Retrospectives are in abundance this time of year, and understandably so. It's in our nature to want to look back at the year to remind ourselves of everything that happened. As I get older, I find the time passing more and more quickly. This year felt like it went by so quickly I could hardly manage to keep up. This photo essay of sorts helped to remind me that even though it felt like I was constantly struggling to meet my goals I actually did accomplish a lot this year. So without further ado, I’d like to share some food highlights from each month of 2023.
January
This is what it means to move as a chef. Schlepping and organizing about a half ton of books.
A wonderful Chinese dessert called Ba Bao Fan or ‘eight treasure rice’ that I made for Lunar New Year. This is sweet sticky rice steamed with candied strawberries, candied ginger, sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, dried pineapple, a couple other treasures I can’t remember and filled with sweet red bean paste.
February
Stir frying pad see ew with home made rice noodles on the wok burner
The spread for our valentines day dinner. Surf and turf with sides.
And melty raclette to top it all off of course
A box of pastries that I made for my family. Here we have Chinese almond cookies, egg tarts, and macaron filled with black sesame buttercream and red bean paste.
March
In March the maple sap begins to run
A hearty bowl of Tonkatsu Ramen that I take the pains to make about once a year
March is also the month when the garden begins. This is our first round of seedlings just after planting.
April
In April I broke down a forequarter of beef with a friend. Just look at that beautiful marbling.
Let the maple syrup boiling begin
Almost fully reduced beef demi-glace made from the bones of the aforementioned forequarter.
Spring has finally arrived when the knotweed shoots start coming up. They have a flavor like an earthier rhubarb and are viciously invasive so you can harvest as much as you want.
Another sign of spring: Cherry blossoms!
May
An extremely delicious bagel from Popup Bagels in Manhattan
Amazingly delicious Chinese rice noodle roll from Joe’s Steam Rice Roll in Flushing, Queens
My favorite pizza I ate all year from L’Industrie in Brooklyn
June
The beef rib that I broke down in April got dry aged for 75 days and then trimmed and cut into these incredible ribeye steaks.
The garden is finally fully planted
An awfully nice looking loaf of sourdough I made for an event.
July
In July, we took a trip to France. Pretty much all the photos from this month are of that trip. Here we start off the only way you really can - with a warm-from-the-oven croissant from a Parisian bakery first thing in the morning.
Lunch in Paris
Dinner at the incredible Astrance
Jambon buerre sandwich made with buerre Bordier, jambon from an amazing Parisian butcher/charcutier called Viande Viande (more on them later), on baguette from the winner of the best baguette in Paris competition. A special sandwich to be sure.
The very first real wild alpine strawberry I have ever found and tasted. Insane. It tastes like the concentrated flavor from 15 normal strawberries plus concord grapes and Trix cereal.
The meat case at the aforementioned Parisian butcher Viande Viande
Our picnic spread of all the (definitely not smuggled) French meats and cheeses upon our return to the U.S.
The culprit decimating our lettuce bed every couple weeks caught in the act! The little bunny was too cute so we just let it keep eating all our lettuce for the rest of the summer.
August
It's finally chanterelle season in upstate New York.
Hatching a dragon’s egg at the restaurant in which I work (actually just charring the skin of a cucumber)
September
A picnic after a bike ride. Hoping to recreate some of the magic from July’s jambon buerre sandwich.
A crazy delicious sandwich from the Manhattan outpost of world famous sandwich shop All’Antico Vinaio
The gluten free pistachio/chocolate/cherry Paris Brest I made for my birthday.
October
Not too much food action in October apparently, but here is a true lovecraftian eldritch horror that came into the restaurant. Thats a normally sized lobster head on the left for scale. Its sitting on a full size dinner plate. These things live on earth with us.
November
A glass of an Auslese riesling that has been cellared for 47 years (1976 vintage). Shockingly good. Syrupy, slightly oxidized like a tawny port. Pretty special stuff. Aging whites for this long does not always go this well.
A portion of backstrap from a deer I butchered for a friend.
December
One of the many perks of dining solo is how much easier it is to get a seat at busy restaurants. Here I walked into Au Cheval past about 15 people who just got told their wait would be at least an hour and a half. After being sat immediately, I was enjoying this burger about 15 minutes later. Do yourselves a favor and take yourself out to dinner once in a while.
The centerpiece of Christmas dinner this year. A 5 lb boneless A-5 wagyu rib roast from Kagoshima, Japan. We had to split the cost between 8 people, but man was it something else.
If this post has spurred your desire for a year end celebration to help you appreciate all you’ve done, why not check out our upcoming New Year's Eve Festa Italiana on Sunday, December 31 at 5pm. Cheers!