Tasting Menu 95

I am back after a very nice vacation. It will be a very busy couple of weeks for me. We are changing all menus right now including room service. Someday I will have time to get caught up on some post and get some of the pile of recipes I have on the blog. I will have some exciting news coming up pretty soon.

Grilled baby leeks
Chicken cigar, edamame hummus, red pepper pipette

Apple wood bacon powder
Blue cheese-apple-walnut terrine, baby iceberg, smoked grapes

Lemon grass salmon
Tobiko champagne jelly, lump crab fried rice, compressed melon

Bloody marry sorbet
Crystallized celery made table side with LN2

Tasting menu 82

I have a mixology gig coming up that I am getting ready for. I am not a bartender by any stretch but I am going to lean on my experiences with flavor to execute the menu. We are doing coconut sorbet with spiced rum and pineapple bubbles, whiskey caviar and cream, carbonated blueberry vodka with compressed apples. The event is at the Curtis downtown and it should be a good time. We have some media friends coming up in the next couple weeks to play in the kitchen with us.

Oregano grilled clams
Potato confit, pancetta foam, nitro mirapoix

Carbonated cantaloupe consommé
Scallop ceviche, roasted apples

Black truffle popcorn

Sous-vide pork and goji berries
45 second parsnip cake, date power, garlic honey

Caramel banana bread pudding
Barley malt ice cream made with LN

Tasting menu 77

It looks like it should finally calm down a little this week. I have been so caught up with keeping prep levels up that I have had no time to play or work on anything new. I am finalizing a class that I will be teaching at Cookstreet in Denver. It looks like we are shooting for a April 1st class. The weather has been nothing short of bizarre this year. It has been 70 degrees in Denver for the past 3 days. We have had no snow fall this year. Cold weather reminds us to cook in different ways. It's hard to be in the mood for a good casoulet when it is so hot out.

Carbonated grapefruit
Palm sugar cured line caught tuna, tarragon, taro

Duck prosciutto
Fried risotto, black olive jell, black trumpet mushrooms

Passion fruit and sage sorbet
Poached grapes, blue champagne

Spicy shrimp blanket
Artichoke dirt, corn gnocchi, shallot

Mexican vanilla ice cream with frozen caramel apple crunch
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 64

We had a really messed up Saturday night last week. Not only did we sell over 30 tasting menus, we had a group in house called LA Dance. This is a group of 8-12 year old boys and girls that have a dance competition here at the hotel. Imagine slamming out tasting menus with 150 orders of chicken fingers along with our regular menu. Nights like Saturday make me realise that I try to do to much sometimes. We are almost sold out for Thanksgiving brunch here at the Westin. I have volunteered to help cook thanksgiving dinner for St. Matthews Baptist church this year. I will be here all night at the hotel cooking turkeys along with all the fixens. We will not serve the tasting menu on Thanksgiving. We will have it Friday and Saturday night.

Fried baby artichokes
Caper dirt, warm walnut mayo, garlic sugar

Smoked herring brandade
Onion taffy, dried corn, red pepper crisps

Beet Space Foam

Molasses painted quail
Smoked chicken hash, fennel, apple textures

“Red” noodles with miso ice cream
Made tableside with liquid nitrogen

The miracle fruit pill

I obtained some pure miracle powder off the black market when I ordered my pills fromhttp://www.miraclefruitworld.com/.

Today I got some neutral fizz powder fromhttp://www.le-sanctuaire.com/Whats next? How about a gelatin pill you put in your mouth. As it dissolves the fizz powder is released on your tongue and the properties of the miracle fruit go to work.


The powder I got was very wet. In order to dry it out I added tapioca maltodextrin and gave it a few turns in the blender. I then mixed it with the fizz powder and loaded my pill machine. I will pair the pill with some citrus surprises for the next menu.

Tasting menu 49

It is really crazy for me right now, even posting menus has become a struggle. We are getting ready for the Democratic National Convention. The day before the confrence starts we have the Green Bay Packers. Our roll is still up in the air as far as who and when we are going to be feeding people. We know it will be crazy for breakfast and late night at the very least.

White soba noodles
Jelly fish, roasted peppers, toasted nori cream


Heirloom tomatoes 10 ways
Marshmallow, granita, sushi, glass, confit,
Inverted Bruschetta, fata paper, clarified, sou-vide, candied


Roasted lemon
Peppered chicken, brown butter powder, crispy garden squash


Black pearl tapioca
Coffee jelly, condensed milk ice cream
Made table side with liquid nitrogen