MENUS THAT CREATED CALIFORNIA STYLE
On the 125th anniversary of Commander's Palace on September 17, 2018 in New Orleans, there was a symposium on the growth of American cuisine. Topics included hospitality, technology, women in the restaurant industry and cocktail culture.
What I said was that our past was a key to answering some or many of the symposium topics, and that 1983 was quite the year!
It all started for me in 1976.
THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL DINNER
Spenger’s Tomales Bay Bluepoint oysters on ice
Cream of fresh corn soup, Mendocino style, with crayfish butter
Big Sur Garrapata Creek smoked trout steamed over California bay leaves
Monterey Bay prawns sautéed with garlic-parsley-butter
Preserved California geese from Sebastopol
Vela dry Monterey Jack cheese from Sonoma
Fresh caramelized figs
Walnuts, almonds, and mountain pears from the San Francisco Farmers’ Market
AMERICAN MENU FOR VENTANA, 1978
Inspired by the success of the 1976 dinner, and after I sold my part of Chez Panisse, and tempted to be the chef at Ventana in Big Sur, I proposed menu items. As a Celebration of America.
While working for Time Life’s new series The Good Cook in 1978, I was staying at Richard Olney’s Solliès-Toucas house in the south of France while he was in London writing the series. But, as yet there was no full-time job for me in the series, so I was talking to the general manager of Ventana about one. I sent him a 4-page single-spaced typed letter with the type of food we could do to start a revolution in New American food.
Virginia ham with California fruits
Chicken and pheasant hash
Paso Robles peaches in local red wine
Monterey Wild boar, walnut vinaigrette
Parsnip cakes with watercress salad
Roast duck with Big Sur blackberries and green walnuts
Braised Pigs’ feet or sheep trotters on johnnycakes instead of tortillas
Turtle Cay bananas in rum with mango ice cream
Black bottom pie
LUNCHEON ON THE TERRACE ASTOR MANSION
After massive forest fires and highway collapses in Big Sur closed Ventana, I was back in the Bay Area, taking over Mark Miller’s Santa Fe Bar & Grill. It was soon a big success, and the word was out nationally. A N.Y. advertising agency asked me to do a little lunch at the Astor Mansion in Newport for their Ocean Spray client. The dinner was to be by the newly famous “butterless” French chef, Guy Savoy. The team from my Santa Fe Bar & Grill cooked this menu for 100 food and hospitality journalists.
Grilled Fennel Sausage with Rangpur Lime & Orange- Cumin Salt
Grilled Mixed Shellfish with Grilled Garlic & Ancho Chili & Herb-Shellfish Butter Sauces
Cranberry Puree Marinated Grilled Lamb Loin
Mixed California Vegetable Salad Cranberry Chili Relish
Grilled California Goat Cheese with Garden Greens