FISH & CHIPS
carbonated vodka batter - pacific rock cod - triple cooked fries - mustard seed tartar

I had a lightbulb moment one day doing fish and chips at home. I understood that beer and soda are good in batter because they aerate it, so that when it fries, it develops a very brittle crust. So I wondered, if I put the batter in my iSi whip, would this particular reaction be magnified? I looked online to see if it’d been done before, and FUCK, it had—I wasn’t original at all. Anyway, turned out it was Heston Blumenthal, London’s very own Willy Wonka, who had perfected this technique long before I’d conceived of it. Needless to say, stupid delicious. If you want the recipe, let me know.

SWEET PEA PANNA COTTA
tarragon - english peas

A little treat from one of our pastry chef candidates for her tasting. She got the job.

SPAGHETTI & MEATBALLS
garlic bread - microbasil

One of my favorite dishes in the world. I never had it as a kid, so I didn’t understand the fascination. It was never good in the restaurants I’d eaten at growing up, but then again, those were chain restaurants like Olive Garden and the like. It wasn’t until I learned how to make the dish myself that I truly fell in love with it. I get it now.

SEARED SEA BASS
minted pea puree - wild mushrooms - fava leaves

ENGLISH PEAS & SHEEP’S MILK FETA
pea tendrils - mint - piquillo peppers

MELON & CHAMPAGNE GAZPACHO
compressed canteloupe - jamon iberico

A soup version of the classic proscuitto and melon.

EDIBLE SPRING GARDEN
spring vegetables - truffled olive soil - jus vinaigrette - sous-vide egg - stuffed squash blossom

We tried a bunch of different presentations with this dish, but they all looked pretty good—the vegetables just spoke for themselves. The soil was made from dehydrated mushroom gills, kalamatta olives, grapenuts, sesame seeds, and black truffles. The vinaigrette, a uber-reduced vegetable stock with ver jus and olive oil.

SONOMA DUCK BREAST
duck caramel - yam puree - celery root puree - mushroom foam - sherried morels - candied walnuts

LYCHEE PANNA COTTA & FOIE SNOW
macademia nuts - apples - raspberries - flowers

I think these ingredients just really work well together so I rolled them all into one dish. Also, the segue from winter to spring allows us to use apples and raspberries in the same dish and still be seasonal for a brief period of time.

FOIE GRAS & LYCHEE GRANITE
macademia nuts - raspberries - apples - flowers

One of our guests was lactose intolerant so we had to sub a straight knob of foie gras torchon for the lychee panna cotta. The lychee appeared in the form of a granite in this dish.

GRILLED PETALUMA QUAIL
lamb chopper polenta - ramps - quail jus

GRILLED TREVISO & WILD MUSHROOM SALAD
olive oil poached artichokes - fromage blanc - walnuts

'LISTERINE'
altoids/certs/tictac powder - sprite - dry ice

This was a really cool palate cleanser. I told my guests that it was listerine and asked them to gargle for about 5 seconds. Afterwards, I told them to swallow and it was amusing to hear them try to ask, really??, with their mouths full. It really did have the sensation of listerine though, but it was totally drinkable and it left the desired effect of refreshing the diner’s palate.

2009 New Years Dinner
(photographed by Adrian Sangalang)

BEER SANGRIA
hard cider - apples - candied apple chip - real ginger-ale

2009 New Years Dinner
(photographed by Adrian Sangalang)

TSUNAMI
super coconut foam - blue hawaiian - midori jell-o

The theme for this dinner was contemporary Pan-Asian cuisine. I paired each course with a cocktail. This was my attempt at capturing the ocean in a glass.

2009 New Years Dinner
(photographed by Adrian Sangalang)