Still Hot in The Kitchen: A Conversation with Former “Top Chef”-testant Ryan Scott

This Wednesday night people will be putting down their knives and tuning in to watch the latest installment of “Top Chef.” This season, its fifth, comes from the make-it-there-or-go-home-crying Big Apple (love it). So I thought it would be fun to catch up with one of last season’s cheftestants and local celebrity Ryan Scott, formerly of Myth Café and now at Mission Beach Café in San Francisco.

UPDATE (11/18/08): SFGate.com is reporting in its "Inside Scoop" column that Chef Scott is leaving Mission Beach Cafe and starting Dec. 1, Chef Thomas Martinez takes over the kitchen. Chef Scott didn't hint at this during our interview, so this is surprising news.

Chef Scott was one of four San Francisco cheftestants who traveled to Chicago (or ground zero for Obama nation, I imagine) last season to chop, puree and flambé their way to the title of Top Chef. That honor eventually went to Chicago native Stephanie Izard (the first female chef winner, woo-hoo!), and Chef Scott was sent packing when he got too fancy at a tail-gating challenge with Da Bears.

Since coming back home, he’s become a partner and executive chef of Mission Beach Café in the Castro-Mission neighborhood and has been making the rounds of appearances for charity cook offs here and around the country. In fact, when I got together with him recently at his restaurant, he had just came back from Chicago where he did a fund-raiser with Izard and other “Top Chef” alums for the Common Threads charity co-founded by Art Smith, Oprah’s one-time personal chef.

If some of you forgot, Chef Scott was pegged early on in his season as the pretty boy. And there was no mistaking his made-for-TV smile when he came out to greet me. He wasn’t wearing any of his chef’s whites, but was wearing what he called his “winter Ryan” with a military-style jacket and plaid-print scarf.

I chatted with him about whether he’ll be watching the show, what his life is like a year since leaving “Top Chef,” and his numerous charity work (which leads to a very personal, revealing moment).

The following are edited excerpts of our conversation.

Single Guy: Like I mentioned, I wanted to do this interview as a build up for the next season starting up.

Ryan Scott: What? What are you talking about, what show? “Project Runway”?

SG: You know, that small little kitchen show.

RS: Got me. [[He shrugs his shoulders.]]

SG: So are you planning to watch it?

RS: I didn’t watch the last part of mine. (laughs) I didn’t have time, we were so busy. I would really like to watch. I’m a huge fan of Jamie (Lauren, executive chef of Absinthe Brasserie and Bar and the only San Francisco cheftestant in Season 5.) Yeah, we’ll see how she does.

SG: Yeah, she’s the only chef from San Francisco this time. Why do you think that is?

RS: Because they put too many of us in Season 4. (laughs)

SG: That’s right, they bunched you all up.

RS: … It takes a certain talent to be on the show. I think (Chef Lauren) really fits the bill. She’s adorable. Hopefully she rocks it. I’m sure she’ll do well.

SG: Did you watch the show before you applied for your season?

RS: I watched a little bit. I watched Harold (Dieterle) win Season 1. I remember watching it and thinking, “there’s no way I would ever do this show.” … The house that they lived in (in San Francisco) is like two blocks away from where I live now, so I run past it every morning. So I’m like, it’s kind of surreal, kind of funny.

I said I wouldn’t do it, and then I saw Season 2, and watching Marcel (Vigneron) and Sam (Talbot) and all the other guys and thinking, you know, I think this is something I’ll do.

I remember I opened at Myth Café and I said OK, I’m going to fill out an application for it and check it out. I actually got a phone call right before I filled out the application that they were casting for Miami. Somebody called and asked if I was interested, and I said, yeah, so I got all the way to the final (interviews) for Season 3, but I didn’t make it. I went to LA, tried out and didn’t get on. So I was a little bitter with Season 3. I watched, maybe, none.

SG: I didn’t realize it was such a long process for the casting.

RS: It’s sooo long. It’s so arduous. They really don’t want you to stay on; it’s that hard. They pound you and pound you and pound you. They make sure that they don’t have somebody who’s going to turn out to have been a porno star before they were on “Top Chef.” That’s what they really want to find out.

So I didn’t make it on (Season) 3, then I made it on (Season) 4.

SG: Do you still think about your experience on “Top Chef”?

RS: I didn’t think about it until this last week when I was in Chicago. It was one year ago last month that I left Chicago. So it was the first time I was back since the show. It was really cool to go back, and it was very cool to hang out with everybody. And when we would go into a bar, um, coffee shop, not a bar, and to have people come up, it was so cool to be in Chicago. … To go back and see it all again, and drive past the house, and see how people react still a year later about the show. I’m very fortunate. I just watched the reruns of Season 1 the other day, and I’ve been very fortunate people know who I am, to stand out only half-way through the show.

SG: Do you still get recognized because of “Top Chef”? Like when you’re just walking around San Francisco, do you have people come up to you and …

RS: freak out?

SG: Yeah, freak out. So how exactly do they freak out?

RS: It depends on what area you’re in. Castro area, they freak out. The Marina, they point. I was at the Castro Street Fair to support some friends of mine. It’s so funny. I had such a blast to where I had to end up leaving. They just want to take a bunch of photos, sign a bunch of autographs. People just want to converse, and I just love it.

SG: Have you gotten used to this whole celebrity chef status you gained from being on “Top Chef”?

RS: I think notoriety has been great. It’s helped us out a lot. I really want us to grow and expand. The one thing I’ve gotten from the show, which I love, is to be able to help people. Between fund-raisers and functions and more functions and more fund-raisers and more fund-raisers, we’ve done a lot this year and we’ve helped out a lot of people, which is great.

Things that are near and dear to me a year ago—without the pull of the show—wouldn’t have gone that far.

SG: I’ve noticed some chefs on the show who really seem shy and a bit overwhelmed by the attention they get afterwards. So you don’t feel pressured or stressed about it?

RS: No, it’s been phenomenal. … I saw Spike (Mendelsohn) last week, and he and I, the intention when we went on the show was to get exactly what we wanted. We didn’t go on the show to get a TV show. We went on there to excel and make ourselves better with the quality of our skills, and also get the notoriety to expand our brand and do the things we want to do. Like Spike just opened the first of his many chains of restaurants. Taking this (Mission Beach Café) over really made this place get on the map. We just got recognition from Gayot and Zagat, and I’ve been here less than six months. That’s huge.

[[Chef Scott was referring to Gayot’s recent inclusion of Mission Beach Café as one of 10 Hot Spots for Dining in San Francisco.]]

RS: The greatest thing about the show was it put me on the map, but it also let people know that I’m not a one-trick pony. I can actually do more than what was shown on there and what we did at Myth Café. I think we’ve really excelled at this restaurant. It’s grown exceedingly. And we’ve really enjoyed it.

SG: I do want to get to your experience here at Mission Beach Café, but I do have one more “Top Chef”-related question. Was there anything about the show that you felt never really came out or was never really shown to viewers?

RS: I think me, personally.

SG: So you don’t think the person people got to know on the show is really the real Ryan Scott?

RS: No, not really. Because I think I’m more a really fun-loving guy. You can put me in any situation and I’m the person that makes everyone crack up and have a good time. In six episodes, and, you know, how many minutes? Forty-seven minutes, maybe less than that, they’re trying to display 16 people’s personalities. I think if I made it a little longer you would have seen more of me. I think the fun-loving guy that a lot of people on the show get along with was shown a little bit. But now the times I do the demos, go do live things, I did the “Top Chef” tour, that way I got to reach out to a lot more people. Yeah, I do talk a lot. They did get that across.

… I would have liked to show a little bit more of my talent, but now it’s my turn to come back and do it here. This place has been the vessel for me to do that.


SG: How has it been at Mission Beach Café? Do you feel you’ve been able to accomplish what you set out to do?

RS: I think so. When you come into something that’s already a little established, you have to put your stamp and your mark on it. I think one of the best pastry chefs (Chef Alan Carter) in San Francisco if not the nation is here. The way he thinks about food is amazing. You think about pies, and you think that’s all you do, try his stuff.

SG: Was working with Chef Carter one of the reasons you decided to come here?

RS: He’s the reason why I came here. Yeah, we went to school together (at the California Culinary Academy). We always had a thing for each other about the way we can cook together, and it really has excelled since I’ve been here. It’s been phenomenal. This is definitely just a great vessel to get started, to see new things and a new demographic for me to cook for.

The financial district was more a fast-paced, 300 people turn and burn, and I get to put a little spin on a few stuff. But doing four menus (at Mission Beach Café)—breakfast, lunch, dinner and brunch—has been challenging in a little shoebox, and with no walk-in (refrigerator). We’re "cooking for people out of a house" is what I tell people. Imagine cooking at your house and trying to do it for 60 people a night, 300-plus on the weekend for brunch, and turn around and do it for dinner and then do lunch.

We just bust the format on lunch here. I’m doing brunch and lunch. And it’s grossed so much just in two weeks. It’s just a huge response. I think people really like to get eggs all day. People don’t think twice about $13 for eggs, but you put $13 for a sandwich and they freak out. So they want the big platter, the hash browns, the pancakes, and you know what? That’s what we’re giving them here. You cook for the clientele. You’re cooking for where you’re at.

SG: How would you say this is different than what you were doing at Myth Café (which has since closed).

RS: I don’t even think there’s even a comparison. The palate just on the other side of town is way different. This is a vegan, vegetarian-driven neighborhood and then you get every two or three covers you see the guy that wants a slab of beef on the plate. … At Myth I had fun and I didn’t have a lot of competition, and this genre, this area where we cook for, we have Range four blocks away, we have Delfina, Dosa, Foreign Cinema, Tartine and Bar Tartine. I mean, the fiercest of the fierce are cooking down here. I think the best chefs in San Francisco are in this area right now.

SG: What’s your approach to the cuisine that you’re doing differently here?

RS: First of all, it’s completely lunch driven, and I’ve tried to bring that format here. People have definitely bitten into it and they like it. But this is not like other fast-paced neighborhoods. People here definitely can have a glass of wine with lunch and relax a little bit more, and don’t mind having roasted salmon with lentils and yogurt dressing, and it’s not a big deal. That was something I wasn’t used to over there. And I worked with strictly electric at my last place. So having BTUs and being able to use gas, to be able to hone that and find out who I have been.

I haven’t been able to cook fine dining since Gary Danko, and that’s been almost four and a half years ago. It’s been awhile, so it’s been great to be able to figure out who I am as a chef again, on the food level, and the simplicity of how I think I cook on a certain level. So we’ve taken simple Mission Beach Café food and put it on to a beautiful plate and brought some flavors that you wouldn’t think would be in this area. So when you walk by this place and you walk through the doors and sit down and order something, you’re amazed by every bite.

SG: How often do you change the menu?

RS: A lot. Monthly, if not seasonally. It changes so much I’m getting yelled at about how much paper we go through. (laughs)

SG: Do you feel that even in this short time you’ve been able to come up with your culinary point of view?

RS: Definitely, I think it’s definitely been shown.

SG: How would you describe it?

RS: New American cuisine. It’s an angle on a twist on what the classics are. But when you sit down and get caramelized gnocchi and cherry shallot butter on top of a grilled New York (steak)—simple combinations but when you get the flavors it’s pretty killer.

SG: Is it fancy café food or fancy comfort food?

RS: I think it’s fancy food in a café atmosphere. You have these tables we’re sitting on that are about $1,000 a piece, and when you get the Heathware plates, which are handcrafted too, what we’re spending the time on each of the dishes are really amazing. And the products are just out of the world.

SG: So how much of your clientele is coming in because you were on “Top Chef”? Do you still get people coming in to see you and not necessarily the food?

RS: Yeah, every night.

SG: So what do you think about that?

RS: I think if that’s what gets them in the door, then I win them over with the food. I mean, that’s my job. The whole goal of the show was to let people know who I am and that’s been absolutely great. If that’s what draws them in, and they come in and say they came to see Ryan Scott but the food blew them out of the water, then we did our job. … So be it if people come in and want to say hi and take a photo. I dig it. It’s such an honor. I mean, I love that people want to say hi and talk food. That’s why I’m here.

SG: So it’s pretty obvious you like to talk … (RS: Really?) … and it’s really obvious that you’re charming. So do you ever feel like you want to go into TV? I think I read in an interview soon after you left the show that you wanted to develop some TV shows. Do you have anything in the works?

RS: First of all, food is first and foremost. And this restaurant is my main priority, and working here and developing other concepts and looking at all the things possible to grow with these guys will be phenomenal. I’ve had offers, and I’ve flown down (to LA) to check out some stuff, but I want to make sure the brand and who I am here stays true. And I want people to be able to come talk to me non-stop all the time and stop me on the street.

As long as the show’s concept that comes to us is something we believe are who we are then I’m totally fine with that. But I’m also not sitting there and pitching a show to anybody. I’ve had people come to me, but my main priority is not to do a TV show. I’ve turned down some really good offers. This career to me is about longevity and having a career for the rest of my life.

My main goal coming back from the show is not being a has-been or a five-minute TV star and that’s it. And we’ve really exceeded that and have done well with it.

SG: How do you think you’ve been able to stretch our your 15-minutes?

RS: I think if you’re out there in the right way. We’ve been called a gazillion times. … We really work together as a team (referring to his publicist who was sitting in on the interview) because I honestly couldn’t have done it without my friend, first and foremost, and then a great publicist. I mean, what’s been great is, OK, the American Heart Association comes to us. What is important about the American Heart Association? Are you just going up there just to do it? And we’re not. It’s something that’s near and dear to her, and I had it in my family and so on. Doing things that are near and dear to us and helping charities have been the best part about doing “Top Chef.” …

SG: You seem really passionate about helping charities. It really seems like it’s something you really want to do and not just because people ask you. Where does that come from, this wanting to help? I’m sure a lot of chefs get calls all the time. For you it seems almost like a passion.

RS: Wow, you’re actually going to get this out of me and I don’t think I’ve ever told anybody. … I had colon cancer when I was 8. And I remember my family being super poor, and I’ll never forget my dad working double (shifts) and my mom working doubles and us having to drive down to Fresno and I had to do all these scans and blood transfusions and so on. I’ll never forget my dad waking me up one night when I wouldn’t take my medications, and my mom cried and called my dad and said, “hey, Ryan’s not taking his meds,” and I didn’t know what was happening at the time because I was 8. Anyways, he says, “it’s not your time.” And to have that and to see my parents breaking their backs and doing whatever to take care of a half-a-million dollar doctor bill we had to keep me alive. I was 8 years old, I just turned 29. That was 21 years ago that I wasn’t supposed to be around. And to see that, and to see my parents doing anything and everything. And all I have to do is cook for somebody to raise money to have another family take care of their child, why not?

I’m not doing this for any other reason but to help people, and that’s the best thing that’s come out of “Top Chef.” The friendships that we’ve gained from this and the charitable actions that we do, it’s phenomenal. It’s not about money, it’s never about money. Trust me, check my bank account.

SG: So what’s in store for you? Do you have projects coming up?

RS: Oh, besides a gazillion charities to do? We’ve actually launched, finally, it’s taken a year since the show, the Web site is almost up, Ryan Scott to Go is just a private little catering company that I do that’s basically I can go to somebody’s house and do little team building and so on. The logo just got finalized today. It’s going to be all online. I just finished getting all the paperwork from the city. It takes a lot of work. Since the show aired, it’s taken me a year to get the license and everything else.

… We’ve got another show we shot with Bravo that airs in February, it’s going to be great. I’m not going to tell you what it is, but watch for it, it’s great. I can’t say yet.

SG: Oh, is it some kind of Bravo “Top Chef” reunion?

RS: I don’t know. [[He’s faking ignorance right now in case you can’t tell.]] But it has my name on it. It’s has to do with something like that. That will be on and there are so many different things that have come our way. San Francisco is our home, it’s where I’ve been almost eight years and I’m not leaving. So it’s finding the best way to work through what’s going on right now and finding the best results and what will work, and Mission Beach is succeeding and hopefully we can keep going strong and we’ll go from there. There’s definitely things in the burner. I’m always looking for other things to expand and make a name for, but also be very smart about it. I know my demographic and I know my clientele and I’m going to stay in those confines.

We chat a bit more about where he gets his energy and he confirms, because I know you all want to know, that he’s currently dating someone. Throughout the interview, he had his Blackberry beside him with the light blinking as he constantly gets e-mails.

Mission Beach Café, Chef Scott and his partners just launched a new quarterly dinner to help raise funds for a local non-profit. For the first dinner in November, a five-course, prix fixe dinner will benefit Creativity Explored, a Mission neighborhood non-profit visual arts center. The Nov. 19 dinner starts at 5:30 p.m. and costs $75 per person (not including alcohol, tax and tips). To reserve, call 415.861.0198, ext. 2. If you can’t make it for the five-course dinner, you can just dine at the restaurant every Wednesday nights between 5:30 and 7 p.m. and 15 percent of your food tab will be donated to Creativity Explored.

After the interview, I snapped some photos of Chef Scott outside the restaurant and he showed me his colorful pink argyle socks. Turns out, they belong to fellow Season 4 cheftestant Jennifer Biesty (who’s also from San Francisco). She leant them to him in the episode where they had a neighborhood block party and Chef Scott got all wet when he was dunked in the dunking booth. So Jennifer, if you’re wondering where your socks are, you know whom to call.

Special thanks to Chef Scott for taking the time out of his busy schedule to chat with me. And you can check back on this blog every Thursday night when I’ll be posting, yet again, my recaps of the new “Top Chef” season.

Mission Beach Café, 198 Guerrero St., San Francisco. PH: 415.861.0198, http://www.missionbeachcafesf.com/

“Top Chef” Season 5 premieres Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 10 p.m. (9 p.m. Central) on Bravo TV. Check your local listings.

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Time to Chill in the Financial District

I don’t know how it happened, but starting this food blog has given me a sweet tooth. It must be all the sweet crazes starting up these days, from cupcakes, to doughnuts, to frozen yogurt. Then there were the dessert bars, now dessert cafés.

Dessert cafés are no stranger in Asia, where they love their sweets, whether its specialty pastries or gloopy drinks or imported treats from the United States and Europe. But in America, it’s a java world. So it’s unusual to find a space that looks like a café but serves mostly sweets. Confused? Then check out Chill.

Chill is a new dessert café that opened this week in the Financial District. I had an appointment earlier in the week that took me to the city, so I wandered in afterwards to check out this new spot. I didn’t know what to expect because looking over the menu didn’t help me get a sense of what it was.

Was it a fro-yo spot? It certainly had the bright, contemporary colors for it and they do serve a selection of frozen yogurt with exotic toppings. But it’s more than fro-yo, because Chill also serves a selection of hand-made sweet crepes served as hand-held cones.

Chill was started by Trang Nguyen, who has an MBA and worked in food marketing before pursuing her dream of a sweet spot for the every day person.

I have to say I really enjoyed the space. It felt airy and bright and cool, almost like a lounge. When I visited, it was pretty busy for a place that had just opened.

I looked over the menu and while the weather made it too cold to think about frozen yogurt (I was tempted by the Crème de Papaya flavor, though), I opted to try one of the crispy crepe cones. So I ordered the Strawberry and Figs crepe for $5.75.

You can watch them make your crepe on the side and assemble it. When I got mines, I sat myself in one of the white, Swedish-inspired plastic chairs and started to chow down, getting all the crunchiness of the crepe with the cooling sweet ice cream inside. I definitely got a strawberry flavor but I didn’t really detect any figs, which was disappointing. Still, it was enjoyable to eat. But as you can imagine, it was difficult near the end when eating the final pieces of the crepe folded as a cone without the melting ice cream dripping all over your hands. Sigh, the things you have to do for treats.

Currently, Chill doesn’t offer any coffee, and they only have the red Rooibus tea (a type of decaffeinated root drink primarily from Africa).

Chill is a real nice treat to get away from the hectic bustle outside and discover something different. But in the current economy, I do wonder how Chill will survive in the current spot (the prices were kind of on the high end, I felt). While it’s a prime location on Kearny, most Financial District people are in a rush home and would rarely want to stop and chill. And on Saturdays (the only weekend day it’s open), Chill is a bit far out of the Union Square beaten path.

So that means you need to make it a point to find time for Chill. It’s an interesting concept and the people seem friendly and the product seems enticing. It’s worth a visit, and I hope Nguyen does well.

Chill, 125 Kearny St. (between Post and Sutter), San Francisco. PH: 415.433.1233. Open Mon.–Fri., 11 a.m.–7 p.m.; Sat., noon–5 p.m. Closed Sunday. www.chilldesserts.com

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Dish on Dining: Incanto

Ofal-ly Tasty Dishes in Noe Valley
1550 Church St. (at Duncan), San Francisco
Noe Valley neighborhood
PH: 415.641.4500
Open Wed.–Mon., 5:30–10 p.m. (closed Tuesday)
Reservations, major credit cards accepted
http://www.incanto.biz/

I spot Chef Chris Cosentino often around town, whether it’s at the farmers’ market or at some food event. And I always remind myself that I have to check out the restaurant where he made a name for himself — Incanto, in the young family-oriented Noe Valley.

So last week I jumped on the J-Church and headed for some rustic Italian cuisine under the hands of this Iron Chef competitor. (He lost in his recent Iron Chef appearance, and the secret ingredient was offal. Ouch.)

When I arrived, the twinkling lights dangling from the awnings reminded me of a cozy Italian joint in Little Italy in Manhattan, except Incanto sits on its own in a sleepy street filled mostly of baby clothing boutiques and my old dentist’s office when I used to live in the city. I pulled up to the long, handcrafted stone bar and who do you think was sitting at the end with his young son? That’s right, Chef Cosentino.

Turns out he had the night off and he was getting some early dinner with his son before heading home. At first I was disappointed thinking he won’t be behind the stove, but when I looked into the efficient kitchen and the sharply dressed kitchen staff I felt more at ease. My worries were totally erased as I started to dine on the menu crafted daily by Cosentino and deftly executed by his team.

Cosentino has built a reputation for himself as an advocate for incorporating offal — an animal’s organs and extremities — into your cooking. He’s started his own blog on the topic and his own sausage and cured meats company (including a store front at the San Francisco Ferry Building called Boccalone). So I was set for an adventurous evening of Survivor-type dining.

Turns out that offal is sprinkled throughout the menu, and in no way dominates the Italian dishes that are inspired primarily by fresh, sustainable ingredients of the season.

Side note: Incanto has a unique approach to serving its customers. Little touches like serving filtered still or sparkling water (they were one of the early ones) and placing paper notes around the foot of your wine glass to remind you what you’re drinking indicate the careful attention they provide to make sure you have a comfortable yet conscientious dinner.

Glancing over the many appetizers, I saw a bruschetta with cow brain and the popular pig trotter with foie gras. I settled for the special Spicy Trippa Neapolitan ($10.50) or tripe. When the plate arrived, it was a whole lot of tripe in a tomatoe sauce with bits of mint.

The tripe was tender and the sauce was bold and, well, quite spicy. You definitely need some bread both to calm your taste buds as well as to sop up the sauce, if you’re so inclined. (I did a few times and the sauce was more comfortable for my palate when defused by the bread.)

The pasta dishes are available in large and small sizes. So I ordered a small plate of the Spaghettini with Sardinian cured tuna heart, egg yolk and parsley ($16/$10). This is a classic Cosentino dish that is consistently on the menu. The bartender says that when the chef drops it from the menu, diners cry for its return. And I can see why.

The wholesome, earthy pasta is topped by thin shavings of the tuna heart, which gives it a deep ocean flavor similar to squid ink or seaweed. This strong flavor of the sea is luxuriously blended with the pasta by the nearly raw egg yolk.

My entrée was rather tame in comparison, but still elegantly presented. The Braised Veal Breast with Umbrian lentils, erbette chard and black garlic aioli ($26) skillfully represented Cosentino’s view on eating the whole animal. The tender piece of braised veal was presented along with some fatty parts still attached for richness and a charred skin to provide another texture in the meal while still using all the parts of the veal breast. Nothing is wasted, and everything is enjoyed.

The dishes at Incanto are definitely on the rich side, so it’s important to wash everything down with several glasses of Italian red wine. Incanto’s wine list is made up of bottles strictly from Italy, and I enjoyed a nice 2006 Anglianico from the Campagna region.

I ended my dinner with the Heirloom Apple & Quince Crostata with Rose Geranium Ice Cream ($8). (Most people recommend the panna cotta, but I wasn’t feeling the bay leaf version offered that night.) The crostata was just all right — the apple and quince slices leaned more on the firm side and the pastry wasn’t as flakey or crumbly. I did love the refreshing rose geranium ice cream and wished they gave a larger scoop.

Incanto’s dining room has this mixed feel of a casual Italian restaurant with its straw-back chairs, and a touch of Vegas with its dramatic arched columns and faux marble walls. On your way to the bathrooms, you see a well-lit prep station where you can see all the action in the kitchen, and on the right is the Dante Room where you can host a private dinner and order up Cosentino’s “whole beast” dinner where dishes are made out of an entire animal of your choice.

I can’t say that every dish was better than anything else I’ve tasted in other fine restaurants in the city, but they were all solid, and I’m still thinking about my experience even though it’s been days. I guess that means I should make another trip back soon.

UPDATE: You be the judge. Incanto has just posted a special prix fixe dinner featuring Cosentino's tasting menu performed on his recent appearance on Iron Chef America. He's going to recreate all five dishes, from lamb heart tartare to his county fair gut fry, for $95 per person. The menu is only for parties of four or less (kind of like the Iron Chef judges' panel) and will only be offered on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from Nov. 13 to Dec. 20 (except Thanksgiving when the restaurant is closed). You have to reserve a week in advance by calling the restaurant's reservation line and confirming with a credit card. Click here for more details.

Single guy rating: 4 stars (Italian that's uniquely Californian)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

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Vote for the Argentine Empanada '08!

This is part of a series of reports recapping my recent trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Check back every Monday and Tuesday when I’ll be giving you a taste of my food adventures in this South American metropolitan city.

BUENOS AIRES
Something I highly recommend when traveling is looking into a local cooking class, especially one taught in English. It gives you a chance to get in the kitchen and cook after nights of eating at restaurants, and you get to meet some really fun people while learning something about the local cuisine.

In researching my trip to Buenos Aires, I discovered a Web site for Teresita, a retired teacher who wanted to do more than just hang out watching her grandkids. So she started a bed-and-breakfast and soon began teaching cooking classes spotlighting Argentine cuisine, specifically the ubiquitous empanada.

Teresita’s empanada class cost only $45 and you place a deposit using PayPal when you make a reservation. (Her Web site was created by her graphic designer daughter who lives in the United States; and her daughter actually still manages the reservations and then sends regular emails to her mom letting her know who’s showing up for her classes.)

On Saturday morning, a guy nicknamed Buddha came to my bed-and-breakfast in the city to drive me to Teresita’s home in Adrogue, a suburb of Buenos Aires. (You pay extra for the door-to-door transportation or you can catch a train to the neighborhood.) Buddha also speaks English and he explained that he got the nickname in school when the teacher asked him to do something and all he did was sit there like a Buddha. So the name kind of stuck. (I knew you were all dying to know. Buddha is a porteno, a local Argentine, and has no Asian blood.)

Buddha also happens to be Teresita’s neighbor, so he easily took me to the home, which is in a quaint middle-class neighborhood that reminded me a lot like the warm, sunny country towns on Oahu (if only they were closer to the beach).

Teresita teaches in her kitchen, where she proudly displays the center block table that her husband built. She joked that when they retired, they moved into a smaller home but she said there were only two non-negotiable items: 1) there had to be a big kitchen and 2) a big garden. Teresita got both.

Joining us for the class was Beth, who’s a newlywed from Boston. She and her new husband Steve were staying at Teresita’s bed-and-breakfast, so it was easy for her to get to class on time.

We started by prepping all the ingredients for the filling. We were making two types of empanadas that day—a savory beef and a sweet corn. For the beef, we finely diced some onions, green bell pepper, green olives, and hard-boiled eggs. And for the corn we just cut the kernels away from the cobb. (There were more ingredients, and you’ll see in the recipe below.)

We started by sautéing the onions to get them translucent. After that we added in the bell pepper.

Here’s the ground beef that Teresita got from her local butcher. The Argentine beef is so fresh and inexpensive, so you know the empanadas are already going to be so much better tasting than what we can make back home just because of the quality beef used.

Here’s the beef sautéed to done with the onions and bell pepper. Teresita seasoned it with a spice called aji molido (a kind of ground red, spicy peppers) along with pimentón (sweet smoked paprika) and cumin. She says it’s important to use really fresh spices (don’t keep them long in your cupboards because they’ll lose their flavor), and she got hers at a local spice shop.

This is the corn filling, which also includes bell pepper and onions. Teresita also added some milk. The corn filling is called humita.

Once we were done with the fillings, Teresita placed them in the refrigerator because she says it’s easier to assemble the empanadas with cold filling. That’s why she recommends making the filling the night before.

So what to do while we waited for the fillings to cool? Well, we did a bit of wine tasting. Mmmm. This is a Torrontes white wine from Argentina's wine country, Mendoza. Teresita says this is the best varietal to serve with empanadas. When I tasted it, it had a sweet undertone to it, and reminded me a lot of Riesling.

After our wine-tasting break, we got back to work and started making the empanada dough. Here’s Teresita, left, and Beth working on the dough, which is just all-purpose flour and water. Teresita did start by adding some lard and butter, and she used water with salt already dissolved in it. See how she’s slowly pouring a little of the salted water at a time as Beth kneads the dough? She just adds enough until she gets the right texture. I have to thank Beth for stepping up and getting her hands dirty because I knew it would be hard to take pictures if I had doughy hands.

We let the dough rest and then we broke them into little balls before we made them into empanada skins. Empanadas can be really big like a calzone or small like little turnovers. So we made the smaller version, which I like better.

We had to roll out all the little balls into thin skins. See how thin they were? I had the hardest time rolling out evenly round skins. Mines were always a bit lopsided.

This is Tiny, Teresita’s family dog right outside the kitchen door watching us from the garden. She was such a sweet dog, and pretty big. I think she’s some kind of German hound. She was my new best pal.

Once we rolled out all the balls, we were ready to build our empanadas. It was a real challenge for me to handle the dough and the filling, without everything falling apart. Teresita made it look easy, filling her empanadas with a big spoonful of beef and then doing a rope-twist design to close up the edges. (Oh, I forgot to mention that for the beef fillings, we added raisins, green olives and the hard-boiled eggs after the meat cooled so those ingredients weren’t cooked with the beef.)

Here are the empanadas after they’ve been baked for 10 minutes. Don’t they look yummy? They were made golden brown with the help of an egg wash. Teresita cooked it at a very high heat, and it didn’t take long because the filling is already cooked.

We did two methods for the empanadas, and these are the deep-fried versions. You know how I feel about fried foods, so I admit I only had one of these just to compare. I honestly prefer the baked versions because the dough tasted more like pastry.

Here’s the gang enjoying our work in the garden: From left, Steve (Beth’s husband, who did join us in the kitchen near the end), Beth, Teresita’s husband, Buddha, and Teresita.

This was truly one of my highlights of the trip. I had mixed feelings about empanadas before arriving because I thought they were going to be fried. So I was totally blown away by tasting the baked version and loving it, especially the savory beef empanadas. (The corn filling was yummy, but I think I would eat the humita as a side dish instead of stuffed in empanadas.)

I even made empanadas recently when I returned home. It was a real struggle for me to get the fold right. And while simple to make, it is a lot of work, especially if you’re folding more than two dozen by yourself. That’s why it’s common to host empanada parties where you get people to come and help you fold the empanadas and then you eat them all day with a nice glass of Torrontes. Now that’s a party I can back.

NOTE: The recipe below is an adaptation of Teresita’s beef empanada. The recipe she sent me used grams and such, so I had to guess the measurements. Plus, I didn’t have the aji molido spice, and I ended up using a mix of turkey and lamb ground meat. They turned out pretty good, but not as good as Teresita’s.

If you’re headed to Buenos Aires, be sure to take one of Teresita’s classes. If you don’t want to cook, she also does a market tour for a bit more money. Here’s her Web site. Tell her I sent you!

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Almost Authentic Argentine Meat Empanadas

Copyright 2008 by Cooking With The Single Guy

Ingredients
1 lb. ground turkey or lamb (or a combination of both)
1 small onion, finely diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
½ cup raisins (golden raisins preferable)
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
½ cup green onions (green part only), finely diced
¾ cup pitted green olives, chopped into small bits
2 T Pimentón (smoked sweet paprika)
2 T ground cumin
2 T vegetable oil
2 T butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Empanada dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup lard or vegetable shortening
2 T butter
2 cups water
1 t salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Start by making the filling. Place butter and vegetable oil into large saucepan over medium high heat. Add onions and cook until translucent (about 3 to 5 minutes). You don’t want to brown your onions, so lower your heat if it starts to color. Adding a pinch of salt now will help cook your onions. Add bell pepper and cook for another minute, then add the meat and season with salt, pepper, cumin and pimentón. (Taste to see if you like the flavor, if not adjust the seasoning.) Cook meat until well done. Remove from heat and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Now focus on the dough. Dissolve the salt in hot water and let your salted water mixture cool to room temperature. Then melt your lard/vegetable shortening and butter in a separate pan. Place flour in a medium-sized bowl, then slowly add the melted lard/butter and mix flour with fork to create little balls. Then add a little bit of salted water as you mix the flour with your hand. (Don’t use all the water, just enough to create a dough that’s kind of like playdough.) Adjust with more water or more flour as you continue to knead the dough with your hand, creating a dough mixture that you can mold. Continue kneading until you get the right texture (don’t knead too much though.) When you’re happy with the texture, cover your dough in the bowl and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

When you’re ready to make your empanadas, start by creating the skin. Remove your dough from the refrigerator and pinch balls a bit smaller than a golf ball. (The size depends on how big you want your empanadas.) After you have a tray of mini dough balls, then flatten each one with a hand-size roller pin to create small tiny circles, like a mini pizza. The skin should be at least 1/8-inch thick or less. (Trick is to push out the ball from the center, moving it a quarter inch each time to make a nice round skin.)

Once you’ve made all your empanada skins, bring out your filling and mix in the olives, raisins, eggs and spring onions.

Create your empanada buy placing a spoonful of filling on one side of the circle skin, then fold over and pat down the edges, making a half-circle almost like a baby calzone. Now you can either decorate the edges by doing the traditional Argentine rope edges by starting on one end and turning over a bit, and then folding over and over along the edges to create a rope look. Or you can do the simple method of pushing down the teeth of a fork along the edge.

Place your empanadas on a lined baking sheet (Silpat sheets are the best). Create an egg wash by mixing one raw egg with a bit of water. Paint the egg wash on top of every empanada. (Optional: crack a bit of fresh sea salt on top of each empanada.) Place in oven and back until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Makes about three dozen (depending on how big you made the skins). Serve with a green salad or roasted corn.

Pair with a glass of Argentine Torrontes white wine.

TIP: It’s important that you make sure your filling is cold before making the empanadas. If it’s hot, it’s harder for the mixture to stick together as you’re placing it on the skin. To save time, you can make the filling the night before you plan on making your empanadas.

STORE-BOUGHT SKINS: In some cities with a large Latin population, you can actually buy ready-made empanada skins from specialty stores, which will save you some time. Still, it’s pretty labor intensive to fill each skin and create the rope edges, but that’s the whole idea behind hand-made empanadas!

TOO MUCH FILLING: If you have filling left over, you can freeze it for another empanada-making party! Or you can mix it with some rice and beans in a tortilla and make a burrito.

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Travel Dish: Museo Evita Restaurant and Bar (Buenos Aires)

This is part of a series of reports recapping my recent trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Check back every Monday and Tuesday when I’ll be giving you a taste of my food adventures in this South American metropolitan city.

Lunch, Art and Evita
J.M. Guitierrez 3926, Buenos Aires
Palermo neighborhood
PH: 11/4800.1599
Major credit cards accepted

BUENOS AIRES
Traveling in this country in October-November means you get beautiful spring weather, which is what greeted me on my first day in Buenos Aires. So I strolled from my hotel to the Museo Evita, a tiny museum dedicated to the woman who changed the history of this country and inspired a musical.

The museum, fairly new having opened in a mansion in 2002, also has an adjacent restaurant and café with a garden. Seeing as the day was so beautiful, I had a quick lunch in the garden before heading into the museum.

One quick note about garden dining when traveling to foreign countries, don’t forget that the smoking laws may not be the same as in your home town, like the strict laws of California. Even though it was pleasant sitting outdoors, I was surrounded by smokers.

Anywho, the menu is a mix of modern Argentine and Italian dishes. I started with the Rabas ala plancha con salsa provenzal or calamari salad (AR$19 or $6.50). (BTW, the menu was in English and Spanish, and the Spanish names were really long.) The salad looked really big and beautiful when it arrived. The presentation was like any high-end restaurant.

But the squid itself, while fresh, was slightly rubbery and made it a bit chewy to eat. The bed of greens was lightly dressed in a simple vinaigrette and was an elegant side to the squid.

For my entrée, I ordered the Pechuguitas de Pollo (AR$29 or $10). I knew pollo meant chicken, but I wasn’t sure by reading the description what to expect. It said something about black sesame and I thought I’d give it a try. Turns out, this is a chicken breast that’s been baked in a black-sesame encrusted shell.

It was an interesting preparation for chicken (I’ve seen this technique used a lot in the United States for fish). I dug into the chicken and the shell easily fell apart. It was crumbly and slightly sweet, almost like dessert, which was an odd sensation to have with chicken. While the chicken meat inside was tender, the combination with the slightly sweet baked crust was a bit off-putting. The chicken was served with a sampling of mushy gnocchi and a mix of roasted vegetables, including what tasted like fennel.

The service was friendly and accommodating, with a few English-speaking waiters. In the afternoon, the nearby buildings do cast a shadow on the garden, so you can wind up feeling chilly sitting in the shade if you eat too late. You won’t be blown away by the food, but it’s a quaint, convenient lunch spot when visiting the museum. You can always tell friends you had lunch with Evita.


Single guy rating: 2.5 stars (Aspirational but not quite there)

Explanation of the single guy's rating system:
1 star = perfect for college students
2 stars = perfect for new diners
3 stars = perfect for foodies
4 stars = perfect for expense accounts
5 stars = perfect for any guy's dream dinner

Bueno … life in BA

The Museo Evita is dedicated to Eva Peron, considered the “spiritual leader” of this country. She rose from a poor background to become the wife of Argentina’s leader, at the same time changing the face of the country’s attitude toward women. Of course she made enemies along the way and the often-shifting political slant of the country made her legacy very mixed.

The museum (AR$12 admission or $4) is housed in an old family mansion that’s been declared a historical landmark and was getting a facelift of its exterior when I visited. But the museum is still open, and offers a glimpse of the woman with historical footage, audio, and displays of some of her dresses. A tiny corner on the first floor showcases changing artwork by local artists who have created pieces in honor of Evita. I learned some interesting things about Evita (like how she was initially buried under a false name in Italy because of the controversy surrounding what to do with her body) and the fact that the museum’s bathroom is like some fancy bathroom in a high-end restaurant. Who knew?



Museo Evita, Lafimur 2988 (Palermo neighborhood), Buenos Aires. PH: 11/4807.0306. www.museoevita.org

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Cooking Today with The Letter P

Pomegranates are plentiful at the farmers’ markets (and even my local supermarket) so I was excited to get my hands on them. I was trying to think of a new way of using them, and I decided that, if nothing else, they would look really pretty in polenta. (Originally I was thinking of making a pomegranate risotto, but I thought the ruby red jewels of the pomegranate seeds would look prettier against the yellow polenta.)

I typically don’t make polenta but have found a new appreciation for it when I had a really superbly done plate of polenta at Ubuntu Restaurant in Napa, Calif. And who doesn’t love fried polenta? But you know my policy on fried things. So I decided to make grilled polenta bedazzled with the pomegranates.

They turned out to be pretty, like I suspected, and I liked getting the burst of sweetness from the pomegranates as I ate the savory polenta. But I have to say, those seeds didn’t really stay put. They seem to fall right out of the polenta cakes once you stick your fork into them. Oh well, these pomegranate cakes turned out to be a nice side for some slow-cooked BBQ pork ribs I made, but I bet it’ll also be fun for brunch or on top of a salad. Enjoy!

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Grilled Pomegranate Polenta

Copyright 2008 by Cooking With The Single Guy

Ingredients
1 cup polenta (or yellow corn meal)
1 cup pomegranate seeds (from one pomegranate)
2 cups broth
2 cups water
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 T butter
Salt for seasoning

Bring broth and water to a boil in a large saucepan, then gradually add polenta while whisking at the same time. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue cooking (stirring occasionally) for 30 to 40 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and add butter and cheese, then season to taste with salt. Let cool and then stir in the pomegranates.

Pour polenta mixture onto 9”X13” baking tray with edges. This should create a layer about a ½ -inch thick. (If you want your polenta cakes thicker, pour the mixture into a smaller pan.) Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.

Remove polenta from refrigerator and cut into squares or circles. Spray a grill pan using extra virgin olive oil in a can and place on medium high heat. Then grill your polenta cakes for about one to two minutes on each sides for the grill marks.

Place on top of a salad or as a side to a meat dish like boneless barbeque pork ribs (shown above).

Makes four to five servings.

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