(fₔ nes´) n. 1 refinement or delicacy of workmanship, structure, or texture 2 skillful handling of a situation : adroit maneuvering
Working in a kitchen we are confronted with many stresses and time constraints that can wear you down both physically and mentally. My personal struggle revolves around the need to do better, do more... and definitely time. Time to experiment and research, even time to inspire and allow my staff to realize their own ideas. But at the end of the day it is our passion and determination that helps us to overcome any of those obstacles and helps us to meet our goals and stretch our potential.
Finesse, that is a word that I try to keep in mind, not only for myself but also for anyone that is on my staff. I think having a sense of order and control is important when working at a professional level. I don't always live up to it, but it is worth striving for. I've come to realize that it is the attitude that you bring, how clean you work, organization and the discipline of never compromising that allows us to execute our vision successfully. For us it has been a slow evolution, but over time with my dedicated staff, with each menu change, we have made concerted efforts to raise the bar, to push the envelope on our limits.
Summer is over. At the moment I am working on the new additions for the Fall menu. Lately with the subtle changes in the weather, I'm reminded of how cold it is going to be very soon. And for some reason I thought about drinking Chocolat Chaud, (hot chocolate) for the first time in Paris. It was a really cold day and I went into this tré cool café just down the street from my apartment. I ordered the hot chocolate, but I had no idea how utterly delicious it would be. The first sip just blew me away, so rich and umptuous, creamy, chocolaty, and nutty. It teetered on the edge of being a ganache. Well, it ended up that I would go there many days just to have a cup and watch all the people busying by, it was one of my joys in life. So I decided to compose a dessert that featured some of my favorite chocolate desserts from Paris. "Chocolate Hazelnut Praliné Tart, Chocolate Profiterole with Malted Rum Ice Cream , and Chocolate Chaud" served with a chocolate diamond cookie.
This dessert comes off something like a kicked up banana pudding. "Banana Brûlée"; banana cake with a vanilla bean creme brûlée, peanut caramel sauce and brown butter ice cream.
This is "Chocolate & Southern Peanut Praliné"; chocolate sacher cake with a salted caramel gelée and chocolate cremeux, southern peanut crunch and nougat ice cream.
And a true southern favorite, sweet potato pie. It has great flavor & texture, I like the earthiness of the sweet potatoes and maple syrup. A precursor of things to come and I'm happy to have it on the menu. "Sweet Potato Pie with Maple Ice Cream, Spiced Pecan Croquant, and Maple Gelée".
Pastry Chef
