Dessert Project #3 @CarillonAustin

What happens when you put some of the hottests pastry chefs in the same kitchen?  You get a decent fill of deliciousness.  A big thank you to Chefs Plinio Sandalio of Carillon, Philly Speer of Uchiko, and Steve Cak from Parkside for inviting me to the Dessert Project Experience, where pastry chefs do dinner. 

The first dish up was an amuse bouche made up of a trio of cauliflower.  From a puree to bright shades, it was as amusing to the eyes it was to the palate. 

Why yes, I did run around to the back to watch the plating.


The plate reminded me of Mardi Gras.  Show me your beads?


I caught chefs taking photos all night long.  Here's Philly.


This dish was the Maine Scallop with Celery Root, White Chocolate, and Kumquat.  You might think that the dish would be too sweet, but it was perfectly balanced in flavor and texture.  I could eat this up all night long.


Caught Chef Steven Cak in the act!


This drop dead gorgeous dish has got to be my favorite borscht so far.  It is Warm Borscht, Corned duck, Red and Golden Beets, Caraway Rye, Granny Smith Apple, and Creme Fraiche.


The borscht was poured at the table, and it was rich with favor and interesting in texture.  If you didn't like borscht before, please see Chef Steve Cak for an attitude adjustment.


The next dish was Crispy Beef Tongue, Corndog Puree, Red Cabbage Kimchi, and Sriracha Jus.


It was kind of like a corn dog, kind of sort of, but way better.


Next was a little sorbet with basil seeds that wasn't on the menu.  It was a lovely palate cleanser.


And here's the plating of the Red Cabbage Creme Brulee.


Beets with white chocolate and pistachio.  This dessert reminded me again, of how vegetable can have a place at the dessert plate.  The subtle yet distinct flavor of the red cabbage in this offering was like the veggies snuck up on you.


The final tasting of the night were little Chouxs filled with Plinio's Trentino Gelato.  I've had the Bill Norris Honey Mezcal, and it is pretty darn tasty as well.  I would highly recommend them.


Hello, Lovely Chouxs!


The Happy Chefs!


More Happy Chefs!

Last Day of the @AustinFoodWine w/ @Chef_Morimoto songs

Today was the final day of the Austin Food and Wine Festival, and it did not end with any less than a bang.  The morning started off with a Tim Love grilling demo.  A small army of grillers armed with cooking utensils, steaks, and charcoal grills were gleefully entertained for two hours.  I didn't take part in the grilling, but I did hear that it was a huge hit. Reportedly, 660 lbs of charcoal was used each day for a total of 1,320 lbs of charcoal.  Now that's a grilling good time!
I did manage to catch a few sessions today, including Christina Tosi of Momofuko Milk Bar.  Even with her vast accomplishments behind her, Christina was so down-to-Earth you never would have guessed. 

There's something just right about a Christina Tosi next to a magenta KitchenAid Blender.  It matches her headband and her book!

And here's she is answering questions for the crowd.  I think I have a girl crush on her.

I stopped by the Andrew Zimmern presentation just in time to tell us about a certain fermented animal part.  I'm not sure if I should be intrigued or disgusted.  Either way, it was interesting. 

The next stop for me was Chef Morimoto, who led a fantastically entertaining demonstration.  Between every few thoughts, he yelled "TEXAS!" followed by "is very hot."  Everyone started cheering at VERY HOT! Talk about a crowd energizer!

Morimoto is chopping something. It looks like radishes.

Chef Morimoto skinning a diakon radish into a long paper thin roll. 

The bottom left hand side, you can see the sashimi presentation coming together. 

Morimoto claims that the green plant decor all came from the nearby foliage along the lake.  I'm not sure if he was joking, but it was pretty funny.  Through out the demonstration, he sang to us.  He meowed at us!  See below (I didn't capture the meowing though).  It was an incredible experience.



I wish I got a better shot of the tray with a view from above, but this was as close as I got.  Not close enough though.

Here's how Morimoto transports his nori. 

Some of the pieces from the demo.  Aren't they gorgeous?

And then I ate it!  I ate food prepared by Morimoto two days in a row!

Here's some other things I didn't get to mention from the grand tasting.  Dude, Sweet Chocolate is based out of Fort Worth, and they have a vast array of chocolate concoctions.  During the festival, they were serving chocolate skulls paired with the Breckenridge Distillery Bourbon.  Woowee!  That was some pairing.  You can purchase some of their products online, including Albatross (chocolate, blue cheese, salted fudge), Tequila infused chocolate sauce, and Tub of Love (Italian Hazelnut spread). 

A quick trip to the VIP area netted some tasty dishes from Barley Swine and Jack Allen's Kitchen.  There was shrimp, shrimp, and a roasted and pulled javelina slider!

GourmetFury and Jack were not shy about gnawing on the javelina snout.  Unfortunately for me, I was much too full eat another bite.

The festival this year was certainly different from previous years.  This year's line-up provided an opportunity for attendees to really see the personalities chefs come to life during the demos.  The hands-on events were definitely a crowd pleaser, and I thought the Meyer's hand washing station was just genius.  A giant thank you goes out to C3 Presents and FOOD and WINE Magazine for inviting me out to enjoy the event.  Also, a big thank you to KitchenAid for sponsoring my photographer's pass. 

Rock Your Taco at @AustinFoodWine

The Saturday night event was the Rock Your Taco Celebrity event.  Eight chefs made tacos for the masses, that were judged by a panel consisting of Gail Simmons, Andrew Zimmern, and FOOD & WINE Magazine publisher Christina Grdovic.  The Rock Your Taco Champion of 2012 was Uchiko Austin as chosen by the panel.  However, there were some other really tasty tacos.  It would have been difficult to chose a favorite!  I think for this post, pictures are worth 1000 words. 


We arrived on the scene to see Chef Rene Ortiz giving Chef Tim Love a helping hand with meat roasting. 

Chef Morimoto was one HARD working chef.  I barely saw him leave the station behind the tent during service. 

And here's the Morimoto taco. 

And another shot of the Morimoto taco. 

And Morimoto signed my badge.  *sigh*

Michelle Berstein's sweet bread tacos were quite tasty I must say. 

Marcus Samuelsson's curry tacos with pate was really flavorful and inspiring.  I'm thinking more about Indian/Middle Eastern and Mexican food fusion after this one.

Chef Sarah Grueneberg flambes her shrimp tacos with Ouzo! Those are indeed flames.  I did find the shrimp tacos to be intensely and wonderfully spicy.  I like things really, really spicy.

Here's the winning Uchiko taco. 

Marcus Samuelsson's taco on the left and Tim Love's taco on the right. 

Laura Sawicki's desserts.  I only ate three. 

Most awesome @Chef_Morimoto photo & Saturday demos at @AustinFoodWine Festival 2012

The first day time event of the Austin Food and Wine Festival started with possibly the most awesome photo ever.  I mean ever.  I must admit that I am little bit biased since I was photographed it.  Gifted with a media pass, I was able to get into the grand tasting earlier to spot Morimoto.  I started watching the Japanese Iron Chef somewhere in 1999 or 2000, and needless to say, I was a little in awe (kinda sorta, ya know). 

Morimoto is one of those magical legends of celebrity chefs, and he was doing a book signing.  As I waited for him to do his signing, the personality started to come through.  He gave me the Hook'em!  And then a double Hook'em!  See below.

If you want to know, I'll give you my six cents on how to prepare for the festival.

1. Wear comfortable shoes.  You'll be walking from where you parked to the festival, and all over the festival.  The terrain is quite sandy and dirty, so best be prepared by wearing shoes with traction.
2. Sunblock.  Sunblock.  Sunblock.  And sunblock.
3. Unless you have a VIP pass, it might be wise to wait until the last hour of the grand tasting.  During the VIP period, it was pretty tame.  However, during general admission, it could get a little squishy.  If you wait until after most of the crowd had eaten their fill, the tents started to clear out.
4. Neti-pot (with distilled or boiled water) when you get home.  It was quite dusty, and your sinus will thank you.
5. If you must wear a dress or a skirt, make sure it has some structure and substance so it doesn't get blow around.  The wind was causing some free peep shows.  
6. Arrive very early to the cooking demos.  The lines can start as far as an hour in advance. 

Here's some photos from the grand tasting.  It seems like pie is big this year, so do make sure you hit up all the pie vendors. We got to check in with our friends from Columbus Salame (San Fran, CA) pictured below along with many other Austin Favorites. 








 HEB had a really neat center piece of bamboo stalks. 


I was happy to see that Alaska Brewing was represented well.


Kitchen Aid put on a display that would make any baker wet his/her pants!

After eating a great deal of super tasty treats and drinks, I headed down to check out the Tyson Cole hands on demo.  I didn't get to participate, but I did get to take some photos. 

Chefs Tyson Cole and Paul Qui stop for a second to give us a smile. 

The hands on demo area.

Busy chefs preparing for the demonstration.

This guy made a hilarious face, and yes, he was having a great time. 

The final product from some of the attendees. 

More happy sushi students.

This woman did a great job with her display, and she seems quite pleased with herself.