Setting the Bar

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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.