Matthew Levin's FAHRENHEIT825:

Yountville Trip Day 2

Today was jammed packed with events that I needed to attend for the San Pelligrino competition, but somehow I found the time to have lunch with Harold Deitrele from Perilla in NYC. Great lunch at the bar, oysters, clams and local crab. Very simple with basic mignonette and cocktail sauce. Then I had the Bouchout Mussels from Maine with saffron and mustard, killer good as were the frittes. As a whole all of us this weekend have drank way too much wine, but when you're here there isn't many other options, such is life! We then had dinner at Francis Ford Coppola's house at the Rubicon Estate. First of all this estate was one of the sickest structures I have ever seen, 15,000 square feet cave that wound its way into the mountain- side and barrel after barrel of some of Americas best wines. The wine maker opened a barrel of 2006 Cask Cabernet and gave us all a glass directly from the barrel, it tasted like the wine could have gone another 10 years but still having the wine directly out of its barrel was intense. We were then escorted upstairs into the area where the wine is produced and treated to a fabulous 5 course meal based around all of the Rubicon Estates wines. Another crazy day tomorow, heading to the Laundry around 7am to chill with those guys in the kitchen for a few hours, and then back to CIA Greystone for the finnaly of the Pelligrino event where we will annonce this years winner.

Yountville Trip Day 1

Arrived in San Francisco around 10:30 am and had a lesieurly long drive up to Napa, but once you get here "oh my god" its amazing here, within about 1/2 mile there are three of the most amazing restaurants in america. Bouchon, Ad Hoc and of course The French Laundry, its amazing to me that just from the sucess of "the laundry" this small town of 2,000 people is buzzing with great little wine bars, bistros and bakeries. Another thing that really stuck out to me so far is the general attitude of everyone that works around here, they are all exremely service oriented and strive to serve you in any an every way the best they can. Tonight after the event we had I walked up through town on Washington Street and was standing in front of Bouchon and called "Majors" and told him how he needs to get out here and really check this town out, it has Lee Majors written al over it, actually Majors on the other hand, don't come out here because im sure you just like me will never want to leave.

Lamb Shank Video

Morrocan Stripped Bass

Recently I launched a line of custom made spices that are for sale at Dibruno Brothers in Philadelphia. You can get them at their stores in Rittenhouse or in the Italian market. This dish we used the Ras el Hanout spice that we make in house. It's a blend of hibiscus flower, Thai long pepper, rose hips, ceylon cinnamon and star anise, among other spices. We infuse the spice into yogurt and slowly add some good qulity extra virgin olive oil. Also we make a aromatic broth that is fortified with the stripper bones and the Ras el Hanout. A roasted eggplant puree and a few sweet bell peppers and fresh oregano and the dish was complete, funny how a dish that was meant for a wine tasting and wound up on the menu for a few weeks. The spice racks include six custom spices along with 2 recipes for each. The next few posts will be based on my spices and how to utilize them in your daily cooking at home as well as in your restaurant kitchens.

Pork Belly

This pork belly dish was the on the menu at Lacroix about 4 months ago. We had a very successful run of pork belly with grilled cuttle fish, Cuban black beans and “BBQ” sauce. It wasn’t broken but I wanted to change it anyway. We had great success with the combination of pork belly and fish before, so I decided to try it another way. This version had baby Portuguese rock octopus, a Jamaican allspice fluid gel, a lightly pickled sweet potato salad and a super rich pork reduction. We cured the bellies in muscavado sugar, sea salt, and a lot of all spice, Ceylon cinnamon and basil. It cured for 24 hours before rinsing and then a slow braise at 160 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 hours. What was left was a velvety smooth almost custard like belly. As for pork belly and fish, we are 2 for 2. I don’t know what it is but it seems to be the difference in texture but pork belly and octopus or cuttle fish really work. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this combination and what you’ve served with belly lately.

Rabbit Meatballs

Rabbit meatballs with falafel, pine nut “risotto”, goats milk foam and licorice. We looked everywhere for these skewers, finally we found them on Williams and Sonoma’s website. I ordered them online, they came in and were too long, so we cut them down and then had points put back on them. The meatballs were a mixture of ground rabbit legs, foie gras, carrots, garlic, fat back and Middle Eastern spices like zhatar. The falafel was soaked chic peas, garlic, parsley, mint, basil and thaini paste. To make the pine nut risotto we soaked fresh pine nuts in water overnight. Then sweat some shallots in butter and cooked the pine nuts in the exact style of risotto, adding stock slowly and finishing with whipped cream and parmesan cheese. It really played tricks on your mind because it looked just like rice and had the creamy texture like risotto, but eat it and you will see that it ate like rice also. Crazy, but the flavor was intense pine nuts. This led to other dishes for tastings but this is the only dish that made the menu with the pine nut “risotto”. As a sauce we infused fresh goats milk with herbs and garlic, then added coarse lecithin and foamed it, this gave a good acidic richness to the dish that needed some lightening up. We finished with a rich rabbit reduction that had a good amount of licorice root in it and then melted black licorice into the sauce. It gave it a great dark color and a bite of anise. It was a pretty sexy dish that too a bit of time to get its legs on the menu, but once it did the comments were strong. Thanks to Jason Varney for this titties picture.

Valentine's Day Menu

Vanilla Poached Oysters

Winter Melon, Curry Drops

OR

Japanese Kampachi Tartare

Chipotle Miso, Tangerine Soup

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Alaskan King Crab

Foie Gras, Brussels Sprouts Leaves, Mango Vinegar, Mustard Seeds

OR

House Cured Lamb Salad

Strawberries, Chartreuse, Sesame Black Truffle Crackers

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Axis Venison Saddle

Eggplant Dumplings, Nori, Pomegranate Chips, Basil Purée

OR

Pompano Sous Vide

Cocoa Nibs

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Chocolate-Cherry Clafouti

Dark Chocolate, Morello Cherries, Vanilla Creme Anglaise

OR

Strawberry-Champagne Trifle

Champagne Cream, Macerated Strawberries, Rose Foam

The Bo Bo

Please bare with me I haven't posted in a few days because i've been super busy this week and now my dog Arthur a.k.a. the Bo Bo hurt his leg and has been laid up the past few days but we got him to the vet tonight and he is doing much better. Looks like a pulled muscle or ligament thank god. He's the man he was in the photo with me for style mags cover story a few months ago. I'm planning new posts starting this weekend with some tight new things we've got going on at Lacroix.

My Menu

Tasting Menu – Your Choice of Any

3 Plates  ____________________________                                                                   69

4 Plates  ____________________________                                                                    78

5 Plates ____________________________                                                                     85

Desserts are a Gift from Chef Levin

RAW

Maine Sweet Shrimp – White Soy, Apples, Menthol

Kobe Beef Sashimi – Shiitake, Cashew, Blis Maple, Mushroom Soy

($6 Supplemental)

Japanese Hamachi – Red Peppers, Marcona Almonds, Chicory

Vegetable

                        Warm Mozzarella – Hearts of Palm, Ginger, Kimchee Consommé

Celery Root Cubes – Pistachio, Smoked Caviar, Root Beer, Hot Powder

Banana – Mastic, Truffle, Majorero Cheese, Shortbread   

Shellfish

           Snails – Bone Marrow, Mushrooms, Coca Cola

Cold Water Lobster – Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Passion Fruit, Chai Flavors

Wild Red Lipped Abalone – Frozen Pink Grapefruit, Wasabi, Charcoal

($6 Supplemental)

fish

Spanish Mackerel – Beet Pearls, Green Olive, Sherry- Miso, Hazelnut

Black Sea Bass – Milk Poached Endive, Tater Tots, Thai Pepper

Spanish Octopus – Butternut Squash, Guinness, BBQ

Poultry / Game

           White Chocolate Chicken Wings – Smoked Paprika, Nori, Maldon Salt

                       Sika Venison Saddle – Avocado-gin Soup, Kohlrabi, Salmon Skin

Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras “Bacon” – Cornbread, Ranch Dressing

($6 Supplemental)

Meat

Veal Sweetbreads – Artichoke, Sesame, Kumquat

Veal Cheeks In Glass – Pears, Brussels Sprouts, Soft Egg

Elysian Fields Lamb Belly – Cucumber, Garoxta- Mustard Puree, Clams

* Vegetarian Options

2/3/2008

CHEESE SELECTION FROM AROUND THE WORLD

3 Cheeses $12 Additional – 6 Cheeses $18 Additional      

Please Refrain From Cellular Phone Use In The Dining Room, Thank You

Black Truffle Dinner

Hamachi Collar, Char Sui

Black Truffles, Kaffir Lime

Crémant, Marquis de la Tour Rosé, Brut

Loire Valley, NV

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Torchon of Foie Gras

With “White Chocolate Truffle Truffle”

Gewurztraminer, Clos Gaensbronnel

Grand Cru Kirchberg de Barr, Alsace, 2002

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Black Truffle Scallop Pie

Sous Couverture

Mercurey Rouge, Premier Cru, « Les Champs Martin »

Domaine Menand Père & Fils, Burgundy, 2000

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Whole Roasted Suckling Pig Table Side

“Pluie de Truffes”

Château du Courlat

Lussac Saint- Emilion, Bordeaux,  2000

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Fig and Chocolate Pavé

Black Truffle Ice Cream

Mas Amiel, Cuvée Spéciale « 10 ans d’âge>

Maury, Languedoc-Roussillon