nicole's restaurant, mendon, vermont - circa 1986. my formative years ...

this video was created around 1986 at the restaurant where i did my most important/influential apprenticeship, nicloe's new american cuisine, mendon, vermont, usa. the restaurant was owned and operated by peter ryan and detlev martitsch-kreiner. eriksson hill was sous chef at the time, and after he left to go on to other projects i then became sous chef to detlev.

despite only working with these gentleman for a short 2 years i have to say it was the defining time for me in regard to my career in f and b and the manner in which i came to view not only the food, but my craft and my relationship to it and the world around me. if i had not spent that time under detlev's tutelage my life would not have become what it is today, i would not have had the experiences or opportunities that i have had, and i would not be able to look back and know that i was blessed to have had the chance of a life time. i think not a day has passed since leaving nicole's, and moving on to a kitchen of my own, that i have not thought about or used something of value from those days.

every time i view this video i get the same charge that i did when i first saw it. to know that i was a part of something that was as unique and wonderful as nicole's is fulfilling and rewarding in itself.

the video was produced, directed, filmed and edited by david huot (dh productions) for the purpose of being used as a local tv commercial spot to promote nicole's. given the fact that he was/is predominantly an action/sports videographer speaks volumes about his innate talent and pov.

the relationships/friendships that were formed at nicole's have lasted us all a lifetime, and i think will continue to do so. i am proud to have been a part of that little slice of culinary wonderment. thank you ted, peter and eriksson, i would not have gotten this far without you.

and david, this video has been the center piece of my resume/cv since the first time i sought employment after leaving nicole's, thanks.

nicole's staff about the time of the video:



detlev (1st from left), eriksson (5th from left),
me (2nd from right), peter (1st from right)
(all back row)

some specials menus from that time:

mother's day @ hawk resort


a taste of new orleans

a taste of northern italy

more on lunch, etc - this is supposed to be about lunch and foodie stuff, i have digressed ...

well, i have had idle time to surf the net and get distracted. i have found some great tunes and also some great photo exhibits, but now let's get back to food, after all, we can not live on art, or can we?

first is the lunch i had on the train up from nyc to brattleboro, vt.

i know from past experience the the food on the train is limited,
horrible and insanely expensive, so i bought a greek salad

and a tuna sandwichat zaros in the penn station terminal
and took it on the train for the 6 hour journey to visit my mom.
both were good and the portions were typical to america, HUGE.

i find the view form the train in many countries is about the same.
real estate near train tracks is not always the most desirable
and many times those who live near the tracks are lower income or poor.
the usa is no exception. here a few pics that i hope are not so "poor".

the #56 vermonter train.

what is totally cool was there is a power outlet for devices next to every seat.
i spent the whole journey bluetoothing my phone pics
to the laptop and formatting them for this post.

i saw many car dealerships with their lots full of all the gas guzzling models

that will not sell and can not sell now that we are in an economic collapse.
too bad detroit didn't follow japan when the time called for a shift in car design.
typical american business pracitce.
now we, the people, have to pay for these cars
despite not wanting them to begin with.
ironic at best.

i arrived on time and met my mom who had made the
45 minute drive to pick me up despite being ill. mom's are like that,
even when you are 56, they are still your mom.

we went to the local co-op, picked up some veggies to have with dinner
and went over the mountain and home to the house where i grew up.

being in a snowy mountan region my mom has learned
from past experience to keep a full freezer
for when she gets snow bound, so i had a choice
of many family favorites that she had socked away.
i chose macaroni cheese.

she uses penne noodles, not elbow macaroni.
this gives the dish more substance and it
remains al dente during the cooking process.

she uses a local white cheddar, something we are famous for
and people have mailed to them all over the world.

this is a k.i.s.s dish.
keep it simple stupid.
just noodles, great cheese (cabot's is one) and milk, penne and
topped with fresh whole wheat bread crumbs that are shredded,
not dry and ground.

some great co-op spinach.
just steamed, chopped and a little bit of whole unsalted butter added.

my mom's table.

the next day it was still very cold so we had some of mom's chicken soup
with home made matzo balls (is there any other kind?).

matzo balls are unique to jewish cuisine but being dumplings,
they are really common to many cultures and can be found in most any country.
whenever i make them in thailand my thai friends love them.

matzo balls are not made from flour, they are made form matzoh meal.
some folks use a prepared one, and others grind their own.
this is derived from matzos, un-leavened bread, that is dry and ground coarsely.
like any dumpling the trick is to keep them light and fluffy,
my mom never fails at this task.

the next day the freezing rain stopped and i was able to
drive over the mountain to bennington, vt and go shopping.

i bought many things, but what i was looking for, and found,
was mary's kitchen corned beef hash for breakfast

and some fresh cod fish.

i had the hash with eggs and rye toast for breakfast the next day
and we had the cod fish for dinner.

this is a half can of the hash in a heavy bottomed, non-stick skillet.
try to use a skillet that is thick bottomed so it will
cook the hash slowly and brown it well.
non-stick is also great when the time comes to flip-it/turn it over.
the hash should develop a nice crust (skin) which creates
the great texture hash eaters are looking for.

i find canned hash to be superior to any home made
one i have ever had, bar none.
everything is uniformly cut and the fat content of this one is minimal.

cook the hash first, as it takes a while to brown, and then set it to rest.

then i started the toast and fried the eggs.
i usually have poached eggs with hash, but i was being lazy that day
so i simply made them over-easy.


2 of these rye slices are fresh, and one was frozen.
note the distinct difference in how they toasted up.
either way, i love this stuff and can not get it in bangkok.
the thai rye breads never have seeds, and are never light,
always heavy and dense.
a good, ny style seeded rye is hard to find these days, even in ny.

notice, that as always, i forgot to take the picture before i started to eat.
i caught myself this time right after i pierced the first egg.

that night we had the cod fish.
actually it was scrod, a smaller fish than the one in the link above.
i bought two small fillets and trimmed them down.
next i placed them in a broiler pan that was lightly oiled with olive oil
and i ground fresh black pepper on them.

next i rummaged around in my mom's re-frig-a-lator and found
half a spanish onion, half a bermuda onion, and half of a beefsteak tomato.

also, a few sprigs of fresh thyme, italian parsely and some
pimento stuffed manzanilla olives and some nonpareil capers.
just enough to make a garnish for the fish.

i diced the veggies and first sauteed the onions in
a mixture of olive oil and olive oil margarine.
i love these products because i can use them to my hearts content,
and my heart is content.

then i tossed in the herbs, tomato, olives and capers.
i purposely did not put the tomato in at first so as not to over cook them.
then i simply added them to the pan and tossed it a few times.

i ground some fresh black pepper into it and put it on top of the fish fillets.

i then put the fish under the broiler and steamed the veggies
and boiled 2 potatoes.

fairly simple and straight forward,
and i used up some things that were being neglected in the fridge,
something i like to do. i find it a challenge to use
whatever is in the bottom of the crisper box, wherever i am.

ashes and snow, another fantastic exhibit of human expression

i have always had an interest in photography and to see the images that this man has created stuns me.

Since its debut in Venice in 2002, over 10 million people have attended Ashes and Snow by Gregory Colbert, an exhibition of more than 50 large-scale photographic artworks, a 60-minute feature film, and two 9-minute film haiku.

The Nomadic Museum, the permanent travelling home of Ashes and Snow, debuted in New York in 2005 and then migrated to Santa Monica, Tokyo, and Mexico City. Ashes and Snow at the Nomadic Museum will open in Brazil in 2009.

i invite you to follow the link to his site which is so kindly sponsored by the rolex institute.

view tribus de L'OMO / hans silvester

this was sent to me by a friend and it was just to good to not post it here.

i recommend you click the link directly below here to see this slide show in its full sized format . Tribus de L'OMO / Hans Silvester

taylor swift, country music has come a long way ... or has it?

i became a big fan of country music back in 1988 when i first heard lyle lovett, now i enjoy many different country artists. here is one that i have recently become found of. so here's taylor swift, enjoy - or not ...

teardrops on my guitar:



picture to burn:



i'm only me when i'm with you:



you belong with me:



you're not sorry:



mary's song (oh my my my) live bamboozle:




had enough? :-)

back in the states for the holidays and eating old time favorites with family and friends ...

this will be the first of several posts made while on my trip home to america. as i do not relish these trips simply because of the arduous traveling, i do enjoy getting to see my family and spend time with them. this will be my first trip home in 25 months.

i arrived safely on EVA air at newark international airport. i took the nj transit train into nyc's penn station for a great fare of only 15.00 usd and then took a cab uptown to my brother's house for 20.00 usd including the tip (to go by cab from the airport to the house would have been 80.00 usd and taken longer). door to door the trip was 30 +/- hours. we said hello and soon crashed. as i had not slept much on the plane it was easy for me to fall asleep despite my body clock telling me it was 1nooon time and not midnight. the flight was not bad, EVA has good in-flight meals and there entertainment suite is also great. every seat back has a small computer monitor in it and all the music, movies and games are accessed with a very well thought out control/remote.

on the flight from bkk to taipei i had garlic pork and rice, from taipei to newark the main meal i selected was chicken in a tomato based sauce over pasta. these meals came with shredded green salad, fresh baked rolls and dessert. one was a pistachio pudding and the other was coffee crumb cake. both meals also had a small dish of fresh fruit salad with them. needless to say they also gave us all the juice, wine or beer and coffee or tea we could drink. the last meal, an hour before landing was breakfast. i opted for the pork congee over the omelet. having been made in taipei it was great. during the flight EVA offers all the snacks, cookies and drinks you can consume. being an asian based airline this is all part of the regular service at no extra charge unlike usa based carriers who skimp on everything, serve inedible meals and charge for the simplest of beverage service.

i got to watch some great japanese and chinese films as well as some very sophomoric american ones. all in all the flight was good and my luggage arrived along with me.


on sunday after having gotten a few hours of sleep my brother, his girlfriend and i decided to go to china town to have an early dinner. as i am not in new york a lot it was my choice. i picked a great place my brother turned me on too a few years ago when i was there last, shanghai cafe located at 100 mott street. this joint specializes in dumplings, and their soup filled dumplings are superb. we had a basket of steamed crab and minced pork ones. we also had baby bok choy in a thin white gravy, stir-fried string beans, scallion pancakes and batter fried salt and pepper squid.

the entrance at 100 mott street

click this text to see another view of this great place

the menu, i will scan my copy and post
when i get back to my scanner.

the dinning room.

obviously the emphasis is on the food, not the decor.

everything was just as i remembered it except we all agreed that the portion sizes had gotten about 20% smaller. the dumplings are all made fresh and steamed to order. filled with a very aromatic broth and served with a soy based dipping condiment they were great. the squid, which is another of my all time favorites there was lightly batter fired and then covered with coarse salt and sliced green chili peppers that have been scorched in a wok. the string beans are also simply stir-fried with a little stock and light seasoning and the bok choy came swimming in very thin white chinese gravy that does not hide the simple taste of the cabbages. the scallion pancakes were perfectly fried and was not greasy as it can be.

we washed it all down with big piping hot glasses of tea and the total bill was 54.00 usd including the 20% tip.

nikon pic

nokia 6500 pic

the last scallion pancake and the end of the string beans

baby bok choy
the waitress made a point of our recognizing that this dish
was 10.00 usd before ordering

dumpling drone at work.
how they can do this day in and day out is beyond me,
but i am glad they do.

another dumpling drone at work.

the duck shop next door.
i can never take enough pics of ducks in windows, wherever i go.

after dinner we walked 2 blocks across the border from china town into little italy so my brother could get himself a cigar and i had a cup of espresso and bought a half-pound box of pignoli cookies at cafe roma, 385 broome st.

the mulberry street cigar company where my brother gets his fix.

this too is a part of the ritual of going to china town for us. little italy is so close and the two neighborhoods are both well maintained tourist areas that are safe, clean and fun to cruise day or night.

the best thing about these was that the pine nuts were fresh
and did not taste stale as they so often do.

notice this box is tied with string and not taped.
very traditional shop in every manner.

if anyone is in nyc and they wish to go to china town i highly recommend shanghai cafe for a light meal of dumplings. if you want something more than i suggest walking to the other end of mott street to #17 and having something to eat at wo hops. their wor shu op is great (pressed roasted duck in brown mushroom gravy) as well as their sub-gum fried wontons ( shrimp, chicken & roast pork w. broccoli, chinese vegetable & crispy fried wonton) with huge slices of red cooked pork tenderloin. the hot and sour soup, as it is in almost every nyc chinese establishment.

i am writing this post on the amtrak train to brattleboro, vt where my mom will meet me and drive me home. i am sure i will post a bit on her fantastic meals as she is probably the best cook in the family and her food is tops.

my trusted wide-screen dell laptop and my nikon cool pix camera.

looking to up-grade to a better nikon or
possibly a panasonic with the great leica lens.

all of these pics were taken on the train with my
nokia 6500 mobile phone
which has only a 2.0 mega pixel lens.
it was very easy to bluetooth the images to the laptop
for reformatting in ACDSee and to later post
into the blog once i got to my mother's house.