Dining by Design: Dinner with Jonathan Waxman

Last night, the Cornell Club in New York City hosted an evening with Chef Jonathan Waxman.  I was one of the lucky members who got to meet him and taste four courses from his latest cookbook, Italian My Way.  Some of you, like me, may have seen Chef Waxman compete on season 2 of Bravo's series Top Chef Masters.  I have admired him for many years; he is a culinary legend!  He helped pioneer California cuisine and is currently the chef-owner of Barbuto in New York City.  He has a mellow, cool style that has caused some in the culinary world to dub him the "Eric Clapton of the food world."  I was ecstatic when I found out about the event, and even confess to sending a registration email to the club before the enrollment period had even started :).

The night began with a champagne reception in the library at 6:00.  Guests registered, mingled, and heard a greeting from the club's event coordinator.  Chef Waxman made a brief appearance to let her know he was ready upstairs, but he was in and out so quickly that no one really noticed.  At 6:30, guests began migrating to the Ivy Room on the fourth floor for dinner.  There were about 6 large, rectangular tables of approximately 20 people.  Dinner unfolded family-style in honor of the communal, homey feeling evoked from Italian My Way.  Our table became one loud boisterous family as we passed dishes around and enjoyed the meal.



Chef Waxman greets members of the Cornell Club

The Chef Waxman presented 4 courses from his cookbook that the Cornell Club's culinary team helped prepare.  The club's executive chef explained that his team followed the recipes exactly as they appear in the book.  Each course had a wine pairing.  (The wine distributors were adjacent to me.  I got to chat with them at one point between courses which was unexpected and educational- lucky me!)  The courses were as follows:
Raw shaved asparagus, Assorted Greens with Hazelnuts and Lemon Dressing
Colterenzio Sauvignon Blanc 2010

Angel Hair Pasta with Fresh Jonah Crabmeat, Jalapeno, and Mint
Il Borro Lamelle Chardonnay 2012

Hangar Steak with Salsa Piccante
JW Chicken al Forno with Salsa Verde
Il Borro Chardonnay 20120
Il Borro Toscana 2008

Italian My Way is all about simplicity.  Chef Waxman's cooking is "Italian" in the sense that it's rustic; he lets the ingredients speak for themselves.  There are few frills or accompaniments, just simple, delicious, expertly prepared fare.  In my opinion, that style of cooking takes the most courage.  You have to be confident in your cooking and your craft.  The food is literally and metaphorically naked.  Mistakes cannot be covered up with garnishes, sauces, or other adornments.

The first course was a refreshing and delicious salad.  The asparagus was shaved and served raw which provided optimal flavor.  The greens were lightly tossed with a lemon dressing (I hesitate to even call it dressing.  It was really a just subtle hint of citrus on the palette.)  I loved it.



Shaved asparagus salad

Chef Waxman prepares his angel hair pasta sans sauce!  Instead, he uses crabmeat.  Since crabmeat is small and naturally comes apart, it distributes over the pasta as you eat.  Like the salad, the pasta was lightly tossed (mainly a broth).  The marriage between the crab, its juices, the touch of broth, the jalapeno, and mint proved divine.  The chefs put the perfect ration of crab and pasta on each dish.  There was just enough crab for each bite of pasta.

The pasta was my favorite course of the evening.  Those of you who know me are probably shocked... I am generally not a pasta eater.  For one thing, the texture of pasta tends to freak me out.  I find there's little flavor to it, so I just feel it in my mouth.  Not this angel hair pasta!  It was light and flavorful.  Secondly, I usually object to the heavy sauces that drown pasta dishes.  They don't always sit well in my tummy and overwhelm the cohesiveness of the dish.  The simple, rustic vision of the dish provided a wonderful alternative.



Angel hair pasta with crabmeat

 The servers gave each guest the hanger steak on a plate.  They then placed large dishes of the JW chicken at the ends of each table.  The salsa piccante and salsa verde were set down in the center.  Everyone passed the chicken around and added the salsas at their leisure.  The hanger steak was tender and medium-rare- just the way I like it.  But the chicken was the true all-star.  The skin was lightly crisp, but still succulent and moist.  I tasted some herbs and spices, but as with the rest of the dishes they were subtley present.

Of the two salsas, my favorite was the salsa piccante.  That salsa, intended for the hangar steak, had more of a spicy profile.  The salsa verde provided more of a sweet/herbal garnish for the chicken: mint, arugala, capers, etc.  My dad (and probably the majority of the guests) obsessed over the salsa verde.  I agree that it was delicious, but my particular preferences make me inclined to go spicy.

Hanger steak and JW chicken

The cinnamon, anise, and grand marnier really made the budino a grand finale!  The little spice-y bursts played off of the sweet chocolate.  We got biscotti and coffee to go with it.

Budino

Biscotti

I enjoyed all aspects of the evening.  Chef Waxman was personable and down to earth.  He came around to every table and signed everyone's cookbooks (included with the event).  I asked him to sign my coveted jacket and he agreed.  He took it in the back and returned several minutes later with, "To Emma, Keep It Simple, Jonathan Waxman" written next to my messages from Tom Colicchio and Marcus Samuelsson.  I apologized for the food on it and explained that I do actually cook in it... fortunately, he didn't seem to mind :).

Chef Waxman signs my book

Speaking of cooking in it- I tried out a few recipes from his book tonight!  Look for a post about it in the days to come.

Italian My Way teaches simplicty.  And the evening was simply incredible.