Flying Top Gun...

~scallops two ways~

ceviche, papaya, micro mustard, hearts of palm, citrus vinaigrette

seared, apple-walnut salad, arugula, beet gel, 30 year balsamic

seared foie gras, chocolate marshmallow, kumquats, honey bunches of oats
hazelnuts, cacao nibs, XO-evoo reduction

seared alaskan halibut, sweet pea pancake, braised ramps
honshimejii mushrooms, peas, local asparagus, carrot oil
spring garlic essence

pear-rhubarb roulade, pear-yogurt sorbet, pistachio

stuffed quail with apricot-sweetbread-shiitake stuffing
lentils, fennel sous vide, fiddlehead ferns, trumpet royale, banyuls sauce

~artisan & fermier cheeses~
"greek kiss" chevre, grape-pecan salad, black pepper
fromage de brebis sheep, green olive jam, pears, balsamic
wash rind taleggio, pistachio, apricot-truffle conserve
bayley-hazen bleu, honeycomb, douglas fir honey

orange creamsickle shake, rhubarb, strawberries
cappuccino semi-freddo, flourless chocolate cake, olive oil gelato
dove bar stix
jasmine pot de creme, compressed mango, amaretti

~

mignardise

A recent dinner found me graced with the appearance and humble pleasure of cooking for Viper himself! How cool. Not the first time I met him, but certainly the first time cooking for him like this...it was inspiring to say the very least. He is a humble man himself, or at least he sure was at my table. I enjoy that in people. Arrogant, rude, disrespectful, cocky, full of themselves...save it! At any rate, this was to be a cool night with the famous actor and special guests to converse about the film industry, his career, and his film school and all based around the dishes that decided to serve. Here is how we flew and how high...

One More Beer...

~"To Nibble"...aka Salted Snax~

"greek kiss" chevre, pretzel dust, maple gel, potato gaufrette

Fishtale Organic Blonde Ale~ Olympia, WA

"How we Roll"...

maine lobster roll, elderflower cucumber, togarashi, micro mustard
citrus, golden caviar, yuzu aioli
Chakra Pale Ale~ India

"Beer Nuts"...

seared sea scallop, spanish toffee peanuts, ipa ale gel
garlic chips, crispy rice-porcini wafer, chili threads
sesame-soy lacquer
Weihenstephaner Fest Bier~ Germany

"Southern Comfort"...

"fried chicken sandwich", brioche, harissa, shallot jam
frozen maytag bleu-buttermilk, life-wheat chex crusted sous vide chicken
seared foie gras, heart of palm-radish salad
Belgian Brown Ale 6 month Cask Conditioned

"deconstructed rueben sandwich"
stout mustard, corned beef, cabbage-beet-pear kraut
micro chard, pilsner foam, rye bread broth, caraway oil
Ayinger Marzen Bier~ Germany

"Downtown Street Food"...

korean marinated pork belly, duck confit lumpia
soba noodles, honshimejii mushrooms, sriracha
baby bok choy, shiitake chips, prime rib drippings, garlic fries
Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale~ Oregon

"One for the Road"...

chocolate stout cake, beet gel, raspberries
peanut macaroon dust, raspberry hefeweizen caramel, mascarpone sorbet
chocolate pearls

Ume No Yado Tsukiusagi (Moon Rabbit) Sparkling Sake
~

One more beer please...I promise, just one! One for the road. Not the road to drive down...hell, I do not condone that at all. I have been there many a freakin times and I ain't never going back. This is one for the road to happiness...the road to deguastation of taste...the road to sustenance and a wicked pairing. A pairing of cool, kick as foods and cool tasty beers all put together for a great friend of mine who I am completely and utterly inspired to cook for every time he comes in. Whether it is a hella indulgent truffle-potato degustation or a savory offal tasting..a sous vide journey or a wicked crazy good 24 course tomato menu, one thing is for sure...there will be inspiration and good taste. This meal today was no different! A pairing of cool beers and good eats. As I indicated to my guest, that this menu was not going to be like any other I had previously cooked for him. I always like to change things up and keep him on his toes. That's how I roll. This was a 6-course lunch which was all about the beers that we could find and the inspired foodstuffs that I conjured up in my mind to go with them. I hope you enjoy this digital version of the tasting as much as we did cooking it.

Life After Death...

lobster-cucumber roll, kiaware, ugli, sturgeon caviar,
yuzu aioli & sabayon

seared foie gras, cocoa marshmallow, whipped rhubarb, kumquats
hazelnuts, chocolate soil, nibs

seared scallop, fava bean tapenade, beet gel, king trumpet nage
pea vines

grilled alaskan halibut, pea-bacon pancake, honshimejii, ramp coulis
baby white asparagus-poussin salad, sea beans, carrot oil

seared beef loin, semolina gnocchi, caramelized garlic, fava beans
portobello, beet-apple puree, black currant sauce

earl grey chocolates, bacon caramels, orange macaroon sandwiches

There really is such a thing I do believe! Today as I sat, enjoyed watching and relived the memory of a live special showing of MTV's Nirvana "Unplugged" show at EMP, recorded shortly before the untimely death of the brilliant and talented Kurt Cobain, it came to me what I had been trying to put into a post for the new Spring dishes I had recently cooked and been wanting to write about. I wanted to try and capture the moment of Spring and the new that it brings us in the kitchen and to our diners. The intense and deeply emotional, thought provoking video rustled up many personal thoughts and stirring occurrences of late. It made me think of how death and the life afterwards are so closely related and intertwined. How one leaves us behind as one is brought before us. Just as Kurt had taken his life, only to pave the way for new bands, ideas and generations of more great music, I thought of how the death of winter comes calling upon most all ingredients that are around and lays them to waste, only to give new birth in the Spring! As an ingredient dies in winter, a bright and tasty one is brought to life when things warm up...procreation at its best! Our Springtime foodstuffs is our life after death in the culinary world. Enter death~A handful of people that have entered my life in short, in long and some barely at all, all died over the last week and a half. So strange and yet so real...too damn real! Two suicides...a horrific motorcycle accident...and the one that has touched, affected and left me the most saddened, was that of one of my oldest friends of whom we grew up together since about the age of 10. A tragic homicide. I find myself feeling empty and sad...sad for him, sad for his life and sad for his mom who loved him very much, in spite of his greatly troubled past. But alas, this is where life begins. The life of bereavement and the life of memory. All that was good. The life in the future and the healing. This post of new life of spring in the kitchen is a tribute to my lost friend...gone, but not forgotten. The dishes and food that lie herein were creatively conceptualized and crafted with new life in mind after the slow death of winter which I hope you enjoy!...in Kurt's words~come as you are!

Inspiration; Where From?...

Many ask where do I seek and obtain my inspiration from. As I have stated many a time in the past...it comes in all shapes, sizes, colors and forms and in some cases, I do not have a damn clue. It just happens. Maybe when I get up there, Mr. Almighty can fill me in on that secret. But until then, I search for inspiration in the weather, the guests who will be dining, the food in which we are honored to cook, the beverages that are to be poured, the season that we are currently enjoying (or not), the farmer, rancher, fisherman, winemaker, artisan and such that have graced us with their product. And then there is the mood of the moment, the amount of anxiety, the testosterone levels, the frustrations and joys of life and at times, simply the wonderful feelings of those around you and a part of your life that can bring you happiness and the desire to create. Whatever the challenge..we step up to it gladly and gratefully. Recently...the inspiration came from a solitude drive along our states wilderness as we headed up to Crystal Mountain for a hella day of skiing! That is another inspiration all in itself!