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Providence’s Chef Matthew Varga, appearing at The Sun WineFest, January 23-25, 2015

by David Dadekian January 20, 2015

written by David Dadekian

Gracie’s Executive Chef Matthew Varga

The Sun WineFest ’15 is this weekend and as always it attracts some of the best names in the food, wine and spirits world to the Mohegan Sun Resort in southeastern Connecticut. This year Providence’s own Matthew Varga, Executive Chef of Gracie’s, is one the many talented chefs presenting a dish at The WineFest’s Saturday night Celebrity Chef Dine Around.

Gracie’s was recently named a AAA Four Diamond Award-Winning Restaurant for the fifth year in a row—the only restaurant in the Providence area to receive the Four Diamond. Only 2.3% of the nearly 30,000 restaurants approved by AAA make the Four Diamond list.

Varga told us about the dish he will be preparing for Saturday evening’s Celebrity Chef Dine Around, a Sherry Roasted Beet Salad with black pepper ricotta, poached apple, pistachio honey, curly endive. Having recently honeymooned in Italy, he created this dish based off of a Sicilian cassata. Cassatas are found in restaurants and cafes all over Sicily and it’s a traditional dessert made up of ricotta, pistachios or other nuts and dried fruits.

Varga’s salad is cassata-inspired. The pistachio honey is made up of blended olive oil, pistachios, honey, thyme and crushed red pepper, and is the dressing on the beets from Freedom Food Farm. The ricotta is of course award-winning Narragansett Creamery Ricotta, that he adds some salt and pepper to—it needs nothing else!

Varga is happy to be part of the Sun WineFest this year for a chance to spend time with other chefs from around the area and around the globe. Chef Michael Ginor, a frequent participant in the Sun WineFest, owner of Hudson Valley Foie Gras and friend of Varga’s—Ginor joins Varga at Gracie’s for an annual Star Chef Dinner with the next one coming up on March 16th—is one of the main reasons Matt’s joining the WineFest. Another WineFest participant, Chef Robert Sisca of Bistro du Midi in Boston, is joining Varga at Gracie’s for the February 23rd Star Chef Dinner.

“I’m very excited to be a part of this,” Varga said. “It’s something I didn’t expect to be included in, and it’s a great opportunity to meet some new friends and hang with some old friends.”

The Sun WineFest ’15 runs Friday, January 23 through Sunday, January 25 at Mohegan Sun. Check the site for more information including schedule of events, guest chefs and exhibitors.

January 20, 2015 0 comment

chefs & restaurants news wine & drinks

Interview with Chef Will Gilson, appearing at The Sun WineFest, January 24-26, 2014

by David Dadekian January 19, 2014

written by David Dadekian

Chef Will Gilson of Puritan & Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts

The Sun WineFest ’14 is this weekend and as always it attracts some of the best names in the food, wine and spirits world to the Mohegan Sun Resort in southeastern Connecticut. Chef/Owner Will Gilson of Puritan & Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts is one the many talented chefs presenting a dish at The WineFest’s Saturday night Celebrity Chef Dine Around.

Gilson’s restaurant Puritan & Company is known for highlighting the bounty of New England, showcasing ingredients that define the restaurant, the region and the culture. For The Sun WineFest Gilson is preparing a Nantucket Bay Scallop Crudo which is being paired with four excellent wines from Caves d’Esclans. Gilson talked with us about being a part of The Sun WineFest, his just-over-one-year-old restaurant and sourcing ingredients from his family farm in Groton, Massachusetts.

eat drink RI: Tell us about the dish you’re preparing for the Celebrity Chef Dine Around on Saturday night?

Will Gilson: For The Sun WineFest we’re doing a Nantucket Bay Scallop Crudo incorporating fresh grated horseradish, brown butter and Meyer lemon. They’re all things that are in season and flavors that we think go well with each other. We’re highlighting the fact that it’s Nantucket Bay Scallop season.

edRI: Is this your first time at The Sun WineFest?

WG: Yes, [it’s] my first time doing the WineFest, and my first time at Mohegan Sun. It’ll be fun to hang out down there, a fun get together for chefs that work events with one another and get a chance to have a weekend collaborating and chatting. I’m excited to be a part of something that’s going to be fun.

edRI: How is Puritan & Company one year on?

WG: We opened up in December of 2012 and in 2013 it seemed like everybody opened a restaurant. Boston and Cambridge in general were very hot with restaurants in all different areas opening up. It made it very competitive out there for restaurants getting their name out there as well as being able to staff the restaurants. We need hungry cooks in a generation where everyone wants to be a chef.

edRI: What does 2014 hold?

WG: This year it’s interesting. What we’re really looking for in 2014 is a chance for us to plant our feet in our neighborhood and be a neighborhood restaurant. We’ll work with our farm, that we have out in Groton at my dad’s place, to really try to plant the seeds literally and figuratively for what we’re going to be growing and utilizing in the restaurant during the produce season and be able to really feature what we do here at the restaurant in different ways. We’ll be trying to do tasting evenings where we’re highlighting special menus. We’re going to do a tribute to Julia Child one night in March. We’re going to have an opportunity to do a fish and game dinner next week, highlighting fish and game this time of year. Once we get into summertime we’ll be able to hopefully do some thematic dinners based on what comes into season that time of year.

edRI: How is working with the farm?

WG: The farm is good. This is the first year in my whole life that I’ve got my dad deciding to not heat the greenhouses over the wintertime, which helps him get some better sleep. I remember being a kid and having to pull the late shift and check them until about 2 a.m. to make sure the heat was working and then he’d wake up at 4 a.m. But this year we really learned how the land on the 7 acres works and were able to plant the produce accordingly that’s going to work best for us. Last summer we didn’t even know how busy we were going to be or what stuff we were going to be able to utilize or what the menu was going to be, so every once in a while we’d have a set of bins of produce showing up here and we’d have to make it work. Now I think that we’ll be able to write a menu and write a planting and harvest schedule based on what we’re going to want to grow.

edRI: Closing thoughts about The Sun WineFest?

WG: At a time of year where things are kind of dark and dreary, it’s great we can get a bunch of people together to have some fun.

The Sun WineFest ’14 runs Friday, January 24 through Sunday, January 26 at Mohegan Sun. Check the site for more information including schedule of events, guest chefs and exhibitors.

January 19, 2014 0 comment

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Interview with Andy Husbands, appearing at The Sun WineFest, January 25-27, 2013

by David Dadekian January 20, 2013

written by David Dadekian

Chef Andy Husbands, appearing at The Sun WineFest, January 25-27, 2013

The Sun WineFest ’13 is this weekend and as always it attracts some of the best names in the food, wine and spirits world to the Mohegan Sun Resort in southeastern Connecticut. One of those food personalities is Andy Husbands, the chef/owner of Tremont 647 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Readers of this site may recognize Husbands name as he is the co-author of one of our favorite cookbooks of 2012, Wicked Good Barbecue. Husbands talked to us about his book—there’s a follow-up, Wicked Good Burgers, coming out on April 1—his plans at The Sun WineFest and why he loves this wine and food event so much.

eat drink RI: Before we get into The Sun WineFest, congratulations on Wicked Good Barbecue. When I got it I thought, “oh, another barbecue book,” but this book is really great.

Andy Husbands: That’s kind of the response we’ve been getting. It’s not your average barbecue book. We definitely went for it. A lot of barbecue books have good quality, but a lot of them are “make barbecue easy” books. What we were trying to do was teach you how to make it right—high quality.

edRI: How did you involved in The Sun WineFest?

AH: I’ve been doing it for four years now. They approached me to do this event. We mostly stay in the local area, but The Sun WineFest is such a high caliber event, I couldn’t say no. It’s so well laid out. I’ve had an opportunity to talk to a lot of the guests and everyone’s just enjoying it. It’s a fun, relaxed environment packed with really good food and really good wine. Any chance I get to be involved with something like that, I’m in.

edRI: What are you participating in this year?

AH: This year I’m doing two nights. Friday night [at the Bourbon Tasting presented by Beam Inc.] I’m going to be serving a recipe out of Wicked Good Barbecue called Duck Duck Smoke. It’s incredible. You use a whole duck. You use the skin as a cracklin, you confit the legs, it’s an unbelievable sandwich. It’s my buddy Chris Hart’s recipe and I love it so much I’m making that. Saturday night [at the Celebrity Chef Dine Around] we’re doing good old barbecue, again from Wicked Good Barbecue. We’re doing our brisket and our ribs with some cornbread and cole slaw.

edRI: You must really enjoy The Sun WineFest since this is your fourth year.

AH: What’s really great about these events, as a chef, we’re friends, all the chefs in Boston, we’re all friendly but we don’t see each other a lot, we’re working a lot. With this event, even though we’re working while we’re there. We’re there for 2-3 days, so there’s the chance to go have lunch or have dinner together, have late night drinks. From a chef’s standpoint it’s just fantastic. The other thing I like about The Sun Winefest, for me, because I like to change it up, every year I do something different.

edRI: Closing thoughts about the event?

AH: I know some events are sold out and the rest are selling quickly so if you’re interested, definitely buy your tickets soon. This is one of my favorite events of the year.

Wicked Good Burgers by Andy Husbands, Chris Hart and Andrea Pyenson

The Sun WineFest ’13 runs Friday, January 25 through Sunday, January 27 at Mohegan Sun. Check the site for more information including schedule of events, guest chefs and exhibitors. Andy Husbands next book, Wicked Good Burgers, is being released on April 1 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Wicked Good Barbecue is available now.

January 20, 2013 0 comment

chefs & restaurants news wine & drinks

Interview with Emily Luchetti, appearing at The Sun WineFest, January 27-29

by David Dadekian January 20, 2012

written by David Dadekian

Chef Emily Luchetti

The Sun WineFest ’12 at Mohegan Sun is coming up and in addition to the spectacular two-day Grand Tasting there are a number of special tastings and events taking place over the three-day Festival. Chef Emily Luchetti of Waterbar and Farallon restaurants in San Francisco is one of the many celebrity chefs coming to southern New England to participate in Saturday evening’s Celebrity Chef Dine Around Presented by Moët & Chandon as well as Sunday evening’s closing event Bubbles and Bon Bons Presented by Perrier-Jouët which sounds like the must-attend event for dessert lovers.

Eat Drink RI spoke to Luchetti and it turns out she has some very local ties to a Rhode Island dessert institution. Read on to find out which flavors are her favorite and what she’ll be serving up at The Sun WineFest.

eat drink RI: Tell us a little about yourself.

Emily Luchetti: I am the Executive Pastry Chef at Waterbar and Farallon restaurants in San Francisco. I’ve written six cookbooks and I’m also a Dean at the French Culinary Institute—they have a campus in New York and in California. I’m originally from the East Coast. I moved out to California in 1984 and started working at Stars. I worked there for 11 years. The first part of my cooking career was in the savory side and then in 1987 I switched to desserts because I figured it would be a lot more fun to make desserts. It was one of those things where, as soon as I switched to it, I felt like I found my niche and knew that was where I wanted to be.

edRI: Do you get a chance to do some cooking every day or is it more overseeing things as an Executive Pastry Chef?

EL: I’m lucky to have a team in each restaurant. We develop menus together. I’m always involved in menu development. I’m at one of them [Waterbar or Farallon] five days a week so when I go in there, my belief is you don’t just sit there in an office in front of a computer. If you’re going to really get a sense of what’s going on, you look at the clipboard, see what needs to be done, and you roll out tart dough, you make cookie dough or you do whatever is needed. I like to bake, so I really do get to bake on a weekly basis.

edRI: Is there one part of the job you like to do best?

EL: At this point in my career, I kind of like the diversity. When I was younger I loved creating the dessert menu everyday and making sure everything was done by 5:30 and everything was perfect and explaining it all to the waiters. You’re really focused on that one part of your job. Now I get different kinds of challenges and exposures. The beauty of it all is that, when I seem to get sick of one, I seem to have another responsibility that I can switch to.

edRI: How often do you come up with new desserts at the restaurants?

EL: I would say we change the dessert menu in each of the restaurants about every month. A lot of it’s driven seasonally, a lot of it’s driven by what we get bored with and we want to do something different.

edRI: Is there something on your menus right now that you really love?

EL: We’ve just been switching the menus the last couple of weeks and we’re now pretty excited about the citrus in California that’s coming up. We have Meyer lemons, the different kinds of oranges and things like that. We use a lot of passion fruit. The citrus is fun because it’s bright and vivid. Visually and texturally and taste-wise it adds some excitement to a January day.

edRI: Have you been to The Sun WineFest before?

EL: No, I haven’t. I’m really looking forward to it. I have family in the area so I’m very familiar with that part of the country, but I’ve never been to Mohegan Sun so I’m looking forward to going.

edRI: What will you be doing at the Bubbles and Bon Bons event?

EL: I’m going to be doing some ice cream sundaes. We wanted it to be chocolate, but I thought I’d do something different, because I’m sure Jacques Torres will have truffles, which are absolutely lovely and delicious. So I’m doing crème fraîche ice cream with caramel sauce, fudge sauce, cocoa nibs or candied almonds. But people will be able to make it their way.

edRI: How do you make the crème fraîche ice cream?

EL: I make a traditional crème anglaise base with egg yolks, sugar, milk and some cream. I cook that over the stove top and get it nice and thick to cook the eggs. Then I take it off the stove and whisk in the crème fraîche. I don’t heat the crème fraîche because it starts to breakdown and changes the texture of it. It’s got a good ratio of cream and milk. I probably use a little bit more cream than milk in my ice cream but I definitely use milk. You don’t want to use all cream because then it tastes too fatty. There is a point where you can actually have too much cream. It’s hard to believe!

One of my favorite ice creams in your area is Gray’s. The Mocha Chip and the Ginger are my favorites. I have a beach cottage in South Dartmouth. I go there in the summer and work on my cookbooks. When I get there I don’t really feel that I’m there until I go over to Gray’s and get an ice cream cone. In one of my books, A Passion for Ice Cream, I profile about a dozen great ice cream places around the country and Gray’s is in there.

edRI: Tell us about your most recent book The Fearless Baker?

EL: I wrote that because people come up to me often and ask “what do you do?” and I say, “I’m a pastry chef” and they say, “oh I could never do that, I can’t bake.” I started thinking about what makes people so fearful of baking and I said to myself, I want to help people get over this fear of baking [by giving] them a book where they can not feel so intimidated and realize they can be successful when they bake dessert. It’s geared toward the beginning baker, but at the same time I make stuff from it all the time because it tastes really good. All the recipes I made with people who haven’t baked before so I really got a feeling for what questions would come up and what problems they would have.

edRI: What do you have planned for the Celebrity Dine Around?

EL: I’m doing a Brownie Brown Sugar Parfait. That’s layers of brown sugar pastry cream with caramel sauce, brownies and toasted pecans. That was one of the desserts on the opening menu of Waterbar. We’ve been open for four years and it makes a reoccurrence [on the menu], but it’s not on the menu right now.

edRI: Is there a dessert on one of your menus you just can’t take off or people would scream?

EL: There is a chocolate pudding cake. You serve it warm and when you bake it, it separates so it’s cake-y on top and pudding-y on the bottom. People really like it. We’ve had it on for four years and we finally said we’re going to take it off and see what happens. Maybe there won’t be that big of a revolt and we’ll try to replace with something they’ll like even better. The jury’s not back on that one yet.

The Sun WineFest runs Friday, January 27 through Sunday, January 29 at Mohegan Sun. Check the site for more information including schedule of events, guest chefs and exhibitors.

January 20, 2012 0 comment

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