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“Now Children”…An Education in Wine

Chef Paul — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:36:57 +0000

A long time ago I got out of culinary school, then moved down to Long Beach and got a job at Chez Melange in Redondo Beach. Shortly after I was tagging along with my mother Joan to her wine class. I was pretty much poor as dirt so I bought my way into the classes with food like homemade brownies that I knew would go great with some of the red wines. Teaching the “Premium Wines of California” class every Monday evening was Robert Laurence Balzer. He brought in winemakers to teach us about each region and taste each varietal grown in California. I saw the young Bruno D’Alfonso from Sanford winery & Crazy but intelligent Randall Graham from Bonny Doon speak in depth about winemaking techniques, differences in grape varietals and more. In short time I became one of Roberts “Children”, as he referred to us in class. He became my wine guru taking me far beyond the cursory education in wine I had received thus far. Robert inspired me to learn more and to travel to the wine regions of California to see for myself where the grapes were grown and the wines were made. My then girlfriend, now wife, Dana joined me in signing up for many of Roberts future classes and together we took many a trip to wine country.

Tonight was Roberts final wine class held at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. He will be 96yrs old this June and I believe he has made a huge contribution to the California wine business. I know he has taught a great many of his Children about the world of wine and we are living richer lives because of the knowledge he has shared with us. No one can replace him and his accomplishments but I hope someone will follow in his footsteps and continue teaching about exciting and new wines of California.

Down Time…

Chef Paul — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:25:48 +0000

Habit forming…that is exactly what needs to be put in place, a new habit! Let’s call it a weekly reminder on the Palm Treo & laptop thaat won’t be told to delay 2hrs over and orer, just do it!

With the launch of the website this past Sunday I have a renewed interest in blogging. Time to keep up and let those who take time to visit see something new each week.

The Little Owl in N.Y.C.

Chef Paul — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 06:07:14 +0000

Walking up Bedford Streets there are few neon lights, the sidewalks are narrow and well worn. This is a neighborhood and each street is has a handful of business mostly catering to the locals. You wonâ€™t find many parking lots here, none in fact, just small places with good food where friends like to congregate. The Little Owl is a great find and we were lucky enough to find a table at 7:30 on a Friday evening. Chef

Joey Campanaro has created a simple menu of 6 appetizers, 6 entrees, 3 sides & 6 desserts. Keeping it simple, fresh and delicious is key to the success of this restaurant. You are greeted at the door by a nice young man, there are two servers, one busboy & three cooks in the kitchen. There isnâ€™t much room for more and they do a great job at making their diners feel at home. Starting with a nice glass of Frascati (Italian White wine) and theÂ Soft Shell Crab appetizer was a good choice. On a bed of creamy risotto tinged green,Â there wereÂ heirloom tomatos, asparagus, & dandelion greens,Â with the crab fried crisp & cut in half with legs in the air. Another special appetizer was the crab & shrimp stuffed Calamari with Broccoli Rabe. The restaurant has no problem with guests bringing one bottle of wine with them so a 2002 Jodar Barbera was on the table. It was the perfect pairing to the fabulous entrees that followed the first course. A pork chop 2 Â½ inches thick, juicy and tender on a bed of beans & greens was a burst of flavor in every bite. If you want beef, the N.Y. steak with pancetta & radicchio had an amazing rich red wine sauce that had a hint of blackberry. Now would have been a good time for a nap with all the wine goneâ€¦but a long walk home, a little cigar, dessert and nightcap at David Bouleyâ€™s Danube was the perfect finish to the evening.

The little owl, 90 Bedford Street, New York City, NY

A Happy Farewell to Wonder Bread

Chef Paul — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:36:11 +0000

WONDER BREAD IS DEAD! THANK GOD!!!

Gone are the days of Wonder Bread in

California. A staple in my home from the time I was very young until I was a teen. I toured one of the bakeries off the 5 Fwy. in

Santa Ana when I was in grade school. As a child I made my first signature dish the â€œBuchanan Bologna Broilâ€ in the early 70â€™s. It was one piece of Wonder white bread with Heinz or Huntâ€™s Tomato Catsup smeared all over it, a piece of Farmer John Bologna (we called Baloney), some Kraft Parmesan Cheese sprinkled on top and the whole thing placed under the broiler until the cheese melted and the grease pooled out of the boloney as it curled into a cup shape under the heat. We poured the grease out but we ate it nice and warmâ€¦ and we were happy.

The other day I heard the Wonder Bread plants were closing in

Southern California. Thank God, I thoughtâ€¦The last thing kids need today is more high glycemic value starches. Any highly refined white flour food product is not a part of a healthy diet for todayâ€™s kids and I am happy to see it go the way of the Pet Rock and other useless items.

I am a little biased since I teach 4^th graders the benefits of the Farmers Market and the perils of high fructose corn syrup and sodas that are worse for you than colored sugar water. Sure I did it, I ate it, my mother didnâ€™t know better, we had convenience foods and ate many a frozen dinner, along with Tang and Space Food Sticks.

Only in the last 10 years have we come to realize the importance of reading food labels and realizing actually what we were putting our bodies for sustenance. Â Farmers markets have become all the rage and eating local is important, damn important. Local food shed is a concept of eating foods produced within 200 miles of the place you live. Low impact, whole grain, in season foods of choiceâ€¦those are damn good for you and the environment.

We canâ€™t do it everyday, all the time, but we can all make the effortâ€¦it is our choice. I love to buy my melons, multi-colored carrots, and heirloom potatoes from

Alex Weiser at my local farmers market. Phillip from Haâ€™s apple farm has the best

Fuji apples from Tehachapi along with pear and other such fruits in season. Roland Tamai has some of the best corn, Romano Beans, and Tomatoes. These are real people, real releationships, I can talk to them, I get to know them, and my soul is better for using their produce instead of the mass marketed, cold storage, mediocare products that come from the general market place.

Wonder Bread had left the building, the city, and hopefully the state. They can take Hostess and Twinkies, and Coconut covered Pink puffs of Marshmello fluff with them because now we know our bodies and our kids need more substantial things for good health. Donâ€™t get me wrongâ€¦we can have an occasional ice cream, convenience food, or candy barâ€¦but letâ€™s make it more infrequent than the days of my childhood.

Staying Green

Chef Paul — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 06:40:38 +0000

It’s in the news, a worldwide set of concerts to bring awareness to the masses, Al Gore’s Live Earth Concert…I may have been thinking a little differently. As a boy, at the end of a hard day of playing my mother had me take a shower to clean up for dinner. The water that ran off me in the shower then was brown from all the dirt and sand I picked up along the way. Today, the water runs GREEN! An amazingly vivid green from all the chlorophyl stained pores on my skin. My playground these days is my two Organic Gardens with over 24 different tomatoes, 10 different herbs, 7 varieties of peppers, 6 different squashes, 4 pumpkins, 3 berries, gourds, greens, edible flowers, and even a few varieties of weeds. Spending time in my gardens gives me lots of one on one time with GREEN. It is a noble effort in a good direction to stay connected with the growing of food. Additional attention towards composting, recycling, buying local food products, from local growers, farmers markets, carpooling, and using less electricity is a healthy plan for helping mother earth. An effort in the right direction is all any of us can ask. Each of us does our part and daily we become more aware of how our actions, our purchases, our usage of resources effects the world around us.

When I leave the gardens and hit the showers, I love being GREEN!

Getting Started-Staying Inspired

Chef Paul — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 20:47:42 +0000

Center for the exploration of food! That’s what the Primal Alchemy kitchenÂ in Long Beach is all about. Catering lends itself to a variety of menus and we are constantly exploring new cultures, new ingredients, staying rooted in the tradition but adding some local flavor or freshness. Ideas in Food has long been one of my favorite websites. Aki & Alex do a fantastic job sharing their travels in food and every one of us should aspire to learn, share and teach. Choosing this profession as a chef leaves us with an unlimited number of culinary combinations and proceedures from which to pick from. New cooks, new ingredients, accidental sucesses, and carefully planned proceedures that fail giving us the opportunity to learn once again…Finding your passion…priceless!

Day One – A New Culinary Adventure

admin — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 20:39:13 +0000

The Day is here! Fresh Thoughts…keeping it fresh…buying local…from the garden to the table. Finally a place to keep friends, family, clients, and compatriots in the loop. Thank you so much for visiting. My wish is for you to find tasty tidbits of information, be randomly inspired to cook something new, share some of your discoveries, stay updated to new menus, new culinary experiences, and read the occasional rant. BE PASSIONATE ABOUT INGREDIENTS, TASTE YOUR FOOD, KNOW WHERE IT COMES FROM, AND SHARE WITH OTHERS…CHEERS!
Chef Paul