Dinner at Joel

Tuesday I had to report for jury duty. Lucky me, I was picked for a jury so I was there all day. The same night, there was an AIWF dinner at Joel and I was stressed all day about a work problem and also the fact that I would probably be late for dinner. Add to that that there were painters at the house priming things and I was a mess all day while I sat there and had to endure democracy.

As it turns out, I missed cocktail hour and got there just in time for dinner. I was sad to miss cocktail hour because Virginia Willis was signing copies of her new book, Bon Appetit, Y'all, but I was able to catch her so yay! I may have to set up a little section of my cookbooks for autographed copies. I am such a dork.

Anyway, dinner was a blast. We started off with a peekytoe crab salad with curry and celery remoulade with an apple gelee on top, and a vanilla apple dressing. Pretty tasty.

The main course was a choice. Option 1 was seared diver scallops with a light cream sauce, fava beans, and (I think) cremini mushrooms. I found it to be very tasty. I believe that we were getting items on the menu, just as a set price. I have to admit that for two scallops, I would have found it to be too expensive. Option 2 was hanger steam with a shallot confit. Good, but really, I make a pretty good hanger steak at home so I admit I wasn't impressed.

Dessert was a profiterole. Again, tasty but ... I have to admit that I was still hungry afterwards.

J brought two wines to dinner. I don't remember the albarino he brought except that it was light and tasty. He also brought a Chasseur pinot ($40) which was incredibly good.

When I showed up again for jury duty the next day, everyone asked if I made it in time for dinner. We ended up stuck in the jury room with nothing to do, so I described the dinner, explained where the hanger steak cut comes from (American vs French butchery), and what the AIWF. It's always great to get looks from eleven random people who think that you are crazy.

So, the big deal with Joel right now is that Joel Antunes just got a job as the chef at the Oak Room at the Four Seasons up in NYC, a very big deal. From what I understand, however, Chef Cyrille has been with Joel since it opened and he has been running things there for a while. I was lucky enough to get a tour of the Joel kitchen which was larger than the dining room and incredibly clean.

It has no open flame and we got a nice explanation about the method of heat (induction?) where it requires metal to be on the surface to heat up. No burning your hands, yay! Joel also has the longest hot line in the US. It's pretty impressive to see how much space it took up. They also have a cold prep area (garde manger, I guess?) and a separate pasta room. We also saw their sous vide sealer which, among other things, they use to seal up fish, etc that they will cook in say, 130 degreee oil, to ensure that it cannot overcook. Cyrille gave us a long explanation about how to properly sous vide and how they use it to pre-prepare food before giving it a sear before serving. At least, that's what I think he said. You can keep food at a constant but low temperature for a very long time without overcooking it.

We also saw their freezer setup which is actually connected to a satellite which is insane. If the freezer has any problems, it immediately sends a signal to some company who immediately comes to fix it. All I have to say is, I really wanted to know what was in that freezer because damn!

It was a nice of good company and great wine. The space at Joel is great, but I'm not sure I would go back at $30 for a hanger steak.