Recipes Leviton's Cauliflower Vichyssoise Be the first to rate & review! Impress your guests when you serve this perfectly concocted cauliflower soup. By Michael Leviton Michael Leviton Why Because he strives for simplicity, paring extraneous elements from his French-influenced dishes. Born Chicago, 1965. Experience Elka in San Francisco; Le Bernardin and Le Cirque in New York City; Up Stairs at the Pudding in Cambridge, MA. First cooking teacher His mother. Culinary antithesis His mother. Roberta Leviton wrote a low-cholesterol kosher cookbook--"the two things that my cooking is not. Since leaving home, I've made up for lost time with pork and shellfish." Ingredient he has a crush on Wolffish. "It's got an all-crustacean diet, so it's incredibly sweet, but it's one of the ugliest fish you've ever seen. It's got big buck teeth to catch shrimp with." Hobby Rock climbing. "When we signed the loans on the restaurant, I had to promise not to do it anymore." Trend he hates The rage for flavored foams. "The potential for abuse has been realized very quickly." Vices "I nip at cookie dough. And I love a good chocolate malted." Won Best New Chef at: Lumière, West Newton, MA Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on June 9, 2017 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: © Maura McEvoy Yield: 4 Ingredients 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 large leeks, white and tender green parts, thinly sliced One 2-pound cauliflower, cut into large florets 6 cups water 1/3 cup crème fraîche Salt and freshly ground white pepper 2 tablespoons finely diced peeled cucumber 2 tablespoons minced chives 1 tablespoon minced shallot 1 tablespoon rice vinegar 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 4 Wellfleet oysters, shucked, liquor reserved Osetra caviar (optional) Directions Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the leeks and cook over low heat until tender, about 8 minutes. Add the cauliflower and water and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat until the cauliflower is soft, about 35 minutes. Add the crème fraîche, bring back to a simmer and remove from the heat. Puree the soup in a blender in batches until very smooth. Season with salt and pepper and chill thoroughly. Just before serving, combine the cucumber, chives, shallot, vinegar and olive oil in a small bowl. Ladle the cold soup into 4 shallow bowls and spoon an oyster and some of its liquor into the center of each. Spoon the cucumber mixture around the oysters, top with a dollop of osetra caviar and serve. Rate it Print