Chef Brandon Kida is the Chef de Cuisine of Asiate Restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City. He was raised in Los Angeles and came to New York City after graduating from the CIA. He trained at Lutèce and joined the opening team of Asiate in 2003. During De Gustibus’ Asian Festivities event, Chef Brandon Kida prepared a menu that represented the cuisine of Asiate. He served a tuna tartare amuse-bouche made with spear-caught Bluefin Tuna from Block Island. The first course was a Kabocha Squash Ravioli with Stavecchio broth. Stavecchio is a hard cheese made in Wisconsin that closely resembles Italian Parmesan cheese. He created a Seared Scallop and Coconut Herb Broth dish with a Hearts of Palm and Granny Smith Apple Salad. Chef Kida’s final dish was a Wagyu Beef Tenderloin with Smoked Potato Puree, Chanterelle Mushrooms, and a Blackberry Port Wine Reduction. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel’s Executive Pastry Chef Paul Nolan demonstrated a rich and creamy Flourless Double Chocolate Mousse Cake with Caramel Passion Fruit Sauce. The Kobrand Corporation paired the wines for the evening.

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Chef Ed Brown is the Chef-Collaborator at Ed’s Chowder House on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He prepared a tasting of seafood-focused dishes paired with wines from the Kobrand Corporation. We started out with a bowl of Ed’s Loaded Shellfish Chowder and their famous biscuits. This is one of the traditional chowders on the restaurant’s menu. The loaded chowder is a white clam chowder base with the addition of scallops, shrimp, lobster, and crabmeat. The first recipe demonstration was a Marinated Hamachi with Yuzu, White Soy and Ginger “Milk”. Chef Ed prepared a Salmon Fillet Poached in Olive Oil with a fresh Tomato Mint Salad. The best part of the menu was Ed’s famous Scallop and Foie Gras Ravioli with Yellow Wine Beurre Blanc. This is a traditional item that he’s used at his previous restaurants. It was derived from a bay scallop ravioli that he learned to make while working in Paris. The foie gras comes from the Hudson Valley Foie Gras farm and he used wonton wrappers for the ravioli. Executive Chef John Miele joined Chef Ed on stage to prepare the dessert dish. He made an Apple Tart, which was an adaptation of a traditional French Tarte Tatin.

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After leaving D’Artagnan five years ago, George Faison joined the Sarrazin family at DeBragga, New York’s quality meat purveyor, with a main interest in working with heritage breed animals. The heritage breeds are harder to raise and it takes longer to raise them, which means they cost more, but it gives the farmers an opportunity to get back into the agriculture game because they offer a much better product that’s most importantly something that can’t be mass-produced. George demonstrated the butchering and explained the particular poultry or meat in each recipe. He described where it came from, how it was raised and a little bit of information behind it. Chef Jason Hall, the Chef de Cuisine from Gotham Bar and Grill along with his team, created a wide variety of meat-focused dishes with the products provided by DeBragga.com.

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Interview by Allison Beck, De Gustibus Blogger I had been the Executive Sous Chef at Union Square Café in 2003, and moved over to Tabla in 2004, and was looking for the next challenge for myself. I wanted to work at an established restaurant, a place where I could break out and hit the ground running, leading a 3 star restaurant to even higher heights. At the time, I had been cooking for 16 years, and wanted to put that experience to work in a place of my own.

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