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Gracie’s Star Chefs Series with Chef Ciril Hitz – Monday, August 6, 2012

by David Dadekian August 2, 2012

written by David Dadekian

The wood burning oven on a trailer that Chef Hitz brings to Gracie’s for one special dinner each year.

It’s time again for one of my favorite dinners of the entire year, and I have some pretty spectacular dinners—just recently I tasted most of the items on 2012 James Beard Foundation Award semifinalist Chef Benjamin Sukle’s new menu at The Dorrance and had incredible wines with dinner at the Troquet wine cellar clear out sale, still going on through August. Maybe this upcoming Gracie’s Star Chefs dinner is my favorite because Chefs Ciril Hitz and Matthew Varga are friends of mine. Maybe it’s the impeccable service and atmosphere at Gracie’s that reminds me of New York. Or maybe it’s because I vividly remember how the lobster tail from last year’s Gracie’s Star Chefs dinner with Hitz was hands-down the best bite I had in 2011, and that includes putting it against some, again, very spectacular dinners of last year.

Here’s a few more accolades to entice you. The year before there was an astonishing dessert (let’s not forget Gracie’s Pastry Chef Melissa Denmark who studied under Hitz at Johnston & Wales University) and the year before that I recall one of the best lamb preparations I’ve ever had. I haven’t even mentioned the overabundance of delicious bread that Hitz, one of the world’s best master bakers, bakes for this annual dinner. Also, because of my work with Blackbird Farm, I happen to know one of the many dishes Varga and Hitz have planned for Monday and I can’t wait to taste the combination of Hitz’s bread and the Bouthillette’s beef. As if all that wasn’t enticement enough, this year’s dinner will feature pairings from award-winning craft brewery Smuttynose Brewing Company in New Hampshire (or wines if you prefer).

Chef Ciril Hitz adding wood to the wood-burning oven outside Gracie’s

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it unabashedly and unprompted again and again, this is not a dinner to miss. Not just if you love food like so many people trumpet nowadays as if food is a new discovery, but if you truly care about where your food is from, how it is thoughtfully prepared and what you put inside your body. Here’s the link to last year’s piece about the dinner, and here’s a story on Hitz’s baking classes that he gives at his facility in Rehoboth. I hope to see you at dinner on Monday.

Below is the text of Gracie’s press release with the Star Chefs dinner details.

Gracie’s Showcases Award-Winning Bread & Brews
Gracie’s to host Star Chef Dinner featuring nationally recognized Chef Ciril Hitz, Master Bread Baker, and Peter Egelston, founder and President of Smuttynose Brewery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – For Chef Ciril Hitz’s fourth annual return to Gracie’s as part of their Star Chef Series, award-winning craft beers from Smuttynose Brewery will be paired with the tasting menu, as Smuttynose Founder and President Peter Egelston collaborate together with Gracie’s Chef Matthew Varga and his culinary team on a bread and brewery adventure for the first time at Gracie’s. This event will include the ever-present Gracie’s touch, offering unique and memorable culinary experiences with the utmost attention to detail.
“It’s a great opportunity to be working with one of my former instructor’s again, and see the return of Chef Hitz’s wood-fired ovens,” said Melissa Denmark, Pastry Chef of Gracie’s. “With the Summer season upon us, I’m excited to see craft beers being paired with the amazing dishes created by Chef Hitz.” This Star Chef Dinner will mark the fourth time we’ve had an opportunity to integrate his passion for creating dishes inspired by his wood-fired oven with our passion for surprising our guests with inventive, seasonal dishes.”
Details about this event are as follows:
Monday, August 6th, 2012
A true Star Chef of Gracie’s, Ciril Hitz returns to Gracie’s for his fourth appearance to the restaurant. This year, he will be joined by Peter Egelston, Founder and President of Smuttynose Brewery in Portsmounth, NH.
With his signature outdoor wood-fired oven parked on the sidewalk, guests will be enjoying a truly special menu highlighting some of his award-winning breads, dishes created in collaboration with Chef Matthew Varga of Gracie’s, and perfectly paired with the craft beers of Smuttynose Brewery.
Hitz has been recognized with numerous awards and accomplishments, both in the industry and as a faculty member at Johnson & Wales. In 2007 and 2008, he was selected as Top Ten Pastry Chefs in America by Pastry Art & Design magazine. In 2010, he was named to Dessert Professional’s annual list of the Top Ten Bread Bakers in America.
Peter Egelston originally opened what is now the oldest brewpub in the northeast: The Northampton Brewery. Peter was head brewer there until 1991. That year, he and his sister opened the Portsmouth Brewery, the Granite State’s first brewpub. In 1993, he purchased the brewery that was to become Smuttynose. In 2011, out of over 10,000 breweries rated, Smuttynose was ranked 28th – in the top 0.3% – on Ratebeer’s 2011 Best Brewers in the World list.
The Star Chef Series, now in its fourth year, combines the talents of extraordinary chefs from around the country and pairs them with the Gracie’s team. Working collaboratively, the Star Chef and the team create a five-course menu that is expertly paired with wine. The informal and intimate setting allows the chefs to step out of the kitchen from time to time to talk with guests about the meal and their experience. The cost for a Gracie’s Star Chef Dinner (paired with wine) is $100. To make reservations call Gracie’s at 401-272-7811.
To learn more about these events, visit www.graciesprov.com. You can also follow Gracie’s on Facebook at http://bit.ly/GraciesProv.
About Gracie’s
Established in 1998, Gracie’s in downtown Providence, R.I., provides guests with a culinary experience that is anything but expected. The 70-seat restaurant, located at 194 Washington Street just steps from Trinity Repertory Theater, entices guests with seasonally inspired American cuisine that is fresh and inventive. In addition to the main dining room, Gracie’s also offers a private wine cellar for up to eight guests and a private dining room that can accommodate up to 70 people. In addition to award-winning food, guests can enjoy five-star cocktails and a wine list of more than 200 wines. Gracie’s can also cater a wide and unlimited range of events through Grace, Events by Gracie’s. For more information, visit www.graciesprov.com or call 401-272-7811.

August 2, 2012 0 comment

chefs & restaurants cooking

Workshops available with world-class baker Chef Ciril Hitz

by David Dadekian June 18, 2012

written by David Dadekian

Chef Ciril Hitz demonstrates window pane dough test

Interested in baking but don’t really know where to start? Or, like me, have tried your hand at baking many times but never really gotten results that have satisfied you? Check out the workshop schedule at the Breadhitz Baking Facility just outside of Providence. Breadhitz is Chef Ciril Hitz’s company “with the mission to make baking education accessible to anyone, anywhere.” Hitz teaches at Johnson & Wales University and the headline is not exaggerating when calling him a world-class baker. From Hitz’s bio:

Chef Ciril Hitz teaches full-time at the International Baking & Pastry Institute at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. Ciril received his artistic education at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Art degree in Industrial Design. Upon graduating, he completed a 3-year Pastry/Chocolate apprenticeship in his native Switzerland.
He competed at the 2004 National Bread and Pastry Team Championship in Atlantic City where his two-person team won 1st place overall and he captured all three of the individual bread awards.
In 2002 he represented the USA as a member of the Bread Bakers Guild Team and competed at the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, Paris, France, where the team took home the Silver Medal.
Chef Hitz has been a guest instructor/expert at many national and international culinary events and schools and is actively involved with the Bread Bakers Guild of America. His work has been featured on the NBC Today Show, The Food Network, and Ciao Italia!

I’ve had the pleasure of being a guest at a couple of Hitz’s baking workshops at his home in rural Rehoboth. Hitz is a friend, but I honestly cannot recommend his classes enough. I’ve learned more about baking from him and his two books than anything else I’ve studied. Hitz recently posted that there are still spaces available for his “Half-and-Half Artisan Breads” workshop this coming Sunday, June 24, but if you can’t make that one there are almost a dozen more workshops scheduled through the rest of the year, as well as other classes Hitz teaches around the northeast. Reserve a place now before they all sell out.

Below are a few photos from Breadhitz workshops.

Hitz teaching at his Breadhitz facility

Chef Ciril Hitz

Challah bread, baked during a class, in the wood-burning oven Hitz built

June 18, 2012 0 comment

chefs & restaurants news

Gracie’s Star Chefs Series with Chef Ciril Hitz – August 8, 2011

by David Dadekian August 4, 2011

written by David Dadekian

Chef Ciril Hitz adding wood to the wood-burning oven outside Gracie’s

People who follow my writing (or actually follow me on Facebook or Twitter) know that I eat very well. Because of that, there are very few dinners that I would be upset to miss. The annual pairing of Chef Ciril Hitz, world-renowned baker and department chair of the International Baking and Pastry Institute at Johnson and Wales University, and Gracie’s Executive Chef Matthew Varga is something I put on my personal calendar as soon as a date is announced. It’s honestly that good. The past two years have brought us dishes involving perfectly fire-roasted lamb saddle and beautifully baked vegetables just-kissed with smoke. Then there’s the bread. It should go without saying that one of the best bakers in the world makes some delicious yeasty, wood-baked bread. For the past two Star Chefs dinners Hitz spent the day before and morning of baking scores of several kinds of rolls and loaves. Diners even got to take some home at the end of the night—a highlight that my wife Brenda treasured almost more than the meal itself.

Hitz is also as good a teacher as he is a baker, my own experience being that I never baked bread as good as I could until I learned about it from Ciril. He has two books, Baking Artisan Breads and Baking Artisan Pastries & Breads and teaches classes outside of J&W University at his home in Rehoboth. For his Star Chefs dinners at Gracie’s Hitz brings a mobile wood-fired oven with him and parks it outside the restaurant to prepare the dishes that he and Chef Varga develop together. I’ve become friendly with Hitz as well as many of the staff at Gracie’s, but I’m not exaggerating to say it will be one extraordinary dinner on August 8.

Below are a few of the many photos I’ve made with Chef Hitz over the last few years. Following the photos is the full press release for the Star Chefs dinner. I hope to see you there.

Whole lobe of foie gras roasted in the wood-fired oven

Chef Ciril Hitz with his wood-fired oven at his home

Chef Ciril Hitz demonstrating the preparation of a pastry dough at his home teaching kitchen

Ciril Hitz, renowned baker and department chair of the International Baking and Pastry Institute at Johnson and Wales University, returns to Gracie’s on Monday, August 8, to partake in the restaurant’s Star Chef Series. Working closely with Gracie’s Executive Chef Matthew Varga, Hitz will deliver unique and savory dishes cooked to perfection in his wood-fired oven.
A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Hitz has had his award-winning artisan bread and pastry featured on The Today Show and The Food Network and has been nationally and internationally recognized for his mastery of the art of baking. As he typically does when he is baking away from his kitchen, Ciril will bring his wood-fired oven to Gracie’s for the August 8 Star Chef dinner. He will set it up just outside of Gracie’s and cook in the open air, creating dishes with sumptuous, smoky flavors.
Ellen Gracyalny, owner of Gracie’s, eagerly awaits Hitz’s return. “We are so very lucky to have Ciril return to Gracie’s for a third time. He and Matt have developed a strong rapport and have really hit a groove with respect to collaborating on a meal. The fact that Ciril brings his own wood-fired oven to Gracie’s to stay true to his craft is especially exciting and is something that all of our guests get to enjoy.”
Now in its third year, the Star Chef Series combines the talents of extraordinary chefs from across the country with the Gracie’s team. Under direction from Varga, the Star Chef and the Gracie’s team craft an exceptional five-course menu that is expertly paired with wine. The informal and intimate format of Gracie’s Star Chef dinners allow the chefs to step away from the kitchen from time to time and talk with guests about the meal and their experience.
“This year’s event with Ciril is a terrific opportunity for diners to experience the lost art of breadmaking and the unique dishes that we can create in his wood-fired stove,” explained Varga. “The aroma of slow roasted dishes is quite intoxicating and our diners, along with many of our neighbors in Providence, will get to see, smell and taste Ciril’s exceptional work. “I’m also excited that Ciril is bringing his Swiss background to the dinner,” Varga added. “He’ll be incorporating Rillette Cheese into this Star Chef dinner.”
Although the full menu is not announced until the night of the event, Varga has released a sneak peek of the first two courses. Heirloom Tomato Tart will begin the meal, prepared with wood-roasted onions, mozzarella and garden basil. Smoked Duck Ham will follow, offering fig mostarda, spicy greens and a pretzel roll.
The cost for each five-course dinner (paired with wine) is $100. To learn more or to make a reservation (number of participants is limited), visit www.graciesprov.com or call 401-272-7811.

August 4, 2011 0 comment