Waltuck David - Cookbook: Staff Meals From Chanterelle

Staff Meals from Chanterelle

David Waltuck

and Melicia Phillips

Photographs by Maria Robledo

workman publishing | new york

Copyright 2001 by David Waltuck and Melicia Phillips

Photographs copyright 2001 by Maria Robledo

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproducedmechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopyingwithout written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited.

Cover and book design by Barbara Balch

Cover and book photographs by Maria Robledo

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

eISBN 9780761177548

Workman Publishing Company, Inc.

225 Varick Street

New York, NY 10014-4381

www.workman.com

FROM DAVID

I dedicate this book to my families. First to my real family, to my wonderful kids, Sara and Jake, and especially to my wife Karen, whose love and support, tempered with good advice and worthwhile criticism, have sustained me through so much. Secondly, to my equally real Chanterelle family, and that means everyone that I have had the pleasure of working, eating, drinking, and generally spending an awful lot of time with in the twenty plus years of Chanterelles existence.

Bringing this book into the world turned out to be a much bigger task than originally planned. What was intended as a one-year project took six years. I would never claim to have done this by myself, in fact I find that almost everything that I do, I do as a collaboration. So I would like to thank a few of the people who have been instrumental in putting this book together.

First, thanks to my coauthor Melicia Phillips who conceived this book and helped make it a reality.

Thanks to everyone at Workman Publishing for their support and assistance, especially Joni Miller, without whom this book would never have been, and my editor Suzanne Rafer, who deserves a medal for patience and for keeping the faith as we went wildly over schedule. Thanks to Barbara Balch for her perfect design and to Maria Robledo for the honest photos, taken in hectic, behind-the-scenes conditions at Chanterelle.

I would never claim that any of the recipes in this book (or any other book for that matter) are totally original, but some of them have been directly contributed by family and friends. So, Id like to thank Aunt Fanny, Aunt Gertie, Nina Fraas, Leonard Lopate, and Michael Klug for their generous recipe contributions. Thanks goes as well to Frank Duba for faithful recipe testing and to Evelyn Dotson for both recipe development and testing.

Thanks also to my friend Bill Katz, who, though not involved in the making of this book, has always been part of Chanterelle. More than a designer, his esthetic is everywhere.

And of course, thanks to my family for their encouragement and endurance.

The perfect one-dish meals for any busy family. Enjoy aromatic Creamy Tomato Mint Soup, a thick Split Pea Soup with Ham, and a Mussel Soup redolent with saffron.

A wide selection of slow-simmered stews, stir-fries, and roasts. Theres comforting Cottage Pie, tender Roasted Veal Shank, exotic Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Honey, and spectacular Beef Fillets with Star Anise.

Pork is a staff favorite and we welcome it often in the form of Pork Goulash, Oven-Roasted Barbecued Ribs, Chinese-Style Meatballs, and Montana Fried Pork Chop Sandwiches.

The backbone of any family meal, chicken comes to our table roasted with root vegetables or stuffed with basil, in a potpie or as Melicias Chicken and Dumplings. This chapter also includes an aromatic Thai Duck Curry and two luscious braised rabbit dishes.

Theres a mix of front-of-the-house dishes and staff meals here. Ginger Pickled Salmon with Wasabi Sauce, Monkfish with Roast Shallots and Garlic, Shrimp with Black Bean Sauce, and Deviled Crab Cakes are all here, as well as Fish n Chipsof course.

We love pasta and serve up bowlfuls of Linguine with Clam Sauce, Spaghetti with Potatoes and Greens, and Cheese Tortellini with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream. Here, too, is a Shrimp Fried Rice that makes use of leftovers, and a favorite Risotto with Porcini.

Easy accompaniments include a Spiced Applesauce, old-fashioned Braised Red Cabbage, Summertime Creamed Corn, Warm Lentil Salad, irresistible Vidalia Onion Fritters, and a particular favorite, Everyday Mashed Potatoes.

A selection of quick, versatile dressings, including Green Goddess, Caesar, Blue Cheese, and Creamy Italian, plus a full range of flavorful mayonnaises turn fresh greens and vegetables into something really special.

Invite friends for leisurely weekend brunch and linger over Chanterelle Breakfast Scones, Challah French Toast, Half-Inch-High Buttermilk Pancakes, or Shirred Eggs with Smithfield Ham and Tarragon. Later in the day, accompany meals with Garlic Bread or piping hot Indian Chapati.

Staff favorites include brownies (naturally), Zesty Cranberry Soup, Summertime Ginger Shortcakes, and platefuls of cookiesespecially those loaded with plenty of chocolate chips and peanut butter.

Good food and plenty of it

slogan on Chanterelle staff sweatshirt

In 1979, SoHo was a neighborhood in transition, not yet the chic, tourist-driven quarter it is today, teeming with boutiques, galleries, clubs, and restaurants. Although it was the place for art galleries and many artists lived and worked in lofts on the upper floors of its turn-of-the-century commercial buildings, the area was still quite industrial. During the day a steady stream of trucks rumbled along the narrow cobblestone streets, making deliveries and pickups at textile dealers, tool-and-die factories, boiler shops, paper box companies, glass cutters, and knife sharpeners. There was only a handful of places to eat and a scattering of retail shops that catered mainly to local residents. At night the streets were virtually deserted.

My wife Karen and I were only in our early twenties, but the vision of the type of restaurant we wanted to create was firm and clear in our minds. We chose a small storefront on the isolated corner of Grand and Greene Streets, establishing Chanterelle amid the wonderful old cast-iron buildings that have long been SoHos architectural hallmark. Most recently the site of a bodega, the premises had originally housed a corset factory and showroom. Our choice of location raised a few eyebrows, but in the late 1970s aspiring restaurateurs and would-be gallery owners could take advantage of low rents in fringe neighborhoods (and even gain a certain cachet by doing so). Most importantly, Karen and I felt that if we were faithful to our beliefs about cuisine and service, our clientele would find us. Happily, this turned out to be true.

It took six arduous months for us to make the necessary renovationspainstakingly repairing the cast-iron facade with ball-peen hammers, restoring the ornate mid-nineteenth-century pressed-tin ceiling, fixing the inset antique mirrors, stripping and refinishing the decrepit mahogany wainscoting and columns, and building a kitchen from scratch. We painted the walls a pale, soothing, peachy yellow color reminiscent of chanterelle mushrooms, laid an expanse of discreet gray carpet, and, contrary to fashion, left the walls unadorned except for the original architectural decorations and inset mirrors. Three big brass chandeliers added the finishing touch.