Evolution Of A Revolution

Restaurant R’evolution: A Look Inside

2012-03-05T10:25:00.000-06:00

While spring is certainly in the air, it’s not the weather that has me excited as we turn the corner into March here in New Orleans. Instead, my excitement surrounds all of the progress we’re making at Restaurant R’evolution. As I’ve mentioned before, a construction project of this size – the full gutting and renovation of the Royal Sonesta Hotel’s former Bienville banquet space – is no small task. But, we’re making steady headway and are eagerly looking forward to the completion of our soon-to-be open Restaurant R’evolution here in the heart of the French Quarter. Over the past few months, I’ve taken some “behind the scenes” photos, to give you a sneak peek at what you can expect when our doors officially open this coming May.

Me with Viking Commercial Sales Manager, Bill Dolan

In the back-of-house, it’s all about equipment. Thanks to the wonderful folks at Viking, we’ve fully installed our comprehensive Viking kitchen suite. The stainless steel is sleek, shiny and we’re ready to get down and dirty cooking in this high-tech, fully-loaded kitchen. Of course, the project wouldn’t be complete without our signature “R’evolution red” color palette. Check out our custom grills.

48” Viking Grill in “R’evolution Red”

For those of you who might not be quite as giddy about ovens, ranges, broilers, and induction units as I am, let me tell you about our dining spaces. Thanks to the magnificent vision of The Johnson Studio in Atlanta, led by Bill Johnson, the space – a reflection of architectural details and comfortable décor of the French Quarter’s grand historic mansions – is beginning to come alive as well.

Here, the addition of cypress ceiling beams adds an authentic Louisiana touch to one of Restaurant R’evolution’s seven distinct dining spaces, each of which borrows the elements of a different room in a traditional Creole mansion.

Ceiling beams are up!

In keeping with the tradition and inspiration drawn from New Orleans’ history, we’re also installing intricately detailed crown molding in our Storyville Parlor.

Ceiling molding “before.” Stay tuned for “after”

While guests feast on seafood gumbo and turtle soup, snapper Napoleon, or pecan-smoked pork shank, we want to engage with them, allowing them to feel the energy and action of the kitchen. For this reason, we’re constructing an expansive open, exposition-style kitchen within our Market Room. We look forward to creating a kitchen-theatre type ambiance in this area of the R’evolution space. In the below image, tile work is nearly complete.

The open expo kitchen gets tiled

In addition to our cuisine, we are very proud to introduce an international wine and spirits program, headed by Molly Wismeier, with an emphasis on the seven nations that originally settled in Louisiana and make up the backbone of Creole cuisine. Thankfully for Molly, the wines that she has been expertly selecting throughout our development process will soon find their permanent home within the 10,000-bottle wine cellar. Guests will have the option to dine in the Wine Cellar, a glass-enclosed, private space surrounded by the comprehensive portfolio of wines available for their choosing.

Wine cellar additions

Cypress wood flooring

In addition to outstanding wine vintages, we’re keen on paying homage to traditional and historic architectural techniques in our Wine Cellar. The beautiful cypress wood flooring we’ve installed recaptures the colonial and Creole Louisiana traditions of utilizing this swamp wood in construction.

It’s been a long road, to be sure, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and we can’t wait to welcome you to Restaurant R’evolution in May. Stay tuned to our blog, Twitter, and Facebook for more updates as we head down the home stretch.

- John

See You at the Gumbo Bowl!

2011-11-04T10:10:00.001-05:00

(Left to right: Steve Zucker, Executive Chef, Aloha Hospitality;
Bob Baumhower, CEO, Aloha Hospitality; Rick Tramonto,
Executive Chef, Restaurant R’evolution; John Folse, Executive Chef,
Restaurant R’evolution, posing with the 300-year-old
cast iron pot they will use to prepare the world’s largest
pot of gumbo)

Tomorrow, sports lovers and foodies will unite for a tailgating extravaganza unlike anything ever seen OR tasted before! And it’s all in the name of charity.

At the wildly anticipated rivalry game between top-ranked Louisiana State University and number-two University of Alabama, Chefs Folse and Tramonto will join culinary forces with long-time friend and football legend Bob Baumhower – founder of the Aloha Hospitality restaurant group – and Aloha Executive Chef Steve Zucker, to present the first-ever LouisiBama Gumbo Bowl, and set the Guinness World Record® for the largest pot of gumbo. Just how big is the 300 year-old cast iron pot that will hold this gigantic gumbo? Picture nearly two tons of Louisiana seafood, and you’ll start to get the idea.

Rivals for more than 100 years, LSU and ‘Bama will set aside the blood lust for a few hours to come together and raise money for Nick's Kids Fund (Alabama Coach Nick Saban’s charity) and Caring Days Adult Day Care (supported by Alabama Athletic Director Mal Moore), two local nonprofit organizations that are working hand-in-hand with the greater Tuscaloosa community to help rebuild homes and recreate services for dependent adults that were hit hard by the tornadoes that ripped through Tuscaloosa on April 27 of this year.

A star-studded roster of special guests – including Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, actress and Alabama alum Sela Ward, and former Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden – will be stopping by throughout the morning to help add ingredients to the simmering pot and give it a stir. After the gumbo is ready and the world record is announced, bowls will be served up to hungry and devoted football fans for $5 each.

If that isn’t enough excitement to get your taste buds hot and bothered, the day’s line-up will also include the Tailgate Cook-off! Four lucky fans each from the LSU and Alabama sides will face off in a culinary battle for gumbo domination. Stakes are high with legends like LSU champ A.J. Duhe, Alabama star Kenny “The Snake” Stabler, and football great Hugh Green judging. Don’t miss it!

We invite you to buy your tickets now at http://gumbobowl2011.ticketbud.com/tornado-relief. They will also be sold on game day at the Gumbo Bowl event, taking place at Ferguson Student Center, near Alabama’s famous Bryant-Denny Stadium.

We’ll be cheering on our top-ranked LSU Tigers (Geaux Tigers!), but whichever team wins the game, with the world’s largest pot of gumbo in the house, we’re pretty sure everyone wins. Hope to see you there!

- John and Rick

It's Been a Long Time Coming

2011-08-30T09:26:00.003-05:00

Demolition and progress

After signing our contract to conceptualize, design and build Restaurant R’evolution at The Royal Sonesta Hotel in New Orleans, Rick and I felt confident that we would be firing up the ranges and wowing guests at Bienville and Bourbon streets by January 2011. Well, as with most, if not all, construction projects, delays are inevitable. Add to the mix that we’re tearing down and building up in the historic French Quarter and you begin to get a glimmer of life these past months. I’m sure Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon could not have been more difficult.

Exposed brick work over doors

For all of you who have been involved in construction projects, whether building a home, expanding a business or revamping a summer getaway, you know the challenges and delays in the world of construction. It’s easy to analyze the process after the fact, but not as easy while going through the experience. From owners and designers to purveyors and marketing specialists, there are a lot of moving parts and different entities who ultimately bring the project to fruition. Yes, construction is no “I Dream of Jeannie” moment where fingers are snapped and all is completed within seconds in perfect fashion, smiles radiating from every face. But, all’s well that end’s well and we are moving forward and with great exuberance as R’evolution rises from the slab.

7 months 'til delivery

Now, we’re entering the exciting phase of construction. The equipment we’ve talked about for months, the rooms we’ve envisioned in our minds and seen as renderings on large-sheets of paper; everything is now tangible and touchable. We’re still in our first trimester, but we’re only 7 months from delivery. The new opening date is hovering around March 1, 2012. This is just after Mardi Gras and about 8 weeks before Jazz Fest, a great time to be in NOLA. But, don’t mark your calendars yet! The date could be sooner, but we can say with confidence that it certainly won’t be later.

One of the highlights of working on a project like Restaurant R’evolution is the architect and designer. Bill Johnson, of The Johnson Studio in Atlanta, has designed more than 500 of the best known restaurants in the business, both nationally and internationally. It’s amazing to see just how passionate he is about his work when he walks into the space. Our contractors and builders have taken his incredible design and are working diligently to breathe life into the concept.

Understanding the vision!

The entire Sonesta organization, from the Sonnabend family in Boston to Royal Sonesta Hotel President Al Groos in New Orleans and his team, could not be more supportive, and like us, are eager for the opening night! Our growing restaurant team is just as excited to fire up the stoves, set the tables, decant the wine and open the doors to welcome guests.

Under way!

Rick pulls up a seat in Bar R'evolution

So, stay tuned! And visit the blog often, because from now until opening night, R’evolution will come to life before your eyes.

- John

Tramonto's Game Changer

2011-07-21T09:41:00.022-05:00

Operation H.O.T. Trailer from Christopher Shepherd Films on Vimeo.

Restaurant R'evolution recently had the great blessing to be part of a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I traveled, along with Chef Fred Heurtin of Chef John Folse & Company, to the Bagram Airfield military base in northeastern Afghanistan, as part of Operation H.O.T. (Honoring Our Troops), a large-scale show and dinner for 5,000 U.S. Army and Air Force troops.

Going into an active war zone was never on my personal bucket list. Operation H.O.T. was the brainchild of Chef Charles Carroll of River Oaks Country Club in Houston, who is a close friend of both John's and mine. We've known each other for years because he invited me to participate in the annual culinary events held at the club. Charles is an incredibly special person -- a motivational speaker and author in addition to being a well-respected chef -- and he had wanted to do something to give back to our troops, ever since John invited him to go to Afghanistan a few years back to feed the troops. That trip unfortunately fell through, but ever since, it remained in the back of his mind. A year ago, Charles was having a beer with his friend Chief David Longstaff, a high-ranking Army official, and he was telling him this pipe dream, and he said he could help make it happen, as he is in charge of all the food that gets delivered to the troops in the Middle East bases.

One member of River Oaks, and a very good friend of Charles's, is Joanne King Herring. Joanne is a passionate civilian activist who has worked for decades to improve conditions for our troops abroad and to create change in war-torn areas through providing services and education. She was protrayed by Julia Roberts in the movie "Charlie Wilson's War," and also offered a lot of support and enthusiasm to make the trip happen.

Rick Moonen and me in our body armor

So, after an event that Charles and I did together last year, he began calling people and asking them what their interest was in putting together an old-school, USO-style event with performers, a special "taste of home" meal, and video messages for the troops. For part of the show, he wanted to integrate an "Iron Chef"-style cooking competition, so he called Chef Rick Moonen and me. We were both hesitant at first, but with some time and consideration, I finally decided that not only was it possible, but that I had to do it. Because I’m not a child of war, I’ve never been directly affected by war the way that so many Americans have, so I really didn’t have the appreciation for what it's all about. I knew that for me, going to Afghanisgan would be an eye-opening, game-changing experience. If only I could have realized just how much so.

The trip was over a year in the making, with Charles and his assistant, Hilmi Ahmad, working on it seven days a week for the final six months. It took that long just to obtain the necessary level of military security and clearance, coordinate the logistics and paperwork, and raise the $178,000 it took to make it happen. The idea was to bring a taste of home to the troops. We would be cooking for 5,000 troops of a base of 30,000 – the rest were all in active duty while we were there. Charles’s vision was to give them 5 or 6 hours off to feel like they were at home. Many of the troops came from the South – Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas – so we thought we’d do a taste of the South with BBQ, gumbo, étouffée, the whole works.

We all flew into D.C. from various parts of the U.S., and we had a debriefing with Chief Longstaff. He was our leader, so he flew in to escort us from Washington to Kuwait, where we spent six hours in a barracks, changed into the body armor and helmets we'd wear for the rest of the journey, and then hopped on board a cargo plane from Kuwait to Bagram. We had to fly in the middle of the night for security reasons, sitting in jump seats around the sides of the cargo plane, with tanks and Humvees in the center. There were no bathrooms, no drinks, nothing for six and a half hours. All told, it took us two and a half days to get from the U.S. to the base in Afghanistan that would be our home for the next three days.

When we finally arrived, we showered, ate, and started prepping. John's manufacturing company air freighted tons of donated food over for the event, and there was Gulf seafood that was donated by the Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board. It was incredible to see how they provide food to serve 30,000 troops every day. There are contractors there who handle the cooking, and literally miles of refrigerated storage. It made me glad to see that these guys are fed really well, with hearty meals, fresh fruit, and even a salad bar.

So when we go there we got all set up for the show. The tour production company putting the show together had shipped all of their gear there, and they were all setting up their stage. There were comedians, impersonators, magicians, a hypnotist, and even a U2 cover band to make it feel like a big festival. Rick's and my "Iron Chef"-style cook-off would be just part of an 8-hour show designed to bring a piece of home to the troops and take their minds off of battlefield life for a brief window of time.

The "Iron Chef" battle between Rick Moonen and me

The theme for our "Iron Chef" battle was “Battle MRE,” which refers to the dehydrated food packs (Meals Ready to Eat) that the troops take into combat with them. We had to use the MRE packs as part of our recipes. We did a 60-second “quick-fire” challenge with Gulf seafood. Then we got interviewed and went into the battle itself. I made a crab pasta, incorporating the spice packets and the beans from the chili with beans from the MRE pack in the pasta. The troops were so enthusiastic about the battle, cheering us on. It was so much fun.

Joanne King Herring with Julia Roberts
(Photo credit: joanneherring.com)

Charles had gotten video messages recorded by every living president, as well as several celebrities (including Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, of "Charlie Wilson's War"), all thanking the troops for their sacrifices in defense of the country. Those videos were screened between the various show acts, and you could see how much they meant to the troops. The first message, which Charles played to open the show, was from Joanne King Herring herself. He wanted to show the troops that there are civilians back home working on their cause, too. He introduced her as the hardest-working civilian for the military. As I write this, there are shovels down in Afghanistan due to her efforts, and they’re building the first self-sustaining village in the country, with food, water, jobs, and medical care. She’s been the one driving that project from day one – a mission to fight the war without guns. The village is being built with the help of the Navy and Marines, and if this takes off, then the government will throw its support behind it and help it grow. It was clear how touched the troops were. They even recorded a video message back to Joanne, yelling "We love you, Joanne!"

Charles also brought gifts for the troops -- everything from candy, t-shirts, knives, and suntan lotion, to these beautiful white polished rocks in leather bags. The rocks were meant to serve as a symbol of solidarity with people back home. Charles gave a wonderful speech about how these rocks came with love and prayers from home and were meant as a source of support and memories. He wanted them to signify this special day long after we were gone.

Signing the missile on an F-16.

There were enough poignant and unforgettable moments to fill 10 blog posts, but I'll just mention a few. We had the chance to visit a military hospital, where they treat the soldiers who do all of the F-16 fighter plane runs, and met soldiers who had been injured in battle. We saw the war room where the generals met to plan the Bin Laden assassination. We stood on the flight lines with the F-16s and wrote on the missiles, which is a military tradition. We were presented with an American flag by two soldiers who had flown it in battle for us. We learned through first-hand experience that for every soldier who falls in battle, everyone on the base goes out to the main road and stands at attention as the bodies are loaded into planes and flown home.

The Operation H.O.T. team in our body armor

I initially had misgivings about this trip, but by the time we all got home, the only thing every single person said was, “When can we go back?” It was life-changing for all of us. A few days after our return was when President Obama began to announce the pull-out of some of the troops from Afghanistan, and so everyone is saying we should go to Iraq if there are still troops in Iraq next year. We’re hoping that the two-hour movie that filmmaker Christopher Shepherd shot of the trip will be a tool we can use to help raise the funds to do it again. We’ll be screening it at River Oaks on August 8 for everyone who took part in the trip, plus the donors who put up the money and helped us get there. Everyone will tell you that this show was different from any other show that's ever been undertaken at a military base abroad. We were there for three days, immersing with them and getting involved in the culture of the base. We really wanted to make a difference in their lives, not just put on a show. I hope we succeeded. All I know is that this trip changed the game for me, forever.

God bless.

- Rick

A R'evolutionary Experience

2011-06-07T10:50:00.002-05:00

On Saturday, May 28, chefs John Folse and Rick Tramonto, along with Director of Wine & Spirits Molly Wismeier, led a seminar on "R'evolutionary Thinking" at the New Orleans Food & Wine Experience, where they previewed the food and wine programs for Restaurant R'evolution.

If you weren't able to be there in person, scroll down for a taste of the seminar in photos from our friend Huge Galdones of Galdones Photography, and check out our Facebook page for an exclusive video of the chefs' cooking demo!

Chef John Folse, Director of Wine & Spirits Molly Wismeier, and Chef Rick Tramonto
Credit: http://www.galdonesphotography.com/

Credit: www.galdonesphotography.com

Wine tastings lined up, ready for guests
Credit: www.galdonesphotography.com

The team talks about R'evolutionizing Creole cuisine and takes questions from the audience.
Credit: www.galdonesphotography.com

The audience got to taste an alligator sauce piquante, a duo of Cajun hogs head cheese and Creole daube glace, and a chocolate cake made with Abita Turbo Dog beer
Credit: www.galdonesphotography.com

Chef Tramonto demos corn and crab bisque
Credit: www.galdonesphotography.com

Chef Folse talks with the audience while Chef Tramonto demos corn and crab bisque
with crab salad, shaved truffles, and dehydrated corn powder
Credit: www.galdonesphotography.com

Come Hell or High Water

2011-05-17T09:56:00.001-05:00

"The Gulf is on fire!"

Just over a year ago, Louisianians were awakened with shouts of, “The Gulf is on fire!” The Deepwater Horizon, a drilling rig managed by British Petroleum, had exploded, killing many and opening the door to a disaster that would tarnish our shores and seafood industry for years to come. The only question was how bad it would really be.

A shrimping village

As millions upon millions of gallons of crude oil poured into the saltwater of the Gulf of Mexico, fishing vessels and the communities that supported them with labor, fuel and fixtures lay dormant along the coastline. Fishing families who for generations had made a living cruising these waters for shellfish, oysters and finfish were now viewing the Deepwater Horizon as their greatest enemy. Their industry and livelihoods were being decimated before their eyes and very little would change for the next year. As seafood seasons came and went, more than 50% of an industry valued at $2.4 million evaporated from the Gulf waters.

Chef Folse watches the river rise

Recently, as government officials remembered the one year anniversary of the disaster and 75% of the fishing community was back at their task, 30% of Louisiana fishing families were still out of work. Luckily, there was hope in the immediate future. In April 2011 a new fishing cycle began.The inside shrimp season opened allowing fishermen to trawl up to three miles into the Gulf. Shortly thereafter, the offshore industry with its higher priced white shrimp opened and hope reigned on the Gulf waters. During the early days of May, finfish prices and supply were rising while blue crab were plentiful and prices stable. Oysters were the only fishery still off by 50%. Overall, things were looking good.

However, with rising hopes came the rising waters of the Mississippi, Atchafalaya and Red rivers. When the snow melts up North, the rushing water heads South, testing the Mississippi levee system, which is one of the largest in the world. It comprises more than 3,500 miles of levees extending some 620 miles along the river. In 2011, Louisiana and other states along the Mississippi’s course will set high-water records and shatter 100-year floodplain predictions. Already, small river villages are drowning in the abundant waters of Big Muddy. To protect the city of New Orleans from impending floodwaters, the man-made spillways protecting the Crescent City were opened, diverting water away from the city and toward Lake Pontchartrain and the Atchafalaya Basin.

Opening of Bonnet Carre Spillway outside New Orleans
Credit: Ted Jackson, Times-Picayune Archive

Eventually, this freshwater will empty into the Gulf, diluting the saltwater so vital to the growth and quality of shellfish and finfish. This freshwater intrusion pushes the species farther into the Gulf to seek the saltwater needed for survival. In doing so, they become more difficult to catch and more fuel is expended to reach their new locations. What was beginning to look like a prosperous year for Louisiana and her fishermen is now uncertain, and Louisiana’s fishermen and small hamlets are in peril once again. The only silver lining is that the Mississippi’s intrusion into the swamplands will assure abundant supplies of crawfish to waterlogged citizens, hotels, restaurants and markets. Louisianians by nature are resilient, bouncing back from adversity time and again. How much more can younger fishing families take both financially and emotionally? They are simply not used to starting over again and again as their parents and grandparents did. Is their love for this lifestyle enough to bring them back? Only time will tell.

The Maestro: General Manager G. Muhammad Salahuddin

2011-05-06T09:41:00.000-05:00

G. Muhammad Salahuddin

G. Muhammad Salahuddin started his career in one of the most unlikely of places: A lab at Northwestern Medical Center. When the funding on one of his projects stalled, Salahuddin began looking for other opportunities. As it turns out, the alternative to working in the lab became both Salahuddin’s passion and career.

His initial positions in the hospitality industry were under the umbrella of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, in Chicago, for whom Salahuddin worked for nine years. He held a variety of positions, including general manager of The Eccentric and Big Bowl Café and a seafood purchasing manager. With this solid foundation, Salahuddin went on to work as a general manager for a variety of major restaurants and restaurant groups, including Brasserie T, Cornerstone Restaurant Group, and Brinker International.

Salahuddin joined Cenitare Restaurants as chief operating officer in 2006, where, he supervised daily operations of multiple restaurants, as he worked with designers and contractors to open new locations. Following his work with Cenitare, Salahuddin worked for a year as a consultant in the restaurant industry.

In 2010, he was approached by chefs John Folse and Rick Tramonto with an opportunity to come on board as the general manager of Restaurant R’evolution The chance to work in a new environment on a unique concept was part of the appeal for Salahuddin, who brings more than two decades of management experience to the position. Below, Salahuddin offers his insight on hospitality and running a successful restaurant.

How are you preparing for the restaurant’s opening?
The opening isn’t till this fall, so in the meantime I’m doing what I like to call “window-shopping”. I go out to eat all the time so I can study restaurants, and scout for talent. I’m looking for the right cast for the restaurant. When I have a great dining experience, I remember the members of the staff that made that happen.

Having the right team in place is important. The most challenging thing about my job is also the most important, and that’s bringing together the right team of people. There are some things you can’t teach servers; they have to have “it”. Technical abilities can be taught, but manners and niceties cannot.
I’ve always been very involved with the training of staff members so I’m also in the process of developing staff training manuals. I believe in the on-going training of staff, whether you’ve been with the company for just a week or three years. My goal is to have a team that is educated about the food they’re serving, so they’re comfortable in the product they’re selling. I think for some guests, having a server that’s knowledgeable about the menu is like a sigh of relief.

Sample cutlery

Once the restaurant is open, what will your typical day look like?
My job is to come in every morning and set the restaurant up for success. During lunch is when I’ll go and make friends. I’ll help seat the guests, pull out their chairs, and try to develop a conversation. The walk from the entrance to the dinner table gives me a chance to put guests at ease and subsequently create a relationship. A lot of what we do in the service industry is based around building relationships.

Can you tell us about the importance of building a relationship with your guests?
Obviously in the restaurant business, it’s all about the food. However, it’s the overall dining experience that affects a guest’s perception of the restaurant. Sometimes my first interaction with guests occurs when they have a problem or they have a question about the restaurant. I look at a perceived problem as an opportunity to take what could have been a poor experience into a “Wow!” experience for the guest. My goal is that every guest leave happy. No exceptions, not ever.

For instance, if a guest doesn’t like their dish, they should switch it. We’d be happy to bring you something else. I would rather bring the guest a new dish, versus someone eating something they didn’t like and having it ruin their dining experience.

When an issue arises, I take the time to connect with the guest, and help them in whatever way I can. It means a lot to people when there’s a real person they can connect with at the restaurant. I look forward to being that person guests can talk to, because often these are the people that become regulars and have a sense of ownership for the restaurant.

What drew you to this restaurant?

One of the reasons I wanted to be a part of this project is because it’s such a unique concept, from the stature of the chefs to what they’re trying to accomplish with the menu. It was something I had to be a part of. I believe that their take or reinterpretation of Creole cuisine will introduce the food genre to more people. Creole cuisine is one of those food genres that isn’t as commonly experienced as say, Italian food. I don’t think that there are many people outside of Louisiana who have had the opportunity to experience the richness of authentic Creole dishes. The restaurant is going to the give the genre a national visibility.

How will the menu affect how you manage the restaurant?
One of the most important facets of my job is to immerse myself in the culture of New Orleans and Creole/Cajun history so I can pass that knowledge on to the staff. Before I began working with the R’evolution culinary team, I didn’t know Cajun and Creole cuisine that well. I’m fortunate to be able to work with John Folse, who has taught me so much about the rich culinary history of Louisiana culture and the food that stems from it. Incorporating that into the training is very important to me.

The entire restaurant stems from the menu the Chefs have created. My job is to translate the passion that went into creating the food and weave that into the other parts of the experience. We want the servers to love the food and be proud of what they’re presenting.

A preview of R'evolution's table

On a personal note, how do you like living in New Orleans? Was it difficult to move from Chicago?
I moved here in October, and it’s not like any place I’ve lived before. There’s a great warmth to the people here. There is less of a sense of rushing through life, more of a “let the good times roll” attitude, and I think that consequently they seem to enjoy life more. The people here are genuinely hospitable, they make you feel comfortable. It made the transition here much easier for me.

Naturally, I had some trepidation at first about being in a new place. But when it was time for Mardi Gras, I made a decision to really throw myself into the mix. I went to Bourbon Street and took photos of everything I saw. I really got into the classic, New Orleans experience and had a great time. Ever since then, I feel very comfortable, and at home.

Drink and Be Merry: Director of Wine and Spirits Molly Wismeier

2011-04-11T09:08:00.001-05:00

Director of Wine and Spirits
Molly Wismeier

Molly Wismeier’s spirited path starts with a love of the Russian language, which she studied at the University of Iowa before taking a job as a translator in Denver. It was there that she began working with her first wine lists, as a sommelier at Enoteca Wine Bar.

“In a lot of ways, working with wines and spirits encompasses things I am passionate about: history, culture, languages,” Molly explains. “Wine itself is a language, and working in a restaurant with guests, I am, in many ways, a translator. I help them understand and choose the wines that are right for them.”

In 2002 she relocated to Chicago and after stints at Cru Café and Ambria, Molly successfully completed her introductory exam from the Court of Master Sommeliers in 2004. From there she went on to work at the world-renowned Charlie Trotter’s, before joining the team at Epic restaurant, where she helped propel the restaurant to local and national acclaim.

When chefs John Folse and Rick Tramonto approached her with to work with them on Restaurant R’evolution and move to New Orleans, it was an opportunity she could not pass up. “New Orleans is an epicenter for food, wine, art, and so much more,” she notes. “It embodies the best of all the things I love in one place.”

In her new role, Wismeier focuses on maintaining a world-class selection of wines from around the world, with an emphasis on the seven nations that originally settled Louisiana and make up the backbone of what has become known as Creole cuisine. She is also in charge of the mixology and beer programs for the restaurant, and has recently been working with Chefs Folse, Tramonto, Denton, and Kimball to develop the beverage program for Bar R’evolution. Below, she offers a sneak peek at what’s to come.

Can you give us a preview of Restaurant R’evolution’s cocktail program?
The foundation of Bar R’evolution will be pre-Prohibition mixology, with a chef-like philosophy. We’re going to approach the bar like a kitchen, creating the cocktails like a chef creates a dish. We’re using fresh and local ingredients and really focusing on the components of the cocktail – texture, acidity, sweetness, fruit components, body, and balance.

The menu focus will be on classic cocktails. For example, our Sazerac will incorporate the best rye whiskey and the best ingredients we can source locally. The pre-Prohibition theme is really our inspiration but we’re going to be interpretive with our cocktails. We’ll have a sling that will use local ingredients, and our signature punch will be made with Hum liqueur, made by (sommelier and renowned mixologist) Adam Seger in Chicago.

A rendering of Bar R'evolution

What would you say is one of the more overlooked elements of mixology?

The type of ice you use. Depending on the liquor in your drink, the ice needs to be the right shape and density to control the rate of melting. The denser your ice is, the slower the ice will melt and the purer the cocktail will remain. We’ll have specific shapes of ice to match the cocktails we’ll be mixing.

What is going to set your bar team apart from other restaurant mixologists and bartenders?
Our goal is to create a bar where people will want to come and visit our bartenders. All of our bartenders and servers will be very well trained in the cocktails of pre-Prohibition. They’ll kind of act like a sommelier at the dinner table, talking to the diner about what they’re in the mood for then guiding them to a drink recommendation, based on their preferences. It’s more than just taking someone’s order and bringing them a drink. Our service will be more interactive and customized. Of course, you’ll still be able to come in and order a rum and Coke if that’s what you want.

Switching gears a little, what can you tell us about the wine program at R’evolution?
To start, we’re going to have an extensive wine by the glass program. We’re focusing on choosing wonderful wines that are going to pair well with all of the different courses and the small plates in the bar, yet still represent the wines people want to drink right now. We’re featuring refreshing whites from South Africa, Portugal and Greece. Guests can also find some classics from Alsace, Bordeaux and Burgundy. We may get to pour some rarer wines by the glass, so the prices will range from $7 to $45 a glass, depending on how rare the wine.

When we open, we’ll also offer some selections from magnums. The pricing will be very reasonable and the experience memorable. Wine ages much more slowly in magnums, so when you taste wine from a magnum it’s a special thing. We’ll probably always have one glass from a magnum that will rotate depending on what we can source.

I’m also really excited that we’ll be able to offer people quite a bit of older, approachable California wines, like a 1974 Heitz, for a reasonable price. We’ll be sourcing some exciting wines that will go really well with the cuisine. The food is going to be so wonderful– there are so many different flavors in each dish. Pairing each with different wines has been very interesting and exciting for me.

Wine Room Rendering

Was it a challenge pairing wine with Creole/Cajun food?
There are quite a lot of pronounced flavors in Creole food, so you need wines that can stand up to those assertive flavors. There’s a lot cream and butter in the dishes, a lot of texture and spice involved. We're looking into pairing dishes with Alsatian, German and Slovenian wines. We’re thinking about Cru Beaujolais (Gamay grape) that pairs well with the cuisine and drinks a lot like Pinot Noir.

What other aspects of the program are you excited about?We’re going to be serving local beers, from NOLA Brewery and a line of Abita beers, along with Heiner Brau, which comes from German brewmaster, Henryk Reiner Orlik out of Covington, LA.

We’re also growing fruit and herbs at Chef Folse’s White Oak Plantation to make homemade bitters and ratafias. Another fun element is we’re designing cocktail and beer progressions for pairing with food, so if people come in and want a progression of dishes from the regular menu or the small plates bar menu, they can match cocktails, wine or beer with their meal.

Bringing a Bite to the Big Apple…Swamp-Style

2011-04-07T13:43:00.001-05:00

Chef Folse and The "Taste of the Bayou" Food Truck

I have been amazed at the huge success of Swamp People. Whether I’m talking to folks from Canada or Illinois, their first comment is about the program and how much they love it. I was approached a few weeks ago about going to New York City to promote the second season premiere of the program. Of course, I said “yes,” grabbed my camouflage chef jacket and headed north. My task: serving swamp delicacies to New Yorkers from the History® channel’s “Taste of the Bayou” food truck.

Crowds gathered to sample the swampland delicacies

The experience was a remarkable celebration of Louisiana cuisine and swampland culture. I climbed aboard our “swamp on wheels” and started dishing out alligator sauce piquante, mallard duck and smoked wild boar sausage gumbo, Louisiana red beans and rice with smoked nutria sausage, Louisiana crawfish étouffée, venison jambalaya and fricassee of swamp rabbit. I have to hand-it to New Yorkers. They were amazingly game to taste anything from the swampland of Louisiana. Over the four-day promotion (March 28 – 31) more than 13,000 free servings were handed out from the “Taste of the Bayou” food truck at prominent locations near Grand Central Station, Bryant Park, Penn Station, the Financial District, the Port Authority, Union Square and Chelsea.

I also had the opportunity to serve at a number of private tastings for executives of A&E Television Networks, Time Warner, Universal McCann, Initiative, Mindshare, Targeteast and ZenithOptimedia. I can assure you, these board rooms were a long way from the bayou.

Beware of Gator

I was thrilled to help promote the second season of Swamp People. The program was the best original series premiere ever on History® and ranked number one in its time period versus all television across key male and adult demographics. The second season premiered last week and can be seen every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT. Swamp People is drawing so much interest nationally and internationally that it’s quickly becoming a fabulous way to recruit visitors to Louisiana. So, come on down, get a taste of the bayou, and soon, you can eat with us, too, at Restaurant R’evolution. What? Of course, gator is on the menu!

Setting the Bar

2011-03-28T19:26:00.001-05:00

Assietes of crudo for the Restaurant R'evolution bar

We’re in the midst of formulating the cocktail and food programs for Restaurant R'evolution's bar. We’re tentatively calling it “Bar R’evolution” – what do you think? We’re in what I call “think tank mode” right now, generating and polishing up our ideas, which we’ll present to the team in tastings next month. The bar menu will offer seasonal, market-driven cocktails with a pre-Prohibition theme, great wines by the glass, artisan beers, and its own food menu. Molly Wismeier, our director of wine and spirits, has been working closely with us to develop the beverage side, and she‘s going to give you a little sneak preview of that this week.

Andouille black sea salt potato chips for the R'evolution bar

My focus, with John and our chef Jody Denton, has been on the food, which will include small plates, crudos, and salumi. Think playful. Things like house made potato chips with black sea salt flavored with andouille sausage, assietes of crudo, our own spins on some classic NOLA dishes like crawfish balls and a pot de crème that’s infused with all of the flavors of a traditional crab boil. We’re really playing with the flavors of New Orleans in fun new ways that we think will be appealing with the drinks that Molly is concocting.

Smoked sea trout panzanella for R'evolution bar

On a more personal note, something has been on my mind recently during this bar-focused piece of the process that I want to share. I’ve been thinking about how I approach the bar as someone who has struggled with addiction in my past. Maybe it’s because this chapter of the restaurant development process has fortuitously aligned with the release of my memoir, Scars of a Chef, which openly shares some of the struggles I’ve had with addiction in my life. It’s been a really important part of my evolution as a chef to realize that I can treat wine and spirits like food. It’s about tasting and appreciating, not consuming. Nowadays when I taste wine or spirits, I’m not tempted to overdo it the way I was tempted by drugs and these things in my youth. It’s not a battle anymore. But then again, I also know that I can’t sit there and taste ten cocktails in a row either. I have a very healthy respect for my sobriety, so I’m very aware and cognizant of my limits.

Another important lesson I’ve learned is that I’m better off leaving most of this piece of the puzzle to others. I’m all about the food part of it, understanding what the flavor profiles need to be in order to match up well with the wine and the cocktails. But at the end of the day, I leave a lot of the beverage piece itself to the experts, like Molly. And with someone as talented as her in charge, I know we’re in good hands. Again, watch for more on the drinks from Molly this week.

- Rick

The Courir de Mardi Gras

2011-03-16T09:34:00.000-05:00

Courir de Mardi Gras costumes

When folks hear Louisiana Mardi Gras, thoughts automatically run to Bourbon Street, beads and bawdy behavior. Many don’t realize that there is another Louisiana Mardi Gras, a country Mardi Gras, that is only found in the rural communities of Acadiana.

The Courir de Mardi Gras, literally the “running of the Mardi Gras,” is still celebrated in rural South Louisiana, but is a far cry from what most people associate with Mardi Gras and Carnival. While the principle is the same, a last day of mischief and revelry before Lent, pageantry and balls are replaced by parody and pranksters.

Once a part of pre-Lenten festivities in most French parts of Louisiana in the 19th century, the Courir de Mardi Gras has ancient roots dating back to medieval rites of passage. During the festivities, a band of revelers don strange disguises and elaborate masks while taking to their horses. Riding wildly through the countryside, they go from farm to farm and beg for chickens or other ingredients for the communal pot of gumbo. They often sing loudly or play pranks until the farmer or homeowner produces something for the pot, usually a live chicken that must be caught. While each band includes an unmasked capitaine to keep the peace, the celebration is still a raucous one.

The tradition was all but forgotten in many parts of Louisiana, but in the mid-20th century it began to make a comeback both in an effort to preserve the Cajun culture and as an alternative to the huge crowds of tourists that descend on New Orleans. Mamou, Eunice, Church Point and a handful of other rural communities feature a Courir de Mardi Gras in the week or so prior to Lent. Always featured is a surplus of chicken and sausage gumbo, music and fun.

Fishing in Cajun Country

2011-03-07T13:16:00.007-06:00

Fishing on the Mississippi River

I'm American by birth, but Cajun by the grace of God. To be born and reared in the heart of South Louisiana’s Cajun Country is indeed a gift. There is absolutely no better time to live in Louisiana than in the spring. Louisiana turns bright green come February when most of the rest of the country is dismal grey or covered in snow. Along with the warm days of late February and the guaranteed 85-degree temperatures of March, it’s time to go fishin’.

John Folse with sibilings in the late 1950's
(back row, fourth from left
next to his father Mr. Royley Folse)

You see, each spring the snows melt in the northern part of the United States and the Mississippi River fills and flows south, bringing along with it miles of driftwood and tons of freshwater fish. It was during the “June Rise” (that’s what we called the northern snow melt) that Cajun Boys growing up on the River Road gained a mastery of fishing the waters of the mighty Mississippi, which lapped at our front steps. The Mississippi River overflowed its banks into the batture creating bar pits and ponds held back from our home by the 20-foot high levee system that had been revamped after the flood of 1927.

Catfsiherman Butch Smith

These bar pits, filled with spoonbill cats, channel cats, garfish, gaspergou and sweet Mississippi River shrimp, were not only our playground, but were also the origin of our entrepreneurial spirit. It was our father and grandfathers who lived along the River Road who taught us the art of hanging a drop line inconspicuously from a willow branch and how to string and bait a catfish line that spanned the length or width of the bar pit. But, one thing was for sure. Every morning at 6:30 and every afternoon after school at 4, each hook had a fish. Not only did we have supper, but a few dollars in our pocket from the sale of our bounty. Yes, we were fishermen.

Carp

The fish that lived in the bayous and swamps were another story. They were not necessarily our first choice for eating. In the late spring and summer, algae cover the surface of the water and fish living there eat the algae, giving its flesh an earthy or “off” flavor.

Although we spent many hours fishing for choupique, carp or buffalo fish, and alligator gar they were mainly used as bait. Sometimes, we sold them for 25 to 50 cents, depending on size, to the plantation workers in the area. Many times, though, the garfish meat was smoked at our family camp and put into a stew or soup to replace smoked pork sausage; after all, we Cajuns love smoke flavor in our food. From time to time when other fish were scarce, we would grind the coarse, tough meat of the choupique to make boulettes, which were flavored with the trinity, lots of garlic and cooked in spicy, red or brown gravy. The buffalo fish brought in anywhere from 50 to 75 cents and was a first choice fish for the African-American workers on the plantation. Yes, indeed, the swamp created young entrepreneurs out of the Folse boys, and when considering the live frogs that were sold to biology labs, we were global fishermen.

Crawfisherman Gerard Perry

I almost hate to admit though that we weren’t big fish eaters. Living in rural St. James Parish our swamp-floor pantry yielded big game, small game, game birds and crustaceans that were more often consumed than fish on our dining table. Two seafoods were critical for our diet and were most often found in our cast iron pots: crawfish (photo 9) and channel catfish. Although crawfish did not become popular fare for the Louisiana table until the late 1950s, our humble, Cajun cabin certainly considered it a delicacy. In fact, we ate Crawfish Bisque for Easter Sunday; Daddy’s River Road Crawfish Stew for Mother’s Day; and late in the summer, boiled crawfish with corn and potatoes were a common occurrence. Yes, crawfish was fare for our holiday table. And, with nearly 1,000 acres of swampland at our backdoor, crawfish were plentiful and easy to catch with a few set nets and a chicken neck for bait. As crawfish became popular and peeled crawfish tails found their way into grocery stores, crawfishing became another of our money-making ventures.

Jay Folse with 103 lb catfish

The large, channel cat caught on drop lines in the Mississippi was Daddy’s first choice for a courtbouillon. His recipe for this fish stew is legendary in our family. To make a courtbouillon any other way would be sacrilegious. Daddy used the whole fish, head and skin on. He said the head and skin were important because they added that wonderful, gelatinous texture to the stew. Daddy removed the gills and whiskers from the catfish and then, with a Brillo® pad in hand, scrubbed the whole fish under running water from the cistern. The slime that protected the fish’s skin had to be removed, and there was nothing better than Brillo® for this task. Daddy also claimed that the skin kept the tender meat from falling apart during the two- to three-hour cooking process. Yes, it was crawfish and catfish in our house.

Cabanocey Plantation

As I look back on my youth so many years later, I realize what a great gift God gave to the Folse family by placing us on that small piece of land in St. James Parish, strategically located between the river and the swamp on Cabanocey Plantation. At the same time, He gave us a bonus. He made us Cajun. Today, our lifestyle is known worldwide for its cuisine and culture. With three great growing seasons, a semi-tropical climate, the freshwater of the Mississippi River, the lush swamp floor abundant with game and wild seasonings, the brackish waters where the salty Gulf meets the freshwater rivers, and lakes with names such as Pontchartrain, Maurepas, Bruin, Caddo and Toledo teeming with seafood and shellfish, how could anyone think of us as anything but Blessed. And, coming from our Catholic French background, we also realize our obligation to share our good fortune with the world

R'evolution on the Road: Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival

2011-03-03T17:04:00.000-06:00

Last weekend was the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, which Food Network puts on. I was honored to be asked to participate for the fourth year, this time representing Restaurant R’evolution for the first time. In my opinion, South Beach is one of the best food and wine events in the country, so it was great to get Restaurant R’evolution out there on a national level. We passed out a lot of information about the restaurant, and people seemed excited, which is always fun to see.

Michael Symon at Burger Bash. Credit: SOBEFest.com

Jody (my chef de cuisine) and I arrived on Thursday morning, and the fun kicked off that night at Rachael Ray’s Burger Bash. This is the biggest and most anticipated party of weekend, where 40-some nationally acclaimed chefs compete for best burger. There were around 3,000 people there, and the wait to get in had to be almost 2 hours long at times. But the burgers were amazing. Iron Chef Michael Symon, the defending champion from last year, once again took home the coveted People’s Choice prize, and Marc Murphy of New York’s Landmarc won the Judge’s Choice award. View photos from the event here.

Friday was when the food and wine stuff – seminars, demos, tastings – started. Danny Meyer did a great Shake Shack seminar. There were wine seminars and tastings, and demos on this huge main stage tent they have set up on the beach with audiences in the hundreds.

Bobby Flay and Michael Symon at Bubble Q.
Credit: SOBEFest.com

Friday night was Bubble Q, Bobby Flay’s event that’s all about Champagne and BBQ. There were huge, elaborate ice carvings and outdoor grills and smokers. Rick Bayless was there doing these great tacos. The nice thing about South Beach is that all of the celebrity chefs actually come themselves, and they get to bring four people to help them (and most of them usually have at least 4 more), so the chefs actually get to greet guests themselves, pass out food and take pictures. It can make the lines pretty long, but it’s great that people get the chance to meet their favorite chefs. Each night, there were big stages with live music. One night it was KC and the Sunshine Band, and other nights there were famous DJs spinning, which really created a party vibe.

The Bubble Q tent. Credit: SOBEFest.com

Saturday was another day of seminars, demos and tastings. The main stage that morning kicked off at 11 a.m. with Emeril doing a demo, then Antony Bourdain and then Bobby Flay and Tyler Florence. It’s like watching the Food Network come to life, right on the beach. It also feels a little bit like the culinary version of Lollapalooza to me. Jody and I spent a good portion of that day prepping our dish for the event we were doing on Sunday, Paula Deen’s Down Home Cookin’ Sunday Gospel Brunch.

Saturday night was when the big sit-down events happened, which included a tribute dinner for Alain Ducasse, as well as the “Best of the Best” walk-around tasting with all of the top fine dining chefs. For the other big party that night, the theme was “The Best Thing I Ever Ate,” based on the Food Network show. That was really fun because the chefs got to recreate their favorite dishes from OTHER restaurants. Photos here.

Paula Deen and Maryel Epps. Credit: MiamiNewTimes.com

Jody and I didn’t party too hard because we knew that come Sunday, we’d need to have our game faces on for our event. I normally do the “Best of the Best” event, but this year because of R’evolution and our New Orleans connection, I did Paula Deen's Gospel Brunch, which was primarily Southern chefs. Maryel Epps, this incredible gospel singer, performed live, and all of the chefs were doing their renditions of classic Southern soul food – whole roasted pig, fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, black-eyed peas.

Shrimp & Grits "Bacon & Eggs"
Credit: MiamiNewTimes.com

We did our version of shrimp and grits: creamy grits with eggs chopped up and folded in, topped with head-on shrimp wrapped in bacon that we seared off and topped with a smoky tomato sauce. It was so great to get to do this event this year, especially since I’m a newcomer to the South. It was amazing working alongside Southern chefs like New Orleans' John Besh, Cat Cora (a proud Southern girl), Tim Love of Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in Texas, and Joseph Lenn of Blackberry Farm in Tennessee.

Emeril Lagasse at the Let Them Eat
Cake event. Credit: SOBEFest.com

Even though South Beach has a completely different vibe from New Orleans, there were moments when I felt like I was back in the French Quarter. We went to Martha Stewart and Emeril’s “Let Them Eat Cake” event with Duff from Ace of Cakes, and the theme was actually Mardi Gras. There were 20 different bakeries from all over the country doing these outrageous Mardi Gras cakes. What was really cool was that they took the entire top floor of a parking structure and transformed it into this massive event space for 2000 people. You could see the whole city of Miami spread out around you. It was a stunning sight.

Back in New Orleans, the whole team is focusing on Mardi Gras right now. Jody, Muhammad and Molly are all helping out down at the Royal Sonesta, as they enter the craziest time of year for the hotel. Personally, I’m focused on my new book, Scars of a Chef, which launches this week, so the next four weeks I’m pretty much booked with book tour stuff. Right now I’m headed to Chicago for the International Home and Housewares Show. Then I’m in New York next week for some TV stuff, and it’s LA after that. Earlier this week, I was at Bittersweet Plantation, wrapping up selection of glassware, china and silverware for the restaurant. The kitchen design is finished, which is great. When the book tour craziness is over next month, then we’ll be starting on brunch tastings. Then we’ll be working on all the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes into opening a restaurant, but nobody knows about: systems, recipes, costing, hiring.

And then comes the waiting for the place to physically be built. It all feels like it’s still a long way off, but there are fleeting moments when I realize that it will be open before we even know it. So for now, it’s just one day at a time.

- Rick

R'evolution on the Road: Los Angeles

2011-02-25T17:02:00.000-06:00

Chefs Folse and Tramonto with their Louisiana team

For the second straight year I have been invited to prepare the “Only in Louisiana Brunch” for the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. This year I was happy to introduce Chef Rick Tramonto to the participants as well as our Louisiana team including Chef Jay Kimball and Chef Fred Heurtin.

The brunch marked the first time Rick and I participated in a national event of this scope since creating Home on the Range, our restaurant development company. The event was held at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, the original home of the Oscars.

The “Only in Louisiana Brunch” has quickly become one of the “must attend” Grammy events. Rick and I even had an opportunity to interview Kermit Ruffin, a Louisiana Grammy nominee for his Treme soundtrack.

Sauce Piquante Bayou Lafourche on
Griddle Cakes

Dishes such as seafood gumbo, crawfish étouffée, chicken sauce piquant, shrimp rémoulade, white chocolate bread pudding with Bourbon sauce and Pontchatoula strawberries on powdered sugar-coated beignets as well as oysters on the half shell were featured on the menu.

One of the high points of this trip was the day Rick and I spent at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in San Gabriel, CA, a suburb of L.A. Of particular interest to us were the gardens where we saw the “mother vine” of the California wine industry.

Mission San Gabriel Arcangel

Also on display were the original wine-making equipment for claret, which was made from zinfandel grapes, as well as a white wine made from Muscat. We held oranges from genetically authenticated trees that were brought by Spanish missionaries and planted on this site. To our amazement the cactus were fruiting during our visit. Apparently, cactus fruit was a prominent food at this early mission. And, the olive trees were spectacular.

Salmon dish at Bouchon Restaurant

Obviously, on trips like this we dine at restaurants owned and operated by the “best of the best” in our industry. We began our “food experience” with a casual lunch at Mozza where everything from pizza and pasta to roasted bone marrow and Brussels sprouts were served. And, we sampled every dessert on the menu. From there it was dinner at Bouchon. After beginning with soup, we enjoyed a smorgasbord of offerings including frog legs, pork belly, salmon, French-roasted chicken and of course, an array of desserts that were to die for. We went on a guided tour of the Viking kitchen and prep areas. What a magnificent facility! Lunch at Spago was incredible followed by an evening at Bazaar, which was the perfect culminating meal on our “culinary voyage of discovery.

Chefs in the Garden of San Gabriel Arangel

Events like this enhance our partnership and camaraderie, and allow us to explore other worlds of cuisine. At the same time it allows us to showcase our cuisine in places people only hope to be seen. We look forward to our next culinary adventure!
-JF

For more photos from Chef Folse's Trip to LA and updates on the Restaurant R'evolution, please visit www.facebook.com/RestaurantRevolution.

Join the R’evolution Online, and Win!

2011-02-18T12:30:00.002-06:00

We wanted to say a big ‘thank you’ to all of our readers for following us on this amazing journey. We’re pouring our hearts into Restaurant R’evolution, and we can’t wait to share it with all of you later this year.

Recently, we launched two new ways to follow the R’evolution online. Our official Facebook page www.facebook.com/RestaurantRevolution is up and running with pictures and behind-the-scenes video.

Restaurant R’evolution is also on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RevolutionNOLA. Follow us for the latest updates and lots of fun surprises as we countdown to the opening.

Now for the juicy details: We are launching the first of monthly Twitter contests on Tuesday, February 22. A few hints: This first contest will be a trivia question, the answer to which can be found right here on this blog. Please help us spread the word and gain more followers by retweeting our contest post and taking part in the fun!

Thanks for taking this culinary journey with us. Viva la R’evolution!

Culinary Journeys

2011-02-11T14:47:00.000-06:00

Chefs Tramonto and Folse announcing their new partnership.

The partnership between Chefs John Folse and Rick Tramonto is one that began out of a mutual admiration, and was cemented by a shared history shaped by hardship but nurtured by food. Both chefs grew up, figuratively and literally, in the kitchen. In this Q&A, they talk about the culinary beginnings that ultimately made them the men – and the chefs – they are today. In addition to being award-winning chefs, John Folse and Rick Tramonto are acclaimed authors. Folse’s The Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine and Tramonto’s forthcoming memoir Scars of a Chef offer a more in-depth look into the chefs’ personal and culinary histories.

What is your earliest memory involving food and cooking? 

John Folse: I can’t even remember a time when I wasn’t involved in food and cooking. As children, my mom and dad made us an integral part of the kitchen. Each one of my five brothers and two sisters were doled out tasks according to their skill level. As a young child I remember fetching sweet potatoes from a cupboard, one in each hand, and passing them on to an older brother for peeling and slicing.

My fondest memories are of the Sunday family gatherings where the men cooked. Often over a hundred extended family members were in attendance. The conversation and education discovered at these Sunday dinners influences everything I do today. Cooking has indeed always been a part of my life. After all, I grew up in Cajun Country.

Rick Tramonto: My parents and grandmothers were very blue-collar people but well-educated cooks. On the weekends we’d have lots of family over and everyone had to pitch in and do their part.

My earliest cooking memory is rolling meatballs with my Grandma Adeline. I must have been around five at the time, taking meat from a huge bowl, learning how to roll them into balls then placing them on the sheet tray. In my house, cooking wasn’t just an “only on the weekend” thing. We didn’t eat food out of boxes, or eat foods that were pre-frozen. We made everything from scratch.

What’s the first dish you learned how to cook?

Chef Folse

JF: I always loved Dirty Rice, which is rice cooked with small pieces of chicken liver or giblets. (Find a recipe for Dirty Rice from Chef Folse here). For a young boy living in the swamps of Louisiana “dirty rice” was not only a staple on our table, but a dish that was fun and easy to make.

Mixing dark chicory coffee with scalded milk to create café au lait for breakfast was probably the first “dish” I ever created. But without a doubt, it is dirty rice that I remember best as the first real dish I ever cooked. I was probably seven years old.

RT: Cooking wasn’t something that I took to right away, but it was always a part of my childhood. It was almost like a chore, whether it was making ravioli or roasting whole chickens. I guess the first “dish” I remember making was minestrone soup. I remember being really young – maybe eight – and learning how to make that for my family.

How would you describe your journey in the culinary world?

JF: I began my journey in cooking at the apron strings of family and acquaintances in St. James Parish, Louisiana. That love of local cuisine and culture inspired my passion to cook and share the uniqueness of our area. Like all young culinarians, there were huge obstacles along the way: social distractions, lack of commitment, void of patience and an unwillingness to simply listen. After discovering that this was not a path to success, the pendulum swung to total obsession and a desire to absorb all things culinary, from ingredients to global technique. During my 30-year journey, this fabulous world of cooking has taken me on visits to cook for Presidents and Popes, produce food television and build a multi-faceted food company ranging from restaurants to food manufacturing and even publishing.

RT: My journey to cooking was an unconventional one. I left high school in 1977, and needed to find a job. Most people in Rochester, where I’m from, got a job at a gas station or became mechanics. But I wanted to cook because that was what I was most familiar with.

Luckily, I had a great opportunity to interview for a new restaurant opening in town: Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers. I had never heard of the restaurant, it was the first franchise for the city. When I filled out the application, I remember leaving the “Education” boxes blank. The manager I interviewed with asked me why I had done that, and I told him I hadn’t finished high school. They basically said, “Hey kid. We’re going to give you a chance.”

After working in Rochester, I realized that if I wanted to do this cooking thing for the rest of my life, I was going to have to learn as much as I could, and to do that, I would have to start apprenticing.

What do you feel was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome in establishing yourself as a chef?

Chef Tramonto

JF: The greatest obstacle that I had to overcome was a fabulous culinarian by the name of Chef Paul Prudhomme. Paul was a giant in the kitchen and was considered the father of Cajun cooking. When he created his now legendary blackened red fish, the world took note of Cajun Country and its cuisine. It was at this time that many Louisiana chefs tried to take advantage of the culinary wave established by Chef Paul.

But most of the media content wanted to hear what Paul had to say rather than the young chefs coming up the “Bayou.” It became apparent to me that if I wanted to break out with my own style, I could bring Cajun to the world. Soon, I had opened promotional Louisiana restaurants from Hong Kong to Taipei and from London to the Soviet Union – the first opening of a foreign restaurant in the USSR prior to its fall. I even fed the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, in Rome.

RT: The biggest obstacle I faced in my culinary career that I had to overcome was being uneducated. It went beyond not finishing school or not knowing European languages. I didn’t know how to read. I wasn’t able to follow recipes; everything I learned had to be hands-on. But I have a photographic memory, so once I learned a dish, I was able to make it again myself. Personally, I had to overcome an addiction to drugs and alcohol. Having to focus and refocus and enter rehab to clean up my life.

When you were first starting out, who was your greatest culinary influence?

Chefs in the Restaurant R'evolution
test kitchen

JF: My great uncle Paul Zeringue, whom we referred to as “Nonc Paul,” was the cook to emulate. Even today at family gatherings, his name is passed around the dinner table more often than a bowl of rice dressing.

Professionally, it had to be Chef Fritz Blumberg, a German chef who first recognized the culinary talents of this young South Louisiana cook. He was from Munich, arrived in Pittsburgh to work for the Mellon family, and eventually found his way to Baton Rouge as corporate chef for the hotel where I happened to be employed. I was mesmerized by his talent, and for reasons I still don’t know, he was inspired by the flavor and ingredients of our South Louisiana culinary scene. He needed to know more about our food, and I needed to learn everything there was to know about classical cuisine, so he became my mentor. We were friends until he passed away in 2008.

RT: My first culinary influences were my family, my grandmother Adeline in particular. From there, my appreciation is to the people who mentored me, who wouldn’t normally let a guy like me through the back door of their kitchen. People like Alfred Portale and Pierre Gagnaire, who helped me hone my technique and helped me articulate my thoughts on food onto the plate.

Now, John has become a huge influence of mine. Working with John has taken cooking to the next level for me because he brings rich history and depth to our company. He takes me places I wouldn’t have gone before.

Formaggio. Fromage. Queso. CHEESE.

2011-02-04T17:22:00.000-06:00

Let's talk cheese. Because cheese is where my head's been at for the past week. We're wrapping up our cheese tastings and cheese service decisions for Restaurant R'evolution, and I'm really getting excited to share our program with everyone.

Cheese cart

There’s really two schools of thought on cheese. Everyone’s into signature cheese plates these days, and then there’s the cheese cart. There are some beautiful cheese plates out there, but I’m more of a cart guy. I favor the cart over the plate personally because it's just so much more stunning from a sensory perspective. Sure, you can read the descriptions on the menu and make your selections, but seeing and smelling the whole array laid out for you – it just makes such a great impact. It's a great way to market cheese, and it's a great opportunity for teaching the guest about cheeses they may never have tried.

At R'evolution, we're going to have four carts – custom carts we’re designing. They’ll have granite counters with beautiful drawers that pull out for plating, clear domes to showcase the cheeses. The cheese will be stored in a series of floor-to ceiling cheese caves in our Market Room.

A mock cheese service for Restaurant R'evolution

We're planning to have 20-30 cheeses on each of our four carts (with a possibility of doing different ones on each cart). Blues, goats, cows, sheep, but also with reference to the seven nations – German cheeses, French, Spanish. John even tells me we can source some African cheeses, which will be exciting to try. So we’re going to tie all that in as another layer of interest in our cheese program. Same with the fruit breads, mostardas, and other accompaniments to the cheese cart.

In addition to having a rocking stand-alone cheese program, we'll also be able to use these artisanal cheeses to do some great salads and pastas, which pushes us to be creative..

I’m excited to keep the cheese offerings rotating. You find these great little artisanal, small-production cheesemakers, and I love that we’ll be able to keep showcasing the ones we're passionate about. I’m also excited to showcase some of the cheeses being made at John’s Bittersweet Plantation Dairy, like his Fleur de Lis, his Bayou Blue and his Holy Cow (Vache Sante). Fleur de Teche, a triple cream cow's milk cheese with a layer of vegetable ash, is a showstopper. Oh man. Having his dairy in our corner will also allow us to explore making some exclusive R'evolution cheeses, which would be very cool.

Some cheese knives we're
considering

A mock-up of our signature
cheese board

One of John's and my goals for Restaurant R'evolution is to have one of the best cheese programs in New Orleans, and you can bet we'll be showing our attention to detail at the highest level, from how the cheese is tempered and ripened, to how it's cut, served and displayed. We hope the cheese-lovers out there will be as excited about this as we are.

- Rick

Seven Nations: Spain

2011-01-28T13:53:00.000-06:00

"Bloody O'Reilly"

Spanish Colonial Louisiana 

Governor Ulloa arrived as the first Spanish governor in 1766. His less than warm reception escalated into open rebellion in 1768, when he fled for his life. Governor O’Reilly stopped the rebellion by arresting and assassinating the revolutionaries. He was hated and called “Bloody O’Reilly.”

Governor Galvez arrived in 1776, aiding the Americans in their Revolution with victories over the British in Baton Rouge, Mobile and Pensacola. It was during Governor Miro’s administration that many additional Acadians, or Cajuns, came to Louisiana, joining those who had arrived following their exile from Acadia.

Life during the Spanish Regime

Old French Market Butchers

With the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau in 1762, Spain acquired Louisiana from France, thus owning the entire Southwest. Suddenly living under Spanish rule rather than French, the colonists felt devastated and betrayed.

In France, only a few protested, including the philosopher Voltaire. He could not conceive how Frenchmen abandoned “the most beautiful climate on the earth, from which one may have tobacco, silk, indigo, a thousand useful products.”

New Orleans became home to bakers, butchers, pastry cooks, tailors, carpenters, candlestick makers, confectioners, tavern owners and innkeepers. Many men of the city were hunters and fishermen, while others rowed the mail boats. There were city slaves selling their garden surplus. Native Americans peddled vegetables, fish, blankets and trinkets on the levees. Meat and vegetable markets were established.The butchers flourished. Everyone in the Louisiana colony ate meat, which was plentiful and cheap. In fact, it was written that, “No country on earth eats more of it… little pieces of bread are served with great pieces of meat; the amount the children eat would frighten a European.”

Vegetables were scarce and expensive. New Orleans depended on the German community 40 miles upriver to supply its vegetables.

The tavern keeping business was lucrative and nearly monopolized by the Catalans. The crowded taverns were located at every cross street and the taps flowed incessantly. (Not unlike today. A remnant of the Spanish era.) The great fire of New Orleans in 1788 destroyed more than 800 buildings. A strong blowing wind coupled with orders given in Spanish that the French Creoles could not understand wreaked havoc.

The new buildings that followed created the dominate Spanish appearance of the French Quarter today. The Spanish patios, or inner courtyards, along with shady arcades and cooling fountains were all Spanish design. There were tile roofs, stucco, wrought iron balcony railings and Spanish street names. The Cabildo, St. Louis Cathedral and the Presbyter exemplify typical Spanish architecture.

The Cabildo in New Orleans' Jackson Square

The Cabildo government influenced the daily economic life of the town. It oversaw construction and repair of roads, bridges and levees; port regulation; city lighting; sanitation; police and fire protection; and regulation of the food market.

During this period the city government employed slaves for construction jobs. Slaves were hired out as coachmen, cooks, gardeners, maids, stevedores, teamsters, draymen and garbage collectors.

Spanish Food

Spanish cooking is characterized by the use of olive oil, pimento, paprika, garlic, onions, tomatoes, a generous use of parsley and an occasional orange flavor in meat and poultry dishes. Contrary to popular belief, the cuisine of Spain is not hot. It is one of Spain’s paradoxes that a country largely responsible for providing pepper and other spices to the Western World should have produced a cuisine that uses so little spice. Today, Spanish influences are still found in many of Louisiana’s favorite dishes.

Spanish contributions to Cajun/Creole cuisine

From the Andalusia area of southern Spain red beans came to the New World. From Catalonia in northeast Spain, Louisiana may have developed its intrigue with fish cooked in tomato sauce. Certainly, Louisiana’s love of garlic and onions as flavoring ingredients is reminiscent of Catalan fare.

Galicia, in the northwest area of Spain, is known for caldo, a broth of turnip greens, potatoes, white beans, salted pork, onions and smoked pork. Empanadas, which are elaborate Spanish turnovers filled with chopped meat, chopped fruit, vegetables, olives and sometimes hard-boiled eggs, have long been a specialty of Galicia.

Paella

Natchitoches, Louisiana is known for its meat pies, which are much like empanadas, filled with ground meat and seasonings.

Paella native to Valencia though made all over Spain, is the country’s most famous dish. It is made with meat and fish mixed with rice, vegetables and seasonings including saffron. The top is decoratively finished with red pepper, shrimp, vegetables and mussels or clams. It is probable that paella is the forerunner of Louisiana’s jambalaya. The Creole name “jambalaya” is derived from the French word for ham, “jambon,” and the African word for rice, “yaya.”

The Canary Islanders

Galvez recruited Canary Islanders to help protect and settle the Louisiana colony. (The Canary Islands, a chain of 13 islands located about 60 miles off the coast of Morocco, was Spain’s first colonial territory and became a pivotal port for vessels sailing to the Americas.) The first Isleños (Canary Islanders) arrived in Louisiana in 1778 and continued to come until 1783. They were strategically settled in four locations around New Orleans to guard approaches to the city: Galveztown, Valenzuela, Barataria and La Concepcion, later San Bernardo de Galvez. Today, most Louisianians who can trace their heritage to Spain are the remaining descendants of Canary Island fishermen who settled in St. Bernard Parish. Elderly Isleños still speak an archaic Spanish dialect brought to Louisiana more than two centuries ago.

Natchitoches 

Natchitoches Meat Pies

In 1714, Louis Juchereau de St. Denis established a fort in Natchitoches to stop Spanish infiltration from Texas. A Spanish fort was already established at Los Adais (photo 16), capital of the Texas country, just 15 miles west of French Natchitoches. Even though there were conflicts over boundaries and contraband trade, in the evenings and on holidays a unique hospitality existed between the two cultures.

During the Spanish regime in Louisiana, the “El Camino Real” began in Mexico City and ended at Front Street in Natchitoches. Even today, Natchitoches’ architecture, place names, traditions and customs reflect a Spanish influence.

Dawning of the Louisiana Purchase

Trade in Louisiana's Ports

When Spain acquired Louisiana in 1762, it was a small, unprofitable colony of less than 7,500 inhabitants. By the end of Spanish rule, Louisiana was a large and successful colony with more than 50,000 inhabitants. Trade in New Orleans’ port founded the city’s mercantile prosperity. Tobacco and indigo were Louisiana’s staple crops with great possibilities emerging in cotton and sugar.

Though Louisiana colonists lived under Spanish rule, they refused to speak Spanish; there was never a Spanish language newspaper; and the language of commerce was French. Spanish men married French women and raised French-speaking children. Though the French in Louisiana never fully adopted Spanish ways and customs, they owed a greater debt of gratitude to Spain than to their mother country.

Getting into Game

2011-01-24T13:44:00.000-06:00

John and Rick cook over a fire in the Louisiana swamp

Unlike John, I didn’t grow up as a hunter or with any background in hunting. I’ve gone hunting as an adult; the most hunting I did was during the four years I was living in England with Gale, working at the Stapleford Park Hotel. I had the chance to go hunting with Malcolm, the hotel’s gamekeeper, in Scotland. We’d be staying in these cabins in the middle of nowhere, and the hunts would start super early in the morning – sometimes as early as 3 a.m. After a proper Scottish breakfast of haggis on toast, we’d hunt pheasant and grouse until about 7 or 8 a.m. and then we’d do the “Whiskey Trail,” hitting the single malt scotch producers – Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, as many as we could fit in. Then we’d come back to the hunting cabin and cook all the game we shot.

Antlers Lodge at Giles Island (Credit: GilesIsland.com)

When I came back to the States, I would occasionally hunt deer and turkey, but it wasn’t a part of my culture like it was for John. He’s been hunting since he was four, so he knows all the trails and all the techniques, from guns to bow-and-arrow. Since we’ve been working together, I’ve had the chance to go hunting with him, and go to some of the super high-end hunting lodges where he gets invited to cook – Grosse Savanne, Giles Island, places in the middle of the marsh where you need a helicopter to even get there. Honestly, it kind of feels like Jurassic Park! But reconnecting with hunting has been awesome. It’s something that I hope to get my boys into so they can handle guns and understand gun safety. I think that’s really important. The younger guys on these hunts with us have a huge appreciation for the lives of the animals they’re taking. I want my boys to have that kind of understanding.

So, on to the menu. We’ve been breaking it down by category. And since the hunting seasons here are so tied to the calendar, the month we open will determine what kind of game animals we’ll have to work with. For now, we’ve got about 10 or 12 items in the works in our Wild Game and Offal category. We’re doing dishes with rabbit, duck, quail, Guinea fowl and venison. The dishes will be very seasonal, and very indigenous to the area; people in New Orleans never hesitate to order these meats.

"Bird in a Cage" for Restaurant R'evolution

We’ll be doing a Bayou Blue venison chop, sort of in the style of Beef Wellington, but with a Native American twist. Jody, our chef de cuisine, made this awesome Native American flatbread, and we made a duxelle and added foie gras, and we wrapped this venison chop and the duxelle and foie and roasted it like a Beef Wellington. We're doing a whimsical take on guinea fowl that's inspired by Louisiana's German heritage: "Bird in a Cage" is smoked Guinea fowl with homemade sauerkraut, Creole mustard spaetzle and caramelized onion sauce, with a caraway "cage" that fits over the top of the dish.

We’ve done a lot of triptychs in this category. We’re trying to showcase different cuts of the same animal with different cooking techniques. It made the category very complicated and intricate, but we’re thrilled with the results.

Triptych of Offal for Restaurant R'evolution

On the offal side of the section, we’ll be doing a whole roasted foie gras presented tableside with six or seven different types of accompaniments. It was a signature dish at Tru, and we’re bringing it back in a new rendition!

We’re working on a great triptych of offal, too, with kidneys, brain and tripe. It’s veal kidneys braised in red wine and served on pumpernickel toast; panko-coated, sauteed lamb brain and tripe stewed old-school Italian with chilis, tomatoes and garlic.

- Rick

'Tis the Season For Birds on the Wing

2011-01-19T12:22:00.000-06:00

Ducks at dusk, Creole, LA.

In the R'evolution kitchen, we've begun work on the "Wild Game" portion of the menu, which is inspired by dishes from my childhood.

When I grew up we knew months not by the calendar, but by what was in season. It wasn’t September or the beginning of autumn; it was dove season and the start of deer season. November meant quail, squirrel and rabbit seasons. Snipe season was December and the New Year brought geese, ducks and coots.

Duck hunting in Louisiana.

It’s duck season now in Sportsman’s Paradise. Located at the apex of the Mississippi Flyway, Louisiana is home to some of the best waterfowl hunting in America. Our coastal wetlands, marshes, rivers and lakes are home to mallards, pintail, teal, white fronted geese and snow geese. In Louisiana, waterfowl hunting is a passion…some would say a birthright.

Hunting in Louisiana is generational.

I remember as a young Cajun boy, laying on my back looking up the sight of a 410 barrel at a sky blackened with birds. Lying beside me looking upward were my five brothers, all steady at the aim, great shots, who effortlessly seemed to bring down whatever bird was in their sight.

Not me. I couldn’t hit the side of a barn. It was then that I realized once and for all that I was not a hunter. I wasn’t destined to harvest the wild game; I was meant to cook it. So, I became a chef. I came from a long line of great hunters. I don’t know how many generations of grandfathers preceded the two that I knew, but I’m sure just as they were hunters, those unknown great-grandfathers taught them the skill as well. Naturally, my father was the best of the best. He knew the swamp like no other and was as comfortable there as he was on our front porch.

Chef John Folse and Cajun Escoffier Lee Roy Sevin, Cocodrie, LA.

Our home was filled with ingredients from the swamp floor pantry. I vividly recall trying my best to hide the contents of our old Frigidaire ice box from visiting friends, because it was filled with wild things including heads, feet, feathers and furs, while most of theirs contained domesticated meats such as beef and pork destined for the table. Little did I realize how blessed the Folse family actually was. In fact, we wanted for nothing, because the swamp floor was indeed the richest of all pantries and one an aristocrat could only hope for.

My culinary education in the art of preparing wild game delicacies came at the hands of the “Escoffiers” of Cajun Country. At Uncle Paul Zeringue’s camp on Cabanocey Plantation we learned to chop the trinity and make the best duck and andouille gumbo anyone could ever hope for. At Ivy Bye’s camp on Burton Lane I learned to cook ducks in sauce piquante and fricassèe. At Guy Caire’s camp one could watch an African-American cook from St. Emma Plantation prepare the best of the swamp harvest for governors, senators, state representatives and those too high and mighty for us to know. At Camp La Pirogue on Richbend Plantation my brother, Larry, and Griz Granier manned the stove for venison stews with wild mushrooms and dove breast fricassée. These were the classrooms where we were educated in game cookery, and although we felt that we graduated with honors, none of us could ever cook a dish to resemble that of our teachers. We still long for and create those unique flavors today and are excited to include them on the menu of Restaurant R’evolution.

The Seven Nations: France

2011-01-17T12:40:00.000-06:00

Louis XIV, The Sun King

Louisiana’s past is peppered with prominent personalities. Our history begins with Louis XIV, Le Roi du Soleil” or “The Sun King” and Louisiana’s namesake. Under his leadership, some of America’s most epic adventures occurred, not the least of which included the Louisiana territory.

From the beginning, the Mississippi River was the artery of Louisiana’s commerce and trade. The French-Canadian, Renee-Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle, is officially recognized as the discoverer of the Mississippi River’s mouth. It was LaSalle who claimed the Louisiana Territory, naming it La Louisiane for France on April 9, 1682. Still today, La Salle is heralded as “the Columbus of the Mississippi Valley; the blazer of the virgin Mississippi trail.” La Salle, though a notable explorer and French loyalist, seems to have “made a mistake” on the maps showing how to find the mouth of the Mississippi. Allegedly, he suffered from the twin deadly sins of greed and ambition. You see, New Spain lay just South of Louisiana’s border and held treasures of gold. La Salle set about the task of becoming wealthy while colonizing La Louisiane and plundering gold-laden Spanish ships. La Salle’s alleged dark and obscure intent was birthed by his mapmaker, who placed the mouth of the Mississippi River at Matagorda Bay, just north of modern-day Corpus Christi, Texas, 500 miles west of the actual location of the river’s mouth. Ironically, La Salle missed the Mississippi’s mouth and landed at Matagorda Bay, conceivably completing his deliberate plan. But, his plan failed when his men mutinied and murdered him somewhere near the modern-day Louisiana-Texas line.

Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Ilberville

Some years later, another French-Canadian, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville led another French expedition to La Louisiane tasked with re-discovering the mouth of the Mississippi and igniting colonization efforts. Considered one of Canada’s greatest heroes, he was affectionately known as “the Cid of New France.” Iberville chose his younger brother, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville then only 20 years old, to join him on the adventure. Bienville ultimately founded New Orleans and became one of Louisiana’s first governors.

Jean- Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville

Iberville, Bienville and crew maneuvered along the northern rim of the Gulf of Mexico; but, finding the river’s mouth was no easy task. From the Gulf, the river’s mouth was nearly invisible even at close proximity. In the 16th century the Spanish named the river “Rio del Escondido” or “Hidden River.” Heavy rain and a north wind complicated the voyage. Then, quite accidentally, they re-discovered the Great “Malbanchya.” (One of the Native American variations for the name of the Mississippi River was “Malbanchya” or “Malbanchia.”)

Mardi Gras was religiously observed for the first time in Louisiana on Tuesday, March 3rd, 1699 when Iberville and his crew spent the night 36 miles upriver. Iberville wrote, “We have given the name Mardi Gras to this point.” And, Louisianians have festively celebrated Mardi Gras ever since.

By March 17 the explorers had ventured upriver to an area of bluffs on the Mississippi’s east side where a stream divided the Houmas and Bayougoula hunting grounds. A tall, red maypole stood on the bank with several fish heads and bear bones tied to it. Iberville called this place “red stick” or “Baton Rouge,” the present site of Louisiana’s capital city.

1718 Map of Louisiana

With the rediscovery of the mouth of the river, forts were established throughout the Louisiana Territory and colonization began in earnest. In 1714, Louisiana’s first colony, the Natchitoches post was established. Finally in 1718, Bienville founded New Orleans, naming it for Philippe, duc d’Orléans.

The Colonists

France’s primary interest in this new colony was to have an outlet for the fur trade in the upper Mississippi Valley. The coureurs-de-bois or Canadian backwoodsmen, were trappers. Most of these men were single and preferred living a crude, unsettled lifestyle. They did not cultivate the land, preferring to live on what they hunted. They were not well regarded by the religious or the “society” from France. However disagreeable, they furnished the colony with furs, bear oil and meat.

The Cassette Girls

Strong, healthy settlers willing to work were critical for the survival of the colony. Requests were repeatedly sent to France for hardworking people. Girls were requested with the hope that men, particularly the coureurs-de-bois, would marry and settle down. In September 1704, approximately 27 girls arrived in Louisiana from Paris and Rochefort aboard the Pelican. In February 1728, another boatload of virtuous girls arrived, ready for marriage. Each was provided with a little trunk (cassette) of clothing, thus earning them the nickname, "The Cassette Girls".

French Colonial Foods

Perhaps one of the best colonial food accounts came from Sister Marie Madeleine Hachard, an Ursuline nun who arrived in 1727 with 10 other nuns from Rouen, France.

She wrote to her father upon arrival, “We eat meat, fish, peas, and wild beans and many fruits and vegetables, like pineapples, which are the most excellent of fruit, watermelons, sweet potatoes, apples, which are very much like the russets of France, figs, pecans, cashew nuts, which when eaten stick in the throat, and “giranmons,” a kind of pumpkin. Even so there are a thousand other fruits which have not yet come to my knowledge.“…we live on wild beef, deer, swans, geese and wild turkeys, rabbits, chickens, ducks, teals, pheasants, partridges, quail and other fowl and game of different kinds. The rivers are teeming with enormous fish, especially the brill, which is an excellent fish, rays, carps, salmon and an infinity of other fish which are unknown in France. Milk chocolate and coffee are much used here. A lady of this country gave us a goodly supply and we take some every day…We are getting remarkably used to the wild food of this country. We eat a bread which is half rice and half wheat…Rice cooked in milk is very common and we eat it often along with sagamite, which is made from Indian corn that has been ground in a mortar and then boiled in water with butter or bacon fat. Everyone in Louisiana considers this an excellent dish.”

“Regarding the fruits of the country, there are many that we do not care for but the peaches and figs are very excellent and abundant. We are sent so many of them from the nearby plantations that we make them into preserves and jelly. Blackberry jelly is particularly good. Reverend Father de Beaubois has the finest garden in the city. It is full of orange trees which bear as beautiful and as sweet an orange as those of Cape Francis. He gave us about 300 sour ones which we preserved. Thanks to God, we have never yet lacked anything.”

The Petticoat Insurrection

Macque Choux Corn

According to legend, in 1718 the women of New Orleans rebelled in what has become known as “The Petticoat Insurrection.” The women knew very little about the strange foods of this new land and were disgusted with their monotonous diet of Indian corn. They protested to Governor Bienville, marching to his house banging utensils on their cast iron pots. Being a diplomat, Bienville sent his housekeeper, Madame Langlois, to live with the Native Americans for about six weeks. From the Native Americans she learned to flavor dishes by adding bay leaves, boiled whole ears of corn and learned to stuff squirrel with pecans and spices. She even prepared succotash, a delicious combination of corn and butterbeans. Upon her return, she educated the New Orleans ladies in what must have been the first culinary school in North America. Even today, Madame Langlois is considered the “Mother of Creole cooking.”

The End of the French Colonial Period

Unfortunately, by the end of the 1750s, France was spending a tremendous amount of money on the colony with precious little in return. With an unprosperous New World colony and mounting troubles at home, France abandoned colonial Louisiana. With the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau in 1762, Spain possessed colonial Louisiana and the Spanish colonial era of Louisiana history began.

FL State of Mind

2011-01-17T10:40:00.000-06:00

It’s been freezing here in NOLA, as cold as it’s been since I’ve lived here. In the 30s -- Chicago weather -- and it looks like it's ready to snow. It feels even colder because I've been going back and forth to Florida for events the past two weekends. Right after New Year's, I was in the Florida Keys for a four-day event at the Ocean Reef Club, where I cooked a four-course dinner at their private clubhouse.

I had never been in the Keys before, and it was great going out on the water, where there were these incredible private yachts owned by mega-billionaires. One of the Wirtz family members – the family that owns the Chicago Blackhawks – had a boat called The Blackhawk anchored there. I loved that Chicago connection!

It was also really cool seeing the wetlands down there. Here, when we go out to the marshland, it’s called bayou, and there it’s the Everglades. To my outsider’s eye, they looked fairly similar; although I’m sure locals would be able to see the differences.

Then it was back to freezing Louisiana, scraping ice off my windshield. Last week we did game tastings at Bittersweet Plantation, and then I prepped for the Gasparilla Inn Food & Wine Weekend, which John and I did together. Chef Peter Timmins hosted some of the nation’s leading chefs and wineries for a weekend of culinary events, tastings, demos and dinners. This was one of the first events that John and I have done together since we began working on R’evolution. We did a walk-around tasting of classic New Orleans dishes (étoufée, seafood gumbo and turtle soup), and then a demo together to talk about the food we served on the walk-around and how we’re reimagining it on our new menu.

I stayed for the Master Chef’s Dinner on Saturday night, a five-course dinner for 250 people that I cooked with four other chefs, each of us doing a course. I served roasted lobster with vanilla and micro herb salad, which is a preview of a sheep's milk ricotta gnocchi dish with lobster that we’re working on for R’evolution.

Stay tuned this week for more on our game dishes!

- Rick

On Kitchen Design and the Birth of R’evolution Red

2011-01-05T13:13:00.000-06:00

Sneak preview of the R'evolution kitchen

Throughout my 30+ year career, I’ve worked and staged in dozens of kitchens. My own, those of my mentors and colleagues, kitchens in hotels, in homes, in culinary schools. l’ve been blessed – or spoiled, depending on how you look at it – with many beautiful kitchens. Even as a young chef coming up in the restaurant world, working at the Gotham and at restaurants in Europe, I had the privilege to work in kitchens that were spotless, well thought out and efficient.

I’ve also worked in a lot of crappy kitchens. Places where it’s clear the chefs aren’t treating the kitchen like the all-important nerve center that it is. Once you’ve seen both kinds, you appreciate the good ones even more.

My first kitchen was at Trio, in Evanston, Illinois. When Gale and I opened it, we had no money, so we bought all used equipment. But we treated it the way you treat your first apartment. We scrubbed everything until it shone, painted the kitchen and maintained it really well. We appreciated what we had.

The TRU kitchen. Credit: NRN.com

Then we opened Brasserie T, and from that $50,000 kitchen at Trio, we leapt to a $250,000 kitchen, then on to a $1 million kitchen at TRU. Everything was custom, from the refrigerators and the drawers to Gale’s pastry kitchen. It was a lot of fun to really have a blank slate – no budgetary constraints – and be able to sit down with a pencil and trace paper and draw to our hearts’ delight, from scratch. We knew how lucky we were, and we savored the opportunity.

As many kitchens as I’ve been in, I can tell when the kitchen was designed by a kitchen designer who just didn’t “get it.” Beyond issues having to do with budget and not enough money, there are often lots of mistakes that would have cost nothing to fix, but have to do with thought. If a restaurant isn’t run by a chef, sometimes there are glitches that could have been easily corrected, had the chef been involved in the process. Traffic flow problems are just one example.

When I sit down to design a kitchen, I think through service again and again and again, as though I’m working each of the stations. How do I want the station to flow? Do I want that drawer to open on the left or the right? We have three chefs designing this operation – John, myself and Jody – and that’s exciting. We’re all seeing stuff that the others wouldn’t. Jody has worked in a lot of amazing kitchens himself – he’s worked with Wolfgang Puck and Dean Fearing – but he hasn’t’ worked in Europe. I’ve worked in European kitchens, but not many hotels. John brought that hotel experience. So we got a rounded perspective of all of these facets, and we each brought a different nuance to the project.

Chefs also tend to know what they like and don’t like in kitchen design. It’s kind of like fashion. Everyone knows what works for them, whether it’s islands or lines; Viking equipment or Jade, etc. So last year, as we were thinking ahead to the opening of Restaurant R’evolution, I walked the National Restaurant Association Show with Jody Denton, my sous chef for R’evolution. We went to the Montague and Jade booths, took tons of pictures and quizzed the reps on all the details. And then, as we were rushing out to make it to an afternoon appointment, we walked quickly past the Viking booth on our way off the show floor. I stopped in my tracks.

Viking island suite. Credit: VikingCommercial.com

Viking has traditionally been much more known for its home ranges, but I had heard that they were going to be stepping it up, going against some of the big commercial guys. When I saw what they were showing at NRA, I couldn’t believe my eyes. They’ve done an amazing job improving the durability of their equipment. You can stand on their range doors. The burner grates are like tanks. Two hours later, I had cancelled my appointment. The Viking rep – who turned out to be a friend of John’s, answered about a million questions. We played with everything and told him all about the new project in New Orleans, and drew sketches of the early ideas we had in mind for the R’evolution kitchen. It was just organic.

I got John on the phone, and he knew the team at Viking because he had guest taught at their culinary school, so he suggested we fly down to their plant in Mississippi and check it out. So a few months later we went, and they took us through how everything is made. We sat with their kitchen designer and talked about our plans. The woodburning oven we wanted, the rotisserie. We brought in the team from the Royal Sonesta and they got excited. And the partnership was born. When Restaurant R’evolution opens later this year, we'll have all-Viking back-of-house and show kitchen suites in a custom color that was created just for us: “R’evolution Red" (you'll see that color carry through certain aspects of the front-of-house design too.) For a kitchen geek like me, this is the stuff dreams are made of.

R'evolution kitchen plans

We’ll have more fun details to share with you about the kitchen, as demolition and construction get going in the coming weeks. Glass-doored walk-ins that show off the freshness of our products, and Star Trek-like automatic glass doors between the kitchen and the dining room. But suffice to say, the kitchen at R’evolution is going to be just as beautiful as the dining room. I can't wait for you to see it.

- Rick

The Seven Nations: Native Americans

2010-12-29T12:36:00.000-06:00

Poverty Point

In order to discover the seven nations and their individual contributions to the table at Restaurant R’evolution, we must begin at the beginning: Native America. Native American culture in Louisiana has existed in the lower Mississippi River Valley for more than 4,000 years, in a place known as Poverty Point. At the time Ramses II was ruling Egypt, Moses was leading the Israelites from bondage and Rome had not yet been founded, Native Americans were living near present-day Delhi, Louisiana. Evidence suggests that they were a trade nation and conducted business throughout the Ouachita, Ozark and Appalachian mountains as well as the Great Lakes region.

This nation built mounds around their town and pits suggest that there may have existed a municipal water system, fish ponds or farms where a fresh fish supply could exist. Excavations failed to reveal corn, beans or squash, so it's doubtful that these people were farmers. There was probably no need for agriculture because this part of Louisiana teemed with wild plants, game and fish providing a year-round harvest of food without cultivation. Perhaps the most fascinating Poverty Point discovery was the peoples’ ingenious use of in-ground ovens for cooking. Small clay cooking balls were molded from river mud into different shapes and sizes, each creating a different BTU output when heated in wood fires. Yes, they utilized hot rock cooking to prepare their meals.

1720 Colonial Louisiana, Mississippi River
and Native American tribes

By the time Columbus discovered America in 1492, Native tribes such as the Atakapa, Caddo, Tunica, Natchez, Muskogean and Chitamacha tribes shared a common language. The Atakapa people were coastal, living from the Gulf of Mexico to the Bayou Teche. The Caddo people lived near present-day Shreveport; the Tunica near present-day Vicksburg; the others were scattered from Natchitoches to Lake St. Joseph and from Marksville to Alexandria and south.

Before agriculture, hunting and fishing were the natives’ primary food sources. Domesticated animals were unknown to them, and their relationship with wild game and seafood was almost sacred. After the kill, Native American hunters thanked their prey and even said prayers over the bounty.

The communal hunt

Many believe Native Americans might have been the first wildlife conservationists. They thinned out sick animals, burned the forests to kill ticks and vermin, and one Choctaw chief even regulated deer hunting.The Natchez conducted communal hunts. Several hunters would surround a deer, driving it from side to side until it could be taken by the group. They would then field dress and dry the meat to reduce its weight for the voyage home. They were great butchers, cutting meat in long strips along the muscle, especially from the roast, ribs and shoulder, giving them a steady supply of different cuts of meat throughout the season. When an animal was harvested the meat, skeleton, brain, tongue, liver and heart were consumed. Bones were converted into tools, jewelry, fish hooks, needles and knives. Eventually, tanned hides were made into clothing.

Catfish, choupique and
spoonbill catfish, as
illustrated by an early
explorer

In the swamps of Louisiana, Native Americans ate muskrats, beavers, opossums, wasps, beetles and lizards. Birds including wild turkeys, quail, ducks and geese were caught on river banks or in shallow water using nets designed to be thrown to capture the prey. Wounded birds were often used as decoys to attract other birds to the area. Near the shallow coastal waters and bays red fish, speckled trout, flounder and mullet were found. Under torch lights made from fat pine and dried cane, fish were speared at night. Fish were often poisoned using horse chestnuts or buckeyes, root of devil’s shoestring or green hickory nuts. Oysters were abundant in lakes next to Lake Pontchartrain. The Natchez Indians travelled to the mouth of the Mississippi to gather oysters, which they preserved by smoking. They also sought brackish water clams and preferred them to oysters in many cases because of the ease of gathering and opening them. Crabs were available in both fresh and salt water, and refuse heaps show evidence of crawfish and shrimp consumption, as well as turtles, alligators and even snakes.

An abundant supply of wild plant food may have delayed the acceptance of agriculture among many tribes here in the Bayou State. They used approximately 250 edible wild root plants such as ground nuts, wild sweet potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes and smilax. In Louisiana, the natives enjoyed an abundance of semi-tropical fruit including maypops, mayhaws, plums, wild grapes, persimmons, wild strawberries, blackberries and pawpaws.

Sassafras leaves

Filé powder or pounded sassafras leaves, used to flavor Louisiana gumbo today, was an important ingredient to Louisiana’s indigenous people. The stems, blooms, bark, leaves and roots of wild plants were used both nutritionally and medicinally. As late as the 1930s a Houmas Indian medicine man identified 79 plant cures. Herbalists carefully observed nature and noted that gathering medicinal herbs was critical to season and time of day. Medicines were generally made into teas, though poultices were created for healing purposes as well.

Eventually, Native American tribesmen became farmers and agriculture often influenced where they settled. They preferred to live in areas where rich, fertile soil and natural levees existed to prevent flooding. Corn, beans and squash, which came from Mexico, were staples among Native Americans here in Louisiana.

Louisiana Native American women weaving cane baskets, 1923

Native Americans became excellent cooks, preparing food by boiling, broiling, roasting, baking and poaching. Small animals were cooked whole and meat was never eaten raw. Soups, porridges, mush and stews often were created using a multitude of ingredients. The Natchez were said to have had 42 ways to prepare corn. It was common for Native Americans to prepare special meals for important guests. Many early explorers, who recorded visits with native tribesmen in their journals, were served corn dishes with boiled turkey and roasted venison as well as smoked bear tongues and paws.

The Native Americans were masters at sun-drying, salt-curing and smoking meats to infuse flavor. Wild woods such as persimmon, blackberry or the root of the sassafras tree were burned to impart unique smoked flavors to their fish and game.

Native persimmons

A strong Native American influence will permeate our menu at Restaurant R'evolution. Sassafras will dust the rims of our gumbo bowls and persimmon wood smoke will flavor duck breasts. The Native Americans had a theory: Watch what animals eat and prepare the game with like fruit and nuts for flavor. So naturally, wild fruits and berries will infuse our game sauces. I am certain that our homage to Louisiana’s Native Americans and their exquisite natural flavors will be endless.

Life on Mars

2010-12-23T16:58:00.000-06:00

This afternoon I was driving from Donaldsonville to the airport, going over the Sunshine Bridge that spans the Mississippi River to go back to Chicago for Christmas, and it occurred to me. I may as well be living on Mars. That’s how foreign rural Louisiana feels to me. At this point, having lived here full-time for less than 6 weeks, it still really blows me away that I’m here.

Never having lived in rural America, much less in rural Louisiana, I keep asking myself “How on earth did I get here?” Driving through the burning sugar cane fields, the rich, sweet smell of burnt caramel hanging in the air, with beach refineries in the background is really trippy. I’m not in Kansas anymore. Going back to Chicago for three days of white Christmas is going to be a real culture shock. My ‘hood these days is Planet Bayou.

It’s very industrial, with these huge steel bridges and oil tankers and barges.Every morning I drive this huge curve, along the bank of the Mississippi and up onto the Sunshine Bridge, I have this huge vantage point across the river of the barges pulling up to the oil refineries. Tractor trailers packed with sugar cane are flying by. And at night the roads are really dangerous and black, with no street lights. And then when the sun comes up, you’re in the swamp, looking at alligators and frogs. That contrast is mind-blowing. “What am I doing here? I’m a city boy.”

Not to mention, when you’re used to waking up in Chicago and experiencing fall and winter, thinking root vegetables, which are in season in the Midwest, it’s bizarre to suddenly be in Louisiana, and all the roadside stands have strawberries being sold out of the backs of trucks and little tents. Where I live is a sportsman’s paradise, year-round. Right now it’s duck and venison season, and there are hunters in camouflage everywhere, tramping in and out of the woods. Crawfish is in season. It’s a different set of seasons entirely. And yet in my head I’m working on a menu that won’t launch until next summer. It’s this culinary tug-of-war all the time.

It’s about where you are and where you’re going.

Oh yeah, one more thing. The fried chicken out here is crazy good. Everywhere. Check out my lunch today, FROM A GAS STATION. Oh my god.

Happy holidays, everyone.

- Rick

The Seven Nations & Defining "Creole"

2010-12-23T14:54:00.000-06:00

I sit here in my kitchen today deep in thought, sipping a cup of coffee. The task before me is to define the work that Rick and I are doing in New Orleans to create Restaurant R’evolution. To be honest, our work was defined more than 300 years ago by the seven nations who arrived on Louisiana’s shores. So, our task should be simple: Respect the past while presenting a new and revolutionary style of Louisiana food to contemporary diners. Well, come to think of it, it’s not an easy task. But, as chefs with a love of cooking and a respect for raw and regional ingredients, I have faith that we will rise to the occasion.

The seven nations – the Native Americans, French, Spanish, Germans, English, Africans and Italians – were the most significant contributors in this impossible-to-replicate experiment that we call Cajun and Creole cuisine. Of course, Cajun and Creole cuisine was not created or invented; it was a process of evolution and adaptation, much like the process that Rick and I are engaged in now.

Indeed, numerous other cultures have arrived in this land fleeing famine, war and homeland hostilities while seeking opportunity, religious freedom, adventure and prosperity. They came from all nations, in great numbers and small. Some arrived from Ireland in 1803. Other Irishmen came between 1830 and 1860, fleeing the “Potato Famine.” Hungarians came and settled around Springfield and Albany in the 1890s, and brought with them a great culture including a version of their language that is still spoken today. Several thousand Croatians from the Dalmatian Coast arrived in the 18^th century and began settling the Gulf Coast. Their fishing communities soon grew around Empire, Buras and Port Sulphur. The Vietnamese arrived after the Vietnam War. They were fishermen and farmers in the old country and took up those roles here, including boat building and net mending. Some of them opened fabulous Vietnamese grocery stores. Immigrants from Belgium, Czechoslovakia, China, Lebanon, Greece and even the Philippines migrated to this great Bayou State. All of these cultures and more joined the Native Americans who were here in the beginning. Needless to say, it was not long before these cultures intermarried.

A term was created to describe the children of the these intermarriages who were born on Louisiana soil: Creole. Few words in American English are as misunderstood or as frequently misused.

The term "Creole" is believed to have derived from the Latin word “creare” meaning “to create.” Originating in the Western Hemisphere, the term “Creole” was used about 1590 by Father de Acosta, a Spanish priest, to distinguish newborn West Indies children from everyone else. Eventually, it was used to describe everything in Louisiana, from vegetables to furniture; even the state itself became known as the “Creole State.”

Numerous writers and historians over the years tried diligently to define "Creole." Today, with 300 years of their vision and expertise, we now know and can clearly debate that Creole is defined as anyone born on Louisiana soil from the intermarriage of the Europeans, Africans and Native Americans, who contributed significantly to the culture and cuisine of Louisiana. The key word here is “significantly.” Even though many important cultures still seek refuge on our rich shores today, it was the original seven nations that significantly impacted our way of life, language, food, customs, music and even the stories we tell, which by definition are considered Creole.

And who were those significant cultures? They were the Native Americans, who shared their knowledge of this land with us; the French, who first claimed this land for colonization under “The Sun King,” Louis XIV; the Spanish, who first explored Louisiana and eventually received it as a gift from France; the Africans, who arrived on these shores against their will in slavery, but who contributed greatly to our culture and especially our cuisine; the Germans, who saved the city of New Orleans from starvation with their great knowledge of farming; the English, who arrived here from New England to settle the rolling hills of the Felicianas; and the Italians, the last of our Creoles, who came to work on the sugar plantations after the Civil War and became dock workers and strawberry farmers and ultimately, helped build Louisiana’s food empire.

These are the mixtures; these are the Creoles.

- John

Gone Fishing

2010-12-20T15:49:00.000-06:00

Last week was fish week in the Restaurant R’evolution test kitchen at Bittersweet Plantation, and for me, another week in what we’ve half-jokingly dubbed the “John Folse Cooking School.” As a chef who didn’t previously have a background in Cajun and Creole cooking, this menu development process has been an incredible learning opportunity for me, getting to cook side-by-side with the man who literally wrote the book (12 of them!) on that style of cuisine. To give you a little bit of insight into our menu development process for R’evolution, it’s really a three-step process for each section of the menu we look at.

Step One: John and I decide which of the classic Creole and Cajun dishes we want to do our riffs on. We’ll read and talk about the history of those dishes and which of the Seven Nations contributed to those dishes (more on the Seven Nations from John later this week). Then we’ll go into the kitchen together with our team of chefs for three days of intensive study and cooking, and John takes us through the classic preparations for those dishes from start to finish.

Step Two: I usually take a day or two to go away and marinate on it all. I think about the dishes we made, and I figure out how to interpret them through my palate and my culinary sensibilities to make them new, make them my own. I sketch out the dishes on paper, I think about how they’ll look and how they’ll be presented. I shop and prep in the kitchen to get ready for the last step.

Step Three: Tasting Day. We taste the reinterpreted dishes. We pass judgment. We decide what will make the cut for the menu and what we’ll table for the time being. We talk about plating and presentation. Then we work out the logistics of each recipe and the kitchen process and system for each dish. In all, it can take more than a week to iron out each part of the menu.

A Tale of Three Fish Stews...the first rendition.

For fish week, we examined and broke down the iconic fish dishes of New Orleans. We did about 12 different dishes on Wednesday, and then on Thursday we worked out the recipes and systems that go with the eight dishes we had approved. The most exciting dish that came out of the week, for me, was the Tale of Three Fish Stews. We looked at three of the seven nations – France, Italy and Spain – that are most famous for bouillabaisse and fish stews, and created three different takes on the dish through those culinary lenses. Bouillabaisse from France, a Ligurian fish stew from Italy and a Spanish “zarzuela.” Ultimately, rather than choose just one, we decided to create a trio of fish stews in a three-course tasting offering.

We had some fun playing around with surf and turf, pulling together things like red snapper and sugar cane-cured pork belly. We’re messing around with a version of shrimp and grits. A Creole dish with grouper. These are the kinds of things we’re cooking and getting inspired by. Not everything will wind up on the menu, but it’s all part of the journey.

Pontchartrain Blues crab boat

A Pontchartrain Blue crab

One of the coolest parts of fish week for me was getting to go out on the Gulf on shrimp and crab boats with some prospective purveyors, and watching these guys harvest these incredible Pontchartrain Blue crabs in their cages. The day that I was out there, I was actually touring with White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford, and we had a private tour of the operation. It was fascinating to see how they sort through the crabs and stack them and pick them by hand. They were so fast. There were like ten tables with eight people around each table, and they’re packing all of this incredible blue crab meat into plastic containers and weighing it. Pretty amazing stuff.

Next week: meat. We’ll be doing tastings with purveyors at farms, slaughterhouses and butchers, deciding where we’ll be sourcing our meat.

- Rick

In the Beginning

2010-12-16T15:41:00.000-06:00

Chef John Folse

Often in Louisiana, you’ll hear the phrase, “An American by birth, but Cajun by the grace of God!” No statement could be truer when describing the passion and excitement that those of us born in South Louisiana exude when sharing our culture and cuisine with visitors. This is indeed a special place; a place like no other. And, by the grace of God, I was born here, in a trapper’s cabin bound on one side by the Mississippi River levee and on the other by swamps and marshlands.

Louisiana fur trapper, early 1900s

Five generations of Folses ago, in 1720, Jean Gorg Fols, a shoemaker from Ramstein, Germany, in the Palatinate along with his wife, Julienne, walked west from the Rhine River to Orleans and then to Port Louis at L’Orient, France. It was at this port that they boarded the sailing ship Les Deux Freres on November 14 for their voyage to Louisiana. Of the 4,000 Germans who signed up as indentured servants under contract to John Law’s Company of the Indies, the Fols’ were two of just 1,000 who eventually made the voyage overseas. More than 3,000 perished while wintering at the port or returned to their homeland. After arriving here in Louisiana, they settled 25 miles upriver from New Orleans on the west bank at present-day Hahnville.

Arrival of the Acadians in Louisiana

Between 1755 and 1760 the first wave of Acadians were arriving on Louisiana’s shores from Nova Scotia. The Spanish government of Louisiana welcomed these bedraggled refugees and settled them upriver from the Germans in present-day St. James Parish. During this same period records show that, Antoine, a grandson of Johann Jacob Foltz, was born. We assume given the various languages and dialects in Louisiana that Jean Gorg Fols and Johann Jacob Foltz are one and the same. In less than 40 years, Antoine left the river and founded the new Folse settlement on “Lake of the Germans” or Lac Des Allemands. Vacherie Folse was founded.

In the late 1800s, my grandfather Louisey Folse was born in the town of Vacherie. In 1914 he and my grandmother became the proud parents of my dad, Royley, on those same banks at Lac Des Allemands.

I guess if one word were to describe my German heritage it would be “tenacity.” When I reflect on the perils my ancestors faced, their commitment to food, cultural preservation, faith, family and dedication to God, I am inspired to share their story nearly 300 years later. As we go through this blog journey together, I’ll tell their story and that of Louisiana’s seven founding culinary nations.

Unique Raw Ingredients -
Chef Folse holding an
alligator, one of the
exotic ingredients of
the Bayou State

It was my love of Louisiana and passion for food that defined my mission in life: to share Louisiana’s culture and cuisine with the world. Naturally, when I met Rick Tramonto a decade or so ago it only took a moment for our conversation to move from “hello” and a handshake to boudin, oysters on the half shell, sautéed Louisiana frog legs and other exotic foods of the bayous.

I remember precisely the day I met Rick. He caught my attention immediately as I observed him gracefully maneuvering through the dining room at TRU, his Chicago restaurant. I had met him before, but this was the night I came to know him and understood his passion. His love of the restaurant, its food and the guests was obvious. Each diner looked at him in awe as though the great Talleyrand, Carême or Escoffier were in their midst. I watched as he stopped long enough at each patron’s table to adore and be adored. It was a restaurant moment that we in the business all long for. Eventually, he made his way to my table and after greeting and meeting each of us with a gentle handshake and an attentive eye, I knew the rest of the evening would be magical. The artistic details, first-class service and overall ambiance of that first visit remains embedded in my mind today, although I experienced it many times afterward.

Once we became friendly acquaintances, we grew in respect for each other and I came to learn of his journey from obscurity to the pinnacle of the culinary world. Although so many have begun a journey out of adversity, few have achieved the ultimate destination that Rick has.

Chef Folse presents the
Distinguished Visiting Chef
award to Rick Tramonto

It was a few years later that Rick agreed to accept the role of Distinguished Visiting Chef at the John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University on the banks of Bayou Lafourche in Thibodaux, Louisiana. This was our first experience together through sugarcane fields and cypress trees. On this journey Rick and I shared our life stories, our heritage and our passion for food. It was here that we became great friends and confidants. Little did I know that a few years later, after our work together in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we’d become partners in a restaurant development company called Home on the Range. Little did I know that Rick would move to Louisiana and live within a mile of my house. Little did I know that after 33 years in the restaurant business my first endeavor into the New Orleans’ restaurant scene, Restaurant R’evolution, would be in the Royal Sonesta at the corner of Bienville and Bourbon with Rick Tramonto as my partner. Little did I know that I would share Louisiana’s rich culture and unique raw ingredients with Rick, introduce him to fishermen, farmers, trappers and oystermen and share the stovetop in a menu development kitchen with a man I considered one of the top chefs on the globe.

Measuring Up - Chef Folse and Karl
Zimmerman check the length of the
alligator's tail for a sauce piquante

Processing alligator meat at Riceland
Crawfish, Eunice, LA

But, that’s exactly what happened. I realized that if we were to open Restaurant R’evolution successfully in the heart of one of the greatest food cities in the world, we needed to be totally joined at the hip and head, sharing the same philosophy, technique and Louisiana passion. We agreed to spend as much time in fisherman’s boots and hunting gear as we did in the kitchen, and thus began Rick’s crash course in Louisiana’s unique raw ingredients. This journey will continue in the coming months, as we explore what makes a gumbo a gumbo, a Cajun roux different from any other and the “trinity” a necessity in every cast iron pot.

Chefs Rick Tramonto, Donald Link,
Matt Murphy and John Folse enjoy
the spoils of their frogging trip to
Henderson Swamp

Over the next few months, Rick and I will share our story of building a restaurant where people come to experience what can be found in no other location in the world. We’ll take you on the boudin trail; you’ll join us in Henderson Swamp to pull bullfrogs from the water with our bare hands; you’ll see us stop the car to pull an alligator from the roadway, but more importantly, you’ll be here with us as two chefs come together as one to create a true R’evolution in South Louisiana. You won’t want to miss this journey.

- John

Two Storms

2010-12-13T14:22:00.000-06:00

As I write this, I’m sitting in my office at my home in Chicago, waiting to catch a 2:00 p.m. flight. I flew in on Thursday night, after driving from my new house in Gonzales, Louisiana (about an hour outside of New Orleans), to the airport. It was about 68 degrees when I left. I didn’t even wear a jacket. Imagine my surprise when I got in to Chicago at 8:30 and was greeted by a frigid snowstorm. Welcome back to Chicago! I’m freezing my ass off. Thank goodness Eileen brought me a jacket.

After almost a month away from my family, all we wanted to do was cook together, watch the Bears game and enjoy being together as the blizzard went on (and on) outside. Having lived in Louisiana for nearly a month, I kind of miss this, but I know I’m going back, although a little late since my flight is delayed.

Sitting here, looking outside at the wind whipping the snow around, I can’t help but think of another storm in another city. The storm that cemented my resolve to work with Chef John Folse. I’m talking about Katrina. I remember sitting with Eileen at our dining room table in Vernon Hills, and watching that monster storm unfold. All I kept thinking was, “I have to call John. I have to find John.” So I tracked him down and he told me, “Yeah, it’s up for grabs, man.” And he said he just needed me there, needed me to come and help. I got on the next plane.

At this point, I had known John for nearly 10 years, had seen him periodically when he came to Chicago, so there was this ongoing relationship. He would always pop into Trio or Tru, and he was always a great supporter of me as a young chef. When we first got close was when he started his Bittersweet Dairy operation, and he started doing cheese competitions. We did a cheese dinner at Tru with five cheesemakers, five wine makers and five chefs. I was paired up with John, and that was really the first time we got to spend three days together, hanging out one-on-one, cooking together, and we just hit it off. He’s so easy to hang out with. At the end of that dinner he invited me to come to Louisiana to see his world. So a few months later, I went, and I was blown away.

John’s “Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine”(THE definitive book on the subject, which is now in its ninth printing) was just coming out, and he invited me do a book signing with him at a local Barnes & Noble. My Tru cookbook was just coming out, so I said why not? I had no idea what was coming. We pulled up to this store, and it was like utter mayhem. 300 or 400 people in line. It was like Julia Child was there. He had his staff at White Oak Plantation catering it, passing food. I was like, “Oh my god, this guy is like a folk legend. He’s like the Emeril or Julia Child who nobody knows about where I come from. What is going on here?” So we walk in, and we sat there for three hours and signed books. Let me tell you, it was daunting. I was coming from a city where I had established myself pretty well over the years. Here, nobody knew who I was. And meanwhile, John sold 30 books for every one I sold. It was the first time I ever realized how major this guy was. Everybody knew him. He was like an ambassador for not only the state of Louisiana, but the whole region. People drove in from as far away as Mississippi and Texas to meet him.

Three years passed after that visit, and we stayed in touch. And then Katrina hit, and I went back to Louisiana. John offered to take care of the security clearances with the government. He was contracted to feed people by the levees and in St. Bernard’s parish. I couldn’t picture what I was walking into. I had never been to a war zone, so I couldn’t get my arms around it. But through my eyes, seeing it first-hand was like being in an evacuated military situation. There were people seeking refuge, people on IV needles lying in the halls of the airport. It was just incomprehensible. And sure enough, I find John out front with a police escort, and we drive down in to the city in this convoy.

John had these mobile kitchens set up, and for about a week we just cooked for all these refugees and rescue workers. They’d come in after pulling bodies out of houses and they’d eat and do some counseling, and we’d pray with them, and they’d go right back out. Then we moved our operations out into the suburbs – Baton Rouge and those places where the Mississippi River borders, where churches and convents were overflowing with people seeking refuge from the cities. We were making boxes of simple things like crayons and juice boxes for kids, bottled water and backpacks. It was incredible to see all of the companies that were donating stuff -- Kmart, Wal-mart, Target, Sysco, Starbucks.

Fast forward another week, and I’m about to head back to Chicago. John and I were driving back to the airport, and we stopped on the Sunshine Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River. We’re watching Hurricane Rita come in. And our conversation took a deeper turn. We talked about our faith and this feeling like the apocalypse was coming, with all of these traumatic things happening in the world. It was like being on the top of a mountain, complete alone. Imagine being the only two people standing in the middle of an expressway, with not a car in sight. And it’s just quiet. All you can see in the distance is black skies. That’s the day we decided we needed to work together. That day and that moment started something. John will tell you more. He’s from there. He can paint the picture of the sugar cane fields and the oil refineries all around us as we talked, so you’ll see it all as clear as day, like I do.

So now, more than five years later, I’ve moved to Gonzales, Louisiana. John and I are working on our first restaurant together, Restaurant R’evolution. As soon as I land in New Orleans, I’ll go back home, then head into meetings all day tomorrow with John and our team at Bittersweet Plantation. We’re reviewing the final kitchen drawings (more on that later), and tomorrow is all about getting them finalized and approved, so bids can go out and demolition can start. Last week we tasted pastas for the new menu. The rest of this week is all about formulating and tasting the fish dishes. We’re on our way.

- Rick

The Evolution of a R'evolution

2010-10-07T04:45:00.000-05:00

This blog will follow the evolution of Restaurant Revolution from concept to completion. Follow us as we let you in on the process and events leading up to the opening of this collaboration between chefs John Folse and Rick Tramonto.