Hotel Indigo Invites NYC Locals to Meet Celebrity Chef Curtis Stone and Prove The Big Apple’s Local Dishes Are the Best – Friday, September 30, 2011

EVENT REVIEW & INTERVIEW BY CLAIRE McCURDY

Chef Curtis Stone at Dish on the Dish at Hotel Indigo, NYC

The Hotel Indigo was clearly having a bountiful foodie afternoon. The stream of black-clad New York foodies eddied in and out. The ladies in black and white uniforms with trays of little tiny edibles like a wicked maguro roll with dipping sauce cunningly concealed in the bottom of a tiny cup, or a tiny crème brule garnished with an even tinier mint leaf and seated on a red pomegranate base, efficiently made the rounds. The buzz of conversation and appreciation rose.

Displays of local delicacies– from the five boroughs—were mounted around the room. A magnificent Brooklyn bakery, Brooklyn Bread Guy, Inc., with an amazingly wide variety of breads, rolls, baguettes, was posed next to an importer of olive oils so that one could rip off a chunk of fluffy baguette and dunk it into the olive oil seated at the adjacent table and savor both.  Tumbadour chocolates, also from Brooklyn, created by pastry cook Jean Francois Bonnet, (formerly of Daniel Restaurant) were cunningly decorated to display their contents – an abstract swirl of lime for a lime scented chocolate, for example.  They inspired broad smiles in anyone who came to their table, and everyone did.   A Double Cross Pear Martini made with Double Cross Vodka from Slovakia, the delicious garnish of a Chilean Wild Baby Peach, and wild baby pear juice, was amazing, the juice masking the strength of the vodka.

But all of this was merely the introduction. The star of the day and the event was Chef Curtis Stone, Australian super chef, and star not only of the cutting board in Australia, Britain and the US, but also a media darling.

Described variously as an important ’young gun” chef and by People Magazine (to his stated embarrassment) as “one of the sexiest men alive,” Curtis describes himself endearingly as a kid learning about making delicious meals from his mother and grandmother. He said that family and food were a close association with him. And was it not true that most people, when asked what was the best food they could ever remember, was a dish their mother had cooked?  It was certainly true for him.  A cherished memory, family sitting around the table, eating food cooked especially for the occasion, and the meal featuring his mother’s bread—she is a baker. Curtis likes to bake bread from her recipes.  “Good food,” he said, “has that personal touch.”

I asked him if he had a philosophy of food.  He said that a great meal starts with really great fresh ingredients.  Go looking for the perfect local fresh cheese, meats, vegetables–that’s what he wants to have end up, cooked perfectly, at the dinner table.  And remember the cooking timelines of each food element in order to put together your total timetable for cooking the meal. So that the timing of the cooking all works together.

Curtis has said that he loves soaking up local cultures as he travels, so I asked what was his favorite cuisine. He said that French cuisine would have to be at or near the top of his list. That they used their beautiful local produce and products to create brilliant, flavorsome exquisite meals and had been honing their techniques for hundreds of years—to perfection. And that their elegant foods are an integral part of their culture.

Did he have a signature meal? Curtis commented that as one got to know the history of food one learned about certain striking spots – such as Liguria in Italy- the birthplace of pesto.  The name means “pounded.”   Pesto is the pungent, aromatic, brilliant mixture of garlic, basil, and pine nuts pounded together and blended with olive oil and Parmigiano Reggiano.  He said that one could really get a feel for the wonderful taste of squashed mashed young basil leaves.  That it was very important to use young basil leaves.  Then the pesto will be powerful and delicious.

Curtis reluctantly acknowledged that he has become a media darling but insists that it was all by accident.  He said he started with a number of segments, (Oprah, Ellen) during which he worked hard to share his love of food, and that it just caught on. People love food! And they love hearing other people talking well about food!

Who was his favorite talk show host? Curtis adroitly dodged that one, saying that Al Roker comes backstage frequently to sample his wares even when he isn’t on the show, and that he loves Curtis’s cooking.

His advice to a new chef just starting out?  Think of assembling your meal as a Sherlock Holmes or treasure hunt experience.  You start with great fresh local ingredients and then start asking questions about them. And going on a hunt for ingredients which will complement the first element.  Find a great bunch of asparagus—then ask, what goes well with this? A beautiful prosciutto? Then what?   Keep building on those initial blocks and you will have assembled the pieces to a beautiful meal.

When I asked Curtis what he felt was the key to success in his restaurants, he said that he always strove for integrity.  He said that a chef and restaurant owner must love his customers and must care for them and their needs from the minute they walk through the door. The chef’s warm attitude must be consistent throughout their time in the restaurant. Love- that’s the key!

And the perfect note on which to end the conversation.  Curtis had served us the dessert, you might say, and the fine cup of coffee