Growing up as kids, our family birthday cake was mom's lemon cheesecake on a graham cracker crust (Nabisco). Made with Philadelphia cream cheese and Knudsen sour cream, it has always been my benchmark for cheesecake. I featured it on many menus where I was the chef. Sometimes I added berries or a coulis type sauce, but the basic cake has been a mainstay in my repertoire. It's still seems like a luxury treat today. We had the option of sharing or not. Usually, I ate the whole cheesecake within a day.
Contrast that with Chef Christine Dahl's stunning birthday cake that she made for our five-year old neighbor, Madison. Filled with strawberries and whipped cream, the unicorn themed cake with rainbow colored buttercream frosting was a delicious, dazzling treat. The cake was a vanilla chiffon and the unicorns are made from colored fondant icing. It was a labor of love that consumed more time to prepare than a typical wedding cake. For a great cake see her web page, santabarbaracakes.com
I spied these golf-ball sized tomatoes at the Farmers Market in Santa Barbara. Summer is always a great time for the heirloom tomato varieties. I have never seen this variety before. Called Indigo Rose, the purple skin boasts high levels of anthocyanins, disease-fighting compounds that help fight cancer, reduce inflammation, and slow the aging process. Inside, fruits offer tasty rouge-tone flesh. Tomatoes are ripe when skin turns from shiny blue-purple to dull purple-brown and the bottoms of the fruits turn from green to red.
Even more appealing is the superior flavor. I decided to use them raw in a classic French style sauce. The sauce vierge is terrific on most grilled or sauteed seafood, especially sea bass, salmon, scallops, cod and sole. Chef James Sly introduced this sauce to me when we worked together at La Serre (1977, Studio City , CA).
The Pyramid of Vienne
Chef James was fresh off a European culinary trek where he fell under the tutelage of the French chef Michel Guerard. Chef Michel is a legend in the food world and has held three Michelin star rating for almost 40 years at Les Prés d'Eugénie. His landmark books, La Cuisine Gourmand and Cuisine Minceur, were must reads back in the 70s and still viable with today's high-end culinary style. Guerard's style of cooking fell under the rubric of "La Nouvelle Cuisine."
This new style of cooking was an evolution from the restaurant La Pyramide, the firebrand of chef Fernand Point. Point's book, Ma Gastronomie was first published in French in 1969. Chef Point represents the breech from chefs Carême's and Escoffier's cooking styles to the ingredient driven, creative cuisine we see today. But I digress...they are delicious tomatoes.
I am delighted to support the Lotusland celebration with a donation of a fabulous cocktail reception in the garden at Lotusland. The botanic garden is among the finest in the world and I will create a menu inspired by the season.
Chef Michael Hutchings
Lotusland’s signature event, Lotusland Celebrates: Avant Garden, our annual fundraising gala, is the hottest ticket of Santa Barbara’s summer social scene and is always a sold-out affair. Space is limited.
Join us to celebrate Madame Ganna Walska’s avant-garde style and help raise critical financial support to maintain her world-renowned garden.
Avant Garden will be an exceptional party featuring iconic Italian fashion house Valentino presenting installations in Lotusland’s memorable gardens followed by an elegant seated dinner on the grand lawn. Experience an elegant garden odyssey with fantastic avant-garde surprises including a peek into Ganna Walska’s trendsetting fashion and costumes – many on display for the first time!
Space for this event is very limited. Please contact Courtney at 805.969.3767 ext. 116 or [email protected] or by calling.
Lotusland Celebrates: Avant Garden six spectacular items up for Auction on July 29, 2017
Midsummer’s Night Dream: Diamond Dust Portraits A diamond dust portrait of Madame Ganna Walska created by renowned British-American artist, Russell Young. Russell’s work is collected by museums, celebrities and connoisseurs worldwide and he is celebrated for his diamond enhanced silkscreen portraits.
Chef Michael Hutchings at the President Reagan Library
Photo Will Conlin
In Full Bloom Host a private cocktail party for up to 40 guests in the Lotusland garden of your choice with award winning mixologist Patrick Reynolds creating custom Lotusland-inspired cocktails and Chef Michael Hutchings providing delicious bites. Chef Michael will design a menu to fit the season and palates of your guests. Enjoy the evening in the gardens of Lotusland.
Belmond La Samanna Relax in the top rated ocean and garden paradise of Belmond’s St. Martin luxury resort. Two guests will enjoy a six night stay in a One Bedroom Beachfront Suite with meals and spa experiences. Set beside the island’s finest beach and lapped by the Caribbean Sea, Belmond La Samanna is the ultimate St. Martin luxury resort.
Written in the Stars A magical dinner for 10 guests in the garden with Master Astrologer, Jennifer Freed. An evening of fine dining and astrological insight inspired by Madame Ganna Walska’s own love of astrology and spirituality. A highlight of the evening will be conversations and inspirations from special guest, Hania Tallmadge, Madame Walska’s niece.
New York Fashion Fantasy Experience timeless elegance with a one-week stay in a suite at The Lowell, one of New York’s most luxurious properties. During your stay, Verdura invites you and 10 guests for cocktails at the Belperron salon on Fifth Avenue overlooking Central Park. You and your friends will be treated to an insider’s view of Suzanne Belperron’s fascinating history and a behind-the-scenes look at her impressive archive of designs. While hearing the stories behind the jewels, you will also be invited to try them on – a rare opportunity to be immersed in the pioneering aesthetic of Suzanne Belperron. This item includes a $5,000 gift certificate to Verdura with any purchase of $15,000 or more, and other special and rare excursions are available, including behind-the-scenes visits to The Costume Institute, Bergdorf Goodman, and New York Botanic Gardens.
Aqua Rising An exquisite aquamarine and diamond ring handcrafted by esteemed local jeweler Daniel Gibbings. A highly sought-after one-of-a-kind piece, a true collectors dream ring.
Reports of my death are highly exaggerated! As well, reports that I have purchased Downey's restaurant are highly exaggerated. Consider this plausible deniability.
My ideal of a restaurant would be a popup style, one or two days a month. I am, in fact considering doing just that on a very limited basis this fall. Let that simmer in the rumor mill. I did my restaurant penance for some ten years at 100 hours per week.
Chef Michael Hutchings LIVE at Taste of the Town 2017 Taste of the Town - Santa Barbara, CA
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Riviera Park Gardens
The ultimate epicurean adventure in Santa Barbara benefiting the Arthritis Foundation!
Enjoy an afternoon at Santa Barbara’s original tasting event featuring the area’s finest wineries, breweries, restaurants and caterers.
2017 Taste of the Town Santa Barbara
An Arthritis Foundation Event Honoring the Legacy of Michael Towbes
Sunday September 10, 2017 Riviera Park Gardens
Noon - 3 PM
I will be participating in the 35th annual Taste of the Town event this coming September. I have participated since its inception in 1981. Over the years of participating I have offered a wide range of delicious palette pleasers. Come to the event and see what we are cooking up this year.
In my previous blog I mentioned that chef John Downey was retiring and has sold his restaurant after some 35 years of serving great food in Santa Barbara. Doing so reminded me of how I got to Santa Barbara in 1981. At that time, I had just returned from three years in Europe working at Le Gavroche in London. I returned in April and set about looking for a chef position to use my newly acquired skills from the three starred Michelin restaurant where I has honing my culinary skills.
After an intensive three month search, I got a call from a foreign sounding gentleman from Santa Barbara. It was Paul Vercammen, owner of The Olive Mill Bistro. Our initial interview was a Michael's restaurant in Santa Monica. We chose that location as it was half way between Santa Barbara and San Clemente where I was living. Paul offered me a job and I went to see the restaurant and observe the service.
I was taken back by the style and culinary level, but keep in mind I was at some of the best restaurants in the world while I was in Europe. The reason Paul wanted to hire me was that there was a new restaurant in town that was shaking the old order up. The new restaurant was Penelope's adjacent to the Andre Clark Bird Refuge. The chef was John Downey and he was cooking a new style called Nouvelle Cuisine, sort of free style California-French that was the rage in Los Angeles at places such as L'Ermitage, L'Orangerie, La Serre, Michael's, La Toque, Stars and Chez Panisse to name a few.
So, in my own convoluted way, it has occurred to me that my career was impacted by the talented English chef, John Downey, who raised the bar on fine dining in Santa Barbara. The really odd twist was that I bought Penelope's partnering with Chef Albert Roux of Le Gavroche fame. We opened in 1984 and ran for ten years but that is another story.
My colleague Chef John downey has announced that he is hanging up his Toque Blancheafter 35 years at his restaurant in Santa Barbara, Downey's. John was an early proponent of Nouvelle Cuisine and brought that to Penelope's restaurant (1979) and then his own restaurant. Thirty-five years is remarkable. I have had the pleasure of cooking with John at a number of charitable events over the years, especially The Taste of the Town event that started in 1981. My restaurant, Michael's Waterside, took over the space that Penelope's occupied in 1984. John, Norbert Schultz (Norbert's) and myself were the vanguard in Santa Barbara of the revolution rocking the food world in the 70's and 80's.
As an aside, in the kitchen of the demised Penelope's, I found a dozen two-quart measuring bowl. I was always curious what they were used for. Years later in a cookbook called "Great Desserts from the Great Chefs" I read a recipe from John that called for a measuring bowl of the same description.
Chef John and his eponymous restaurant will be missed.
All the best John
From Downey's Web page:
"John Downey knew that he wanted to become a chef at the age of 12 in his native England. At 19 he was cooking for Britain's Queen Elizabeth aboard her namesake ocean liner QE2 while seeing the world.
In 1972 John settled down in New York and learned the finer points of classic French cuisine while working at one of that city's best restaurants; Lafayette. An invitation to join the "New American" food movement put him working under the advisory of James Beard at the World Trade Center's "Market Dining Rooms". Freshness was key. It was very good food. A passion was ignited in New York and Chef Downey was compelled to travel to California where so much of that good food was produced. Arriving in Santa Barbara in 1978, John brought his years of experience; English, French Nouvelle, New American and commenced a seachange of fine dining in this town. About the same time, Alice Waters in San Francisco and Wolfgang Puck in L.A. were also changing the way Californians would dine out. It would be termed "California Cuisine" by the food press. In 1982 we opened Downey's in the very heart of the best farming region in the country."
Announcement from Downey's
We believe this may come as a surprise & disappointment to many of our loyal guests but, later this summer, after thirty-five years of serving you with Santa Barbara's finest cuisine, Liz and I will be retiring from Downey's and moving on to our next life adventure. There will be a new restaurateur taking over 1305 State Street and we are confident that they will offer you a very pleasant dining option in the heart of the downtown theater district.
Liz and I would like to thank you, our guests, for supporting our efforts through these years. We hope you have enjoyed our hospitality as much as we have enjoyed sharing it. It really has been a rewarding experience for us, from shopping at the Farmers' Market, to preparing food, to tasting wines, to serving you, to...well, maybe not to doing the dishes! But you get the idea.
We will miss so many of our regular guests and that will be one of the harder aspects for us. Downey's has been a huge part of our life for many years. But it really is time for us to relax and enjoy our life together. First thing will be a nice, long vacation to adjust to the "no-restaurant" lifestyle. It's been a long time since we have had such a chance. If you have an opportunity to join us for one last duck with baby turnips or maybe a slice of raspberry millefeuille, then we would love to see you. Our last day is not yet determined but we anticipate closing around the end of August.
Chef Michael Hutchings of Michael's Catering Cooks for Fiesta
The Inn Crowd
The Inn Crowd at the Carriage Museum
Tom Peterson, Peter Giorgi, Chef Michael Hutchings, David Bolton, Rhonda Henderson, Host Craig Case
The Inn Crowd, hosted by producer Craig Case with Chef Michael Hutchings welcomes La Presidente Rhonda Ledson Henderson and David Bolton to The Inn Crowd kitchen. The episode was filmed at the Carriage Museum in Santa Barbara in the tack room. For the menu, I planed my version of upscale "rancho food." First course is a chili relleños filled with Monterey jack cheese, mushrooms and huitlecoche set on a rancho sauce. The ranch sauce is also used on the famed Huevos rancheros. Unlike most chili relleños, the topping was a cilantro infused bread crumb. I like it as it is lighter and easier to make. The poblano chilies have enough spice to make them interesting without blistering the tongue. For the main course I fired up the BBQ to grill pomegranate-marinated lamb cutlets with a "sarsa" sauce. More typically, a boned leg of lamb would be used but heh, they must have eaten the lamb cutlets as well. Dessert was a simple assembly of Mexican wedding cookies, puercuitos and fresh berries. Puercuitos means little pigs and has nothing at all to do with the namesake. They are in fact like a gingerbread cookie. Join us at the Carriage Museum in the Saddle Room with guests in period costumes.
David Bolton is the Press Chair for Old Spanish Days, Inc., having served on the board since January, 2015. David’s responsibilities on the board have include chairing Primavera and Parade Marshals. He serves on various other OSD committees including Fiesta Pequeña, History and Archiving, and Parade Committee. David is also on the board for the California Missions Foundation.
"The California Missions Foundation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation dedicated to preserving the landmark California Missions and associated historical and cultural resources for the benefit of the public through funding preservation activities and facilitating educational programs, conferences, and scholarship."
Rhonda Ledson Henderson & Chef Michael Hutchings
Rhonda Ledson Henderson is La Presidente for Old Spanish Days, Inc., having served on the board since 2006. Henderson’s responsibilities on the Board have included officer positions of La Primera Vice Presidente, La Segunda Vice Presidente, and La Tesorera, as well as chairing Fiesta Ranchera, Fiesta Flower Girls, El Recepción del Presidente, Ground Lease/Facilities, and Board Designated Restricted Funds. Ms. Henderson has also actively been involved with La Primavera, Rodeo, various Administrative sub-committees, and Strategic Planning.
Celebrating since 1924, fiesta has it all, parades, Mercado food court, rodeo, entertainment and did I say food! I have prepared a rancho inspired menu with my unique twist. We cooked on the wood-fired BBQ at the Carriage Museum.
Carriage Museum.The Carriage and Western Art Museum of Santa Barbara was founded in 1972 and is located in Pershing Park near the waterfront in Santa Barbara, CA. The collection consists of over 50 saddles once belonging to famous people, such as Cisco Kid, Will Rogers, Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart and many others. Carriages you will see in the collection are mud wagons, army wagon, circus wagon, and more.
Proclamación de la Presidente 201
For 93 years, since the first “Old Spanish Days” in 1924, Fiesta has been a celebration of the rich history that makes Santa Barbara such a special place. Annually, the experiences shared during Fiesta serves as a uniting force in our community.
Throughout the years, there has been the respectful recognition and steadfast reverence of the traditions born of its origins. The traditions of civility and dignity harken back to a time when life was difficult and often uncertain. Joy was found in the simplest of things. Celebrations often arose from the arrival of visitors, whether family, friends or those merely passing through town. It was truly a Fiesta!
As a fifth generation Californian whose family arrived as immigrants and established a dairy farm on the Rancho Los Osos during the time of the Great Rancho period, I am deeply humbled this year to serve our amazing community as La Presidente. My passion for the beauty and traditions that Old Spanish Days Fiesta celebrates knows no boundaries.
With our 2017 theme, Unity through Community, I am honored to pay homage to one of Fiesta’s greatest champions through the years, the late Father Virgil Cordano, O.F.M. He was the embodiment of unity through community, and it showed in every aspect of his life. Father Virgil’s legacy is the positive impact his actions had on Old Spanish Days Fiesta and our community; which continues to this day.
Lastly, I invite you to step away from the complexities of modern day life and allow yourself to be transported back to a magnificent period in our rich history. Take in the sights of the many performances representing traditions from many of Santa Barbara’s cultural influences. Immerse yourself in beautiful music. Most of all, experience the joy that the thousands of participants, volunteers, and community members openly share during Fiesta. Enjoy a little of our inheritance from old California.
Viva la Fiesta - Viva la Comunidad!
Rhonda Ledson Henderson La Presidente, 2017
View us on The Inn Crowd Saturdays at 6:30 on ABC affiliate KEY channel 3. Please note that the air time my vary to as late as 9:30 during the football season. You may view the show on-line at the Santa Barbara News Press. Look to the right side of the web page for a link to the show. YTS Digital Films filmed and directed this show.
Put on your apron, grab your whisk, fire up the oven and get on your apron. I'll provide the recipes, the rest is up to you. See you in the kitchen and be sure and tie up your horse well.
Luke Swetland, Host Craig case, Chef Michael Hutchings
We just participated in the 30th Wine and Food Festival held at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. I have been there most of those 30 years. This year I went into hyper-culinary mode and offered a duet of short rib meatballs in a cabernet veal demi glace and local farmed abalone with chardonnay butter. Serving over 1000 tastes was not a light task. Preparing the abalone was an eight hour labor that included some 15,000 whacks with the tenderizing mallet! Here is a link to a video I made for The Cultured Abalone farm that raises the abalone that I used. The meatballs were relatively easy as they are just scooped and formed into bite-sized morsels. I used some 45 pounds of short ribs in the process.
The event is the basis for one of our The Inn Crowd shows. We made it into Richard Mineards' weekly social report in The Montecito Journal as well as a spot on the local Fox 11 affiliate. It's always nice to be noticed.
One of my catering clients has a lemon orchard that produces hundreds of pounds of lemons, including the meyers lemon. A recent dinner party had the request for lemons in every course. The main course featured local sea bass with a lemon spiked jus and vegetable pearls. For dessert, a house made limoncello was used to spike lemon gelato. All lemony delicious.
View us on The Inn Crowd Saturdays at 6:30 on ABC affiliate KEY channel 3. Please note that the air time my vary to as late as 9:30 during the football season. You may view the show on-line at the Santa Barbara News Press. Look to the right side of the web page for a link to the show. YTS Digital Films filmed and directed this show.
Put on your apron, grab your whisk, fire up the oven and get on your apron. I'll provide the recipes, the rest is up to you. See you in the kitchen and be sure and get in joking range.
Tastefully,
Chef Michael Hutchings
P.S. Joyce mentioned a fable steak preparation from Chasen's, a Hollywood restaurant legend. I managed to find a recipe in one of my cookbooks.
From Wikipedia:
Photo Wikipedia June 1987
Chasen's was a restaurant frequented by entertainers in West Hollywood, California. Located at 9039 Beverly Boulevard on the border of Beverly Hills, it first opened for business in 1936 and was the site for many years of the Academy Awards party. It was also famous for its chili. In 1962 while filming in Rome, for example, Liz Taylor had several orders of Chasen’s chili flown to the set of Cleopatra.
