No Lazy Summer Days for Restaurant R’evolution

Here we are at the 2 month mark for Restaurant R’evolution and we are excited to announce the debut of lunch service, which will be Monday through Friday from 11:30 until 2:30. Our first service will be Monday August 6 and we are looking forward to launching Sunday Brunch in the coming weeks.

August is known as the month when everyone “leaves town” and for me, it’s no different. Last night I returned to the James Beard House to cook for the 6^th time but this was my first time representing Restaurant R’evolution. It doesn’t matter how many times I have made this trip, each invitation is an equally tremendous honor. I was excited to share this experience with Chef John Folse, Executive Sous Chef Erik Veney, Executive Pastry Chef Erin Swanson, Chef de Partie Eric Baucom and Director of Wine Molly Wismeier.  My team and I created a menu designed to give our New York fan base a sneak peek of the flavors of Restaurant R’evolution that John Folse and I have been conceptualizing for the past three years. Though the menu featured many standouts from our dinner service such as the Creole snapping turtle soup, grilled stripe black bass and Pecan-Smoked Berkshire Pork Shank, I hope the attendees will be inspired to come to New Orleans to indulge in the full dining experience in the restaurant’s Storyville Parlour or dine privately in the Wine Cellar Room.

After the James Beard Dinner I will be heading to my home base in Chicago on Friday just in time for Lollapalooza. I will go straight to the festival in Grant Park as soon as I touch down to spend some time with my friend and former sous chef Elliot Graham Bowles. Better known as Graham Elliott, he is the Culinary Director for Lolla and the man behind Chow Town which features his own hand-picked line-up of Chicago based chefs to feed festival-goers. While I won’t be one of the chefs in the 28 food tents, you may see me roving throughout the festival grounds between scheduled commitments.  This is always a great weekend for me.

Next it’s off to Los Angeles for the LA Food & Wine Festival where Erik and I will be representing Restaurant R’evolution at 2 events. The first is the “I Heart  & Champagne Caviar” event on the rooftop of the Montage Beverly Hills on Friday August 10^th from 7 until 9 p.m. This is THE event to attend for anyone who loves Champagne and its parallel in extravagance, and one of my favorites, caviar. On Saturday, August 11, Restaurant R’evolution Executive Sous Chef Erik Veney and I will be participating in the Lexus Grand Tasting on the Event Deck of L.A. Live. We will be serving “Shrimp and Grits Villages de L’est” topped with a Cream Cheese Spuma from Restaurant R’evolution’s Dinner Menu.

After Los Angeles, I will be returning to New Orleans to participate with John Folse in one of our favorite charitable events called Dining By Design in Baton Rouge Louisiana. John’s got quite the schedule too.  Check back next week to see how’s he’s doing in London feeding Team USA at the Olympics!