As I progress in years I have to say it is amusing to stumble across an old video like this one via the link. Maybe it is more than amusing. Maybe it is bittersweet. But thankful is also part of it. I spent years working at those wood burning behemoths I loved at 21 Almeria Avenue, Coral Gables at my eponymous restaurant. The guests loved them too. Something about the ancient, primal power of seeing the actual flames cooking the foods one is about to take in stirs the blood. The light is another magic that casts a spell on the audience. The varying shades and shadow dance as the split logs pop and sputter as they give their power which ebbs and the chef working next to me at the other wood oven or I hurl another length of wood into the oven’s maw.
This video is from 1996. Why the editor didn’t let me to that overly loud opening ‘hello!!‘ I can’t say.. It was our first full year operating the restaurant that changed the course of my life and the lives of many. I looked back over to see just some of the highlights.
On Jan 7th: We hosted “A Feast of Friendship” at NORMAN’S. The benefit was for The Florida Philharmonic. Our great friends cooking with us were Charlie Trotter, Emeril Lagasse and Raji Jallepalli. The wines were brought by our pal Tony Soter of Etude Wines. We had a musical presentation by members of The Florida Philharmonic which was stunning.
Each of us made “various canapés and tapas”. For the main courses Raji made “Rougail of Lobster in Petite Purses with Red Pepper and Mango Coulis, Charlie did the next course which was “Organic Indiana Bobwhite Quail with Chestnuts, Rice Beans, Collard Greens and Wild Mushroom Sauce. We went next with a “Twice-Baked and Truffled Tiny Potato Tasting with a Petite Salad, Pulled Pork Havana and a Mojo-Pork Essence Drizzle. Emeril did “Pecan Crusted Millbrook Venison Chop with Bourbon Mashed Potatoes, Port Wine Glazed Root Vegetables and a Caramelized Onion Reduction Sauce. We served desserts from all of us as well. It was a “Love Fest!” At the end of the meal we started spontaneously signing everyone’s menus and when that was done someone gave us some colored magic markers and we signed “b and b” plates for potential auction items at some future unknown function…Like I say: Love, Baby.
In February I was invited to participate in the first ever International James Beard Dinners in Mexico City. The other chefs included Thomas Keller, Susur Lee, Jean-Louis Palladin, Charlie Trotter, Rick Bayless and Todd English.
Big news arrived in March when it was announced in USA Today that our restaurant was nominated as one of the (only!) five Best New Restaurants in America by the James Beard Foundation! We were ecstatic. It was Mr. Beard’s cookbook, “Theory and Practice of Good Cooking” that was the first cookbook I had ever bought. The Foundation had been started in November of 1986. So … ten years since its inception.
In June I was chosen to receive the ‘Robert Mondavi Culinary Award of Excellence’ along with Nobu, Robert Del Grande, Cindy Pawlcyn and others. We flew to wine country and were treated like royalty. The world was opening in new and exciting ways. To have one’s work rewarded after the years of trial and error, sweat and misery wages was proving to be worth them. And I was sharing them with Janet and our (then) 16 year old son, Justin who worked part time with us while not in school or in his symphony band practice.
While I didn’t write this post to have it be one that raved about ourselves I do feel it is important to celebrate the good things that one is given in life. 1996 proved to be a very generous year!