Under Your Nose: Chefs Share Secrets of Delicious Dishes in Classes
Roll Call Staff
Have you always wondered why food just tastes better at a restaurant than at home?
Now, at several area restaurants, you can learn the tricks of the culinary trade.
For example, how do restaurants get those perfect grill marks on your steak that make the dish look that much more savory?
If you were at a recent Equinox cooking class, you would have learned that restaurants flip meat only four times, changing the rotation of its placement on the grill no more than 60 degrees, according to chef Todd Gray, who led Equinox to win Fine Dining Restaurant of the Year at the RAMMYS last week.
This and many other grilling techniques were the focus of Equinox’s “Thrill of the Grill, Solstice Style,” where guests learned how to make a three-course meal, including the barbecue salmon entree that has been on the menu since the day the restaurant opened nine years ago.
Many of the dishes taught are not served at the restaurant, but may be meals Gray is trying out to possibly be added to the menu.
He emphasizes that the classes should serve as “road maps” to participants.
“I want you to be able to go to the farmers’ market and be able to pick up an ingredient and improvise,” he told the class. “Summer grilling should be simple and easy.
“I always like to do things you can take out of here and re-create easily,” he said. “Maybe adapt a little.”
Throughout the two-hour class, Gray shared lots of stories. He’s very passionate about using produce from local farms and what he calls “eating with the flow of the seasons,” which he tries to do on the restaurant’s menu as much as possible.
Gray strayed off topic a few times, which was fine with the participants, who were able to enjoy an impromptu wine tasting — in which Gray demonstrated how to “nose a wine.”
Asked what kinds of salts they work with at the restaurant, Gray had his sous chef retrieve a dozen different salt boxes. Gray then explained their differences and passed many of them around to sample.
The classes are well worth the $100 — just for the food and wine costs alone. And to personally learn from the master chef, of course, takes everything up to another level. Gray also offers private cooking classes for up to six people at the bar at $150 per person.
At the chef’s next class, “Chillaxin’ in July,” this Saturday, students will enjoy the tastes of summer with treats such as tomato and watermelon gazpacho, Champagne and melon salad and, of course, Gray’s signature lump crab cakes. Or, try August’s “Farmer’s Market Celebration,” with dishes themed around local farmers’ specialties. (202-331-8118, equinoxrestaurant.com/calendar.php)
It’s a Guy Thing
Gentlemen, want to impress the ladies with your cooking prowess?
“We’re trying to teach guys how to be better for their girls,” said PS 7’s chef Peter Smith, who has teamed up with BeBetterGuys.com to host a series of man-centric cooking classes.
The classes, “designed to give guys an edge in the kitchen,” are hands-on lessons on everything from basic grilling techniques to how to flambé cocktails.
At a man-training session this Saturday, Smith is going to focus on charcuterie — a technique to house-cure meats, including different types of sausages — and meat rubs, possibly on pork ribs and pork shoulder.
“People all pitch in with the cooking, but it’s not like everyone has their own burners,” Smith said of the class, which is held in the restaurant’s kitchen and can accommodate as many as 25 students at a time. “The whole idea is to get the experience and techniques and then maybe they can do it on their own.”
Throughout the rest of the series, students will work with everything from pepperoni to prosciutto as Smith teaches recipes for innovative appetizers, how to use spice without overpowering and proper grilling techniques.
For $75, you learn your way around the kitchen, and also a mixology lesson, a three-course lunch and recipe cards for each dish.
Potts: Congress Must Not Allow Lobbying Efforts to Block Pro-Consumer Financial Planning Bill
March 18, 12:35 p.m.
Quietly hidden amid debates over which agency should house a consumer financial protection agency is a simple consumer financial protection proposal. It would safeguard Main Street residents from malpractice by people claiming to be financial planners. Read Full Article
Roll Call Video Channels
