Introduction:
After growing up in the restaurant business, being vegan for several decades and living in New York City where the restaurants are among the best in the world, I have had my share of experiences trying to order plant-based food from menus. To the surprise of many chefs, no vegetarians want to be offered a plate of unseasoned and overcooked vegetables. And, we don’t want to be stuck with a plate of pasta every time we go out to eat with our friends.
There are some really wonderful vegan restaurants and I have found all my friends truly enjoy them with me from time to time. However, people go out to share a meal and talk, and it is fun to try all kinds of restaurants.
Launching the idea to write a cookbook happened unexpectedly. Because of a wonderful gentleman, Walter Feldesman, who loves eating at the top restaurants, I had the opportunity to dine at two of the best, Jean-Georges and davidburke & donatella. When making the reservation at Jean-Georges, I mentioned that there would be one vegan and would that be a problem? I was told that it would not be. Once seated in the beautiful windowed space overlooking a winter snow scene at Columbus Circle, I was handed a menu. I told the waiter that I was the vegan on the reservation and perhaps would not need the menu. He left for the kitchen and came back to say, “The chef has planned black truffle dumplings with pumpkin puree and tiny diced cubes of celery and yellow zucchini topped with maple sake foam.” Not even a mention of a plate of vegetables! I talked about that dining experience for a long time afterward.
A few weeks later at davidburke & donatella, David came out to the table himself to ask a few questions. He would not tell me what he was going to serve but an amusing smile emerged as he went to the kitchen. Soon, I was served what he called a Vegetable Torte. I called it a Vegetable “Carousel.” It was a perfectly molded circle piled high with colorful and beautifully prepared and seasoned vegetables, topped with mashed potatoes that had been leveled flat to hold a border of perfectly spaced peas around the top edge. After the joy of eating this creation, we discussed the protein content, and David suggested that adding any kind of beans as one of the layers would work well. Clearly, this was a dish that could be adapted endlessly.
I wanted to really experiment now. I encouraged Walter to consider reserving at other top restaurants and see how more great chefs did things. He was game, and eventually he began tasting my food and wanted to order as I did, stating that he could not believe he was eating so much plant food and loving it. So, on to Chef Gabriel Kreuther, then at the Ritz-Carlton on Central Park South, now at The Modern at The Museum of Modern Art. When the amuse-bouche (the tiny one-bite starter) came, I remembered that I had forgotten to state at reservation that a vegan meal was needed. I was upset as I know how a busy kitchen can be disrupted with a last-minute request. However, the waiter put me at ease and when the first course arrived I was given a dish that I will remember forever. It was a beautifully plated piece of grilled watermelon cut into a perfect inch-high flat circle with the entire round edge covered with overlapping soft sun-dried tomatoes, just high enough to create a lip at the top edge to hold a layer of roasted pistachios covering the top, all placed on top of lines of reduced sweet balsamic vinegar.
New Year’s Eve can be a problem but Chef Daniel Boulud made it happen at Daniel, always listed with the top restaurants in the country. Walter and I were joined by vegan friend Inger Lonmo, who has been on a lot of this journey with me. We enjoyed the “gazillion-dollar” tasting menu created just for the occasion. The feast began with an astounding small box with a lid made of potatoes packed full of grains and black and white truffles, and ended with a huge box made of dark chocolate filled with many chocolate morsels. It was great to see that this time I did not have to remind the chef that chocolate is a plant!
I told Walter that I think there were too many people who had no idea that these chefs were making this level of creative vegan food. As a home economist with deep roots in food, it occurred to me that perhaps I should combine my love of food and photography to share my exciting discoveries. It was all getting too good to keep as a secret. I should write a book!
I approached the chefs who first impressed me and was thrilled when the first one said, “I’ll be in it!” As I asked others, they often commented that they get bored preparing animal products over and over as there are only so many ways to work with them; but plant foods—vegetables, fruits, grains, beans, nuts, and seeds—provide endless options for fabulous dishes, as was evident to see when these great chefs prepared dishes that are included in this book in their own restaurant kitchens and were photographed in their dining rooms.
Each chef was asked to offer a vegan menu of three to four courses. The great Chef Charlie Trotter of Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago had his top chef, Chef Matthias Merges, prepare an entire tasting menu. Often several recipes are needed to make one special dish. It is exciting to realize that many of these recipes can be lifted out to become its own dish, such as making a sorbet and eating it alone, or making a sauce that can be used in your own way.
I learned a lot about plating. Since there were no food stylists (as chefs will not allow anyone to touch their food) I watched as they created their plates. It occurred to me that all the components end up on the plate. Where they land can be a wonderful creative experience, and it adds an exciting dimension to serving and sharing any food.
Most chefs like to have a three-day notice to prepare your fabulous vegan experience in their restaurants as I learned from noticing that the incomparable Chef Thomas Keller, upon opening Per Se, had a nine-course vegetarian tasting menu. I told him that I wanted to come but that the offerings were heavily dairy-laden. He was quick to solve that by saying, “We can make it vegan. Just give us about three days.” And, so I did and so did he. Wow!
If you cannot get to the thirteen cities and twenty-five chefs in this book, just turn the page and take a bite!
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Alex Stratta
Anne Quatrano
Bradford Thompson
Cat Cora
Charlie Trotter with Matthias Merges
Dan Barber
Daniel Boulud
David Burke
Eric Ripert
Erik Blauberg
Floyd Cardoz
Gabriel Kreuther
Jason Cunningham
Jean-Georges Vongerichten
John Besh
Jose Andres
Josef Huber
Marcus Samuelsson with Johan Svensson, Carina Ahlin, and Jimmy Lappalainen
Matthew Kenney
Michel Nischan
Phil Evans
Suzanne Goin
Terrance Brennan
Thomas Keller
Todd English
Glossary
Metric Conversion Chart
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