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"Free Bird" and foie gras milkshakes: Richard Blais on the Celebrity Chef Tour
"Free Bird" and foie gras milkshakes: Richard Blais on the Celebrity Chef Tour
All photos by Felicia D'Ambrosio
"It's been four years," Richard Blais told me when I asked him if his foie gras milkshake — the item that seems to cling to the Atlanta chef's trouser cuff like a bristly, gavage-fed burr — would be making an appearance on the Celebrity Chef Tour menu he cooked up Nov. 6 at Tangerine (232 Market St, 215-627-5116).
"It's kinda like my 'Free Bird,'" the Top Chef: Chicago finalist added. In other words, lighter-fumbling goofs like myself scream for it even though the band is more interested in playing the new stuff. (Adam D. Roberts of the Amateur Gourmet described the shake as "so funny and absolutely delicious" in a 2004 review.) But hey, I had to ask. And honestly, after tasting Blais' creations — the CCT is a multi-chef, multi-market event benefitting the James Beard Foundation — its absence was rendered irrelevant.
"The first time I ate here was last night," Blais told me before the his first table course — a perfect sliver of hamachi cozied up with scrumptious fried sweetbreads and a binding smoked mayo — hit the cloth. "They do tasty food, I do tasty food." Such a statement might seem unbecoming out of context, but Blais' enthusiasm acts as a sort of filtration system for any implied boastfulness. The guy who made his mainstream bones on the fourth season of Top Chef (and Iron Chef: America) gets excited about cooking, gets excited about sharing his grub and gets really excited when nerds like me grill him about it. (You should read Blais' amusing essay about his post-Bravo existence.)
Working with Tangerine head chef Todd Fuller and the rest of the kitchen team at Stephen Starr's sexy Mediterranean sit-down, the fast-talking Blais cranked out seven courses (this included a round of passed hors d'oeuvres), many of them featuring elements of the tormented culinary discipline food writers love (and pro cooks hate) calling by name — molecular gastronomy. Please let me know if you've ever met a chef who doesn't despise that term.
Blais, who's worked under chem-slinging big guns like Thomas Keller and Ferran Adria, rattled off the "arsenal of toys and equipment" he and his sous chef Jared pack for various guest chef gigs — transglutaminase (meat glue, ladies!), methyl cellulose, xanthan gum. I'm personally fascinated by all this stuff, so I was eager to see what kind of Minority Report-type insanity would be flying out of the kitchen's double doors.
Color me confused, but then immediately delighted, when the plates we received featured — gasp! — recognizable elements. The second course, a perfectly seared wedge of foie gras served with teeny gnome pancakes, concord grape and a dollop of BLiS maple syrup fashioned into a creamy poof via Versawhip, was breakfasty, mop-it-all-up-into-one-bite fun. The fifth course, a healthy, fatty-ribboned portion of brisket accompanied by parnsips and a set-off teaspoon of geléed Worcestershire sauce, hit all of bubbe's requisite belly-warming notes. None of Blais' plates were impenetrable, twee or self-absorbed. Yes, he uses techniques that tend to freak some people out (remember, Philly?). But in my opinion, he's a great example of a chef who employs these so-called "molecular" practices to enhance already-great ingredients and ideas. It's not chewable Chem 101 for the sole sake of subatomic rings-of-Saturn cookery. It's just food that tastes good.
Right now, Blais is working on opening the first location of Flip, his "cheffy burger" concept, down in Georgia. (Check out some menu previews here.) If all goes as planned, he'll expand to New York and L.A. — maybe even Philly. Two hundred national units is the on-paper goal right now. Blais really cheese-grinned when telling me about the liquid nitrogen milkshake bar facet of Flip. "It's exciting — you gotta wear goggles!" he exclaimed, snapping pantomime protective eyewear onto his face.
And no, I didn't ask what you think I asked.
Canapés
Steak and Kidney Pie
Chicken Fried Rabbit, Lardo and Ham Toast
Bronzino en Saor
Dinner
1st Course
Hamachi with Fried Sweetbreads and Smoked Mayonnaise
2nd Course
Foie Gras with Pancakes and BLiS Maple Syrup
3rd Course
Wild Striped Bass, Romanesco, Curry, Brown Butter Foam
4th Course
Pork Belly, Giant Beans and Pickled Radishes
5th Course
Brisket with Parsnip and Worcestershire
Dessert
Red Velvet Tartar
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