Mouthing Off

Lutèce; courtesy of chef André Soltner (wearing toque).

The legendary New York City French restaurant Lutèce closed in 2004, but it will be reborn for one night only, on April 16, to benefit University Settlement. Alsace native André Soltner—now the dean of classic studies at the International Culinary Center—opened Lutèce in 1961, just as America’s obsession with food and cooking was beginning. “When we opened 50 years ago, there were restaurants that served canned or frozen food. We were very focused on the best ingredients you can get,” remembers the pioneering chef. During his 35 years behind the stove, Soltner’s celebrity and flawless classic French cuisine attracted New York’s glitterati and the country’s most respected food lovers, including Julia Child.

Soltner will bring back the spirit of Lutèce by orchestrating an extravagant French wine dinner of iconic dishes such as seafood en croûte and tournedos Rossini: filet mignon with foie gras and Madeira sauce. The cost for entry to this once-in-a-lifetime reboot (with dessert from Jacques Torres) starts at $3,000, which will aid the University Settlement’s many programs aimed at uplifting low-income families and immigrants through education, decent housing, and improving physical and emotional well being. Tickets here.

For those whose interest in the French classics is piqued, we asked Soltner to describe some of the incredibly complex dishes that wowed guests during his restaurant’s prime. “People nowadays think classic French cuisine was heavy, but when it was done the right way then it was not. It was very tasty,” he says. Click through the slideshow to see the Endangered French Classics.

Related: 12 Classics to Master
More French Masters

Chef Matthew Orlando; courtesy of Amass

Food pilgrims have a new reason to visit Copenhagen, land of superstar René Redzepi’s Noma and Christian Puglisi’s Relæ. After more than two years as head chef at Noma, Matthew Orlando, a San Diego native, will debut Amass in a former shipyard in the city’s Refshaleøen district in July.

Read more >

Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania; Ariadne Van Zandbergen / Alamy

Here, a look inside the current food dreams of the Top Chef Masters winner and Scandinavian Ethiopian super-chef behind Harlem’s Red Rooster.

1. Peruvian Home-Cooking. One place I haven’t been to yet is Peru. It’s on my list of must-see places and when I go there, I have this fantasy that I’ll meet some local who specializes in making the freshest ceviche and he or she would invite me into their home and show me how it’s really done.

2. Charlie Trotter 2.0. One of the greatest restaurants closed last year, and I would love the chance to go eat at Charlie Trotter’s again. I ate there in 1986 and the fact that it wasn’t in New York wowed me. To eat with the same sensibility and taste as I’ve had in France, but the fact that everyone spoke American—I had to be a part of it and I wish I could revisit his place just one more time.

3. Ethiopian Master Class. When I got married, my wife, Maya, had only one concern at our wedding in Ethiopia: Everyone had to have meat. Little did I realize “everyone” meant her whole village. The taste of kitfo is like nothing else. Kitfo is beef tartare, but it’s not chopped up finely like we’re used to having here—we’re talking about two-inch cubes of raw meat, seasoned with spices and clarified butter and served with ayibe, a mild cheese. I would find that man who taught me how to make kitfo and spend the day learning his tricks.

4. High-Tech Food in Harlem. I would love to eat at a place right here in Harlem where they are employing the latest technological innovations to food. This is something scientists are working on for the future, and I know it sounds wild, but I want to eat printed food. Edible ink that prints food into different shapes—so you can make a scallop look like a chicken nugget, or make carrots into the shape of spaghetti. It would change how we look, think and taste food and I think it would help solve some of the issues we are facing in our health crisis.

5. African Street Food Conference. If you have never been to Stone Town in Zanzibar (Tanzania), it’s definitely a one-of-a-kind place. At night, street food vendors pop up and line the quiet beach, one of the best in the world, and I would love to go to a place where all these street vendors could cook their dishes around me. Like in one room. There you will see and smell such a mix of African, Persian and Indian influences, washed down with a freshly squeezed sugarcane beer.

Related: Marcus Samuelsson Recipes

© Jasmin Sun

For the past three months, infamously outspoken lawyer-turned-comedian-turned-streetwear designer and chef-restaurateur Eddie Huang has been traveling through California and Taiwan as the host of Vice TV’s Fresh Off the Boat web series. Tomorrow, he’ll add “author” to his growing list of careers when his memoir, also titled Fresh Off the Boat, goes on sale nationwide. In it, he offers insight into building a brand through non-traditional hiring requirements. His first Craigslist ad, for example, was titled, "Baohaus Hiring Multi-Tasking Nice People Who Listen to Ghostface." Here, Huang talks to F&W about why hip-hop lovers make great restaurant employees but culinary school grads don't always work out. His hiring tips. »

Courtesy of Daniel Boulud

The dinners and food-related events to assist Hurricane Sandy victims are still coming fast and furious. Like Eleven Madison Park's benefit to help rebuild the DUMBO restaurant Governor on November 20th. I applaud every single person who has done something in the kitchen or out of it, to help and urge everyone to keep up their great efforts.
 
I don’t know how most of those fund-raising meals came about. But I did hear the backstory of Momofuku and Café Boulud for NYC, the $495-per-person, one-night-only extravaganza which raised thousands of dollars for the Red Cross on November 2nd. And I got this groovy photo. So I wanted to tell the story.
 
The Players: Superchef Daniel Boulud and Momofuku’s Dave Chang. And Ben Leventhal (Eater.com’s co-founder and food-world rainmaker) who had the idea to bring downtown uptown, then got Boulud and Chang together. Along with Café Boulud chef Gavin Kaysen and a bunch of Momofuku staff who wanted to do something, but couldn’t because their downtown restaurants were closed.
 
The Location: The elite Café Boulud (a place where Chang was once a harried line cook).
 
The Complications: Chang was in Toronto during the Hurricane; his return flight was repeatedly cancelled. So the chef jumped in a rental car and drove back to NYC. Stories of speeding tickets and empty gas tanks can’t be confirmed or denied.
 
The Café Boulud & Momofuku Menu:
scallop - chick-pea miso, tamari
matsutake agnolotti - buckwheat, french toast
veal sweetbreads - yuzu kosho, labne, asian pear
foie gras - lychee, pine nut
duck - wild rice, apple, brussels sprouts

To book seats at Eleven Madison Park's dinner in support of Governor restaurant on November 20th, call 212-995-0905.

And for more on Boulud and Chang, and another great photo of the two together, check out the Toronto story in the December issue of F&W (I happened to write it).

Related: Learn about #DineOutNYC
Daniel Boulud Recipes
David Chang Recipes

Ceviche at Pestle & Mortar // © Jasmin Sun

“Especially in NYC, you don’t always have time to eat at a restaurant—sometimes you just need to grab something and go,” says Will Edwards of Peruvian-inspired Pestle & Mortar, which was among the finalists for best market vendor at the eighth annual Vendy Awards on Saturday.

In an act of meta proportions, F&W asked some of the amazing street food specialists attending the awards event for food truck recommendations of their own. They’re not part of any foodie craze, they’re not Plan B-career types. They’re auténtico, and they’re super delicious. »

© GoodEye Photography

Southeast Asian cuisine is inspiring some of the coolest new restaurants in the U.S. Here are some places to try now. Read more >

© Javier Milara.

Two Spanish restaurants are partnering with mixed-media artists to bring gallery-worthy experiences into the dining room.

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© Kate Hazell

In this essay, writer Josh Ozersky tells why US restaurant-goers are trying the real flavors of this region. Read More >

F&W's July issue takes a look at interesting food collaborations across the country.

© Eric Wolfinger, Antonis Achilleos.

Linden Street Brewery + Tartine Bakery (Photo)
This delicious collaboration began with a micro-organism: the sourdough yeast strain used for Tartine Bakery’s bread. That yeast ferments a Linden Street Brewery red ale, which goes into the sausage stew chef Nick Balla makes at Bar Tartine.

Dogfish Head + Hip-Hop
Dogfish Head brewmaster Sam Calagione has made beers inspired by Miles Davis and Pearl Jam. His latest is a beer-cider hybrid, created with Dan the Automator of hip-hop group Deltron 3030 and named after one of their songs: “Positive Contact.” The brew comes as part of a box set, with a vinyl EP and recipes from star chefs. $60; dogfish.com.

Read more from the July issue >