Mercedes-Benz Dinner at James Beard House/ Taqueria

At the end of October Mercedes-Benz sponsored a four-course dinner for 50 VIP guests at the James Beard House in New York City.  Chefs and cooks from ABC Kitchen, Eleven Madison Park, Restaurant August, and Locanda Verde all teamed up to create one spectacular course each for one very high end meal.

Bring on the red carpet

This was my first time inside the famous James Beard House.  James Beard was an influential American chef and food writer who passed away in 1985.  The James Beard Foundation was named in his honor, which annually recognizes and praises chefs and food writers across the country.  Peter Kump, a former student of James and founder of the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), purchased the brownstone home of the late James Beard and preserved it as a gathering place for the general public to enjoy the artistry and talents of established and emerging chefs.

Not having much prep work, and having a car waiting for us outside, Chef Dan Kluger, I, and Minh, one of the chefs from 11 Madison Park took a field trip to buy staff meal for everyone.  We traveled to the lower east side to Taqueria, a favorite taco restaurant of Chef Kluger.  Taqueria has a lot of style and is real deal Mexican, even listing a photo on the wall of everything they don't offer that is stereotypical.  It's "crema fresca", not sour cream, get it right.

Taken from Yelp.com

We ordered what seemed to be a little of everything from the menu.  Pork, chicken, and beef tacos, burritos, tortas, chips & salsa, tamales, and quesadillas and brought it back for everyone.  This is what I love about being a cook.  We make amazing gourmet food for other looking to spend a few bucks and have a great experience, but when it comes to making us happy, just give us a good $2 taco and we won't complain.  For us, it's the beauty in simplicity.

The cooks enjoying their tacos and quesadillas

After staff meal we all got to work on passed hors d'oeuvres.

John Besh and Restaurant August:

Fried Oyster, Microgreens, Buttermilk Ranch Dressing.  Imagine an oyster po'boy without the bread.  Perfect crisp, creaminess, and heat in one bite.

Daniel Humm and 11 Madison Park:

Smoked Sturgeon with Sabayon and Chive.  Smoked sturgeon was placed inside a cleaned out egg shell.  They whisked the eggs to create a light, frothy sabayon to top off the sturgeon.  When I tasted it, honestly, I wasn't very impressed with the flavors.  It also looked very hard to pass this around as an hors d'oeuvres.  Not hating, just not my taste.

Dan Kluger and ABC Kitchen:

Kaboucha squash toast.  Kaboucha squash is roasted until tender, then mixed with house-made ricotta cheese on toasted sourdough bread.  To this day still my favorite toast offered at ABC.

Karen DeMasco and Locanda Verde.

Fennel Sausage Pretzel Bite.  Karen is actually the pastry chef at Locanda, but brought with her some savory bites to start the meal.  Karen made her own pretzels, and stuffed them with fennel, house-made fennel sausage, and mustard.  If you're a fan of charcuterie, this was the bite for you.

Daniel Humm and his team led the pack with the first course.  Beets, beets, and more beets.  Red, yellow, and candy cane beets were boiled, peeled, and cut into small discs.  The cooking liquid was reduced down with vinegar, a caraway seed tuile, and a white beet foam finished off the dish.  It was all hands on deck to assemble these plates.  

Beets, beets, and more beets from 11 Madison Park

John Besh then served the second course, bringing seafood from the gulf coast.  Fish mousse was breaded and fried, then topped with fresh crab, chives, and brought together with a tapioca shellfish emulsion.  The entire dish tasted of the ocean, and made me want to head down to New Orleans to try his restaurant first-hand.

I love this photo.

Crab and Shellfish from August

Dan Kluger and I then went onto serving our pressed pig.  The pig was cooked whole, deboned, and pressed back onto its skin.  The skin was then crisped to create a pork cracker, and topped with a sweet bacon marmalade and braised turnips.  It was a favorite of many, chefs and diners alike, of the night.

Dan Kluger and I

Pressed Pig with Braised Turnips from ABC Kitchen

Karen DeMasco then pulled out all stops for dessert.  Chocolate (lava) cake, candied peanuts, poached pear, and ice cream.  This satisfied the sweet tooth of all of us, and was a perfect ending to the meal.  And to top everything off, she then pulled out and assembled the petit fours trays.

Chocolate Cake, Poached Pear, and Candied Peanuts from Locanda Verde

Petit Fours from Locanda Verde

Quite a sweet ending indeed.  Event over.  Bring on the wine.

Taqueria

198 Orchard Street

New York, NY 10002

James Beard House

167 West 12th Street

New York, NY 10011