As a chef, one of the questions I get asked all the time is, “where do I eat” when I go out. My usual response is, I dine where my friends are. When you work all day, it’s hard to see your friends, except the late night drink of course, and we have many of those. So I say you’ll see me at Pigalle, Dante, Sage, Eastern Standard, Bambara, Toro, and the list goes on. And it’s true I do go to these places often. I love seeing what my friends are cooking, and hopefully we have some time to chat.

But these are not the only places I go. I am a fiend for good Chinese, sushi, Mexican, pho. I love the big flavors and subtle nuances, and head down Dot Ave and hit Pho So 1 or Pho 2000 for pho, where the dark hints of cinnamon and coriander enhance the bold and bright lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf. When I’m eating this, I feel I can live on it forever; there isn’t another meal I want. More pho, please. For sushi, I hit Gari on Harvard Street in Brookline. It has maybe 30 seats. I suggest you sit at the sushi bar and ask Gary to just cook for you. His creativity is fun, the fish is ocean-fresh, and the price is perfect. Lately I’ve been finding sushi places are charging so much – up to $9 a bite – and though that has its place, it’s not how I’m going to dine on a rainy Wednesday. If you’re looking for good Mexican, head off to East Boston, to Angela’s. The moles take me back to Oaxaca- warm, creamy, smoky spices, mellow yet hot chilis arousing the taste buds, just-ground chocolate and spices giving them a rich undertone followed by granular sweet and toasty ground nuts. Damn, I love a good mole.

For Chinese I have two favorites, for specific reasons. When I’m heading home and looking for some comfort food and want those dishes I just crave, I always go to Chef Chow’s in Brookline – nothing fancy, nothing off the beaten path, just good, consistent, American-style Chinese food. A quick call, and I am there. For my special occasion, it’s the Chinatown Café, 262 Harrison Ave. I know when people think of special occasion we think celebratory dinners followed by a big check; this is not that place. It’s not really on my way going anywhere, so I make a special trip there for some of the best Chinese food around. It’s well priced and more of a cafeteria than a sit-down, white napkin restaurant. My friend chef John Delpha turned me on to this place a few years back and I think it is just the best. I have a thing for bacon and if you go here it is the one thing you MUST have. You’ll see it hanging in the window as you walk in, alongside the roasted ducks; maybe get both, they are sooo good. Crunchy, sweet, rich, yet tender with a tablespoon of soy and ginger.

I love bacon!!!

Here are some of my greatest hits from there, but I also suggest ordering something you’ve never had before. It’s all good and worth the trip.

Wonton Congee
Roasted Duck Egg Noodle Soup
Salt & Pepper Squid
Spicy Tofu With Pork
Beef with Bitter Melon
Mixed Vegetable Chow Foon

yum

San Pelligrino Almost Famous Chef Competition DAY 2

one of the students explaining his dish

Went to the “meet and greet” last night, it was what you call a ‘dine around’- chefs serving stationary appetizers and people pouring wine. It was fun, but a little over crowded. I met Michael Logan of Dovetail Wines, who lived in Boston for a while so we chatted about the food scene, and also about his wines, which were wonderful.

I met the other judges and then a few of us went to Ad Hoc for dinner. It’s an interesting concept: 1 menu with 4 courses- appetizer, entrée, cheese course, and dessert. That’s it, no choices. Sure makes ordering easy, and all of it was fresh and super tasty.

Then off to Pancha’s for late night drinks and shooting pool! We stayed out too late, drank too much Fernet, and had a blast. 8:30 a.m. came early….

Today the judges were bussed to the C.I.A. Graystone Campus to judge the competition. “Mystery Basket” was today’s task for the students. The ingredients were Sturgeon, Bay Leaf, Mushrooms and Bacon, and there was also a ‘pantry’ with excellent vegetables, stocks and seasonings they could use, though most did not!? They had to use all of the mystery ingredients and prepare ten identical plates each. Every fifteen minutes, a different student was up, to serve their creation to the judges.

Through the competition I kept thinking, “what would a 20 year old Andy do?” Would I have done as well? I’m not sure. Overall they were pretty good, some missteps, a lot of under seasoning. The one common theme was they all played it safe and cooked somewhat ‘classical’ style cuisines, no “world” flavors- I truly wished one of them would have busted out the soy and ginger.

What I was noticing the most was the judges and their passion for food. Just the other day, I heard that it takes about 10,000 hours to be an expert in something. I think there was well over half a million hours combined in that room. All the judges had interesting comments and insights. I felt that we all wanted to jump in the kitchen with them and help them/show them- by nature a chef is a teacher.

At the end we had an opportunity to talk to them one-on-one. We were very real and honest with them (at some points brutally honest), but I hope they know we care about our industry and want them all to shine. Tomorrow is the “signature dish” competition and I’m pumped to see it!

2 dinners planned tonight, some wine of course, and probably a little more Fernet…….

prepping the sturgeon

Chef Richard help out

Judges table, Ralph from Season one Hell's Kitchen is second from the right

Villagio Inn & Spa

Today I am in Napa Valley for the San Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition, a competition of culinary students from top schools across the US and Canada. My dear friend Elli O’Keefe, who works for S. Pellegrino, asked me if I was interested in judging again, as I had judged the North East finals a few years back, and it sounded like fun. Plus, who can say no to a trip to Napa in March? Certainly, not I.

It’s always a blast when a bunch of chefs get together for some work and wine (or in the case of Iceland, Brenavin, but that is another story). It can be a little like herding cats , but in the end the work gets done and the wine gets drunk.

I’ve just arrived at the Villagio Inn and Spa and it’s spectacular: trickling fountains, heated pools, lush green landscaped walkways. Maybe I’ll get a chance to come back here during harvest season, it’s a little chilly this time of year (but still warmer than Boston).

Tonight is the reception dinner and I am looking forward to meeting the rest of the judges.

Here is the list of my fellow Judges:

Chef Wade Wiestling
Chef John Tesar
Chef Gerardo D’Amore
Chef Guillermo Pernot
Chef Michele White
Chef Nick Stellino
Chef Ralph Pagano
Chef Rick Moonen
Chef Robert Wysong
Chef Christoph Leu
Chef Michel Richard
Chef Lars Kronmark
Chef Bill Briwa
Chef Tucker Bunch
Gail Simmons of Food & Wine Magazine
Kay Chun of Gourmet Magazine
Sophie Gayot of Gayot
Margeret Swaine of National Post

I will be blogging about the whole weekend: Saturday is mystery basket and Sunday is signature dish……