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Category Archives: Chef News

Destination Quebec: A Jewish Food and Drink Road trip with Joseph Howard of Abe Fisher and Steve Wood of Luca Restaurant

Our guests joined us at COOK last night for a delicious and boozy evening with Joseph Howard and Steve Wood as they joined forces to take us on a roadtrip. The duo created six stunning cocktails and five decadent dishes prepared in the spirit of Quebec. Take a look at some photos of the evening!

Our guests were greeted with a Caribou. This traditional warm Canadian beverage was delicious even with yesterday’s unseasonably warm weather. The beverage was comprised of a syrah base with pear eau de vie, walnut liqueur, maple syrup, spices, and garnished with an orange peel.

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To start off our evening, Joe Howard served us grilled oysters with creamed onions, white cheddar, schmaltz bread crumbs, fresh herbs, and caviar. This was paired with Steve’s “Tonique d’ Ouverture” which consisted of Byrhh Grand Quinquina, fino sherry, toasted sesame tonic, and celery soda.

Quebec4Quebec2Joe then demonstrated his process for roasted mushrooms which he then served with bacon jam, herbs, six-minute egg, truffles, and everything spiced bagel. This was served alongside a glass of “Torontian Milk Punch” made with a blend of lemon, pineapple, spices, maple sugar, Jamaican and Trinidadian rums, Canadian Rye whiskey, Fernet Branca, Angostura Bitters, English breakfast tea, and whole milk.

Quebec5Quebec3For the third course, we enjoyed potato latkes plated with duck gravy, foie gras, fried onion, and schmaltz caramelized onion. Steve’s pairing was foie washed dark rum, amontillado sherry, smoked maple syrup, truffle salt, a whole egg and nutmeg.

Quebec6The main event was Duck served with leeks, butternut squash, brown butter, kale , and garlic. To match the richness of this dish, Steve prepared the “Vecchio Amico” which was made with apple brandy, sweet and dry vermouths, Capaletti Vino Aperitivo, Smokey Rabarbaro Amaro, spiced cranberry and bitter orange shrub, smoked saffron, and vanilla bitters.

Quebec7As with any good meal, we ended it with something sweet. Joe served us coffee cake with maple, cinnamon, brown sugar, labne ice cream, and smoked nuts. To go with this, Stebe broke out the blender and whipped up some “Monte and Maple Milkshakes” made with Calvados, Montenegros Amaro, labne and vanilla bean ice cream, maple syrup, whole milk, and maple cotton candy.

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Recipe: Moqueca de Bahia with Health and Wellness Coach Frances Vavloukis

Health and wellness coach Frances Vavloukis made her third appearance in the COOK kitchen earlier this week, and for those of you who have attended her earlier classes, it was NOT what you would expect. Frances, who has prepared recipes from her Greek heritage in the past, decided to switch it up for an evening with some festive Brazilian cuisine in honor of the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics!

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Recipes: Get Boozy with Stateside Urbancraft Vodka Cocktails

A wonderful, boozy time was had this past Friday with Stateside Urbancraft Vodka Co-Founder Bryan Quigley and Bartender Kyle Diraddo. As we sipped on our drinks, Bryan and Kyle shared details on distilling vodka, crafting cocktails, and more importantly, their soon-to-open Federal Distilling Room – a tasting room where you’ll be able to enjoy delicious Stateside Vodka cocktails. At the end of the evening, they were kind enough to leave us with some recipes from the evening. So if you’re looking to shake things up, look below for some vodka-based cocktail recipes straight from the source!

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COOKbook Author Series: “Preserving Italy” with Domenica Marchetti

Cookbook author Domenica Marchetti made a visit to the COOK kitchen this week to share some recipes from her newly published book “Preserving Italy” and trust us- you NEED this book! Her book is filled with all you need to know on preserving, curing, and infusing, the Italian way. Take a look at some of the wonderful dishes she made for us.

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The Art of Phyllo Dough with Frances Vavloukis, Health and Wellness Coach

Frances Vavloukis stopped by our kitchen last Wednesday, March 9th to talk with us about all things Greek.

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Sneak Peek of April at COOK

Above: Bobby Saritsoglou of Opa.

This April, shower yourself with the flavors of spring at COOK! Take a look at the schedule preview below, share with friends and family and then go here promptly TUESDAY, MARCH 8 AT 2PM to purchase your seats!

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Sneak Peek of March at COOK

Above: Yehuda Sichel of Abe Fisher.

Taste a delicious March Madness lineup at COOK! Take a look at the schedule preview below, share with friends and family and then go here promptly THIS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11 AT 2PM to purchase your seats!

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Take me to the River: The 2014 Audi Feastival (in photos)

Last Thursday marked the fifth annual FEASTIVAL: the amazing benefit for FringeArts. For five years now, this premier arts festival has joined forces with Philadelphia’s world-class restaurants to present an event described as a “completely delicious and amazing” evening and named “one of the best events in the last decade”. FEASTIVAL celebrates both our artistic and culinary scenes – two great economic engines that push Philadelphia forward. The evening has been hailed as “the cultural event of the year,” “the best party in Philadelphia,” “a party from a different world” and this year was even better!

For the 2014 “helping”, FEASTIVAL moved a few blocks south along the Delaware River transforming Penn’s Landing (Delaware River Waterfront between Chestnut and Market Streets) into a magical, exclusive and chic party for the hottest movers and shakers in Philadelphia’s business, culinary and social scenes. FEASTIVAL continues to unite Philadelphia’s most distinguished chefs and restaurants with featured live performances from some of the world’s most acclaimed artists. Below are some of our (proud sponsor COOK) favorite photos from the night. Hungry for more? Here is the official 2014 Audi FEASTIVAL photo gallery with tons of cool pics with more on the way (so check back periodically).

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An Afternoon with Ferran Adria

Philadelphia has its share of celebrity chefs, from Jose Garces and Marc Vetri to Jen Carroll and Morimoto. They all deserve a ton of respect and they were all on my list of “chefs I would like to meet” when I came here. But I often wonder is who it is that they consider to be a “celebrity chef”? Who would have Jose Garces saying “wow! I can’t believe I just met _____”.

Well, there is one Chef that I’m sure is on every chef in Philadelphia’s list – and his name is Ferran Adria and if his name or his now closed, Spanish restaurant elBulli doesn’t ring any bells, we are talking about one of the most important figures in the culinary world today!

Recently, your reporter from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy (that’s me) had the pleasure to spend an afternoon following celebrity chef Ferran Adria during his time here at the university.

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Laiskonis Goes Lithuanian at COOK

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Lithuanian cuisine remains one of the more undiscovered European cooking traditions, despite the Baltic nation’s strong agrarian history, burgeoning beer reputation and hunting and fishing culture. Luckily, a handful of influential Americans with Lithuanian ties are working to boost awareness in this country. Last week, COOK hosted Michael Laiskonis, former executive pastry chef of Le Bernardin and current creative director of NYC’s Institute of Culinary Education, for an evening of reinterpreted Lithuanian food.

Brought to town by Krista Bard, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Lithuania, Laiskonis hosted a two-night dinner series in Philly to commemorate Lithuania taking over the presidency of the Council of the European Union. Laiskonis, a Michigan native, has spent the past few years researching and rediscovering his Lithuanian lineage, connecting with family in the country and taking multiple trips there to experience the food first-hand. His five-course menu, which saw him stepping away from his usual pastry-only wheelhouse to tackle savory cooking, as well, showcased traditional Lithuanian flavors in a clever but approachable manner.

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