Chef Wars Act 3

It took me awhile but here is the pictures from the round 2 chef wars dinner.

These were taken at Ted's on Main in Medford.

Adam and I had a really good time that night and Ted's crew was great.

I finally got some sleep

Well anyone that knows me and how much I work will be surprised to here this--- I finally got some sleep!

Not a lot ,about 7 hours but enough to finish the week.

We had a great time last night doing chef wars against Ted's on Main--we lost--- oh well. It was a lot of fun and Ted is a great cook and fun to work with in the kitchen. He inserted a little excitement and enthusiasm when I was feeling a little run down.

I have pictures from both dinners, his place and mine that I'll post by the week end.

5 more days and I get a day off! 1st in over a month!

I'm getting behind......

Sorry the lack of good updates. I'm in the middle of working about 30 days straight. And that's a good thing.

Small recap-- We were at Ted's on Main on July 16th for a Chef Wars dinner. It went very well and Adam and I had a great time with Ted, his staff and guests. We lost... but it was close.

Ted will be at Elements on Monday August 3rd for our turn hosting Chef Wars. We have a full house now, so after the dinner I'll post pictures....I know I keep saying I'll post but I really will.

On Saturday Aug 22nd we'll have our 2nd Tomato Dinner, watch for the newsletter it'll have the menu and other great upcoming events.

Dear Guests

After a couple of e-mails and a couple of comments to the blog-- which I love finally I have proof that someone reads this. I think yet again I must explain myself.



One person used the words "disdain for my guests" and I think this is completely unfair. Many times I'm found in the dining room talking with people, giving out recipes or just taking the moment to meet someone new. This part of the business I truly enjoy.



It is when I'm treated poorly that I boil over and I don't enter the dining room, instead I choose to vent my anger for a persons' total lack of common courtesy in this forum.



And quite honestly I'm shocked that people are so put off by it. But then maybe I shouldn't be.



People are so used to getting their every little wish, treating employees badly and just being a bad people in general that when they are called out on it, even anonymously they go running for the their "Mommy's apron".

With all this in mind I find it necessary that I offer you a bland, kiss your rear, insight into the restaurant world.

If I had known idea that offering frank straight forward views of the few bad seeds we get here in addition to the hundreds of great people was going to be so off putting to so many people.

So look for pictures of food and advertisements for upcoming events but if you want honesty--- sorry you can't handle it.

For the majority of you that know and understand me and have commented to me directly on your enjoyment of my writing and know where I'm coming from, please e-mail directly and I'll give you a link to my new blog-- it'll have all the inside ideas, passion, and dirt.

But remember it will be honest.

Why do You go out to eat?

"Crab cakes weren't that spectacular, but we left full with money in the wallet."--- on a regular basis I read the reviews of other restaurants and this was written on a opentable review of a local restaurant.

I had always said that opening a restaurant in New Jersey would be a bad idea, too many chain restaurants and the people always look for the cheapest way out.

Now don't get me wrong I like a bargain as much as the next guy, my staff even refers to me as cheap.

But the event of dining out should be a social event from start to finish whether you're just 2 people out for the evening or a group of friends on a night on the town. You should be out for the total package service, ambiance, food and PRICE-- and this should be determined by your personal tastes.

If your biggest concern is price, stay home and learn to cook it will always be cheaper then dining out.

Ask any economist and they'll tell you the fastest way to save money is to cut back on non-essentials like dining out.

Ask me the fastest way to live a short, boring life is to cut back on the non-essentials like dining out, and enjoying the company of friends and the talents of the restaurant pros that excite you.

No Class--Part 2

Just in case you thought I was going soft, I must give you a new edition of NO CLASS!

YO ASSHOLE! When you make a reservation for 10 people and we call you to confirm 2 hours before your reservation and you say-"yes, we'll be there at 7pm for a party of 10" and you show up with 4 at 7:30pm. Be prepared to be treated as well as you have treated us.

It goes beyond my ability to be professional to an ASSHOLE such as yourself.

If you're sitting in my dining room and I think you're taking to long to eat-- the next course is coming.

If I think you're finished you're entree-- you're finished.

And if I want to send your desserts out before you order coffee-- get the hint.

We'll take your money tonight but you are not worth the effort to have back.

And yes, you're in the dining room right now and I'm coming to shut off the air conditioning and turn up the lights --- get out!

It was a beautiful morning for a walk on the farm

One of the best parts about being a chef is getting to meet the people that produce the food I get to cook with. I've been really lucky to work with some great people and for about 2 years now I been working with Kim Batton from the 1895 Organic Farm in Lumberton NJ.

Well this morning I took a drive out to the farm to meet some fellow chefs about a project that I'll tell you about later.

It was a beautiful morning and I got to the farm a little before 9am and started walking around. I don't think people really realize how lucky we are to live so close to farms that really care about what they do. Kim has a small farm that she works basically by herself-- planting, weeding and picking 7 days a week from mid march to late October. She's able to produce enough organic vegetable to supply several restaurants including Elements, her own farm stand, her stand at the farmer's market in Moorestown and a Shop Rite in Marlton--- and I thought I worked a lot. Now I'm not talking about just a couple different crops, it's everything from strawberries in the spring to pumpkins in the fall, with everything you could want in between.

Now a days most people no what it's like to get fresh vegetables at a road side stand or at the local farmers market and don't get me wrong these are all great. But to go to the farm and pick them right out of the ground is just plain amazing. I've had farmers bring me stuff straight to the restaurant that was "just picked", but when you bend down and pull a beet out of the earth it's like it almost has a heart beat. Now I don't want this to turn into a discussion about the vegetarian vs carnivore or anything close to that. I'm just trying to say when you pull a beet out of the ground and bite into it and the juice leaps out of it like it was shot out of a hose-- that's fresh. Remember I'm talking about a beet not an orange or strawberry, things you think of having a lot of juice but a beet.

With the over abundance of rain in southern NJ and the abnormally low temperatures we've had the farms haven't been producing like the normally do. We've had about a week of basically dry time and they say the thermometer will be near 90' by Sunday so I'm hoping for a telephone call from kim and the farmers saying "Fred it's time, come get the vege's by the case".

In the mean time hope for good growing weather for the farmers and--

Here's a couple of random shots of the farm. I'll had more in the future when I remember to bring a real camera.

Ideas I'm working on

Thyme roasted pork belly with honey poached turnips and black pepper gastrique

Coffee crusted beef rib eye with crispy beech mushrooms and bordelaise syrup

Rainbow trout and tasso ham wrapped in brioche with tomato caper vinaigrette

Chef Wars Act 2

This time it was a little harder then the first.

I had a really good time cooking this part 2 of this dinner series but it does let me know there's no place like home. You just know your area, your stove and are bit more comfortable in your own kitchen.

I want to think Rich, Marianne and the whole staff at Andreotti's for a great evening.

And here's the pictures.

On to the 2nd Round

I won!

Just a quick update.

Wanted to let everyone know that I had good time at Andreotti's on Thursday evening and got enough votes to move on to the 2nd round.

I'll do I picture post of the evening by Monday so keep checking in.

I don't know you I'll face yet in the 2nd round. the winners so far are Ted's on Main, Catelli's, and Elements. We're waiting for the winner of the Los Amigos vs Anthony's dinner on Tuesday the 23rd.

Do you know what I'm going to do with this?

Sometimes life needs an explanation

This blog is about my life, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

There are many blogs that you can read that are straight marketing tools, an advertisement.

There are just as many anonymous blogs that are some one's daily complaints and they are to embarrassed to let life know you they really are.

Then there's mine..... I'm not PC..... I'm going to tell you how I feel.... about everything. I'm 41 years old, a husband, father, son, business owner, and general pain in the ass. When life gives me lemons I don't make lemonade, I make a ceviche and tell life what I really think.

I wrote a post named "Why do i get so fucking angry"--there was only one reason to write that post, to stop me from telling a customer what I really thought of them. The post is short and angry(much like me) and from what my wife tells me it doesn't do a good job of explaining my anger. It wasn't meant to. It was meant to calm me down, at the very least to stop me from verbalizing to my guest's face what I really thought of their 'rude at best' comment.

Then I got this comment after the first post.

"Love your place. We eat there whenever we can." Thank You, that's why I cook. "However, I just read your blog and the one paragraph about the emails was distasteful. I think it should be removed because it is unprofessional. Sorry."

Why, just because I'm not afraid to hide who I am. Why do people feel they have the right to tell me how to act. I'm sorry if that post offended you or you think it's unprofessional. You can ask my mom if I listened to her about things I felt strongly about... the answer would probably be, she could only calm me down but not change what I thought.

I could go in to depth about all the stupid comments that I had leading up to the one's that inspired this post but those weren't the important ones. The one that sent me over the edge was.

Everybody gets rudeness thrust upon them everyday. And a lot people just take it and then go home and kick the dog or ignore the family. I've had days like that, where I just shut myself off and hide from life rather then enjoy it with the ones I love.

Well I can't do it anymore, I've missed too much of life.

If you can't take my honesty you shouldn't read my blog.

If my blog offends you, you might not want to eat at my restaurant. But I think you'll be missing out on some great food.

But don't think that your opinion as a guest in my restaurant gives you the right to tell me how to act.

Everybody needs an outlet, a stress release and boy do I have stress. This just so happens to be mine.

Sometimes you'll get the good-- upcoming events and menus that excite me.

Sometimes you'll get the bad-- rude comments made to me or my staff that we shouldn't have to take.

Sometimes you'll get the ugly-- me venting my anger in words because nobody wants me doing in person.

But at Elements and from me, you'll get honesty-- the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I have a saying and I may have said it to you "I did good today? Thanks. I'll do better tomorrow"

Why do I get so fucking angry!

You know I hear every stupid fucking comment there is:

Lady--"I have reservations at 6pm and we'll be late"
Me --"that's shouldn't be a problem, what time will you be in"
Lady--"I don't know, when my husband gets home"

What the fuck am I supposed to say to that. I had another couple of comments this week. They were both related to my e-mail marketing.

You know people if getting a couple of e-mails-- that doesn't cost you a dime-- takes up to much of your life DON'T FUCKING SIGN UP FOR THEM! I didn't buy your e-mail address you gave it to me.

I get about 2000 e-mails a week you know what if I don't want them I delete them and move on. But I don't send snide remarks, I don't send questions about why or when they were sent. I delete them.

I'm getting dangerous...I'm learning all kinds of new ways to post. Aren't iphones the best.

Pan Seared Scallops Caramelized Onion Risotto Tomato Oil

Chef Wars Act 1

I had no idea how much work this is. This is my 1st major post and I thought I could knock this out in an hour. What a mistake. It took me almost 7 hours over 3 days to get this done. 

Chef Wars is a guest chef dining competition presented by the SJHotchefs. I was fortunate enough to host the 1st of 2 dinners with Chef Richard Marsh of Andreotti's Viennese Cafe of Cherry Hill NJ. 

We had a full house for the dinner and a great time. There is just too much to write about and I'm not that good of a writer anyway so just take a look at the pictures. 

I'll do individual posts about the different plates has I get them done but this is as far as I go for now.

  

I'll be at Andreotti's on the 18th so come on over and enjoy a great dinner and vote me into the 2nd round.

Chef Wars--Good Food Good Friends

We are taking our own place in the media stream and are participating in the SJHotchefs "Chef Wars".

I'll be competing against Richard Marsh of Andreotti's this Thursday night at Elements. And following that up with a dinner at his place in cherry hill on the 18th of June.

This should be a lot of fun and a seriously good match-up. With Rich's classical background and schooling from the Culinary Institute of America I know we are going to turn some great food.

So wish me good luck.

I'll follow up with some pictures on Friday and hopefully a winning score.

What drives you to succeed?

Our Deepest Fear...

is not that we are inadequate, 
our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. 
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. 
We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?" 
Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God. 
Your playing small does not serve the world. 
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. 
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. 
It is not just in some of us, 
it is in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, 
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. 
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others. 


- Marianne Williamson -

An inspiring quote that makes me think. Does it make you think? 

Why do I do this?

I spend a better part of waking hours thinking about food, thinking about how to make my food better.

For What!

Most people in this industry would give the PC answer of "for the guest".

Sorry, that's just not me. I do it for me. Don't get me wrong, it makes me very happy even proud like a daddy when I go in the dining room and a guest tells me they enjoyed their meal. But at the end of the day I'm my harshest critic.

And don't misunderstand, I want everyone to like it-my food. But....

There have been only two people in my entire life that I actually cared what they thought of my food.

My father is number one and always will be.

For a long time I don't really think he understood what I was going for. But then when I graduated from the Greenbrier and he was able to come down and stay at the hotel, come in the kitchen and see me work, and see my graduation table he got it. I didn't want to be the fry cook at the local restaurant, I wanted more and still do.

The second person is chef Peter Timmons of the Greenbrier Hotel.

After my first year at the hotel Chef Timmons came on board as sous chef of the main kitchen. A position completely beneath him. But I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity and good fortune to work with him for two years. He, more then any other chef, has shaped how I think about working in the kitchen, how I think about food, and how I teach others.

On graduation night, after being up for about 3 days straight we had our graduation dinner. A grand event with my comrades, with wine and food cooked by Chef Timmons himself. After a few glasses of wine, great food, and no sleep I couldn't tell you if this actually happened but I remember it happening so it must have--- Chef Timmons said "you know Fred your a good cook". After 2 years of working with him that is the biggest compliment he ever gave me and a bigger compliment then anyone probably ever will when comes to my job.

That's all I'll ever need. The smile and understanding of my dad and a 7 word sentence from my teacher.

No Class

Yo! Asshole in the dining room right now, you know who you are. We take a lot of pride in ourselfs as restaurant employees and we think it shows in our work.

Don't ever come into my F--ing restaurant again and suggest that "we can share your scraps because your done". We eat better then you do because you have the palate of a 4 old with your well done steak and coke for dinner.

Thanks for your money but next time head to Mcdonalds it's more your speed.

P.S. --Just because your over 60 doesn't mean being a complete ass is ok. You would think that at your age you would have learned some manners by now.