As an extra bonus, we are hosting an intimate dinner on March 2nd, to reflect a recent trip I took to Spain.  There are just 20 seats left for a “Night in San Sebastian.” Join us for a unique and unforgettable night –an authentic tapas bar and porron demonstrations (we’ve even got smocks!), and an interactive paella station.  All the food that evening will be paired with the unbelievable portfolio of wines offered by Renteria Wines .  This dinner is a great excuse for a night out if you’re a local, and an even better excuse to visit the Napa Valley for a long weekend if you aren’t!

The Next Iron Chef: Super Chefs – Primal: Heat and Meat – S04E01 – Part 3

Most of the people who know me well have asked me, “Why on earth would you choose to compete on Next Iron Chef?”

What makes someone with a thirty-year career and a busy restaurant decide to toss his toque into this ring?

The short answer is my competitive streak got the best of me. While the masterminds at Top Chef Masters sometimes asked us to do things that didn’t mesh with how I see my profession (make a meal from a vending machine?), Next Iron Chef has always been about skill. When I was asked to be on Next Iron Chef, part of me wanted to see if I had the chops, and a bigger part wanted to be included in a group for which I have enormous respect.

That’s the same reason I appeared on Top Chef Masters. I was interested in appearing on a popular show but I held out until there was a “mature” chef version. Then the thought of not cooking with that first season’s group – which included Rick and Hubert, Anita and Cindy – bothered me almost as much as not being in my restaurant for six weeks. (Oh, yeah, and worrying that I’d come off looking like an ass by the end of the show – there was always that concern.)

I thought about it for a long time before choosing to compete. Even while shows like Top Chef Masters and Next Iron Chef have possibly elevated the profession, there’s a kind of circus aspect to it that’s hard to ignore. On the one hand, my being on television does help fill the seats at Bottega. On the other hand, I’ve cooked in restaurant kitchens for thirty years – why do I want to take the risk, when it sometimes feels like I’m trying out for high school football all over again?

That, right there, might be the main reason why I decided to compete: I wanted to prove to myself – and the people watching – that my skills haven’t been put out to pasture.

I have a question for all you Next Iron Chef watchers: does an appearance on a television show change your opinion about a chef whose work you follow? If you were me, would you have chosen to compete on Next Iron Chef?

-Michael

When you’re cooking on Thursday you have the whole day to enjoy making the meal and spending this time with your family. By the time Friday hits, it’s just about presenting the dishes and hanging out in the kitchen. And our guests always seem much more relaxed having gotten through their epic Thanksgiving cooking challenge at their house, they come to ours for great stories and lots of good wine!

My Thanksgiving cooking tips for you are to keep the sides to a manageable minimum, and don’t be afraid to ask people to bring a dish as well, especially those family favorites like Aunt Marge’s green bean and mushroom soup casserole. My favorite side dishes, that add pizzazz to a well-dressed turkey, are: Panettone Stuffing, Cranberry Citrus Cressing, and for a more Italian twist, Pumpkin Pastina Risotto, served right in a pumpkin. All my Thanksgiving recipes can be found here.

The other great thing about cooking a small number of side dishes is that you can really devote yourself to the turkey. If there’s one piece of advice I could give year after year, it’s that brining matters! Take the time to brine your bird. If you’ve never brined a bird, or could use a few more pointers check out the video I did for Chow.

Just remember, Thanksgiving is a day for family and loved ones. Do yourself a favor – cut back on the side dishes, cut back on the over-the-top gigantic turkey, and spend your day with the people you care about, not your stove top.

And if you’re looking for something different to do with all those left overs, check my leftovers recipes, Thanksgiving Leftovers, great for Football Friday!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

- Michael.

The time I got to spend with Lidia Bastianich, learning her techniques for prosciutto, is a perfect example of how the old-school ways have some great fringe benefits. At 24 years old, I was opening Tra Vigne and I wanted to learn more than the one or two methods for meat-curing that I had picked up from my grandmother. My friend and mentor, Daryl Corti, suggested I contact Lidia, whose restaurant Felidia in New York City was known for house-cured meats. I reached out to Lidia and she talked me through the process, first over the phone, and later face to face when I visited Felidia. Lidia shared with me a mimeograph of her prosciutto method and she continued to make herself available to me for all of my questions as I learned to master her techniques.

Through my friendship with Lidia, Tra Vigne became known for its house-cured prosciutto and salumi. Lidia and her family have become lifelong friends; the techniques she taught me have enriched my entire career.

Hundreds of prosciutto later, I’ve shared what I’ve learned with dozens of young chefs who, I hope, will mention me as they teach the young chefs they’ll mentor down the road. Lidia’s generosity to one young chef has been passed along through three generations. Can watching a YouTube video offer the same rewards?

The internet is an amazing place for any chef to expand their knowledge but I’m not convinced that it’s the best way to learn a new technique. When I talk to young chefs about the difference between taste and flavor, I think of Lidia, and how her care and friendship flavor the prosciutto I make, even twenty years later.

What do you think? Has the internet and the ease of finding recipes and techniques online in some ways made it more difficult for young chefs?

-Michael

While I’m running a restaurant or filming Next Iron Chef, my wife Eileen takes on other interesting work in our community. She’s done a lot for Connolly Ranch, which teaches kids about farming, food, and sustainability. She’s also a board member for the new Napa Valley Film Festival, which premieres November 9 -13, 2011 with over 100 films and fabulous wine and food events. If you love film, the art of storytelling, and the Napa Valley, this festival was created for you.

What makes me most proud of this year’s festival is how well it connects to Napa’s history and culture, and how it will create interesting dialogue on very timely topics. Documentary filmmaker Paul Saltzman is screening his film Prom Night in Mississippi, and hosting student discussions about racial segregation at Napa Valley schools. My vintner-friend Oscar Renteria had a vision for a Latin film track; thanks to the Napa Valley Mexican American Vintners Association his vision becomes a reality with some wonderful films, including Forgotten Eagles, about a group of volunteer Mexican pilots who flew with the U.S. Air Force during WWII. This film is part of a free program on 11.11.11, Veteran’s Day, at the Lincoln Theater at the Yountville Veterans Home. It begins with a “toast to peace” at 11:11am, and includes two other documentary programs. Other powerful programs continue on Saturday with international organization Roots of Peace, where they will screen three films and host a panel discussion, also at the Lincoln Theater. Click here for more.

A special point of pride to me is the film La Estancia, a powerful documentary about five migrant farm-working families, because the filmmaking team is part of my family here at Bottega Restaurant. I am grateful to all the artists who create meaningful and entertaining films, and to the very hard-working team who made this Inaugural Napa Valley Film festival happen! Now sit back in an old Barrel Room, grab some parmesan-truffle popcorn and a glass of Old Vine Zin, and enjoy the show. — Michael

More details on the Napa Valley Film Festival.

Saturday’s Film Festival Tributes, which begin at 6 p.m. in Yountville’s Lincoln Theater, honors Jeffrey Wright (Emmy and Golden Globe winner for “Angels in America”) with a humanitarian award for his work to help rebuild a war-torn Sierra Leon during an evening hosted by my friend Billy Bush of “Access Hollywood.” That evening also spotlights actress Judy Greer (“The Descendants”); as well as a talk with “Rising Star” Felicity Jones, who can be seen in the festival film “Like Crazy.” Adrian Grenier (“Entourage”) will be speaking in the social media hub of the Buick Tweet House in Napa at 4:15 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11. Actor/comedian Dane Cook will host a Q&A at 4 p.m. Saturday, following the screening of his movie “Answers to Nothing,” and Greer, Grenier and Eliza Dushku (“Bottle Shock”) will particpate in Actors in Conversation panel at 11 a.m. Sunday.

Screenings will be in St. Helena, Napa, Calistoga, and Yountville. Sneak peeks of major releases including Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar, Clooney’s The Descendants, and Jennifer Garner’s Butter.

Purchasing a Festival Pass or Pass Plus makes it easy to get in to the films you most want to see. Go to http://www.napavalleyfilmfest.org and use discount code FESTPASS or PASSPLUS or use them at the Napa Valley Film Festival ticket center for significant savings just for Napa Valley partners and their fans.

The more virtuous side of my brain says, “They’re paying for the meal; they have the right to wear what they like.” My brain’s snarky side (which seems to expand on hot days) says, “He is embarrassing every table that chose to dress appropriately for dinner.”
Having lived and worked in the Napa Valley for the last 25 years, I’ve gotten used to lunches being ultra-casual but at dinner I can’t help feeling that our living décor (our customers, mostly men), has gotten a little too relaxed. For years, whenever I’ve been invited to a private event at a friend’s home, the invite has usually stated, “Napa casual,” which means nice jeans and a stylish shirt. To give this kind of notice makes sense to me; I like knowing a dress code in advance as there’s nothing worse than being over- or underdressed for an occasion.

What do you think? Have we overcasualized our dress codes? I think food tastes different when you’re in your shorts in the backyard eating some BBQ versus when you dress up a little for a good restaurant. Your attire is part of the experience. I sense that many restaurant patrons – at least in the Napa Valley – are more comfortable under-dressing than over-dressing for dinner. Is that good or bad?

Contrast the Napa Valley with how people dress in Rome. When I was in Rome last year, I went into a very simple osteria. As soon as I heard “osteria,” I thought I’d feel comfortable in jeans and a nice shirt. I was wrong. The rest of Rome was impeccably attired and even in this small place, men wore ties and Brioni suits. I didn’t enjoy my meal because I felt uncomfortable with how I was dressed. I felt my jeans didn’t show enough respect to the people cooking my food and the other diners in the restaurant with me. Granted, Napa isn’t Rome, but still….

Does it affect your experience when someone in a restaurant is dressed too casually? Do you even notice? Should a restaurant put dress code suggestions on their web site and let each reservation know in advance that people who are seriously underdressed will not be seated? Or is it best to just ignore the beat-up flip-flops? Is the tyranny of a dress code a thing of the past? Please don’t snark me out on this one. I’m casting the net for answers in deciding this difficult question. I’d appreciate knowing how you feel about this.

-Michael

What we’ve been doing at Bottega this week is smoking our ice. I have a smoking gun (available at www.cusisinetechnology.com) and we’ve been experimenting on our cocktails. We’ve smoked tequila, bourbon, and water with good results. Most of us think smoke belongs to grilled foods so sipping an ice-cold margarita with an undernote of smoke makes you sit up and reconsider smoke’s flavor.

We’ve also been spicing our cubes. Heating up water with roasted peppercorns, cooling and then freezing creates an ice cube with some force. Plus the peppercorns look modern frozen in the cube. As the spice cube melts the drink gets more peppery.

I also like the ice cube trays I’ve seen that let you make six big round cylinders of ice, the shape of a hockey puck and just a little smaller. A cocktail requires just one of these super cubes. Not only does it keep the drink cooler, it melts a little slower so your drink stays undiluted a little longer. Plus I like the idea of “Maker’s Mark on the Rock.”

How about you? Any ice shows going on in your freezer? Share your ideas for spicing the cube and staying cool on hot days.

-Michael

This trend reminds me of watching a tourist in San Francisco; he was so intent on getting that perfect snapshot of the Transamerica Pyramid that he didn’t notice the people walking past carrying their pink plastic bags from Chinatown, the aromas of food from a street cart, the color of the sky, the architecture, the way the light was falling on the buildings. There’s no way the iPhone can record all of that; it just gets one tiny slice of the experience.

What do you think? When people at the table next to you are snapping away with their cameras, does that change your dining experience? Is a meal lacking if you don’t get a few photos of it? And for all those of you who like snapping photos of the food you eat, do you photograph for the main purpose of putting it on Yelp or Chowhound? Are you recording it so you can re-create the dish at home? Do you have photo albums (virtual, of course) of memorable evenings, including the food?

I go back and forth about cameras at the table so would love to hear from you: tell me why you like the food photography trend or why you don’t.

-Michael

Marcus is one of the most articulate chefs I’ve had the pleasure to know and to cook with. Bringing Red Rooster to Harlem was revolutionary. Marcus says connecting with his neighborhood and his community is what he was meant to do. He says, “through business, you can take care of the corner.” I like that Marcus tries to solve neighborhood issues by being engaged, by working in the community that matters to him. That his neighborhood enjoys and is part of Red Rooster is most important to Marcus. That’s not to say he doesn’t enjoy it when President Obama comes for dinner.

Marcus is as smart with the web site as he is with his food. The web site starts with the idea that men are underserved in today’s conversations about food.

I talked to Marcus about this. He said,” Twenty years ago men had Esquire and GQ to help us into our own style. I thought there was a space for chefs-myself included-to help guide men into having a better relationship with their food.”

Marcus says, “We share expertise from professionals and edit our content so it resonates with our readers. We’re thinking about the evolving dynamics of modern families and we want to address those needs. That includes articles about food, wine and beverages, cocktails, and equipment. The site is inspired by men but inclusive of women.”

When I posted this on Facebook, women questioned it, some commenting that they didn’t see how the site was “male” or asking if women were welcome there too. Women are always welcome as far as I’m concerned but I like the idea of writing for a group of people who want to develop better skills and a greater sense of comfort in the kitchen, but aren’t sure where to start. Women have places where they can go to learn from each other about cooking; for men, it’s not as obvious.

Marcus says that one of the ideas behind Food Republic is that he believes anyone can make an amazing meal even if the only tools they have are a pan and a spatula. I like that concept, and the idea of opening the kitchen door for someone who just needs a little confidence.

How about you? Do you see a difference in how men and women approach food and cooking? Does a site like Food Republic get your attention?

-Michael

I once told a group of young chefs that if they didn’t have cookbooks on their nightstand and cooking magazines in their bathrooms, they might want to rethink their careers. Cookbooks are how I wind down, late at night after work. Right now I have Frances Mallman’s book Seven Fires on my nightstand as well as a few old favorites by Alice Waters. I had The Big Fat Duck Cookbook beside my bed for a while but almost beaned myself when it fell on my face – that book is too massive for late-night in-bed reading. It’s so well done in how it shows the evolution of one person’s style of cooking.

Cooking magazines flash in and out of my office. I flip through them very, very quickly, tear out and file anything that catches my eye. I find that books seem to inspire thought, maybe because they’re more cohesive, while cooking magazines act as triggers to memories. I’ll see an article on grilled escarole salad, say, and remember escarole that I had in Italy, and then I’ll be thinking about what I can do with escarole. Books let me see the cooking style of one person, and find new techniques that I want to try.

I tend to use the internet to fill in an idea on a dish in the making; my problem is I see other interesting articles and end up in faraway places, reading about a topic that’s not related to what I was searching for.

How about you? Do you find that you buy fewer cookbooks since the recipe goldrush on the internet? Do you still subscribe to cooking magazines or are you more inclined to search for what you need online?

-Michael