Get Yer 80s On Sweethearts!

 

Awwwe! Thank you Zagat! See the complete list here of other culinary couples in Los Angeles.

Ok, more on that 80's party.... My friends of Heyoka Hideout (remember their opening party we cooked for here) hosted a Murder Mystery Party using this company who sent an actor, Laura Rigores to assign each of us roles and act as our "detective", (she was hilarious, you should request her if you ever book a party like this!). In our case the "scene" was backstage at a big concert of a rock star (yes this role was assigned and that person had to sing alá Spinal Tap). This rock star was flanked by his managers and had a bunch of groupies, an ex wife and even a transvestite who were all in love with him and mugging for his attention. The role given to me was a has-been singer who is trying to get the attention of all the agents there (also roles assigned) and I get my back stage pass by being a photographer (so I had a camera to keep me busy). It was uncanny how Laura (our detective) was able to sense who were the biggest hams in the group and assign roles accordingly. For instance, read what you will into this but Matt got assigned..... the transvestite! 

Of course we brought a ton of 80s food and set up a buffet. Think stuffed mushrooms, shrimp cocktail, 7 layer dip, cheese skewers poked in cantaloupe, sausage pockets, pasta salad with black olives and pesto, spinach dip, deviled eggs... the works!!! Best Valentine's Day ever!

Our Top 5 Favorite Developments of 2013

ONE.

When we heard that The Challenger's Boys and Girls Club  was looking for a restaurant to host the final day of their Manhood Program so that the young men could apply what they had learned about table manners over dinner, we jumped all over it. I'm pretty sure that we badgered them to use The Salon as their venue because at that time they didn't particularly know us (see the dinner here) and we really wanted to change that. Since then we have regularly been going to their space in South Central to teach cooking and nutrition classes. We continue to be inspired by the work and the mission of what The Challenger's provides for children who don't catch many breaks, and we feel very honored to be a part of their team now.  

TWO.

This year we took to formulating close ties with several small humane ranchers who work sustainably and with great integrity. It's expensive to raise meat this way, but it is an investment in our health and our conscience and our environment. We are anxious to continue our work to raise attention of why supporting these types of ranchers is so critical to our food system. See more here and here and here.

THREE.

Every Monday for the majority of this year, my friend Caleb (featured here) has been coming to our kitchen to water plants, walk one of our dogs (the only one that likes to walk), and offering up team support in general (he says this a lot: "Good job, Matt!"). He brightens our day when he walks in because he just has the kind of big personality that says Hello! until you say Hello! back. He's gaining a lot from working here and so are we by having him.

FOUR.

Our team is tight. The above photo does not represent all of us, just some of us (we have 27 employees now). We have all worked especially hard this year to create a cohesive operation that is respectful of each other and ambitious to keep improving in all aspects of our business. I am so freaking proud of our team.

FIVE.

Um…... The New York Times. That felt good, real good. Thanks everyone for helping to make 2013 our best year yet. We are so excited to cook for you in 2014! Happy New Year!!!

Happy Holidays One and All

Caleb

This is Caleb. He comes here every Monday for work experience. He does things like water plants, walks one of our dogs, and sometimes he helps set up lunch. Mainly the point is for him to learn how to behave in a work environment. Shake people's hands, look them in the eye, don't stare or repeat yourself over and over. I remind him of this and so does his aid he comes here with. He's doing a great job in his 6 months coming here, there have been a lot of improvements.

I started working with Caleb many years ago as you see in the photo below. At the time he could not speak in sentences. Now he says things unprompted like, "I'm here to walk Comet."

It's hard because I have to pretend like I'm not moved by this progress. We are at work. We behave professionally. And because of work, because of how busy we are here at Heirloom, I don't get to see Caleb much at all outside of it so I don't get to hug him as friends often do. This is a dilemma. I truly love the guy. 

So until we do meet up to go to a concert or to the mall, some of our favorite things to do together, I will do my best to just shake his hand and shake his aid's hand, and act like we are professionals. I'm pretty sure it's more challenging for me than it is for him.

Out Back During Our Salon Dinner With Caduceus

Photo: Jennifer Emerling

Our private tasting room, The Salon, is a small, intimate dining room that seats 26-32 people. For special public events we've been hosting, we usually have an overflow of friends and family of Heirloom that we want to include but we don't have the space to in the dining room like here with Caduceus Wine so we've been having a separate seating out back.

Photos: Glen Nakasako

Plumes of smokey pork fill the air as Chef Todd grills over some luscious pork chops from Cook's Pigs (remember when we visited their ranch here?). Meanwhile in our kitchen Matt and I prepare family style platters to serve outside. For the most part, the menu is very similar to what is being served in The Salon, just more simple and rustic.

Photos: Jennifer Emerling

While Matt goes back to cook in The Salon for the guests in there, I sit on down with our friends outside and share some laughs, enjoying the beautiful food and company. Such a good night!

Food GPS Fried Chicken Festival

Oh hey, Channel 5 News! Welcome to our kitchen! That's Josh Lurie of Food GPS on the far right. He organized an event for all the fried chicken lovers out there by gathering up his restaurant friends (listed here), and asking them to make 800 portions of a fried chicken dish. Allie Mac Kay of KTLA Channel 5 Morning News came out to our kitchen to help promote it a couple days ahead of time and featured Matt along with Ricardo Zarate of Mo Chica and Chris Oh of Seol Sausage on the program.

We made 800 Fried Chicken Karaage Sandwiches with Fresh Plum Katsu Sauce, House-Made Siracha, and Weiser Farms Fingerling Potato Salads for the Festival.

Photos: Tara Maxey

We ran into lots of kitchen friends and drank very delicious tequila cocktails by Matt Biancaniello that had chicken feet in them! See more photos on Instagram at #FoodGPSFriedChicken.

Wild Boar in the House

Photo: Jennifer Emerling

A few months back I had arrived at the kitchen around 4 am for reasons explained here. I put on NPR or Sam Cooke, both of those are my favorite morning play lists so either can be heard at that hour when I'm the first to arrive. I tied a crisp apron on, smoothed my hair back into a bun, set up my station and then went about gathering ingredients to knock out my prep list. In our walk-in, I smelled some fruit, picking the prettiest to make an inside out cake like this one, then I pivoted to walk out and.... SCREAMED!!! 

What the heck?? There was a bristle haired, tusk bearing, whole wild boar upon it's back that I had somehow missed when I entered the walk-in. It resembled our pit bull, Charlotte, but much meaner looking. Oh, to see it like that, humbled and still, was a sight to behold. I'm accustomed to whole pigs in our walk in (remember our first one here?), these make me pause only a little, but a wild boar! Sheesh!

It seems a federal agent friend of Matt's enjoys hunting on vineyards and asked him if he would like a wild boar sometime. "Sure," Matt replied. I mean why not, is his thinking.

It was just very early in the morning to be surprised by some thorny beast. Oh, how my heart nearly beat out of my chest, I still remember. In honor of the animal, this pig gone wild, we have preserved it's skin and kept it for hanging. 

It's a showstopper, beware.

Jibs, Food, Sharks and Pigs

Photo: Tara Maxey

A couple weeks ago I was talking with my friend Joy and she said videos are the new photos for blogs. Then Bri said the same thing on her blog here. That's convincing enough for me, but how the heck do you make a video? I have no idea. You know who does though? Shark Pig. Shark Pig definitely knows how to make videos. Here's one they did for us a while back here.

There will be more, friends, there will be more. Stay tuned.

The Dream Continues

Every *Person* ...

This quote remains applicable today to all facets of social justice. As a catering company we are finely tuned to issues of progressive food policy and the gaping holes of disparity that persist within our food system. There is much work to be done. 

Today as a nation on this 50th Anniversary of his pivotal "I Have  A Dream" Speech, we honor a man and a movement that inspired so many to commit to service and change in building a free and just America. "The time is always right to do what is right," urged Reverend King. We as consumers make a choice everyday to do what is right, to make the choice of supporting local farmers and ranchers rather than  supporting industrial food companies that contribute to obesity and disease in impoverished populations, that propagate the destruction of our farmlands with biochemicals, who aggressively create an atmosphere of fear in rural American farmers, and who finance government campaigns that work to thwart proper regulation, health testing and labeling of what is in our food. 

Our food system is broken, it is unjust. Reverend King said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." It is time we all wake up and commit to making change just like Reverend King modeled for us.

Support small family farms and ranches. Demand to know what is in your food. Help support school gardens and farmer's markets in food deserts. Take action by joining the crusade of Food Democracy Now here, and the Just Label It campaign here.  Let the bells of freedom and justice ring.

We Get Chef Gen For The Night

Oh, excuse me, Dream Team! And who is that in the middle giving a thumb's up? You don't recognize him, huh? That's because he is out of context in this picture, son. That there is the one and only Chef Gen of Sushi Yuzu. That's right, ya heard!!! Sushi Yuzu is one of the best kept secrets in Los Angeles, so well kept that they don't even have a website. Urasawa quality sushi, unbelievable. Chef Gen actually worked with Chef Urasawa.... and Chef Nobu. You get the picture. The man is good. And here he is on a catering with us for the trustees of The Natural History Museum  to celebrate the new exhibit "Becoming LA".

How the heck did we pull that off???

Matt and I are crazy for Sushi Yuzu, we go there whenever we can, and when we go there, we go with Lasagna Cupcakes so we just became friends with Chef Gen because that is what Matt does to people: he wills them to be his friend. He even did it to me! You really have no defense, it's just his charm. Ask anyone who knows him, they've most likely been in this very situation.

So after a while of this, Matt and Chef Gen decided to trade a stage with each other, which basically means doing a short internship to learn how each other run their very different kitchens. Stay tuned for Matt working in Chef Gen's kitchen because you know I will be there with a camera!

Is that a Baco Mercat hat Matt is wearing? Yes, yes it is. We love Chef Josef, same as Chef Gen. Will Chef Josef be trading a stage with us? Fat chance! The guy is opening his third restaurant downtown and was talking about moving in on the west side too. Not only is he gracious and talented, but he is a damn hard worker that one! We go to Bar Amá and Baco Mercat as often as we go to Sushi Yuzu. You haven't been to any of these places? What are you waiting for? These are primo tips I'm giving you, take note!

Wait a minute now... let's talk about these aprons! Every kitchen insider in Los Angeles and beyond knows of sweet little powerhouse Ellen Bennett who works as a line cook at Providence (but started at Baco Mercat, she has a hat too)and decided to give the standard kitchen apron some style. No, she's not the first to do that, there are cute and there are hip aprons all over the place but none designed by someone who cooks for a living. These aprons are practical! They're durable and they're adjustable. And Ellen makes them in all kinds of cool fabrics. Give her a look: Hedley and Bennett.

Check out this plating set-up! Here's how you run a 200 person plated dinner catering like a restaurant. You set up a line. It runs like gang busters. Boom, boom, boom, done. Hot, beautiful, delicious.

Photos: Tara Maxey

Whose been slacking back on desserts? Me! This whole social media and blogging and special event planning and PR and re-branding (yes, that's coming down the pipeline too kids!) has swooped me away from the kitchen these last six months but I have one hell of a protege and that is Chef Matt Poley who is gifted in all things kitchen and with minimal coaching has embodied my approach to dessert. Keep it simple yet nuanced. His puddings are smooth and supple with just a little bit of jiggle because you gotta have jiggle, guys. His cakes are light and complex, and his pies, more ornamental than mine, are flakey and filled with that wonderful flavor only butter can impart.

Sweets and savory are completely different mindsets in a professional kitchen, sort of like the difference between math and English where you're inclined towards one or the other. When someone is really talented at both, it suggests they have a stroke of genius inside of them. There are many chefs whose work ethic and food I respect and admire but my favorite will always be Matt who can pull off absolutely anything and at the same time provoke your tastebuds to sing in their appraisal. 

Pizza Off Our Food Truck

Who doesn't love pizza? Crazy people, that's who! Here at Heirloom, we all have different preferences. Thick crust, thin crust. Lots of cheese, hardly any and mostly sauce. Traditional, or wacky filled crusts. We're all over the map in who likes what.

One thing is for sure: making your own crust (which method elicits debates in and of itself) is an effort that sends the flavor of the 'za to a different stratosphere. There's talk about how the water in Naples and in the Big Apple makes pizza made in those regions superior to anything served up in Los Angeles or San Francisco even. I've devoured pizza in each of these cities, I love 'em all. Pizza fan I am.

These intense debates feel real similar to those over pie doughs, but the big deal to me at least is not so much the liquid used but the oven. Oh gosh! People will be so mad about me saying that, yikes!! Here's the deal though, a typical pizza oven burns at 1000F and conventional ovens heat to half that. Some pizza ovens are wood burning, some wood burns hotter than others which yields a lighter, less bready dough with a crisp crust because it heats up so fast, there are just so many factors and opinions. You sort of need to develop the dough for each oven you use to figure out the best process.

Photos: Jennifer Emerling

On our truck tonight at Silverlake Wine, we do not have a wood burning pizza oven, but we're trying to figure out a way to re-invent delectable pizza without one. Matt's using a dark ale in the batter rather than water and he's playing around with the fresh yeast he's using. It's so hot in the kitchen right now, everything is variable in how the dough rises so you have to temper by moving it in and out of refrigeration. Then instead of the oven, he threw a slab of granite on a piping hot char grill. There are some respectable bubbles coming up. Does it sound like a lot of work to get it right under less than ideal circumstances? It is!

Up for trying what we came up with on this warm summer night? Tonight we will be serving pizza off our truck at Silverlake Wine. We've got two types:

McGrath Farms baby Carrots, Fresh Mozzarella, Ricotta Cheese, Roasted Fennel and Pistachio Gremolata 

Shaved Prosciutto, Oven Roasted Zebra Tomatoes, Garden Basil, Parmesean Cheese, topped with Fresh Buratta, Balsamic Reduction + Sea Salt

Come let us know what you think, and as one of our event managers here, Nicolette, says in all of her outgoing emails: Peace, Love, and Pizza!!

Shopping and Talking

Remember here when we used to go to the Santa Monica Farmer's Market every week? Then we got slammed, no, really, really slammed. We are on the east side, an hour away realistically from the opposite side of town, and we have lovely farmer's markets over here, truly we do. Additionally, my dad trucks on over to Mc Grath Farms every Monday (like here) to pick up a cargo (well not quite, but a lot!) of whatever beautiful produce they have, and we also now employ a shopper who goes to other farms directly and to the Wednesday market for us. Okay, so we're good, right?

No, not so much. There is just something about going ourselves. Getting out of our van, we're accosted by crisp beachy breezes and tie-dyed apparel. Once we enter the market however, it is a chef's paradise and probably the only reliable social circle where you can find so many typically intense kitchen people, most in slip-proof clogs, enchanted and even humbled by the abundant bounties in all directions, rendering us relaxed enough to catch up a bit with each other about where we've been eating, what we've been cooking, who we're hiring, whose for hire, what's opening.... It's conversation you can't stop and have when you're busy during prep and service.

We all know the farmers on a first name basis here and have for many years so that we can feel comfortable asking if next week will be better for their tomatoes, and the crazy thing is that they give you an honest answer and explanation like, "There just hasn't been enough water and they're growing slow." However growing slow, they remind us, means more time to develop flavor so patience is rewarded. Connecting with the farmers in this way just naturally deepens your appreciation and respect for what they harvest.

Photos: Tara Maxey

In this environment, competition has no home as chefs toss about exclusive information with one another like which farms are selling the most juicy and pretty summer berries right now or pointing out Murray Farms who has some really special Muscat Grapes that are not to be missed. Nature is sharing with us all of her grace and we follow the lead. 

I think every chef who fights traffic and leaves their kitchen in the hands of others to make their way to this weekly sojourn will agree that Wednesdays at the market in Santa Monica are transformative.


Santa Monica Farmer's Market

8:30 - 1:30

Arizona Avenue at 2nd Street

Our Day Starts Like This

Sometimes our kitchen is quiet. Sometimes it is very loud. At the beginning of the day, often before the sun has risen, it smells faintly of bleach and feels like a secret womb of safety where creative experiments can be spun out unencumbered by questions, by the prep list, by obstacles of your fellow cooks' bodies who will always politely move out of the way-- we have a polite kitchen-- but it is just so nice when the floor is all your own. It's the magic time of the day when you feel ahead of everyone else, like a superhero saving planet Heirloom, giving a kick start to get things going: the ovens heated, the new inventory signed off, your own tasks underway with whatever morning playlist that inspires you, we all have different tastes in music here. It's a very powerful feeling to be the first in the kitchen.

Cooks trickle in at 6 a.m. or 7, some at 8. They strap on crisp white aprons greeting good morning in Spanish or in English as they peer into the boxes of vibrant produce being delivered before they prep it out which is what most of our cooks spend most of their day doing. It's easy to forget what an important aspect this is to restaurants and catering companies who don't open cans, this critical behind the scenes groundwork of prepping that is never featured on the olympic cooking showdowns of network television. 

We get most of our produce not from a middleman but from the farmers themselves so there is much dirt and trimming to contend with. Our kitchen meets the challenge everyday, and if you should pass through in the midst of it, you will be struck by the color and uniqueness of it all. It never gets old.

In the middle of the morning we host a congested thoroughfare. The office is in by 9 and they enter the kitchen just long enough to pour themselves a cup of hot coffee. Breakfast orders have been fired and sent, and now the same is being done for lunch menus as well as any dinners we are serving. Everyone is buzzing because there is much work to be done and we all want to get it right. This is when things get loud and the kitchen is transformed into a cacophony of carts rolling, doors opening, doors closing, knives chopping fast, fast, fast. Outsiders visiting, as so very many do, are completely intimidated. It's Grand Central Station during rush hour and you just better know what your destination is.

This is the day to day of our kitchen. It rarely lets up and we are all grateful for that. Those who are afraid of the electricity of it all don't last that long here, neither do those who feel they are better than scrubbing the floors because we've all done that, scrubbed the floors. We all help each other out. We've seen each other through personal battles and public ones too. Our kitchen is four years strong and our office is just over a year. Everyone here has a fire in their eye and a commitment to what they do, making and selling really good food. We all approach it differently, but it's there. You can feel it when you walk through the doors.

Photos: Jennifer Emerling

People ask us all the time, "How do you work these crazy hours?" 

I don't know. We just do. It's exciting to be a part of something that is contributing to the greater good in this era where, to quote Michael Pollan, our eating is being outsourced to corporations. People who hire us for full service catering events, who eat off our truck, who order our drop-offs, are people who want real food that is carefully sourced and handled and exquisitely prepared. We are here to do all of the above and to change back the environment of how we eat. Slow food. Quiet meals meant for you to linger over and share and remember. 

We're just working to keep food simple.