To Toque or Not To Toque

 

 

When I first started in a restaurant that implemented the brigade system, I was fascinated by the hefty gentlemen wearing the tall hat. This beast of a man would patrol up and down the service line barking out ticket numbers and critiques with the intensity of a mad dog with rabies. I would finish the night not covered in sweat but soaked with the smell of cheap coffee and bourbon saliva. Though it seemed harsh in the beginning I realized that this over-stressed and out of shape gargoyle of a man was doing his job to perfection. He was “getting it done” to the highest standards which allowed him the honor to wear the big hat, better known to us kitchen folk and culinarians as the Chef toque.

The Chef toque originated in the late 1700’s as a symbol for a cook. The first person culinarians turn to in any quest regarding esoteric French cooking wisdom is Augusta Escoffier, who in my mind is the most famous figure in French cuisine. While Escoffier didn’t popularize the toque as culinary headgear, it was the work of “Chef of kings and the king of Chefs” Marie-Antoine Careme back in the 19^th century. Careme implemented the Chef toque to establish rank and skill within the brigade system in the kitchen for which he created.

The Chef toque is designed to have 100 pleats or folds within the body of the hat symbolizing the hundred different ways to prepare an egg. Chef Essential Pepin said “I think that the egg is probably one of the greatest foods that we can have in the kitchen, whether we cook it by itself or combine it into a soufflé or custard, or other type of thing. For me, I can’t live without eggs.” It is said within this industry that it is essential to know the history behind the Chef toque and the knowledge of the 100 different egg preparations in order to wear this monumental piece of Chef Attire.

So with this knowledge of the meaning behind a Chef toque, next time you are in a restaurant and you see someone wearing it; test the person’s knowledge about this historic and extremely important piece of the Chef’s uniform. Let’s see if that person is Chef-worthy enough for the pristine honor.

As a brain teaser, let’s see how many egg preparations you can name. Anyone that emails me 60 or more different egg preparations will receive a gift personalized from me.

Good luck and enjoy your Tastebuds!

Get back, Giving

As I am sure most of you are aware, I am a culinary teacher at Warren Technical High School in DeKalb County School System and I have just started summer break. Like every teacher in this field I was counting down the days ‘till summer break and eagerly anticipating the release of the students. During these past couple weeks of break I had an opportunity to reflect on what my students in my culinary program actually participated in and conquered this year as culinary students. To give you insight on the type of students I teach on an everyday basis, they are students with special needs and disabilities that require adjusted curriculum to fit their IEP (Individualized Education Plan) and constant supervision monitoring behavioral disorders. These students come from all over DeKalb County and are placed in programs that they choose to be in, which is nice. These students have an attention span of a child, spelling and writing skills of a first grader and attitudes filled with raging hormones. But with all of that, these students have hearts of gold and minds wanting to learn.

Another great benefit of Warren Technical High School is that the set up is vocational minded and the students are able to venture out into the real world on Wednesday through Friday to participate in work base learning opportunities at designated work sites such as the Grand Hyatt, Evergreen Resort and Northside Hospital just to name a few. At these sites our students learn how to perform various actions and responsibilities related to the field of study they are interested in becoming a professional employee while they receive real life exposure to that certain industry.

One of the aspects of my job is to prepare the students for these work base opportunities which hopefully will lead to employment with that company or serve as a reference from that company to assist in another job opportunity down the road. My culinary students at Warren Technical High School also study and take the Serve Safe Management certification test which gives that individual knowledge and skills needed to be a manager in the hospitality industry. The Serve Safe Management certification test is not easy and is usually administered to students exiting high school that plan on attending a culinary school or are in colleges that relate to the hospitality industry. Out of all my students in my culinary program, 10 passed with scores high enough to obtain the serve Safe management certification certificate. This will benefit them in their employment success and can be used as a resume booster. This alone was something that opened my eyes to the possibilities of my students and is amazing to have so many students with disabilities pass this challenging exam. I believe my school, Warren Technical High School, had the most students in the County to pass the Serve Safe Management certification exam.

As I continue to instruct my culinary students in the art of culinary skills and proper food handling expectations, Warren Technical High School has a lot of functions and fundraisers that require my student’s assistance throughout the year. A break in instruction can be tough because it requires a lot of organization and teamwork to keep on task. I work with a very strong team of teachers and Para-Professionals who also believe in our students as much as I do and work around the clock to help them be successful. I could not do it alone and it is because of our team work that we are as successful at Warren Technical High School as we continue to push the limits of our students in the culinary field.

Each team member is expected to participate in the extracurricular activities that our program is involved in. Expectation is the word used in this job requirement but each teacher is excited and open to any extracurricular event or extra mile that we must go in order to further the education of our students. I am honored to have such a wonderful supporting cast and dedicated queen, my principal Carla Jones, to help our program be the best it can be and help better the future for our students.

To give you an idea of what exactly I am talking about take a second and look at what we have done at the high school level with our students and the tasks and functions they have completed with flying colors. Each year at Warren Technical High School we have two business advisory luncheons held in the middle of each semester. The business advisory luncheon is a time for Warren Technical High Schools’ financial supporters, foundation members, job site coordinators, DeKalb County board members, including the new superintendent, Legislators of Georgia, and family and friends to come and see what the students of Warren Technical High School are achieving and the future plans of each program at Warren Technical High School. This event gives our students an opportunity to shine in the field that they are in, especially our students because our culinary program prepares the lunch for our guests at the business advisory luncheon which we have done with the up most class and professionalism. During this luncheon our culinary students serve 150-200 people a plated meal that consists of 5 components followed by a dessert as well, in about an hour. Many of you may say “so what” but to my industry professionals and Chefs reading this, you are aware that it is difficult to produce that many dishes in that short of time frame and is looked upon as a successful service when done properly. Not only did my students produce that number of dishes in that short period of time, but the kitchen space is limited as well because the lunch ladies have their responsibilities for feeding the students lunch as well. It is a symphony of food production when the business advisory luncheon is being held and is a sight that should be seen by all.

This year our students participated in two events for the Fernbank Science Center that held a reception and an honorary program for the top 50 scientists in the world at their Fernbank facility. Keep in mind that this facility is a museum of artifacts and records of historical events that are collected throughout the years and put on display for the general public and for students in the surrounding areas to learn from. There is NO KITCHEN! My culinary students prep the food at Warren Technical High school and then transport the food to the Fernbank Science Center where the students finish the preparation of the food and plated the cuisine for the 500 guests. That’s right, 500 guests attended this evening’s event and as a team we conquer this event with only 15 students. Now that is something my students should hang their toque on because I have worked in this industry for a very long time and for the number of guest we served that night, most restaurant caterers would have brought double the amount of people to help with that specific event. This event was done with such precision and grace that my students were asked to do a follow up reception with Fernbank Science Center later that year and the menu consisted of 19 different complex menu items on a tiered buffet line that had an arrangement of service stations, which the culinary students worked throughout the night. These students once again performed with such grace and excitement. Once again this was another event that made me realize why I love what I do and who I am doing it for.

My culinary students have done events at Warren Technical High School for the new superintendent and her board members of DeKalb County. My students have created culinary delights for the House of Representatives and Senate members of Georgia that left our guests with the feeling of having just dined in a five star restaurant in France. The culinary students prepared a brunch consisting of eggs Benedict Oscar and apple stuffed French toast for the Dunwoody woman’s club and 150 Administrative Assistants of DeKalb County enjoyed a 10 menu item buffet spread that even to this day I receive emails thanking me and my students for the time and expertise for this event. These are just a few of the events my amazing students have done because there are countless more times my students have been called upon and they have exceeded the expectations of the guests as well as me and my team.

To finish this up, I have a set of students who are my top students who participate on my competition culinary team that travels around the county and state to competitions in various arenas. These competitions are held every year and include every school in the county that has traditional college bound students. Most think that students with disabilities and handicaps would not stand a chance against students that are of higher learning abilities and have normal functioning capabilities. That is why I love my job and where I am at! My culinary students participated in a regional competition in FCCLA against some of the top schools in our region in 2012 and out of 15 schools my students placed third. Two of my culinary team students have competed for scholarship opportunities at the Art Institute of Atlanta and have won honorable mentioned. One of my culinary team students competed in the NAACP culinary competition in 2011 and won first in the State of Georgia and went to Nationals in California and won third out of the whole nation. Another culinary team student, took his skills to the CTI competition in 2012 and brought home the gold in his event and still holds his head up high about this accomplishment.

You see, these students are the reason why I get up and look forward to going to work every day. The students at Warren Technical High School are capable of anything that a traditional student can do. They just need an opportunity to prove it to the world. To watch these students grow, mature and become successful is why I chose to go into the educational field and especially at Warren Technical High School. I am here to tell the world that these students are something special and can do anything you or I can do with the right guidance and an even playing field. Yes, the pay sucks, there is tons of paper work, unread emails to check and you always have somebody checking in to make sure you are following protocol, but at the end of the day, the feeling you have about what you are doing on a day to day basis is worth every headache. I love to give back and to give back to these students and watch them be successful and excited about what they are doing is the reason why I can say....

I love my job, now can you say that?

What is a Chef?

As an experienced culinarian and someone who has been in the business for a very long time, it upsets me when the term CHEF is thrown around like a ragged doll. Ever since the uprising of the Food Network everyone wants to be a Chef. Where was everyone when being a cook was looked down upon as a low end hustle and a place where the rejected business class workers made there last stop as a hope for making some money. Being a cook was not glorious and was not looked at as a great way to earn a living. It took passion and desire as  a cook to be successful and you traditionally had to have some screws loose in your brain because the pay was horrible and in fact it still is. The hours, forget about it, they suck! Family time, don’t get it and the holidays are just another intensified busy night on the line.

The glorification of being a cook has hurt the restaurant industry in my mind because now you have all of these imitators wanting to be Bobby Flay but have never been in the weeds on a Friday night serving 500 hundred covers with a three man line. Back to my point, if you have no idea what I just said, stay out of the kitchen! The kitchen was a place for pot smoking, coke sniffing, and alcohol abusing degenerates that wanted nothing to do with the corporate world and wanted a release from the reality of life. To those individuals a plate was a canvas of creativity that they played with every night and allowed them to be successful by inspiring their guests through the use of their food.

Moms and Dads are now excited to see their son or daughter go to a culinary school to study culinary arts when in the past parents would avoid telling anyone that there child has made that horrible decision. “My son/daughter is going to school to become a Chef”, really? Face it folks you do not come out of medical school as a lead doctor. You practice in that field until you reach a certain plateau to call yourself a doctor. Let me ask you this, would you want someone to operate on you if they just graduated from medical school and you are going to be there first surgery, hell no. That type of responsibility comes with time and practice. It is the same in the culinary world; it takes time and practice to be labeled a Chef. In fact, cooks do not even need to go to culinary school to become Chefs! That’s right Mom and Dad’s around the world, you can save that 100 thousand dollars and just let your son or daughter start working in a local restaurant and gain some experience and be groomed to become a Chef within the industry. I do believe in culinary school though as I am a graduate of one, go ahead and work hard to receive a degree which gives you a great foundation to begin with but please do not think because you have graduated from a culinary school that makes you a Chef. I have worked alongside of young men who could not speak very good English and have never seen a culinary school and they ROCKED out on the line putting me to shame. I found out quick that it is the passion and time you put in that makes you what you are and not some piece of paper from a printer that has a fancy letter head.

Get into the industry for the right reasons and not what you see on TV because this industry will chew you up and spit you out in a heartbeat. Even the Bobby Flays and Tyler Florence of the world, who never graduated from High School, put their time in before obtaining the recognition as a Chef. It is not something that happens over night and it is not given to you because you have a fancy document that states you are certified and trained in the hospitality industry. It is a matter of respect and respect is earned, it is not easily given out. So keep your head down, your fingers curled back and start chopping away at your dreams at becoming a Chef but stay grounded and always absorb everything you are being taught. One day you might be leading the brigade and someone will be looking at you for the answers as the Chef.

Grilled Georgia Stuffed Shrimp served on a bed of Pineapple Salsa

Ingredients:

1 pound large Georgia shrimp (16-20), peeled, deveined and butterfly

1 pound of turkey bacon slices

8 ounces Goat cheese

8 ounces Feta cheese

1 cup Parsley, rough chopped

2 TBS Cayenne Pepper

2 TBS Chili Powder

2 TBS Garlic Powder

2 TBS Paprika

Pinch of Salt and Pepper (for seasoning mixture)

5 large Zucchini, thinly sliced

1 Pineapple, peeled and cored, medium dice

2 red onion, small dice

6 roma tomatoes, small dice

1 bunch Cilantro

1 lime, juiced

Salt and Pepper to taste

Procedure:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. While oven is pre-heating, take a broiler pan and put 1 cup of water into the bottom pan. Spray top pan of the broiler pan with a non-stick cooking spray and lay out bacon strips, making sure not to overlap the bacon strips.

Put bacon into oven and cook until desired crispiness, about 20 minutes. Remove and let cool. Once cool, chop bacon into tiny, little pieces and reserve for later use.

In a medium bowl add feta, goat cheese, bacon and parsley. Mix well until incorporated and reserve for later use.

In a small bowl, combine cayenne pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and paprika. Mix with a fork until incorporated.

Take one butterfly shrimp and scoop a spoonful of the cheese mixture into middle of shrimp. Lay out one zucchini strip on cutting board and sprinkle with Cajun seasoning mixture. Roll shrimp with zucchini strip. Keep in mind that you will be grilling these shrimp so the zucchini needs to be rolled tight. You do not want to overlap the zucchini too many times. Continue this procedure until all stuffed shrimp are wrapped with the zucchini. Drizzle all wrapped shrimp with a small amount of olive oil to prevent the shrimp from sticking to the grill.

Place wrapped shrimp on a grill over medium heat and cook until shrimp turns light pink. If shrimp starts to curl you are over cooking the shrimp. If so, remove from heat immediately. Once all of the shrimp are grilled, remove and let sit for 2 minutes.

While shrimp are resting, in a medium bowl add pineapple, red onion, roma tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, salt and pepper.  Mix well until incorporated.

Place a spoonful of salsa on the plate and top with three grilled and stuffed shrimp, then serve.

 

A Little Slice of Heaven!

With the start of school approaching, free time to make dinner may become slim. Parents that have children participating in extracurricular activities after school makes dinner preparation even more difficult. Many of us that have children in this situation rely on fast food restaurants, microwave dinners or ordering out for pizza or Chinese. Although most of these options are not attractive to me, traditionally research has found that these are the top three options for parents with school-aged children. So in this blog I am going to venture into the world of pizza, which is one of my favorite foods and the top three pizzeria's in the Metro Atlanta area. These selections of pizzerias have been selected by City Search People’s Choice and a professional restaurant critique company called Gayot.com. The pizzerias discussed can be used as a quick and delicious option for parents looking for an easy and affordable dinner. I will be offering a Fully Loaded Baked Potato Pizza Recipe as well as a video demonstrating the recipe in this blog for you to try at home. For those foodies and followers of my blog, I am accepting your own creative pizza recipe in exchange for gift certificates to pizzeria's discussed in this blog. You can send your original pizza recipe to me with a picture at chefrianmac@gmail.com up to the end of the month of September for approval and the top 3 winners will be announced in the upcoming month’s edition of The Journey of the Blue Ribbon.

First let’s start off in the category of People’s Choice in City Search which the top three pizzeria restaurants voted by the public are Brio Tuscan Grille, Blue Moon Pizza and St. Angelo's Pizzeria. St. Angelo's slogan is "Where pizza and people come together" and has been in business since1973 when they open their doors in Grand Island, NY. St. Angelo's is owned by Sean Rowe, who also sits as president of the the Vinnings Business Association. St. Angelo's has a great patio, part that is covered from bad weather and part that is not covered to gaze at stars during an evening dinner. St. Angelo's also offers free WI FI and delivery to customers in a 10 mile radius from the restaurant. St. Angelo's has something every night for the customer to enjoy such as Tuesday: loyalty customer night, Wednesday: team trivia, Thursday: 99 cent kids menu, Friday and Saturday: live acoustic music, and Sunday: 1/2 price bottles of wine. I took a seat in the restaurant and was greeted quickly by my server named Jessica. I told Jessica that this was my first time eating at St. Angelo's and I requested to know her favorite pizza that St. Angelo's offered. Jessica replied, my favorite pizza is the HotLanta pizza, which is a BBQ chicken and caramelized onion pizza topped with fresh cilantro". I was able to get a second opinion from the manager of St. Angelo's which he recommended the Bianca pizza which is a white pizza with spinach and vegetables. The manager also said, “We have the best wings in Atlanta and I am sure that you will agree after trying them." How could I resist, I ordered 5 lemon pepper wings and a medium Bianca and Hotlanta pizza. Needless to say the wings were average and the pizzas were a disappointment. The Bianca and Hotlanta pizza is made with a cheaper cheese that does not melt well at all so when trying to eat the pizza your toppings slide right off the crust leaving you with just crust and eating toppings with your fingers. Jessica, our server, did not inform us of any specials that were going on that day and when I asked her about the cheese she informed me that it is previously frozen then thawed for use. When I received our check the total was 44.00 for the little we had. Keep in mind that the so-called medium pizzas where the same size as Blue Moon's personal pizza but St. Angelo's medium pizza was 8.00 more expensive. I rate St. Angelo's pizzeria 2 stars out of 5 stars for my dining experience.

Next was Brio Tuscan Grille which I have heard a lot about from people who have eaten at this restaurant. I think I went with a certain expectation and was delivered disappointment because my wife, baby daughter and I waited for 30 minutes for someone to greet us. When the bus boy finally came over, he gave us water and we waited for another 20 minutes before we met our server. Do the math folks that is almost an hour before placing our drink orders. Along with are drink orders with placed our order for a cheese pizza since we did not know if we would see our server again. Once our pizza arrived at our table I could see a puddle of grease in the middle of the pizza while noticing that the crust was a dark, dark brown. My wife and I split one slice of pizza and decided to leave this restaurant before I decided to give up this whole idea in general.

At the end of my people’s choice pizza tour, I stopped in to Blue Moon Pizza which is owned by Kelvin and Mandy Slater; who are always looking to push the bar when it comes to outstanding and different flavors of pizza. Blue Moon Pizza's dining room had a great buzz and was lively active with pleased customers. The hostess was quick to seat us and brought a high chair for our child without Lauren or I asking for one. The whole staff was very attentive to our needs and requests. The fantastic thing about Blue Moon pizza is the fresh ingredients and outstanding cheese that makes you savor every bite. This type of food satisfaction has you coming back for another bite after bite. Pizzas ranging from classical cheese and meat lovers pizza options to a Santé Fe pizza that has a black bean sauce and fresh avocado. Blue Moon pizza flavors and prices are the best in town when it comes to quality. The pizza chefs take the time to stretch each pizza dough and assemble when the order comes in while seasoning the crust with salt and pepper adding the perfect and simple touch to the crust. This is what pizza is all about and I am thankful that Blue Moon pizza is expanding giving more people the opportunity to enjoy such great pizza. Blue Moon's sandwiches and salads come with their homemade pizza dough which shows class and confidence in the quality of food they are producing. Blue Moon Pizza also offers delivery and WI FI as well and has a number of fun and kid friendly events going on each day of the week, except for Sunday when they are closed. By far Blue Moon Pizza takes the blue ribbon for best pizza in the people choice category!

Now when it comes to the professional critic company the three restaurants that came up as the top three were Antico Pizza Napoletana, Athens Pizza and Baraonda. To tell you the truth I was extremely disappointed by all three restaurants and questioned the palate of the critic dinning at the restaurant. Antico and Baraonda are on the higher end of pizza restaurants due to price, location and selection of items on the menu. I cannot speak for their pasta courses or other expensive Italian dishes but these two restaurants do not know how to make pizza what-so-ever. Both places had bland and boring pizza accompanied by horrible service. Actually Antico had no service; you place your order at a counter and try to scramble to get a spot on a bench next to someone you have never met. When I questioned about the idea, my dinning neighbor informed me that this is the way they do it in Italy. Well in my mind we are not in Italy, we are in Georgia and I enjoy eating with a little elbow room. Athens pizza was not bad and the service I had was by a woman who has been there since the place opened in 1982. Needless to say I did not receive speedy service in fact I went to the bar for a refill on my sweet tea saving my server the tiresome task of a refill. Athens pizza tasting like a pre-made dough that you get at a grocery store and make yourself at home. When it is all said and done Athens pizza is not bad but just not what you would expect from a restaurant that made the top three in a professional critic website.

After these experiences that I thought would be enjoyable and unique, I realized that the Gayot people have no idea what they are talking about, so stick to the opinions of an everyday consumer since it is liable to be a better option. After all of my journeys in the quest for finding an affordable and tasty pizza the winner of them all is Blue Moon Pizza. I am sure to go back and enjoy real unique flavors, fresh ingredients and outstanding service. So for those of you who enjoy a good slice of heaven like me stop by the closest Blue Moon Pizza and tell Kelvin and Mandy Slater that Chef Rian sent you, you will not be disappointed.

Kelvin and Mandy Slater

Owners of Blue Moon Pizza

 Click to View a video of me preparing the Loaded Baked Potato Pizza

Loaded Baked Potato Pizza

Ingredients:

2 cups water

2 packages pizza yeast

½ cup sugar

5 cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup oil

1/8 cup salt

8 ounces Ricotta cheese

¼ cup Oregano, finely chopped

¼ cup Thyme, finely chopped

1 tablespoon Salt

1 tablespoon Course ground black pepper

4 Idaho potatoes, cooked whole, skin on, 1 inch slices

1 cup Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1pound Bacon, cooked, rough chopped

½ pound Chives, finely sliced

4 ounces Sour cream

Non-stick cooking spray

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

To make Chef Rian’s Pizza Dough:

1.    Put water in mixer; water temperature must be between 102 and 107 degrees.

2.    Put yeast and sugar in water, swirl and let sit for 8 minutes.

3.    Add flour, then oil and salt, and combine for 10 minutes.

4.    Remove dough from mixer and cut into 10-ounce pieces and roll into balls.

5.    Put dough balls on plate, brush with oil, and let sit for 1 hour.

6.    Cover dough balls and put into refrigerator.

7.    Dough can be stored up to 1 week in the refrigerator or 1 month in the freezer.

Topping for pizza:

1.    Preheat oven to 400 degree’s

2.    In a broiler pan fill bottom pan with 1 inch of water to reduce the amount of hard cleaning after baking the bacon. Put top of broiler pan back onto the bottom pan and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Line the strips of bacon horizontally on the broiler pan making sure not to overlap the slices of bacon. Then bake in oven until desired crispiness. Remove from pan and place spaced out on a piece of paper towel to absorb the excess fat.

3.    In a food processor add ricotta cheese, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper then mix until well incorporated.

4.    Take a pizza dough ball and stretch it out evenly over wire pizza sheet. Making sure that you cannot see through the middle of the dough and that the edges are to the edge of the wire pizza sheet.

5.    With a pastry brush, spread extra virgin olive oil over the surface of the pizza dough evenly making sure you do not have puddles of oil on the pizza dough. Take a light pinch of salt and pepper and go around the edges of the pizza dough.

6.    With a flat spatula, remove the ricotta mixture from the food processor and place in the middle of the pizza dough. Evenly spread out the ricotta mixture around the pizza dough with the flat spatula leaving an inch border around the outside of the pizza dough which will be the crust.

7.    Place sliced potato around the pizza dough on top of the ricotta cheese slightly overlapping each other from the outside to the middle of the pizza dough.

8.    Put the pizza into the oven that has been preheated at 400 degrees and bake until pizza is golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Then remove from oven.

9.    Lightly cover the pizza with the cheddar cheese making sure not to cover the edges and not to have any large clumps of cheddar cheese on the potatoes that will cause the cheese to burn.

10. Sprinkle chopped bacon over the top of cheddar cheese and place back into oven until cheddar cheese is melted and then remove.

11. Drizzle the top of pizza with sour cream and sprinkle with chives then serve.

Are you locally grown?

When you think about food Mecca's in the United States, the places that come to mind are New York, Los Angeles and Vegas. With Atlanta not quite making the list of power houses, you would think that all Atlanta is known for is southern fried items and unhealthy old-fashion grandma recipes and cuisines. At first glance that would seem to be a considerable thought but it is not until you dig deep into Atlanta that you find you can not believe everything that you hear.

When I first moved to the south, to the outskirts of Atlanta, I noticed there was a pork restaurant on every corner; offering their own variety of a chopped or pulled pork sandwich accompanied by the traditional sides and sauces that have been passed down through the generations of family members. As I was driving around town, I even saw what I believe to be a grocery store called the Piggly Wiggly. I mean come on, all I am seeing is pork which surprises me because the majority of the religious beliefs in the south is no swine in their diet. I was thinking to myself, as I was driving around my new home, is anyone doing anything original or new? I just moved here from the West Coast, from Arizona, where menus change daily; menus are Chef inspired and customers have vast amounts of food options and architectural themed restaurants designed to give an atmosphere for your dining experience.

As a Chef, I strongly believe that your restaurant atmosphere should compliment your cuisine. Taking a failed TGIFridays and changing the name to bar-b-Que or another name for a start up restaurant but keeping the look and some decor of the failed TGIFridays, to me, does not show any creativity, planning or passion for what you do. You are setting yourself up for failure before you even open the doors. Witnessing so many bar-b-Que restaurants offering the same menu items and having the same theme and look, gives me a feeling that the restaurant owners here in the south have no creativity and a lack of self esteem showcasing that they do not want to take a risk on something outside of the box. I am not bashing southern-style cooking, bar-b-Que restaurants or the people that own them. I love good bar-b-que when done correctly, I am just saying give me something new and refreshing.

This feeling of hopelessness did not last for long! Once I was settled and familiar with the area I was able to get around and had the opportunity to experience the true downtown Atlanta, Midtown, Vinings, and Little Five Points. Within these little pockets of the Metro-area lies some fantastic Chef-inspired restaurants that were only known by the locals in the area. It was not until later that these areas and restaurants gained more exposure. It was easy to drive by and miss these extraordinary establishments if you were not paying attention to where you where going. Some of the jewels in these areas that I have been able to enjoy are such places like Rathbuns, 4th and Swift as well as Bacchanalia in Midtown, Aria in Buckhead, Haven in Brookhaven, Canoe in the Vinings, Restaurant Eugene, Holeman and Finch and Flik in downtown Atlanta just to name a few of my favorites. These restaurants may not be on your radar but they are a permanent staple in my dining plans.

Grilled Georgia Peach with Blueberry Compote and a Cinnamon Whipped Topping

Created by Chef Rian Macdonald

While dining at these fantastic restaurants I was able to speak with the Chefs who owned and ran the establishments. One of the keys to all of their menus was using local farmers to provide great proteins and produce as ingredients for menu items that would change daily depending on what came in from the farm that day on the truck. I also noticed these Chefs were experimenting with organic fruits and vegetables as well as healthier starches and grains which sometimes comes out to be less expensive to create memorable entrees. This is what I have been wanting to enjoy since I moved here to the infamous HotLanta. These restaurants have been doing such magnificent culinary creations for some time and have been very successful and monetary gain has followed.

So what does that say about the others out there that are doing the same thing for centuries? Education is a vital part in life and it plays a huge part in the culinary world. I am not saying you need a doctorate to be a fantastic Chef but to be knowledge of your surroundings and the changing of times is a necessity if you want to stay in business. Always push the envelope. Read up on the trends or talk with people within your community to find out what the customer is looking for and build success off of that information. So why are there restaurants still stuck in the 1940's and not trying something new that benefits their customers? If anyone has the answer to that age old question I would love to hear the response. Even though Atlanta is not considered a food Mecca I feel confident that one day Atlanta will be a force to be reckoned with if Chefs stay persistent and on course with providing locally grown protein and produce as well as using healthier grains and starches.

Grilled Georgia Peach with Blueberry Crumb Cake Filling and Cranberry Sauce

Ingredients
6 Peaches
3 pint Blueberries
½ cup Granulated White Sugar
½ cup Light Brown Sugar
5 tablespoons Butter, softened
¼ cup cinnamon
10 whole Graham Crackers, crushed
Whipped Cream
12 sprigs of mint

For Sauce:
1 cup Cranberries
2 tablespoons Honey
1/8 cup Granulated White Sugar
Zest from 1 lemon
¼ cup Riesling wine
¼ cup Cranberry Juice

Procedure:
1. Cut peaches in half and twist to separate the halves, much like an avocado. With a spoon, remove the pit and fibrous center of the peach to form a pocket.
2. Drizzle olive oil over the flesh of the peach halves and slightly sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Reserve in refrigerator until ready to use.
3. Place a sheet of foil, shiny side up, on flat surface and put a coffee mug in the middle. Fold the sides of foil up around the mug forming a cup shape with the foil. Then remove the mug. Repeat this to form 4 foil cups.
4. Wash the blueberries. Separate evenly into the foil shaped cups.
5. In a separate bowl, combine butter, 1 tablespoon of honey, granulated white sugar, graham crackers, and ¼ cup of brown sugar, cinnamon and mix with a fork. Mixture should be clumpy, like coffee cake topping.
6. Evenly spoon sugar mixture into each foil cup, reserving ¼ of the mixture for later use. Pinch edges together tightly to close.
7. Put blueberry foil filled cups on the grill and cook covered for 5 minutes.
8. Lightly grease grill, put peach halves skin side up to grill-mark the flesh of the peach. This should take about 2 minutes in one direction, than 2 minutes in the opposite direction.
9. Remove peaches and foil cups filled with blueberries. Let rest for 5 minutes.
10. To make the Cranberry Sauce, combine all listed sauce ingredients in a food processor, and mix until smooth.
11. Transfer sauce from food processor to sauce pot and let cook over medium-high heat until the sauce reduces by half.

Assembly:
1. On the bottom of the skin side of the peach, slice off a sliver, so the peach sits flat on a plate.
2. Add the blueberry mixture to the formed pocket in the center of the peach. Sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture on top of each blueberry mixture.
3. Pipe out some whipped cream on top of the blueberry mixture and garnish with a sprig of mint.
4. Drizzle Cranberry Sauce to the side of the peach, and then serve.


Makes 12 servings