Remember the post I opened about loving pizza? Yeah, well I guess my pepperonis are coming home to roost.

It is becoming increasingly apparent our struggles with weight gain in this country, at least in terms of a health epidemic, is an economic problem. Eating healthy simply costs more than eating crap. As long as we subsidize corn, we are effectively enablers in an economic addiction to cheap food, poor health and death.

Last week I had the privilege to speak to executives and sales teams at a large financial company. The title of the talk is Innovation as a Requirement for Success in Healthcare. I have not put the slides online, it was mostly a “TED-style” talk and so the visuals do not stand too well on their own. I did share an interesting slide from a JAMA report on actual causes of death. We usually see reports on morbidity – heart attack, cancer, stroke, etc. This particular JAMA report attempted to determine the real root causes of death. For instance, was the lung cancer the direct result of a lifetime of smoking. The study concludes 40% – the bulk majority – of US deaths are due to behaviors. The top three causes are tobacco, obesity / sedentary lifestyle, and alcohol.

Thanks to Ben Miller for first alerting me to the JAMA study on his blog. If you have access, you can find the JAMA article on their site. 

In the talk, I used the JAMA slide as an example of how patient behavior contributes to challenges our healthcare system faces. I went on to talk about food choices in general – a mini soapbox opportunity. If you have seen Food, Inc or read The Omnivores Dilemma then you are already up to speed on how the price of food contributes to poor health.

Food, Inc. is available for free streaming on Amazon Prime as well as Netflix. 

In Pollan’s Omnivores Dilemma, he looks at the price of corn as the most significant contributor to its ubiquity; and its ubiquity as a major cause of  obesity in America. Corn, largely thanks to advancements in genetic modifications as well as the innovation of nitrogen fertilizer, is a prolific crop. So prolific, as it turns out, we have so much excess the federal government pays farmers not to grow it. What do we do with all that corn? In addition to being broken down into many of the  multisyllabic, unidentifiable ingredients in processed food, we are now putting it in gasoline, plastics and more. Why? Because its cheap!

Want a primer? Read Polan’s essay here. 

The artificially low price of corn enables Hostess to sell Twinkies for pennies. Cheap corn lets McDonlads sell you a supersized McWhatever for less than $5.00. Least I be labeled un-American for lambasting a buttered ear of corn at a cookout, it is worth noting we are talking about an entirely different species. For the record, I loved buttered ears of corn. Frankly I love anything buttered.

Last week the USDA in conjunction with the Economic Research Service published a report titled: The Effect of Food and Beverage Prices on Children’s Weights. In the report, researches conducted a longitudinal study of the body mass index of kindergarteners and the Quarterly Food-at-Home Price Database. The results are predictable. Cheap, low quality, highly caloric food contributes negatively to BMI.

In addition, lower prices for dark green vegetables and lowfat milk are associated with reduced BMI. The effect of subsidizing healthy food may be just as large as raising prices of less healthy foods.

From the report’s Implications

“we taste ‘em, the olive oils, usually three different ways – cold off a spoon, on a salad and then warmed, you know, not hot, but with a little tomato sauce… I’m still looking for the right one”

“well, this is my second job and I haven’t really tried the food. I hear the fish tacos are good.”

You have a choice, pick a restaurant based off of those two quotes. Don’t have enough info? One is a multi-million dollar investment, the other is a more modest joint. Still undecided? Ok, last clue, one has a tiki bar over looking the river and the other doesn’t take most credit cards or reservations.

Last night Susan and I had an awesome date night. We kicked it off at the Virginia Museum which is winding down its Picasso exhibit. The collection is on loan from the Musée national Picasso in Paris. We had a great time exploring the same collection we had gotten to know well while living in Paris in a new but familiar space. Ironically, I lived across, like seriously front door to front door, from the Va Museum for two years and we almost never went. Since moving down the road we are going a lot more.

But back to the food. So after hanging with Pablo, we went to Mamma’Zu. We had the most amazing meal which wasn’t a surprise to us, we’ve been there many times before. We had fresh ramps – a seasonal delicacy kind of like a wild leek. We devoured a bright green fava been puree. The courses went on and on, many off the menu. We were in foodie heaven. Why do we go back time and time again? Because its all about the food!

If Top Chef’s Restaurant Wars has taught us anything its that the front of the house and ambiance matters, right? Some health care guy with a blog wrote about a hoity-toity dining experience in New York where the service, as much as the food, made the experience. Holistically, clearly the two go hand-in-hand.

Mamma’Zu is a little different. It is a bit like this place in Germany which blindfolds diners to heighten the food experience. When ambiance is removed, you focus solely on the food. Mamma’Zu has no blind folds – the place is simply dark and different. This place is a Richmond institution (need a primer? check this post). The paint needs touching up. Most of the tables are wobbly, maybe because there are some floor tiles missing. It is also a bastion of inside out thinking.

It is one of my top three or four restaurants in the world. Here is what I’ve learned from Mamma’Zu:

Inside out in thinking restaurant owners think: “What is the best dish I can serve tonight? Is this best olive oil to use? Can I make enough of these to serve or would I have to sacrifice quality.”

Outside in thinking restaurant owners think: “Can I fit the tiki bar AND a faux beach scene on this same wall? Will more people come for drink specials or food specials? How does that guy across town make those pizzas, I want something like that.”

See the difference? The inside out thinkers have a core, a focus. In this case, we are talking about food. Sinek talks about Apple and tells us Apple is first a design company. Everything they do is about making better designs. Compair that to Microsoft, a company founded on selling software. When Microsoft launched the Zune MP3 player, its as if they thinking “we are known for global dominance in operating system software, I know, lets make MP3 payers to compete with Apple.” That is outside in thinking. It is away from their core competency, what some people call the “why”. In the case of the two Richmond area restaurants above, one chef/owner has a clear why, food. The best food; nothing else matters. The other place seems to be motivated off shtick. Their why is unclear. Are they going for a great tiki bar? If so, why serve bland fish tacos at all? In their case, the end result is that neither the ambiance nor the food comes off stellar.

Outside in thinking does not have to occur to the determent of everything else. A novelty restaurant can be a cool tiki bar and serve great food. An italian place like Mamma’Zu could focus on both atmosphere and food. The difference for inside out thinkers is resources. If focusing on something else means you lose quality and focus on your core, then its out. Outside in thinkers have no problem with detrimental compromise.

You’ve probably guessed it, I’m on this ‘inside out thinking’ kick. True. Consider it with me for a moment. Inside out thinkers start with a why, core, reason, mission…whatever. The end result is almost always focused. As consumers of that finished product, we can almost always trace it back to its roots. In a great restaurant we say “wow, they nailed in the kitchen today.” With technology we say, “it just works.”

Since my brain doesn’t easily shift gears, and since most of these posts are about healthcare, we’ll briefly explore the inside out theme in the healthcare construct. Healthcare leaders, both clinical and non-clinical, have the similar challenges to restaurant owners. Is it mediocre fish tacos with bad beach music or an almost obsessive focus on olive oil? Is it a fancy waiting room or is it spending that one critical extra minute more with a patient? The experience at Per Se taught me when the resources exist, one can build an infrastructure of service and experience to go along with a myopic focus on quality. Bridget Duffy tells us when we focus on that inside core belief, the rest (revenues, clinical outcomes, quality) will follow.

If you want to experience inside out thinking next time you are in Richmond, visit Mamma’Zu.

Elsewhere: Remember me? Yeah, me either. This whole graduate school thing is hard – who knew!?! Elsewhere is my series of posts highlighting content from sources I find interesting, inspiring and supportive.

My world got a little bit smaller the other day. When I walk the dog I usually listen to podcasts, downloadable audio and video shows. Think TiVo for your iPhone. You already knew that didn’t you?

So I’m listening to American Public Media’s The Splendid Table. If you are at all inclined towards the culinary arts, by which I mean eating, then it is well worth a listen. You can dial it in on most NPR stations, although I suggest you download it to you portable gizmo as a podcast, either through iTunes or their website directly.

Anyway. Host Lynne Rossetto Kasper kicks off each week with a mini-monolog about some food trend or observation.

This week, Lynne discussed an employer which is offering to help subsidize community sponsored agriculture (CSA) memberships for employees. CSAs are like gym memberships for famers markets. Usually you pre-pay to “join” a farm and get regular deliveries of fresh veggies, meats, dairy, etc. You help fund the operations and get a share of the lauder in return.

Think about that for a second – an employer that was willing to sponsor a food lifestyle choice for employees.

Some employers, although I anecdotally suspect the number is low, sponsor gym memberships for employees. The idea is when you workout you are healthier and thus avoid disease and illness which, in turn, saves the company money on healthcare costs.

If that logic holds true (and aren’t we told we are what we eat?) then doesn’t sponsoring healthy food choices also make sense?

There is a lot of talk in the healthcare industry about “accountable care.” Without going into details on the pros and cons and esoteric points, suffice it to say it means healthcare provides partner with the people paying for care to reduce the cost and innovate the care model. Most people who get insurance in the US, outside of Medicare, get it through their employers. Many of those employers are self-insured; meaning they pay for care out of the company’s coffers, even if administered through a third-party commercial plan. You may have blue cross, but your employer is likely footing most if not all of the bill.

Given that, doesn’t it make sense for employers to support employees who make healthy food choices?

Paying for CSA memberships is admittedly not the norm. It is a little on the hippie, 2000s-dot-com-days side of out there. But it may offer similar benefits as paying for gym membership, or perhaps it is even better. Nonetheless, it is as least accountable, forwarding thinking and socially responsible.

So….good news and bad.

First the good, my tacos took week 1! Thanks to everyone who voted!

Now the bad, it has become apparent that no one really likes the idea of confit of lambs tongue… although it’s not too late. Come on people, it’s just a muscle like any other cut of meat. Did we give up when the German’s bombed Pearl Harbor? “Over, did you say over? Nothing is over until we say it is!” So get over to RVA News and VOTE DAWSON!

From my entry for this week:

Ok, I’ll admit it. There is a certain stigma with offal. The problem with the 5th quarter, as our Italian friends often refer to organ meats, is they remind us so much of…well… us. But before you go sticking your tongue out in disgust, I implore you to try an experiment with me. Every time I use “tongues” below, substitute “duck leg”. Then, ask yourself, what is really different about eating the equivalent of a quadricep vs. any other muscle?

After the silence of these Virginia lambs, the tongues spent what can only be likened to a weekend at the spa: 24 hours in a salt water bath before being blanketed in a liberal snowfall of coarse kosher salt, thyme, and garlic over night. Next they went into a vacuum bag with some black tea leaves, juniper, and bacon fat, and took a plunge in the sous vide hot tub for 10 hours at 162 F. While they rested, some par-boiled potatoes, straight from my dad’s garden in Bedford county, were glazed in the cooking liquid from the tongues. The dish came together with some garlicky, sticky, slow cooked brussels sprouts. Some fennel was warmed in the separated bacon fat. The tongues got a final quick fry in some butter and were plated with a reduction of the cooking liquid and a whole grain mustard vinaigrette.

If I could have, I would have cooked the tongues longer. You’ll be surprised to find out there are not a lot of guides for sous vide of lambs tongue online. I think 18 hours would have made them meltingly tender. As it was, they had the texture of a medium rare steak, not unpleasant at all.

I’ve posted more pictures over on flickr

Just saying is all….

It has been the year of the cookbook. Last year’s releases of Grant Achatz’s Aleina set the new standard for uber food pr0n:

At $32.00, Aleina broke the mold of the $150 high-end celebrity cookbook.

And once the flood gates were open, it has been no holds bared for frugal foodies. These are some of my favorites from 2009:

Is there anything better than seeing those first green shoots pop up from the brown dirt in the early spring? They are at once the white flags of winter’s surrender and the welcome committee for the sun. Early spring time veggies are often the most delicate and sweetest that nature has to offer. That first bounty is truly something to celebrate; and there is no better way to applaud Mother Nature’s work than treating them simply.

Fortunately, most of us do not spend the winter working through our supply of canned produce from the previous season anymore. Most grocery stores carry the full gamut of veg year round. But if you live in Vermont and had broccoli in December, there’s a pretty good chance it did not come from a local farm. Vegetables are one of the best reasons to find a farmers market and to live seasonally. Eating what is growing naturally during the year is not only more sustainable and trendy, it tastes better. Really, I promise. Tasting asparagus that came out of the April ground from your local farm will always knock the socks off the South American produce laying limp under the mister at the store.

If you do venture out to your local farmers market, or are among the lucky few to have your own garden, then its time to think about how to celebrate the early harvest. One of my favorite ways to enjoy the first plucks of spring is with a simple vinaigrette.

The vinaigrette is one of the most versatile ‘sauces’ in the kitchen. Few things are so simple but pack such a big punch. At the most basic – oil and vinegar- you get bitter acid and sweetness from the wine vinegar, umami and fruit from the oil and maybe a hint of spice from cracked black pepper. One of the vinaigrette’s great tricks is its ability to complement foods and not over power them. Getting the hang of a basic emulsified vinaigrette will open the doors to a plethora of potential combinations: ponzu and yuzu for an Japanese flare, dill and caper to accompany fish, chopped pickle and hard boiled egg for a salad dressing… the list is endless.

The good news about the vinaigrette is that there are no real rules (shhh don’t tell the French), only guidelines. Most are emulsified, that is to say very well mixed to the point of being creamy in texture. They can also be ‘broken’ where the acid and oil are noticeably separated. The acid can come in many forms, from lemon juice to aged balsamic vinegar. For that matter, so can the oil; olive, walnut, grape seed, melted butter, duck fat! What follows is my take on a very classic and simple vinaigrette as well as some variants. Once you master the suggestion below, feel free to play around. Make sure to drop me and note let me know what you come up with.

When it comes to the classic oil and vinegar mix, I prefer an emulsified vinaigrette. Emulsification is tricky don’t worry if it does not come together for you right away. There are a few tricks that will help though. Get a Hand Blender
. Those are the hand held mixers that you can plunge into anything you want blended. I use mine almost daily. If you are going to use a whisk, stick it and the bowl into the freezer for five minutes. Heat is the enemy of an emulsification. For the recipe below, I assume a whisk. If you are using a stick blender, it will be the same, but you will want to use the tall narrow cup that your mixer came with.

A general guideline for ratios is 3:1 oil to acid. Keep that in mind and you can riff on the idea however you like.

Ingredients:
* 3 table spoons grape seed or canola oil
* 1 table spoon white wine vinegar
* 1 teaspoon Dijon style mustard
* 1/2 clove garlic, crushed
* 1/8 teaspoon (lets call it a pinch) of white sugar
* pinch of sea salt
* freshly ground black pepper (course)

Technique:
In a cool bowl, combine the vinegar, salt, mustard, sugar, and garlic and pepper. Whisk together to combine into a rudimentary paste.

Start whisking vigorously in a figure eight movement.

We want to add the oil very slowly. In a stream so small that the next stage would be a drip, not a stream at all.

Slowly drizzle in the oil. You want to look closely, you should never see the oil accumulate on the surface. If it does, whisk faster and drizzle more slowly. The goal here is to literally smash the oil and vinegar together. Mustard contains a natural compound called lethicin which helps that bond between the oil and vinegar.

As you whisk the in the oil, you will see the entire concoction lighten in color and take on the consistency of mayonnaise. (mayo is really just a vinaigrette with an egg yolk by the way).

Thats it, pretty simple right? For veggies, serve it as a dipping sauce in a bowl. Lightly toss roasted asparagus or roasted cauliflower in the vinaigrette. Early spring lettuces should get the lightest possible coating- spoon 1 teas spoon into a bowl and add the greens, toss to cover.

Variations

In the recipe above, I suggest a neutral oil like canola or grape seed (this tea oil is also wonderful but pricey). Olive oil has a very distinct and fruity flavor that can be overpowering, but sometimes, particularly with more hearty viggies, it works quite well. The technique would be the same and you can even mix oils, using half tea oil and half olive oil.

For my favorite salad dressing I like to throw in everything but the kitchen sink. This is where a Hand Blender
comes in handy.

* 6 table spoons grape seed or canola oil
* 2 table spoon white wine vinegar
* 1 teaspoon Dijon style mustard
* 1 clove garlic
* 1 small Bubbies pickle (bubbies brand is worth seeking out, they are fermented)
* 1 hard boiled egg, yoke separated from white, the white should be finely diced
* 1 table spoon grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (use the real stuff)
* 3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
* 1/2 teaspoon capers (get the salt packed ones, soak them in warm water for 10 minutes first)
* 1 big pinch of  red pepper flakes
* pinch of sea salt
* cracked black pepper to taste

The technique is the same, combine everything except for the oil and chopped egg white in the cup of the stick blender. Pulse a few times to form a slurry. Make sure the stick blender is on high and begin slowly drizzling in the oil just as before. Once the oil is incorporated and you have an emulsification, stop blending immediately. Over mixing will cause the emulsification to “break” and you’ll have something that feels like it has an oil slick on the tongue – not good.
Stir in the chopped egg white by hand with a fork.

If you do want a broken vinaigrette that does taste good, try this

* 3 table spoons good olive oil
* 1 table spoon lemon juice
* 1 small garlic clove, minced into a paste with the back of your knife
* pinch of salt and black pepper

in a bowl, combine the garlic, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Pour in the oil. Using a fork give things a good hearty mix. You will not get an emulsification, but when it turns cloudy, you are there.

Spoon that over anything from roasted fish to some arugula greens with shaved goats cheese. YUM!

74F during the day and 35F at night – yep, it is early Spring in Virginia. This time of year is always bittersweet for me. On one hand the warm days mean ski season has come to an end. On the other, little tender buds of the first veggies and spring flowers are starting to poke their heads out of the ground. My personal sliver lining is that ski season ended for me rather forcefully this year – that means I can focus on the bounties of the season.

One of my favorite dishes for this time of year combines the crunch gold brown goodness that warms the cool nights and a bright acidic lightness for those warm afternoons – crispy pork chops.

Pork is such an essential ingredient, and one that we are appreciating less and less. It is a real shame when you think about it. The pig is an amazingly versatile animal. For starters the meat runs the gamut of deep and rich to light and lean. It takes on flavors effortlessly but is sweet and savory on its own. Pigs are also endowed with a truly perfect fat-to-lean ratio. It is why pork is the basis of most of the great cured meats from saussion sec to the Spanish Iberian ham.

Chefs will tell you, given only one protein to work with that they will make a choice of the porcine persuasion every time. So why is it that for last twenty years we have relegated our pork consumption to gray flabby chops and tenderloins packaged in chemicals masquerading as a marinade? While I am fairly sure my goal of reintroducing lightly fried pork liver may be an uphill battle, I am confident that we can start giving pork chops the justice they deserve.

Like so many of the Food Simply posts in this series, the first step is finding great pork. And great pork usually comes from great pigs who are (you guessed it) probably closer to your home than on a factory farm ten states away. Locally grown pork may not be hard to find either. In a poetic mix, social media tools like FaceBook and Twitter are connecting local farmers with foodies in a very 2.0 kind of way. Try a search on search.twitter.com or ask some friends. Finding a real, bone-in chip will make a tremendous difference.

In addition to a bone-in chop, there are few other key things to look for when selecting a chop. As you move from the front of the pig towards the hind legs, the chops will get larger and contain more of a secondary muscle group. If you can find those back-cut chops, the reward is a richer, darker meat that is full of flavor. You should also look for a nice “fat cap” running around the outside rim of the chop. In general, the chops should be a nice rosy pink, free of sinew and should never have a slimy feel.

The Brine

Just like our simple roasted chicken, we want to start with a brine. You can pull the exact same brine method from that post. The basic idea is the same, add as much salt as the water will absorb – toss in any other flavors you like and give the chops a soak for at least 12 hours; you can take it to 72 in the fridge with no problem. Brown sugar will enhance the natural sweetness of pork.

The Prep

*At least an hour before cooking, remove the chops from the brine and pat dry.
*Let them dry on paper towels.
*On a plate, combine 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs (you’ll find them on the ethnic aisle) and 3 table spoons of white flour
*thinly slice 1 clove of garlic
*Mince a hand full of fresh parsley
*slice a lemon in half – we’ll juice it into the sauce
* grab 1/4 cup of chicken stock, if you don’t have homemade use water (its much better than store bought stock)

*optional – some people cut 3 slits vertically in the fat cap, on skinnier chops this helps prevent ‘cupping’

The Crust

This is a technique I learned from a chef friend. They used it at my favorite restaurant to make their sweetbreads extra crispy and it works on anything from chicken to …well.. pork chops. The goal is to really press the panko-flour mix into the meat. You want to almost force the breading into the pores. I like to lay the chops flat into the mix then press down with my palm. Flip them over and repeat. Then pick up some of the breading with your fingers and actually try and press more into the flesh. Pick up the chops and give them a gentle tap or shake to knock off excess.

Important – let the crust rest on the chops for 10 minutes before cooking. That will hydrate the flour and make a stronger bond so it does not come off in the pan.

Cooking

This is another trick that I have borrowed from Brad, my chef friend. He likes to cook New York strip steaks in their own fat by starting them on the fat cap and rendering it out. The result is a really crispy crust where the fat was. It works equally well with pork chops.

*in a heavy pan over medium heat, place the chops in standing on their side with the fat down. You may have to hold skinnier chips with tongs.
*Once the fat is golden brown – it may take up to 8 – 10 minutes, lay the chops down and crank the heat to high
*After about 4 minutes, life the chops and check for a deep golden color, if they look G.B.D. give them a flip.
*start checking the internal temperature after 2 minutes – we are shooting for 135F. Remember, this is quality pork and just like our chicken there is no reason to over cook it. Once it hits 135F, pull them from the heat and let them sit aside to keep warm.
*Dial the heat back to medium and drain the excess fat, saving a scant film
*add the garlic and toss for 30 seconds
*squeeze the juice of the lemon into the pan
*add the 1/4 cup of stock or water
*Allow the liquid to reduce via a boil for 1 minute
* add parsley

Serving

*pour your pan sauce over the crispy warm chops, garnish with slice of lemon and ENJOY!

UPDATE: AskAFoodie.net is now live- check it out for more info. The goal is simple – have short foodie exchanges on Twitter and delve in deeper on AskAFoodie.net

The social networking site Twitter.com has one rule – you cannot post more than 140 characters at a time. That means everything is short and to the point. That is the perfect place to try and new experiment – AskAFoodie. Jump on twitter and send a note to @askafoodie – anything from apples to zest. Soon Now you will also be able to ask questions via www.askafoodie.net so book mark it and check back soon.

Originally uploaded by NickDawson

For Christmas, Santa brought me a copy of Thomas Kelleher’s Under Pressure: Cooking Sous Vide – a cookbook largely devoted to the sous vide technique of cooking. Sous Vide, or under vacuum, is a bit of a misnomer but refers to cooking things sealed in vacuum bags in a water bath.

There are three reasons people use sous vide. First is that you can intensely flavor whatever you are cooking. Since the bag is sealed there is no chance for flavors to evaporate; instead they go into the food. Secondly is for precise temperature control – this is what makes sous vide at home such a challenge. Finally can get a sort of compression. Mellon has been the popular example. You can take a 5″ cube of watermelon and compress it into something about 1/2″ that has a much different texture.

Sous Vide requires two pieces of equipment. First, you have to have a way to vacuum seal the food. The $100 FoodSaver from Tilia does a fine job (although it will not provide much compression). The challenge comes with the temperature control part. Professionals are using laboratory-grade ‘immersion circulators’ which can keep a container of water at a perfectly controlled temperature. The only problem – they cost $1,000.00. That makes impressive tricks like preparing salmon that looks raw but is actually cooked a challenge. You need water that is exactly 104 degrees F. 103 and 105 simply do not work, its a protein coagulation thing.

(Worth noting, Grant Achatz has demonstrated sous vide in zip top bags – you can find the video here)

The good news is that the technique still has a place in the home kitchen. Some foods, like vegetables, are very forgiving and can withstand the fluctuation that you get using a pot of water and thermometer on the stove. We tried some green olive and grapefruit poached fennel that was outstanding. The olive and citrus flavor was pronounced throughout the fennel and it could not have been easier. We prepped a bag with sliced fennel, some crushed green Spanish olives, grapefruit slices and great olive oil and set it into a pot of water that we tried to keep around 160 degrees F. It took about two hours for the fennel to soften up, but the remarkable thing was how green and crisp they stayed.

Another forgiving food are scallops. Scallops are almost all protein and work very well in sous vide. We did ours with bacon fat and bay leaves. After rendering the bacon, I let the fat cool and poured enough in to cover the scallops which had been seasoned with a little gray salt. After that I tossed in a few fresh bay leaves and sealed the bag. 1 hour in a 120 degree F bath and they were cooked perfectly through and had a wonderful texture. The bacon flavor was intense but not over powering.

I am looking forward to working through Under Pressure and learning more about the technique, but I am excited to know that at least some part of sous vide is in reach for the home cook.

I am still mentally digesting our meal from Per Se. Check back soon for a post about the menus and our meal. As a quick update, I did want to share a few photos from our behind the scenes tour of the kitchen.

The rumors of the video link between the French Laundry and Per Se are true, but what impressed me were the custom inlay tiles with “Sense of Urgency” blazed in blue. That phrase is the montra for the entire staff – it means much more than simply working quickly. Sense of urgency is a reminder of how important every detail is in making a meal at Per Se one of the best dining experences in the world.