This Kicked Asssssssssss……………
Posted By Michelle on May 17, 2008
It’s not easy to wow food critics at events like this. It’s hard to keep the food that would normally wow at a restaurant, consistent and pleasing for the 300+ people strolling by your table, half knockered from the 500+ bottles of wine they’ve just sampled.
Working conditions are horrible, you have to deal with snotty festival goers, and attempt to create on two butane burners what you would normally do in a full kitchen. It’s hard. Some fail miserably like the Salt Rock Grille’s “chicken” quesadillas (which is hard to screw up, but hey), some try like Shulas grilled porterhouse and bacon wrapped, spinach stuffed prawns, and then some kick so much ass that they leave other vendors tasting like McDonalds.
Enter Vernona at the Ritz-Carlton.
Their offering of a lump crab meat, lobster, mango and POPCORN bisque with a mint relish was phenomenal, sensational, outstanding, perfect, awesome, delicious, addictive…are you getting my point?
The concept of serving heavier soups with Popcorn as a garnish isn’t new, Spain has been doing it for eons, but mixing it in as a component was just plain kick ass.
I spoke with Chef De Cuisine, Greg Howe of Vernona. He said the Popcorn was an accident. One of his Sous’s who spoke limited English accidentally threw the entire bowl of freshly popped corn into the ready bisque, what came of it was similar to how chocolate and foie gras came to be, a heavenly accident.
The bisque was light enough for the humid climate with enough crab and lobster to allow the full flavor explosion. The mint was ever so slight and there was a small heat to the bisque, just enough to want more. I LOVED the their thoughtful manner of serving. Thank you Vernona. Thank you for using Le Creuset pots instead of ugly, kitchen stained gallon tins, thank you for taking the time to search for these bowls that not only looked cool but served as a freshness saver, thank you for caring.
Based on this festival, Vernona and 717 South (Chef Robert Masson) are the big guys. Hats off to both.
Stumble it!
Do I see Le Creuset?
What’s the best place to buy it? We have a large pot and two small ones … I’d love to add a saute pan or something similar to our collection. What’s the best place to buy it? Doggie Dad found the large pot last year at Tuesday Morning. I guess it was a Van Gogh yellow and no one liked it, so it wound up at that place.
Where do you guys and other professionals find your pot and pan deals?
Ross, Marshalls, and Ebay. I’ve bought all of mine from Ebay, but on occassion you can find a Chantal and Le Creuset at Ross and Marshalls, in not so popular colors of course. I’ve got a whole rainbow in my kitchen!