Brendan, Alena, and Alex all smiles!

Alena, Alex, and I had the great pleasure of partaking in Taste of the Nation at the Omni Hotel in New Haven.  This is a yearly event hosted simultaneously all over the country by Share our Strength, an organization dedicated to eradicating childhood hunger.  Ben has always had the philosophy, that while we are in business to make money, charity work must be a huge part of who we are as a company.  This event is particularly fun because instead of just writing a check we are allowed to show off our culinary talents and let the audience be the judges.

There were over thirty restaurants, bakeries, and wine shops in attendance making for an amazing spread for the nearly 400 guests.  Each restaurant gets a small set up space where they cook and prepare their dishes for the audience meandering from table to table, sampling a huge variety of amazing food. This is the third year that La Cuisine has entered the event and we did not disappoint our adoring fans.

We prepared three items, two savory and one sweet, all in mini portions so that guests could come by and sample a bite of everything. Our first offering was a Chipotle Infused Potato Pancake with Marinated Grilled Flank Steak topped with an Avocado Cream Fraiche.  Our second offering was a Mushroom  Slider served with our Lemon Aioli on mini House Baked Brioche Buns.  And last but not least was our dessert, a Spring Berry Shot served in mini shot glasses.  Rhubarb compote was the first layer followed by a small thin round of vanilla cake then topped with strawberry mousse and finally a dollop of lemon meringue.  The dish conjured up images of spring and summer while maintaining the perfect balance between sweet and tart.  The reaction of our guests said it all as the different layers of the dessert all interacted harmoniously, generating big smiles and requests for seconds.

This event is particularly satisfying for an number of reasons.  First, you see several area business putting on their best face, presenting amazing food that is beautifully displayed. There is a slightly competitive edge to the entire event because the audience and a small panel of judges decide on best entree, best dessert, best table presentation, and people’s choice.  Because pride is on the line every restaurant really pushes the envelope with their food and presentation.  Finally and most importantly, it just feels good to know that 100 percent of the proceeds to this event go to ending child hunger. This year alone over $60,000 was raised on behalf of Share our Strength.  On a final note, the event was made just a touch sweeter for La Cuisine by claiming the title of Best Dessert on heels of last years Best Entree.  Hope to see you all next April for Taste of the Nation New Haven!

This past weekend my family and I had the pleasure of celebrating my Dad’s (Ben Bloom) birthday.  Special events in our family are not celebrated with lots of pomp and circumstance or lavish, expensive gifts to each other.  Instead, our special occasions are celebrated with food and last Saturday night was no exception, except for one minor detail.  My brother Alex and I actually did the cooking for Dad. Most often Ben is the one creating the culinary masterpieces that grace our family table but we thought on his birthday he deserved a night off.

Now as you can imagine cooking for Ben is not without stress or anxiety. Having run LaCuisine for the past 25 years he has seen and eaten a ton of incredible food.  I don’t mean to say that he puts pressure on us when we cook; in fact it was just the opposite.  He was sitting contently in his favorite chair reading the Times, enjoying some excellent wine.  The stress comes more from the fact that we can’t let this man down.  I have now worked in the business for last 2 years and my younger brother Alex is a second year student at the Culinary Institute of America.  If, with those combined credientials we can’t put together a top notch dinner, than what good are we, have we learned anything after all these years of eating terrific food?  Well the answer is quite simply, yes we have, thank you very much Dad.

Saturday’s Dinner featured two courses focusing on the seasonality of spring; Dad was a spring baby after all.  Earlier in the week Alex and I put our collective heads together and came up with a menu that we thought would be straightforward to execute but also present very well.  After a number of phone calls back and forth, “Lets roast the lamb, no we should grill it, better yet grill then roast!”  You can see my point two over ambitious cooks over thinking the whole meal.  Finally we settled down and decided Dad would like simple clean flavors, the type of food that we grew up eating and enjoying as a family.

The first course was an Asparagus Velouté topped with a Seared Sea Scallop over crème fraiche and finished with a Cantaloupe Melon Gelée.   Asparagus Velouté is a rich creamy asparagus style soup with herbs, a dish that shouts spring. The seared scallop added a touch of sweetness, the crème fraiche a hint of creaminess, and the final bright note from the melon gelée.  A dish of subtle elegance, simple yet fresh flavors that were the perfect embodiment of early spring.

The second course was a Herb Crusted Roast Rack of Colorado Lamb served over Pureed Chive Smashed Potatoes with Spring Onions and Carrots, finished with a Veal Demi-glace.  This dish featured the earthy tones of the lamb, the smooth yet slightly piquant bite of potatoes, and the richness of the demi. The ring of carrots and spring onions added the final bright notes to the dish.

For dessert my step mom, Patty, made one of our family favorites, Chocolate Buttermilk Cake with Fresh Whipped Cream Icing topped with Shaved Chocolate.

All in all the meal was a slam-dunk if I do say so myself. Our vision actually turned into reality and the final presentation and flavors were just what we had hoped for.  Dad seemed genuinely pleased with the outcome, glad not to have been in the kitchen for hours on his special day. We spent the last hour after dessert dissecting what we had eaten, trying to decide what could have been done better, what worked, what did not. Could we have added a pinch of this or a pinch of that, what would have happened if we used this ingredient instead of that, typical Bloom family dinner conversation.  My wife summed up the night the best when upon leaving she said, “Your family really is food obsessed!”  Cheers to that!