The world of a chef nowadays is a vastly new one. Chefs are now celebrities in their own right, no longer able to speak with just their food from behind the pass. Now they have to get up and speak in front of a room of diners and introduce their food. This evening, Peruvian chef and Food & Wine magazine “Best New Chef 2011” Ricardo Zarate is doing just that in front of a crowd of 173 diners at Glass restaurant at The Hilton as part of the Crave Food Festival.
Arriving just three days before, Ricardo looks well rested and laid back. The dinner is a 5 course with matching wines and as a surprise Ricardo has added an extra course for diners. He is co owner of Mo-Chica and Picca, both in Los Angeles and one of thirteen children growing up in Lima, Peru. A 12 year stint in London saw him being offered a position in Los Angeles. His style uses Japanese and French techniques with Peruvian cuisine.
The waitstaff collect baskets of bread from the bread station which dispenses freshly baked bread and infuses the whole restaurant with that delicious aroma of bread. There is a plain bread and also one fragrant with cumin and studded with sultanas.
Ceviche Criollo
There’s a bit of excitement as the additional course from chef Ricardo comes out. It is dish served at his restaurant Picca Peruvian Cantina and it is a white fish ceviche in cubes served with crunchy corn. Peruvian food has no shortage of corn and these provide the soft fish with a crunch.
Coconut broth with spices served with 2010 Santa Rita “Reserva” Sauvignon Blanc, Central Valley, Chile
Our first few morsels come out quickly and the coconut broth is beautifully smooth and creamy and heady with lemongrass and I simply don’t want the cup to end. This is apparently a Glass dish rather than one of Ricardo’s.
Sea Urchin and scallop tiradito with Peruvian aji amarillo, leche de tigre and ponzu served with 2009 Trumpeter by Rutini “Reserve” Pinot Grigio, Mendoza, Argentina
This dish divided some, some didn’t love the strong acidity of the tiradito which is like a ceviche albeit with a spicy aji amarillo sauce with the peppery citrus. However, the scallops were soft and silky and sea urchin gave the tangy sauce a contrasting richness.
Chocolate and jalapeno venison cheeks, pork cromesquis, carrot and cumin puree, pickles served with 2008 Trumpeter by Rutini “Reserve” Tempranillo, Mendoza, Argentina
Dark and glossy the venison cheeks were tender but not fall apart soft as beef cheeks are-the lack of fat in venison contributes to this. It’s served with pickled baby turnips, crumbed crispy rings and small pork cromesquis which are small little crumbed balls filled with soft pork meat. There’s sweetness from a bed of carrot and cumin puree.
Sangrecita: morcilla, huancaina sauce, potato pancake and fried egg served 2010 Trumpeter by Rutini Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina
I’m not complaining at all but there were two more meat courses to go and by now, I was getting quite full. But for the other diners I’m sure they were probably quite pleased at the value of this dinner. And one criticism of many Crave events is the lack of the menus. I think that would help entice people to book the events if they could see what sort of food would be served.
The Sangrecita is a slice of toasted bread topped with morcilla or black pudding. After this, a soft yolked fried egg sat on top along with a tangy onion chimmichurri which I wish there was a bit more of as this was very rich and it helped to lighten it. Many at the table murmur that this should go on the breakfast menu and as Ricardo says “fried egg on top of anything is good.”
Seco de cordero: lamb stew with cilantro black beer sauce and canario beans served with 2011 Santa Rita “120″ Carmenere, Central Valley, Chile
I was getting very full but of course it would be silly to not try this dish. It was a tender, fall apart soft lamb stew with a square of the softest lamb with a coriander black beer sauce served surrounded by canario beans and peas, onion and diced tomato.
Liquorice Parfait, lime syrup served with NV Valdivieso Grand Demi Sec, Chile
Thank goodness for the presence of a dessert stomach! This is the signature dessert that was served to Princess Mary and Prince Frederick at one of their pre wedding dinners. It has changed since I last had it and even though some at the table don’t like liquorice (I’m not an enormous fan myself), this is nicely balanced with the lime syrup which takes away that strong liquorice flavour. There is a lime juice soaked thin green sponge at the bottom and two cylinders of creamy liquorice parfait, sago balls, jelly squares and thick, rich liquorice drops.
Luke and Ricardo come out to take a final bow and although it’s past 10pm on a Monday night, there’s no rush for anyone to leave.
Do tell me Dear Reader, do you ever recognise chefs when you’re out and about?
NQN dined as a guest of The Hilton
Glass Brasserie at The Hilton
2/488 George Street Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Tel: +61 (02)9265 6068
If you enjoyed this post, why not share it with your friends?
What is NQN up to now?
NQN on Facebook
RSS
27 Comments | Add your own
The time has finally come when people recognize a dish to be a stage and appreciate the art of a chef.
It’s not essential, but it’s a pretty nice motivating factor.
I’m especially curious about the taste of the parfait.
Thanks for sharing NQN. Food looks great. Well done to Ricardo,he has done well for himself. It’s always nice to read a little history about the person and where they came from
I love Peruvian food, and it’s true that fried eggs is delicious with most meals.Luckily here in Fairfield, Misky Cravings restaurant is just down the road from me when I crave for beautiful Peruvian food 
I have to admit that our food is a little bit heavy, so I understand when you said it’s too much.
And related to “sangresita” dish, I’m agree, it’s more for breakfast, in fact, it’s common to have ti in the morning, of course not on that fancy way, but you know, bread, fried eggs…
Love Glass, it’s a lovely restaurant to dine in. Yes I recognise chefs when I’m out but my husband hasn’t a clue so I am always kicking him and subtly whispering trying to tell him who it is!
Well…at least you weren’t hungry. I was invited to Glass a few months ago but we didn’t end up going as I looked at the menu on-line and thought the prices were a bit out of our budget for a night that was really just a catch-up with friends. I only go to these sorts of restaurants on special occasions. But it does look really beautiful. I’m actually not very good at recognising people. I walk past known identities all the time and my husband will say, ‘Did you know that was so and so?’ And I say, ‘What? Where?’ xx
It is fascinating to me how popular Peruvian food is (rightly so) all over the world right now. And all of this looks original and interesting.
No chef sightings here…so far. But movie stars seem to love San Miguel.
Lorraine you’re so lucky to attend this dinner, I was umming and arring whether I should go but as we went to quite a few other Crave events this year I decided not to , mainly based on the Shakira song “Hips don’t lie”, Lol.
The menu looks delicious and beautifully plated, I would love to try the Sea Urchin and Scallop Tiradito, it’s making my tastebuds tingle.The dessert is also calling out to me, you don’t often see Licorice on dessert menus so it’s nice to try some when available.
How cool is Ricardo’s T-shirt with the little Peruvian chef/diner on it! <3
I 'spy' chefs out and about all the time, a few weeks ago I saw Neil Perry at The Grounds @ Alexandria with his family, I don't impose though and watch from afar.
I love to be taught and this is a delightful lesson. I have never been to Peru and possess but few recipes of its cuisine. So this is fabulously interesting. Love the different than usual ceviche, the interesting coconut broth and the venison cheeks with the chocolate and jalapeno sauce, reminding one of Mexican cooking. Would have loved the experience
!
That’s some serious good food Lorraine!!!! I could have this all day and night.
Whoa, what a feast! There are no famous chefs around here…but I’d probably recognize a chef over a young movie star! Have a lovely weekend~
Whoa, what a feast! There aren’t exactly any famous chefs around here, but given a young movie star and a famous chef in a room, I’d most likely recognize the chef over the star
What a beautiful and unusual line up of food! Every dish is something new to me, I would have loved to have tried this!
On always great food pleasure adventures, you take me!
LOVE your photos as sometimes they inspire creativity!
Yes, seems the chef culture is very much a celebrity!
Coming from New York and having met so many famous people, I sometimes acknowledge their presence,but remember (in some ways) they are no different than you or me!
How delicious. I think I would have been content with the coconut broth, but wanted them to have kept it coming!
Hubby always jokes that I love “chef-spotting”. Whenever we dine out I always look out for the chef rather than the celebrities.
I get excited when I see chefs out and about while my bf (or whoever I’m with) would just be like “….” To them, chefs aren’t celebrities!
What an unusual mix of cooking styles! They do look like they work together amazingly though
Loving anything seafood, I am a devout Ceveche fan and had a Peruvian friend, Jesus (seriously, no joke), who would make it for me, and he would turn one fish into a feast!
Wow celebrity time that is so cool
As always very exquisite dishes too!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I don’t know whether my page was being silly or not but just after the photo of the Sangrecita, you seem to have a unfinished paragraph about Crave events and I was wondering what the rest of the paragraph was.
The dinner looked wonderful by the way
Hi Adele! Thanks for letting me know, the edit mustn’t have saved but I’ve added it now
What a lovely dinner to enjoy. I’ve had Peruvian food but never as fancy as that! The dishes look wonderful; I’m particularly intrigued by the Chocolate and jalapeno venison cheeks, sound wonderful.
Yes i definitely think that chefs have become celebrities! I love seeing them in person and I always ask for an autograph whenever i see them
Oh Yes Chefs have become celebrities, their passion and love for their art is what makes them shine…
Looks Great!
I’ve never had a celebrity chef sighting but yes I think I would recognise one if I saw them. It’s amazing that a couple of years ago I probably couldn’t have named a chef other than Nigella or Jamie Oliver and now I could write an endless list!
I like the idea of food stars as it encourages all of us to cook and eat better.
When they passed out the genes I forgot to get the dessert stomach!
It looks amazing. One of my friends is half Peruvian, so she would have loved this.
Post a Comment