All posts tagged Bistrot la Minette

Open Stove IV: France vs. Germany vs. Sweden vs. America vs…yellow mustard?

by Drew Lazor on July 12, 2012 in Chef News with 6 Comments

“When you’re always in the shits, you’re never in the shits.”

That tremendous quotable, dropped by Kenny “Admiral Snackbar” Bush during the fourth installment of COOK’s frenetic and tremendously popular Open Stove series, seems like something that should appear on a limited-edition T-shirt or apron, or at least on a check card at The Industry. But the Bistrot La Minette man (right), who squared off against Henrik “The Swedish Hammer” Ringbom of Brauhaus Schmitz last week, might have also unwittingly stumbled upon an unofficial mantra for Open Stove itself.

Yes, competitions centered around revealed-at-the-last-second secret ingredients are de rigueur for food TV — but that’s TV, where editors, fiending for fabricated drama the same way Cookie Monster fiends for his personal smack, cut and paste and fold and tweak until their sadistic boob-tube whims are met. At Open Stove, there is no phony smoke blown in any direction: It’s real-deal off-the-top cooking, a challenge that places competitors directly “in the shits,” bogged down with 20,000 tasks while the clock ticks in triple time and hungry guests double as potential witnesses to a Chernobyl-caliber kitchen meltdown.

There is also soooooo much alcohol.

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FEASTIVAL’s Ultimate Foodie Auction Item

by audrey on June 18, 2012 in Audrey's World, Chef News with No comments

We all know that Philadelphia is home to some of the best restaurants in the nation. So, it should come as no surprise then when we tell you that our city’s chefs are some of the classiest folks you’ll ever meet. As part of the 2011 FEASTIVAL auction, guests bid on an exclusive cocktail party with some of Philly’s hottest chefs. These guys held nothing back as they created an unforgettable cocktail party.

Last month, Peg Fitzpatrick, the lucky winner, opened her beautiful home to extraordinary culinary cuisine and cocktails prepared by Peter Woolsey of Bistrot La Minette, John Cichon of Lacroix, Michael DeLone of Le Castagne, Jason Cichonski of Ela, and Mitch Prensky of Supper. Pulling out all the stops, each chef prepared unique dishes showcasing their best work. Guests fortunate enough to get an invite dined on delectable dishes including eel and foie gras rillettes, halibut brandade with pickles and truffles, and gougeres stuffed with bacon tarragon pastry cream. Cocktails included the classic Aviation among many others!

Fun, food, and Philly’s top chefs – be sure to get your bids ready for this year’s FEASTIVAL on September 12, 2012! This cocktail party is one not to miss!

Froggy Style with Pierre Calmels of Bibou

by Lily on April 5, 2012 in Class News, Lily's World with No comments

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:

Hors d’oeuvres (2): guinea hen terrine with apple; marinated anchovies
Sunchoke soup, quail egg, purple potato puree, trout caviar
Poached brill roulade stuffed with tarragon mousse, fresh Hawaiian hearts of palm, blood orange emulsion
Duck Pithiviers with foie gras & black truffles, cauliflower puree flavored with purple mustard
Blueberry pie

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!

Merci Beaucoup, Peter Woolsey of Bistrot La Minette!

by alexis on September 29, 2011 in Class News with No comments

From tasting menus to Taco Bell, 16 students opened up Friday night’s class with on the spot answers to the “ultimate last meal” question. Peter Woolsey, acclaimed French Chef and owner of Bistrot La Minette, shocked the class with, “my dad’s pasta Bolognese.” Before we could even take a second sip of our Kir Royale cocktail, he jumped right into La Cuisine Francaise and gave us a quick lesson in butchering and deboning a rabbit for the entrée of Lapin Roti a la Moutarde.

Rivaling his incredible kitchen skills were his seriously funny stories that doubled as lessons in French insults (just ask him to tell you the one that involves balls and sunglasses). Students quickly scribbled down notes about how to properly score an onion, the best mustard on the market (Maille), the truth about the best pots, how to use cheese cloth for herb sachets, and the fact that vanilla is the fruit of an orchid plant (5 points for you if you already knew that).

The laughter faded and pencils were replaced by forks as we feasted on red wine poached eggs with toast, lardons, glazed pearl onions, and mushrooms. And I promise you that you’ll never crave mac and cheese again after a bite of Chef Woolsey’s Grenoble style ravioli gratin made with cheese that’s more expensive than your average grocery bill at Whole Foods.

Minutes from falling deep into a food coma, we finished the last bites of the red wine poached pears and shuffled out of the classroom and into the rainy night. I can only hope that he’ll be back for a second session at COOK, but until then I’ll happily reserve a spot at Bistrot La Minette and re-read his blog posts about a recent French adventure.

FEASTIVAL Patron Party

by Lily on August 16, 2011 in General with No comments

Last Monday night was the FEASTIVAL* Patron Party at Percy Street Barbecue and so many of COOK’s instructors were there. We hung out with James Beard Foundation Award winner and host with the most Michael Solomonov and his right-hand woman there at Percy Street, Erin O’Shea. Peter Woolsey of Bistrot La Minette, Rob Wasserman of Rouge, Michael Schulson of Sampan, David Lipson and Jason Sheehan of Philly Mag, Art Etchells from Foobooz, Michael Klein from philly.com/food, Georges Perrier – and several others were all there to celebrate with FEASTIVAL’s sponsors. Check out all the photos of the event online.

The few hundred people in attendance ranged from chefs to media to politicians to performance artists – and last but not least – the sponsors of FEASTIVAL. This year’s presenting sponsors are Audi, Philadelphia magazine and PECO. Included alongside those three, helping to make the Festival and FEASTIVAL possible, are:

PNC Arts Alive
GPTMC and Philly Homegrown
KYW 1060
Arway
Energy Plus
Stuart Kingston Jewelers
And many, many more! (For a full list of sponsors, click here)

Based on the amount of fun we had at this FEASTIVAL preview, I’d say the main event on September 14 should not be missed!!

*FEASTIVAL is the annual, culinary fundraiser for the Philadelphia Live Arts-Fringe Festival. It will take place on September 14 and tickets are now available online.

Party Like it’s 1789!

by Lily on July 13, 2011 in Lily's World with 1 Comment

(DISCLAIMER: I’m the biggest Francophile on Earth. If anything I say in the post seems to mock the French it’s only out of love and respect for their language, culture and dang good food. Now, read on…)

What’s more French that saying “oh la la la la la la la la la la” after anything even remotely astonishing/impressive/spoken out loud? Bastille Day. And now, if only I could get the blog to play La Marseillaise…

Three of COOK’s favorite masters of French cuisine will be serving up some amazingness tomorrow (not to mention all year long and very shortly at COOK as well). So grab your beret, a stripey top and throw a baguette under your arm… it’s going to be a magnifique day!

First, Monsieur Le Papa de cuisine française à Philadelphie: Georges Perrier. Le Bec-Fin will be doing their Annual Sidewalk Festival from 11:30am until 9pm tomorrow. It’s all about champagne, sweet and savory crepes for $4.00 and Executive Pastry Chef Cedric’s famous miniature pastries for $2.00. Champagne by the glass will be $7.00 and Red and White wine by the glass for $6.00. Go inside for lunch (11:30am-2:30pm) and dinner (5:30pm-9:30pm) for a Steak Frites special- $25 per person includes Petite Salad, Steak Frites and a glass of House Wine. There will be a dj spinning from 5:30-8:30. C’est super chouette!

Then there’s Chef Peter Woolsey of Bistrot la Minette, who will celebrate French Independence Day as the French do and as we do our own: with barbecues, fireworks, and big family parties. They will have a great BBQ, like Chef Peter enjoys with his wife, Peggy’s family in Burgundy. Their Bastille Day fête is happening tonight and tomorrow and includes four courses for $35; with wine pairings, $50. They are also offering Lillet (blanc or rouge), the national Bastille Day traditional apéritif, for $3. See the whole menu here.

Now, I’m not sure at this late stage in the game getting a table at the super cozy and très delicieux Bibou is possible but if you follow Charlotte and Pierre Calmels’ restaurant on Twitter, you never know who’s going to cancel and what’s going to open up (seriously, they post cancellations religiously!)

I cannot wait for these three chefs to bring their secrets to COOK in the next couple months! We’ll be posting our class schedule very, very soon so you can join them in the kitchen at COOK.

Wishing all my petits COOKies a very happy Bastille Day! Bisous xxx