Recently COOK had the great pleasure to host a class led by superstar Boston chef and restaurateur, Barbara Lynch: the brains and spoons behind Boston restaurants including Menton, No.9 Park, The Butcher Shop and B&G Oysters.
Chef Barbara (with the help of sous chef Stephanie Cmar and Elle Jarvis, GM of her COOK-like Boston demonstration kitchen, Stir) served a menu of recipes that can all be found in her cookbook, Stir: Mixing It Up In The Italian Tradition.
The gang from COOK was so happy to have been included in the “by invitation only” event on Friday night at the newly opened Le Bec Fin.
The glamorous and elegant interior has been painstakingly renovated and here are some of our fave shots from the night.
We know the new Le Bec will be a huge hit – and we wish our friends there all the success in the world!
Vive Le Bec Fin!!
When Georges Perrier opened the doors on Walnut Street’s haute cuisine mecca, Le Bec Fin forty years ago, he single-handedly started a restaurant revolution in this city that is still going strong today. Next week, when new owners Nicolas and Fazilet Fanucci re-open the doors of the dining institution to the public, chances are, Le Bec Fin 2.0 will once again change face of dining in Philadelphia.
COOK had the distinct pleasure of being invited to the see the renovated space during the final stages of construction last week. We took a few less-than-Leibowitz-esque pics on our phones but it gives you a sense of the major team effort going on to get the new Le Bec Fin ready for its close-up.
Nicolas Fanucci, a French Laundry veteran, brought in French Laundry chef, Walter Abrams as the new executive chef/partner in the restaurant while Jennifer Smith will act as executive pastry chef.
Amid a few “friends and family” events held at the restaurant over the past week, this week of previews culminates this evening in an “invitation only”, who’s who-style gathering to kick off the next fabulous phase of Le Bec Fin.
Beginning June 12, Le Bec Fin will be open for dinner Mon-Sat 6:00-10:00 featuring an 8-course tasting menu at $150. As of June 18, they will open for lunch, Mon-Fri 11:30-2:00, offering a 5-course menu for $55.
The lower-level bar, formerly known as Le Bar Lyonnais and then briefly as TRYST, will re-open as the appropriately named Mon-Sat 5:00-late with the kitchen open 6:00-late also beginning June 12 for drinks only. Dinner at the downstairs bar starts June 18 with an a la carte menu still being worked on but that will feature “classic French and Georges Perrier dishes”.
There are many things that distinguish Pierre Calmels, Chef/Owner of Bibou, from other chefs in Philadelphia – his height, his thick French accent, his “four bell” rating by the Inquirer’s Craig Laban – to name a few. At COOK, what distinguishes Pierre is the fact that he is the only chef who comes without a sous chef or assistant of any kind and manages to plate 5 courses – 16 times each – over the course of the evening in amazing time, knocking our socks off with every delicious bite (most chefs knock our socks off though!).
This past Monday night, Pierre once again came solo (except for the now traditional pre-class visit from his wife, Charlotte, and two adorable daughters, Julie and Jeanne). COOK’s 18 guests (we squeezed in two extras) watched and ate in awe as the soft-spoken Frenchman did his thing. Here’s what he made:
The soup and the duck were my favorites. And the hearts of palm he had flown in from Hawaii came in the form of a giant 3 foot log! Lucky for me, Chef will repeat the duck pithiviers (a combination of foie gras and ground, confited duck leg served in a golden brown puff pastry) at a special Duck Dinner taking place at Bistrot La Minette on April 3 alongside fellow chefs/COOK instructors Peter Woolsey (Bistrot La Minette), Michael Solomonov (Zahav), Terence Feury (Fork), David Katz (Meme) and Monica Glass (Fish). It’s $110 prix fixe, seven courses, including wine pairings, and 30% of the proceeds will go to Puentes de Salud. And the best part? You, too, can go! Call the restaurant to book your table.
Zou Bisou Bisou, Pierre!
It was COOK’s first ever Valentine’s Day class – and we wanted to do it up big. So who did we enlist as our culinary cupid? Why, the lovely and extremely talented Jennifer Carroll of Top Chef and 10 Arts fame.
Jen arrived at COOK extra early on 2/14 to prep with her sous-chef, Aaron, and her cousin Patty. As guests arrived, Jen was putting the final touches on her Valentine’s Day-themed menu that went a little something like this:
For those of you who know her by her TV fame alone, Jen is a very funny (as evidenced by her menu above) and talented chef, and you can count on COOK to be there cheering her on when she opens the doors on her own restaurant, Concrete Blonde, opening in the fall.
There are not a lot of good places in Philly to get dang good fried chicken. You have the Korean deliciousness of Soho Café in Cheltenham and then there’s the Thursday lunch special amazingness of David Katz at Meme. Most recently, when I am lucky and they’re in town, I can get my hands on one of ?uestlove’s drumsticks but that’s really about it for me*. And don’t even get me started on doughnuts! Well, that was until recently…
There is no doubt that since opening its doors only a few months ago, Federal Donuts has taken the Philly food scene by storm. The long lines have enticed way more curious eaters than have annoyed them. And there is a good reason to wait: their stuff is bangin’!
COOK had the great pleasure to host the FedNuts crew last Sunday for a coffee, doughnuts and fried chicken spectacular that left everyone full and happy.
The menu consisted of:
The FedNuts gang rolls deep: with Chef Michael Solomonov at the helm. He was joined that day by FedNuts sous chef and wunderkind, Zach Engel. In addition to Mike and Zach, we had Tom Henneman of Bodhi Coffee and Felicia D’Ambrosio “of the universe”. Tom and Felicia were on beverage duty (which included hot coffees and delicious cold cocktails) while Zach and Mike headed up chicken and doughnut stations.
It was one of our goofiest classes yet! At one point, Mike and I slow danced like we were at a middle school dance. Later, Mike and Zach made a bet involving a teaspoon of lard for the loser. Mike rock, paper, scissored his way to victory and the horrified yet enthralled group of guests looked on as Zach dutifully sucked lard from a spoon and chased it with a huge shot of Makers Mark. Good times, good times.
I cannot say enough positives about the FedNuts crew or their product. I think the pics speak for themselves.
In March, Zach will be back at COOK, only this time, he’ll be joined by his former Marigold Kitchen cohort, Erin O’Shea (currently of Percy Street Barbecue), for a New Orleans-inspired menu. Stay tuned for that!
*Obviously, I have not eaten all the fried chicken in Philadelphia so cut me a little slack!
Last Monday night, COOK welcomed back meat-master Nick Macri of Southwark alongside sommelier Brian Kane of Zahav for a night of delicious, homemade charcuterie and wine pairings.
Nick, who last taught sausage-making at COOK, brought an incredible spread and wealth of knowledge by preparing and then serving a wide range of cured meats. He divvied his menu into categories and explained the processes and the flavors behind his meat magic. Here’s how Nick broke it down to create a highly memorable charcuterie 101:
Spreads (You’ll wonder why you wasted time with butter)In terms of wine, Brian brought selections that are all available at PA State Stores, including:
(The Lebanese wine was a really interesting one!)
I have a feeling everyone had salad for lunch the next day. That said, I have no doubt Nick will be back in February to show off more of his passion for cured meats!
Brian McManus, food and music editor at Philadelphia Weekly, is a man who will drink just about anywhere. To this end, he wrote a guidebook to dive bars in Philadelphia, appropriately called – Philadelphia’s Best Dive Bars: Drinking and Diving in the City of Brotherly Love (Buy it now!), and he brought the dive bar experience to COOK for one of our rowdiest classes yet (no surprise there).
Alongside his friend, chef Tim McGinnis, Brian discussed some of the more flavorful experiences highlighted in his book (with the help of a photo slideshow), telling hilariously detailed accounts of the city’s seediest and silliest dive bars. Tim concocted a complimentary menu featuring Lazy Man’s Chili, sausages, potato salad (this relates to one of the bars in the book) and other anti-haute cuisine dishes that hit the spot perfectly.
And because it was a class on dive bars, our guests drank PBR and Miller High Life and we may have had a handle of Jim Beam on hand for those who wanted to partake in a Philly Special. But I don’t know anything about that 
Needless to say, the night was full of laughs, tales of near-death experiences in shady watering holes and more laughs. Here’s hoping Brian and Tim return to COOK for some more good times real soon!
At the end of last week, COOK could have changed its name to DRINK. Last Thursday and Friday, we had back-to-back classes that were primarily booze-focused and, no surprise here, they were two of our liveliest classes yet.
First up, on Thursday, Michael McCaulley, Tria’s Wine Director and Partner, alongside Executive Chef, Brett Naylor, brought the Catalonia region of Spain to COOK for a night of delicious wines and equally delicious food.
Michael has spent a great deal of time in Catalonia and introduced the class to the region by discussing its history and what makes it special as a wine-producing region. He even brought samples of the rock and soil that make up the Catalonian terrain.
Michael was thoroughly engaging throughout the evening, discussing wines in detailed yet accessible ways. Periodically, Brett chimed in to discuss the food and their flavors and teach us how to make a dish or two. The tortilla was out of this world! And the cheeses: to die for!
The big crowd pleaser of the night was the surprise porron Michel brought for everyone to pass around and drink from. If you don’t know what a porron is, click here. Honestly, we had some really talented drinkers in our class that night – and very few spills.
Here is a rundown of what we ate and drank:
The guys from Tria will be back in the New Year to for a night of Tuscan food and wine. Stay tuned for that!
Remember that crazy week of 7 classes I told you about earlier? Well, we’re only about halfway through recapping! The week culminated with a weekend full of classes – two of which I’ll tell you about now:
Authentic Italian Tomato Sauces with Joan D’Antonio (Saturday, October 15)
Private cooking instructor, Joan D’Antonio is fussy. But in a good way. She takes her tomatoes and her pastas more seriously than I’ve ever seen and for good reason. Growing up, Joan learned to cook with her two Italian grandmothers, leaving her with a lifelong passion and talent for Italian sauces and pasta dishes.
At COOK, Joan prepared three tomato sauces (All’Amatriciana, fresh grape tomato and marinara sauces) and got some help from students smashing tomatoes and making sure each pasta was al dente. Joan helped students reach a new level of pasta preparation with an emphasis on the importance of using high quality ingredients. This interactive class reflected the subtleties of genuine Italian cooking, and explored the use of tomatoes, canned and otherwise and the nuances of different pasta products.
Starr Series: Perfectly Pumpkin Desserts with Adriana King of Jones (Sunday, October 16)
From carving pumpkins on Halloween to pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, Fall is indisputably the season o’ pumpkin. Last Sunday, COOK celebrated the gourd-like squash in a big way with the help of Jones‘ Pastry Chef, Adriana King.
Jones, Stephen Starr‘s glam-diner at 7th and Chestnut, is all about pumpkin desserts this month and Adriana shared a sampling of their pumpkin smorgasbord on a beautiful autumn afternoon last weekend. The trio of desserts she meticulously prepared included:
In addition to the desserts at Jones, Adriana oversees the dessert programs for El Vez and Pizzeria Stella and previously, she also managed the pastry for Continental Old City, Tangerine, Washington Square and Angelina.
Here’s one of Adriana’s recipes that had us crying out for more:
Pumpkin Upside Down Cake
Yields 15 – 4 oz cakes or 1 – 9” cake
Melt butter and sugar together over medium heat. Whisk to combine.
Spray 4-oz foil cups well with pan spray. Line each cup with 2 Tbsp. butter mix.
Top each butter bottom with 2 Tbsp. dried cherries and 1 Tbsp. walnuts.
Whisk eggs, pumpkin and oil together in a medium bowl.
Sift all dry ingredients together and slowly whisk into wet mixture. Portion batter evenly into each pan.
Bake at 350 degrees , until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; allow to sit for 2-3 minutes. Place serving platter on top of cake pan and invert. Allow pan to sit on cake for a minute, then remove pan. Allow to cool.
