Friday, August 17, 2007
Review: Chef To Go, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
I was on a business trip in St. John's and took part in a dinner at Chef To Go, where you literally work for your supper. The name makes it sound like some type of take-out establishment, and is the result of its first two years of operation in which chef/proprietor Robert Arniel offered catering for small groups in private homes. Today, he offers cooking classes and arranges dining evenings for groups, in which he gives a cooking lesson and then the participants get involved in the preparation of the evening's dinner. All go home with an apron and a collection of the evening's recipes.
You don't actually get to go through every step of the preparation, as, to be fair, that could take hours of work and offer too much room for mistakes. Instead, most of the prep work is done. For example, our menu consisted of the following:Crab Claws with Cognac Sauce
Mussels on the Half Shell
Sun-Dried Tomato Tapenade Crostini
Choice of Blackened Salmon with Kiwi Salsa or Seared Beef Tenderloin with Stilton Crust and Cabernet Sauvignon Sauce
Oven Roasted Root Vegetables
Seasonal Berry Napoleon with Minted White Chocolate Pastry Cream
There were two people serving all the food, including the first two appetizers, already prepared, while everyone was working. (There were also several choices of wine to lubricate the physical labor.) Everyone is done about the same time, sits at tables, and enjoys the dinner. Some of the ingredients came out of the chef's backyard garden.
The "restaurant" is acutally the first two floors of his house, and his wife and he live on the top two. Having an eating establishment in a home is actually an old tradition: you can find it in Havana today, and some decades ago there was a well-regarded and famous example in Manhattan, a woman who offered diners whatever she decided to cook that day.
Arniel had an accomplished career as a chef before opening this spot, and the results tell. Not only are the recipes good, but he has enough understanding of the dynamics of cooking to make the diners comfortable and successful in their efforts. As this is geared to groups, it might be difficult to do one of the dinners. But aside from classes that last a few weeks, he also offers intensive Saturday classes. Cooking and eating in a pleasant atmosphere - what else could you ask for? Chef Arniel said I could post a recipe or two from the ones I received, so here is one for the tenderloin dish:
You don't actually get to go through every step of the preparation, as, to be fair, that could take hours of work and offer too much room for mistakes. Instead, most of the prep work is done. For example, our menu consisted of the following:
There were two people serving all the food, including the first two appetizers, already prepared, while everyone was working. (There were also several choices of wine to lubricate the physical labor.) Everyone is done about the same time, sits at tables, and enjoys the dinner. Some of the ingredients came out of the chef's backyard garden.
The "restaurant" is acutally the first two floors of his house, and his wife and he live on the top two. Having an eating establishment in a home is actually an old tradition: you can find it in Havana today, and some decades ago there was a well-regarded and famous example in Manhattan, a woman who offered diners whatever she decided to cook that day.
Arniel had an accomplished career as a chef before opening this spot, and the results tell. Not only are the recipes good, but he has enough understanding of the dynamics of cooking to make the diners comfortable and successful in their efforts. As this is geared to groups, it might be difficult to do one of the dinners. But aside from classes that last a few weeks, he also offers intensive Saturday classes. Cooking and eating in a pleasant atmosphere - what else could you ask for? Chef Arniel said I could post a recipe or two from the ones I received, so here is one for the tenderloin dish:
Cabernet Sauvignon Sauce
Ingredients:
- 250 ml cabernet sauvignon
- 250 ml light cream
- 125 ml minced shallots
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2.5 ml fresh thyme
- 1 ml sea salt
- 0.5 ml fresh pepper
Instructions:
- Place all ingredients in heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until reduced by half.
- Pour sauce into blender and puree until smooth.
- Strain through fine strainer and keep warm.
Blue Cheese Crusted Beef Tenderloin
Ingredients:
- 250 g Stilton (substitute other blue cheese)
- 100 g butter
- 350 ml coarse fresh bread crumbs
- 10 ml fresh thyme
- 8 beef tenderloin steaks
- clarified butter (substitute olive oil)
- salt and pepper
Instructions:
- Process first cheese and butter in a food processor.
- Add bread crumbs and thyme and process until combined.
- Heat saute pan over high heat, add 1 TBS clarified butter or olive oil, and sear steaks on each side until just browned.
- Let steaks cook and coat each one evenly with blue cheese mixture.
- Finish steaks in 375ºF convection oven (400ºF in normal oven) until medium rare, about 10 minutes.
- Serve with cabernet sauvignon suace.
Serves 8.
Labels: cabernet sauvignon, Canada, cooking, corned beef, lessons, Newfoundland, recipes, restaurant, review, St. John's, stilton, tenderloin
