Restaurants That Change The World

Restaurants are an important part of our culture.They are responsible for foods trends and introducing international  cuisines to communities . There's a new book celebrating them and their impact on the American diet, featuring some of the US's most famous eateries.

Food critic and regular contributor, Tejal Rao wrote about this great new book featuring  the most influential restaurants in today's New York Times Food section. "Ten Restaurants That Changed America" (W.W. Norton and Company Publishers) was written by Paul Friedman who is surprisingly a medieval history professor at Yale University. He took on the massive task of researching two hundred years of restaurants , culling through hundreds of thousands of restaurants to culminate in the top ten. The list spans the 19th and 20th Centuries and the American continent. One of the first and most famous is New York's Delmonico, the city's most famous eatery. It started in 1827 as a French pastry shop by the Swiss born Delmonico brothers. They were the first and the most instrumental in bringing a sit down restaurant to a city full of oyster stands and rowdy , boisterous taverns that served just basic dishes., It was the first restaurant to import foods, namely truffles from the Dordogne region of France. Delmonico's also was one of the first to use local fish and turtles caught from the Eastern seaboard. Their menu was the gold standard for all French restaurants for one hundred years.

Chain restaurants such as Howard Johnson''s and Schraft's also changed American eating and paved the way for fast food giants such as McDonald's and Wendy's. Howard Johnson's , still going and famed for their fried clams, pioneered the idea of franchise restaurants, They were also the first for strategic planning, situating restaurants along highways.The idea appealed to traveling families who didn't want to eat at the truck stops ,mostly populated by truckers and sales reps. Schraft's , also was an innovator, It started earlier , in the 1910's and was a Northeastern chain of candy stores. It added a lunch counter and seats, offering a new concept- dining options for unescorted women. Restaurants would not sit women without a male companion. Schraft's didn't believe in that. They also were the first business to hire women as waitresses along with giving maternity leave to pregnant workers.Other restaurants that made a difference were Mama Leone's, Alice Water's Chez Panisse , the famed Sylvia's in Harlem , the equally famed Antoine''s in New Orleans and The Mandarin. In one way or another they  have influenced generations of restaurant owners and chefs.

Restaurants have always been important in American history and culture. "Ten Restaurants  ThatChanged America" shows just that, how they influenced our eating and cooking habits.It is a fascinating read into how vital these eateries are to our psyche and image.

In Situ - A Restaurant Celebrating The Art Of Cooking

Many restaurants take pride  in signature dishes. After all , they're what give any eatery, bistro or cafe their reputation and following. Yet a new restaurant in San Francisco is doing the opposite. The chef is taking world famous  recipes from restaurants around the world and putting a new spin on them.

Pete Wells interviewed In Situ's creator and chef, Corey Lee in his A Recipe Lab column in today's New York Times Food section. The concept is unique in an industry where individuality is key to success,The restaurant with the closest ideology is Chicago''s Next, founded by Grant Achaz , which  completely changes menus every four months. Of course Chef Lee also owns a traditional restaurant, Benu where there is only seven main dishes to choose from.In Situ is sort of like a culinary art museum. Even the name, comes from the Latin phrase meaning a piece of art is embedded in its' original location. Its' menus  are folded and fastened with  metal museum admission tags and look like  guides to a gallery exhibition of works that are on temporary loan. One side of the menu depicts  a map of the world tilted on its' axis. The reason for this is showing a dislocation of sorts that hints' that there is a shift from the recipe's original location to In Situ's. Circles on the map show the many dishes many birthplaces.There is a key in the menu's right margin that gives each's ingredients ,it's originator;s name and the city where it was created.

  Chef Lee is so good that he  even earned praise from the famed WD-50 chef  Wylie Dufresne. What he had done with Chef Dufresne's signature dish shrimp and grits is nothing short of amazing.The grits in Chef Lee's interpretation are actually the shrimp repeatedly ground and fried married to pickled jalapeno slices.Another masterpiece is The Forest ,taken from Mirazur in Menton, France,The original dish created by Chef Mauro Colagreco fashioned this vegan dish to look like the woods outside his restaurant on the French Riviera,It involves recreating moss from a parsley soaked sponge cake while the bark is created from fried sunchoke peels. Chef Colagreco gave Chef Lee permission to use mushrooms from Northern California for true authenticity as opposed to ones used from Provence, A dish from the great eatery, Momufuku Ssam Bar is also on In Situ's menu. It is spicy pork sausage and rice cakes. Chef Lee amped up this ragout with sliced rice sticks,  turning it into a mapo-tofu.For dessert Chef Lee honors Chez Panisse,It is a salute to Alice Waters lemon ice cream  dish in a hollowed out lemon shell placed next to lemon sherbert. A lemon flavored cat's tongue or langue du chat shares the spotlight.

Chefs are usually encouraged to create signature dishes, reflecting their tastes and backgrounds Chef Corey Lee breaks away from that by putting his own spin on already famous dishes. The result is stunning and delicious, the perfect homage from a culinary master.

Ninety Acres Of Good Eating

It’s not the scenery,although breathtaking, that stands out at Peapack,New Jersey’s Ninety Acres Restaurant. It’s the innovative way of cooking thanks to a brilliant young chef. David Felton, that makes this eatery truly outstanding. Foodie Pantry received the privelege of sitting down with Chef Felton and discussing his philosophy.

For anyone, whether a professional chef or a home chef, just looking at Ninety Acres farms is a dream come true. A large variety of vegetables and herbs grow on rolling hills, just outside the kitchen and restaurant. There is no need to deal with dubious suppliers or questionable produce and meats/.The time of year dictates what the kitchen will create . “Seasonal main dishes right now feature corn,tomatoes ,Chinese cabbages, while dessert ones will feature fresh strawberries.There is no breakout dish or highlight dish of the season.” explained Chef Felton. However working with the farm to table philosophy can present some problems he added. Spring can give too many green or unripe vegetables. Summer gives an overabundance of tomatoes while fall brings about too many pumpkins and squashes. With winters come braises and a smaller list of ingredients to use. Yet he encourages home chefs to attempt their own version of Ninety Acres/.They can turn their yards into gardens as well as visiting their local farmer’s markets. This is a great way of eating healthier , eschewing chemical laden prepared foods.

Ninety Acres is a foodie’s dream, not only because of Chef David Felton’s vision and talent but because of the farm to table menu. His creations are not only delicious but also fresh from the garden. Eating at Ninety Acres is a true culinary experience.