeast US. This award really belongs to all the cooks at bluezoo. Throwing out ideas and plating techniques for our menu changes and daily chef's tasting. I can write menus all day and tell people what to do but that's not how I like this place to run. We are a group of young cooks in the business with a passion for what we do and hats off to my guys and gals for their hard work to make this happen. Bluezoo would be nothing without our dedicated culinary professionals.