Tasting menu 102

Not a lot to talk about this week, things are pretty quit around here. I am just sitting back and watching the homemade kid driven space balloons fly over the hotel. The world is definitely coming to a end.

Garlic grilled New Zealand mussels
Fried dynamite, pickled vegetables, lemon grass air

Smoked Buffalo sausage
Guinness gelee, porcini, red wine glass

Sous-vide ½ lobster
Yuzu, caramel carrots, fried avocado

Smore spring roll with smoked sea salt ice cream
Served table side with liquid nitrogen

Tasting Menu 91

My wife and I had a amazing meal at 1515 market last night. Gene the owner invited us in for some food and wine. The best plate by far was the seared scallop with huitlacoche puree. I have not seen the corn mushroom since I worked at the Rattlesnake grill about 1o years ago. It is a underutilized ingredient. Basically they leave sweet corn out in a warm environment. Eventually a mold or mushroom will grow on the outside. It has a deep sweet flavor to it that complimented the scallop dish perfectly. I would say it was one of the better meals I have had in a while.

Coconut Grouper
Watermelon pop rocks, mint from the garden, dashi gelee

Compressed heirloom tomatoes
Garlic, dandelion leaves, Tasmanian pepper caviar

Chorizo
Brioche, plantain, fried quail eggs

Tiramisu ice cream with frozen lady finger dust

Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 83

This is Jacob Williams. He is working with us for his day on the job project through Stanley Lake High School. What do I tell these young culinarians about my business. Don't do it unless you really love it. The hours are horrible, the stress levels are sometimes unbearable and if your looking to get rich, look somewhere else. I have a school demo coming up this week. The kids at Mckinley-Thatcher have challenged me with homemade root beer, should be fun to learn how to make it.

Sage derby cheese
Roasted cauliflower, pear jel, shaved bread

Hamachi carpaccio
Togarashi aioli, fennel, “fried rice”

Mustard braised pork belly
Israeli cous cous carbonara, black truffle sheet, spinach

Pineapple crème brulee tart
Coconut ice cream made table side with LN

Tasting menu 74

I am enjoying a slower start to this week. We are getting ready for 52.80 week to start on Saturday. I have to remind myself not to put myself in situations like I had last week. When I have to much going on there is something that suffers. Last week it was my lack of time with my wife and kids. Undoubtedly the hardest part of this job is not being chef rather then being able to let it go when I leave so I can spend quality time at home. I would like to be recognized as a hard working thought full chef but in the end it is about if your family recognises you.

Curry pancakes
Tea smoked salmon, lemon grass syrup, yogurt

Crispy silver fish
Wonton noodles, toasted nori cream, roasted peppers

Floating buffalo chicken and celery

Pork belly Oscar
Puffed pearl barley caramel corn, carrots, onion

Oven baked palm sugar crepes
Cherry and vanilla ice cream made table side
Using liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 72

We have our annual bison council meeting this week along with a speech from Mr. Buffalo himself Ted Turner. I have been asked this year to do a demo on unused cuts of buffalo. It should be a great event. The cooking class on Saturday is sold out. I am doing a demo at nobel sysco on February 9Th to launch the companies affiliation with Will Powder. There will be a few other chefs demoing including Keegan Gerhard from Food Network andhttp://www.dbardesserts.com/. I am also starting work on the Miracle Fruit project. Things are starting to move again after a couple very slow weeks.

Purple yam éclair
Tobiko fondant, scallop scramble, coco nibs

Smoked pecan waffle
Mushrooms, corn, goat cheese bubbles

Loaded baked potato gnocchi
Buffalo sirloin, dandelion, cayenne

Hot chocolate ice cream with broken whipped cream
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 70

We are getting back to normal business levels this week. We are continuing to work on our new menu. I will be out of the restaurant on Friday, I have been asked to cook at the Governors mansion that night for Project pave. I have never been inside but I am very familiar with the building. I used to live across the street. I have always wondered what the inside looks like.

Goat cheese fondue
Compressed vegetables, black pepper puff, bing cherry air

Lagastino risotto
Smoked peas, shitake paper, lemongrass brulee

Sou-vide tenderloin
Coffee, malt, mustard greens

Yuzu sphere with blueberry dippin dots
Made table side with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 68

I am working on changing all of the menus in the restaurant this week. We are going to make some changes to help with our business levels in 09. One thing we will do is not to offer a breakfast buffet Monday through Saturday. We will be able to control food cost better and with one less cook. We are going to have to take a look at all of our operations to make sure we are running a tight ship next year. New Years eve should be very interesting this year. Rumor has it that Wide Spread Panic will play in our ball room after their concert in Denver. Merry Christmas to everyone and have a creative 09.

Smoked tempura cranberries
Rainbow trout, dried Japanese cucumbers, apple gastrique

Parsnip fries
Bresola, caper aioli, red pepper textures

Frankincense space foam

Sou-vide Colorado lamb chops
Chanterelle, blue cheese marbles, chestnut powder

Peppermint ice cream rolled in gingerbread crumbs
Made table side with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 62

We are really starting to feel the dip in the economy. The good news is our weekend business has been very strong. We sold 43 tasting menus last week. It is time for me to crawl back into my shell again. I have my best ideas when I don't look at a lot of food media. We are going to make head cheese next weeks menu. I have not made it before but our Executive sous Scott did it a few times. The inspiration for the ice cream this week comes from Ideas in Food's article in Popular Science

Crawfish noodles
Creamy grits, smoked corn, cactus paper

Snow crab crème brulee
Watermelon, hoison sugar, unagi

Liquid Nitrogen Ratatouille

Sauerbraten
Mustard textures, truffle croquette, crispy sauerkraut

Rum ice cream with raisin powder
Made table side with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 60

I have a competition this week at DU on Thursday. It should be pretty fun, we did it last year and had a great time. We are going through a lot of changes in the hotel. We have a new F&B director and our GM just gave notice. There seems to be a lot of tension here. It is certainly not the same hotel I started to work at 3 years ago. It has been tough for me here because I do not share the same philosophies as other managers here. It is hard to build something up only to see it fall apart when you are not there. Hopefully something will give in the next couple of months??

Mignonette Jelly
House smoked trout, caper bubbles, lavosh cream

Apple Cider Consommé
Pumpkin noodles, floating sage, chicken and bacon

Kombu space foam

Green olive braised short rib
Marinated tomato sheet, anchovy aioli, eggplant

Trick or Treat ice cream
Made table side with liquid nitrogen

Tasting Menu 57

I am finally ordering my commercial vacuum sealer. It only took 15 months of constant harassment to our controller. It is a 4000$ piece of equipment so I understand why it took so long. I had to show him that it was not a toy for me to play with but a necessary piece of equipment to extend shelf like of products. I made the case and my sealer should be here (to play with) in a couple of weeks. We went to the Shamrock food show today. I go to check out any cool new products. The only thing I saw was a berry that taste just like a kiwi. It was amazing, I will get some in for the tasting next week. It blows my mind that it is the same crap every year. They just add another flavor and put the same product in a different box.

Kampachi sashimi
Tobiko noodles, rice wine foam, soy dippin dots

Compressed ratatouille vegetables
Spicy octopus, fried olives, yogurt aioli

Blood orange space foam

Sou-vide truffle honey and organic chicken
Artichoke macaroni, brussel sprouts, tarragon air

Coffee crepe filled with amaretto mousse
Served with brown sugar ice cream
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 52

Hopefully I will have a few days this week to get my head back on. DNC was pretty much a bust for food and beverage. We captured some breakfast and late night business and that was about it. We had a lot of secret service in the hotel for some foreign guest. Overall it was a great week for the city, no major incidents happened. This menu marks 1 year of tasting menus. We are averaging 31 menus per week with 80% of customers ordering wine with their menus.

Tasting menu

148 degree egg
Greek yogurt spaghetti, grilled spinach, feta fritter


Carbonated cantaloupe jelly
Sou-vide New York, smoke, pickled jalapeño


Pomegranate space foam

Coconut fried grouper
Stir fry gelee, edamame air, roasted seaweeds

Warm banana in crispy durian paper
Green bamboo rice pudding ice cream
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tatsing menu 50

I was wondering on my days off if other chefs have the same problem going out to eat as I do. I can never sit down and enjoy the meal. I think about operational shit like what was the food cost of that dish or wonder what the line looks like and how many cooks do they have? It is very annoying never being able to turn my brain off. This week we will be doing a lot of experimenting with our new carbonating machine. We have also been looking at doing a dish using superconductivity. I never thought I would here myself say that

Snacks
Yuzu soda with rasberry sorbet

Crispy chocolate wrapped curried peanuts

Pomegranate marshmallow

Oil poached snapper
Smoked corn pipette, crispy potato, potato foam

Scallion crème brulee
Unagi, Asian pear, king mushroom

Bing cherry flambé
Mexican vanilla ice cream made
Table side with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 46

It was good to have a break from work but it is time to get going again. I have a lot of questions about where I will be in the future. All I know is that I need a change. I got my miracle fruit powder in. It will be transformed into gum this week.

Tasting menu

Candied fennel
Grapefruit gelee, blue crab, watercress caviar

Sou-vide pork
Smoked shallot powder, cream corn, asadero relleno

Stone fruit
Buttered lobster,83c yam, macadamia nut air

Brandied strawberiies
Panna cotta ice cream made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Miracle fruit bubble gum with sours

Tasting menu 45

I received my miracle fruit tree in the mail a few days ago. It is only about 7 inches tall but it has some new growth. The total price was around 60$ so I am hoping that it grows. We also ordered some miracle fruit tablets fromhttp://www.miraclefruitworld.com/index.html. I tried them with my wife and sister the other night. Lemons were my favorite with a syrupy sweet quality. Next time I will try them at work where I have 100's of things to try. I have ordered some more and will feature it on a tasting in a few weeks

Tasting menu

Dragon fruit
Yucca, shrimp ceviche, avocado caviar

Fried egg consommé
Pork belly cubes, macaroni, potato


Colorado lamb loin
Spearmint from the garden, grilled cherry peppers, parsnip


Pineapple upside down cake
Kahlua ice cram made table side
With liquid nitrogen

http://denver.metromix.com/restaurants/photogallery/chemistry-in-the-kitchen/553467/content?photo=9

Tatsing menu 40

I have not done a post in a few days. I am trying to get my packet ready to send into Bocuse. I feel that I have some strong dishes. The only problem is that I heard of it last week so putting together a art full presentation might be a stretch. I will put in a entry no matter what. This opportunity does not come along everyday. It has been very crazy in the hotel. We have been very busy with the recent press. I have decided to keep my shit together rather then blog. We had 8 GM's from different properties for a VIP dinner. I also had Mike Long, a really good chef come up and have a tasting menu. I have known mike for a while, he is a strange guy, that's why we get along. It is nice to have other chefs come in and critique your work. He is honest. He makes me a better chef with his criticism. He did not have a lot to say this time. I guess that is a good thing.

Tasting menu

Berbere encrusted pork bellyc
Fermented black garlic, sour cream folded basmati, poached egg

Sou-vide dill salmon
Carbonated lyches, bing cherry noodles, sweet corn butter


Grapefruit and spearmint space foam

May ploy incrusted buffalo meatloaf
Blue cheese air, bok choy from Ian’s garden, shitake gnocchi


Chambord marshmallow
Toasted on graham cracker and dark chocolate ice cream
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tatsing menu 39

I am doing some early prep this week because we are cooking at Doo at the Zoo on Thursday. This event raises money for the zoo's programs throught the year. I have a pretty sick dream of jumping one of the fences and taking down a elephant with my french knife.I know that is sick but when you let a bunch of crazy chefs in the zoo what do you think they want to do?

Tasting menu

Oyster Carpaccio
White soy gelee, frozen olive oil, lime air

Pretzel consommé
Dijon chicken, charred onions, apple dumplings

Black truffle paper

Buffalo short rib ravioli
148 egg, cotija, sweet onion tops from my garden

Lindsor tort
Sour cream and mint ice cream
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 38

I have been scaling back some of the techniques to see if the menus will sell better. I am relizing that the people that come in for it are looking for the freeky shit. I am going to experiment a little more with some flavor combinations and textures. I am using some rose pedals that I picked and some bok choy from our garden this week.

Tasting menu

Grilled anchovies
Romaine sheet, shallots, Dijon air

Wild mushroom jelly
Fried cherries, cherry balsamic, crisp apple skins

Whiskey caviar and cream

Coconut sou-vide Alaskan crab
Candied kumquat, Bok Choy from Ian’s garden,


Grilled apricots
Goat cheese rose pedal ice cream
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 33

We are getting ready for Mother's day this week. We are booked except for a few late spots. We plan on doing around 1000. The new menu is going good. The flavors are were I want them but we are messing around with some presentations and ratios. I have not sou-vide fruit so I am interested in the flavors I can get.

Tasting Menu

Chorizo
Clams, Potato, Smoked carrot foam


Pickled mango
Blue crab, tarragon, pineapple sheet


Organic Colorado tenderloin
Salsify puree, cranberry pepper jelly

Sou-vide blueberries
Pie crumbs, vanilla marsala ice cream
Made table side with liquid nitrogen

Tasting menu 18

I am trying some new techniques this week. I have been working on my vegetable purees with the carrgeenan. Peanut butter and jelly has got to be my all time favorite combination

Tasting menu

Greek salad
Olives, tomatoes, oregano

Pineapple consommé
White soy noodles, miso air

Snake River pork belly
Cauliflower, morels, beer

Peanut butter meringue
Jelly ice cream made with liquid nitrogen

Tatsing menu 14

I have alot of reservation this week for the menu and a mostly molecular menu for New Years Eve. It is snowing hard today with about a foot of snow on the ground. I am in the mood for risotto, bisque, crepes.

Tasting menu 14

Baby squid
Cotija, risotto, oyster mushrooms

Cauliflower bisque
Truffle, augratin, watercress air


Sou-vide salmon and roasted garlic
Scallion, funnel cake, Sweet red bean

Hungarian crepe
Almonds, milk, chocolate ice cream made with liquid nitrogen