How a Master Chef Runs a Two-Michelin-Star Alsatian Restaurant in New York — Mise En Place

In the morning, when I come in, most of the time I'm here with Agustín, breaking down something, probably twice a week we're breaking down ducks. When we have very, very important jobs like this as a team, we come together and join them. In many

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s no one pays attention to the slaughter anymore. And I think it's one of the skills that the

chef

needs to know. These are Long Island duck breast. It is one of the staple dishes on the menu that now stands alone. It came down to really being... people love it basically. So we don't remove it. (upbeat music) Then we smoke it for an hour with hay smoke, let them age in the cage for at least two weeks.

Aging actually softens the meat and makes it silky. And that's Chef Joe: Hello. -He

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ted with me as a line cook about eight years ago, right? - About that time. - Eight years ago. - You can feel and see the moisture content of a younger one, and it

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ts to get drier and drier as it goes up. This is one of the fresher ones and you can see that it still has moisture content compared to a drier one, where this skin almost starts to recede a little bit. (upbeat music) So some of the thicker portions of fat actually had that water content that inhibits crispiness.

That's what Thomas is doing here: removing that extra kind of wet fat that's in there. - In the

restaurant

, people who really want to learn how to cook also want to learn the steps of what it takes, shredding a duck, shredding a whole fish, shredding a lobster, how to really be. creative, and that's the fun of cooking. (upbeat music) - Come in, the trout are here guys, trout. - When did you take them out, those guys? - These guys were still swimming at 9:30 this morning. - Actually? Let's look at this. - I'm Ty from Green-Walk Trout Hatchery.

We really love their fish and it has become another staple on our menu that we can't just take away. - And it really speaks to who we are because, in the region where I come from, trout is like one of the main fish. And that product is really amazing. Cool, I mean, you know. - I raise each fish from an egg and I have been doing this all my life. So seeing the finished product and seeing the passion the

chef

s have makes it all worth it. - You see here how it's literally straight as a board and the reason it's like that is because they were killed this morning.

Then the meat hasn't had time to relax enough, so it doesn't become tender. If you buy trout at the store, you hold it by the head and it falls. Look, look at this one. So I laid them flat somewhere. Here we go. Agustín and I will break them down and prepare them and once we fillet them well on trays, we will let them rest in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours and then it will be ready to go to the kitchen upstairs. They remove the skin after a minute and then cook them on a cedar board.

Really, really just improve the product. (upbeat music) - We are currently working on a new dish here. The inspiration came from an old classic Alsatian recipe called Fleischnecke. Fleischnecke actually translates to snail meat. So let's try it by serving it raw. And we are going to measure this, put the prawn starter inside and wrap it. And we have tested these components individually. And we think they're going to come together, or we're going to find out if they're going to come together, I guess today after the final testing here. For me personally, this is the appeal of being a chef and putting in 12 to 15 hours a day, whatever that may be.

I think when you see a dish start to be created from scratch it's a beautiful moment if it works. It's important that you get what you feel, so that the Fleischnecke is completely smooth and you can get that nice shape as it curves, then you have your roll. So now what we're going to do is basically roll it up in plastic wrap and let it solidify in the refrigerator. And then we'll take it to the band saw, get uniform slices, and that will be one of the first components of the new plate. (upbeat music) - Is Mike here?

Tell him to come back. Why are you so scared there? - What's up Mike, how are you? Are these the crabs? - Yes, this is the crab. -One of the great things why Mike supports us in these tasting menus is that he knows that we can change many things. Right now we are getting the live king crab. Let's cook that today. And then you know, we can give it to a guest. A lot of tasting

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s have a set menu, we wanted to be able to be a little freer in our structure, meaning if we could get special items and we could only get a limited amount, we could still put that on the menu.

First you will remove the legs. The crab just comes out. (upbeat music) Basically, you just brought this to a gentle poach just to warm the crab back up. First, some hedgehog mushrooms and then cook with shallots and a little garlic. This is the egg cream, which is just yolks, whole egg and a little mushroom broth. Next we are going to make a bunch of crab, the crab cooking liquid and pour the broth table side. (soft music) - The pigeon dish is a dish that, over time, became a signature. Tonight we have normal people who come and have asked for the plate again.

They had it before and our menu is very flexible. And it's always fun to do it. Very simple application. It's foie gras with squab, but then it makes it almost like a spring roll, bringing the excitement of crunch. As a chef, you don't really choose your own signature, but rather people like it. So we have the breasts, we have the legs. Now we have the foie gras. I feel good about foie gras. I grew up with foie gras. My grandfather was a farmer, a goose farmer, and a foie duck breeder. You're going to see the pigeon breasts.

Agustín is probably the one who knows the most about this pigeon dish, 15 years, right Agustín? - I stopped counting at 15, it has to be more than that. - Are there already more than 15? He now became the specialist in manufacturing them. - So we see the foie gras, we give it a nice color and we add a little fat, but also that color in the foie is going to help us get the nutty flavor, that flavor. - We also cook those fillets on one side and they are small snacks while we make them. There are also some small advantages when you cook. - So what we need now is a little bit of cabbage. - So we're good on that. - What we're going to do next is mix them together, - Basically like a sandwich. - Then we are going to put the foie gras in the center.

And now we take that and go. - So the important thing is that when it is this soft, we wrap it now, and then we are going to put it in the refrigerator until it is colder, to wrap it in the brick fueille. That, and it holds up very well. And here we go. So now we're going to press it, making sure to control the pressure. What we want is for it to stay together now. - The most important thing is the flavors. But then when we get the flavor down, we also want to make sure we get to the presentation that shows the effort of the work that goes into it, we went through all those years of work and we go to culinary school and I think that's important. that in the end the result is there.

You know, when people say, why do you bother presenting it so well on the plate? Well, this really does justice to the chef who actually dedicates his time and money to learning the trade from him. If you go to the dentist and have your tooth fixed, you want it done right. This is how we finish the dishes well. Just natural for me. (classical music) - So let's try the prawn dish we were trying before and see how it turns out. Yes, this is all visualized in my head right now, but once we put it into practice, we'll have a better idea of ​​what we're looking for.

Then we have the prawns. We have the hamachi cured in citrus salt. And also shiso, prawns and uni is a very nice combination. So we're just trying to incorporate flavors here. This is finger file, and you can just squeeze it out of the pods and out come the pearls. Citrus caviar is what they call it, sea lettuce, and the last thing they do to bind it together is actually a sauce made of uni and yuzu. What we will do is put on the bell and this will be given to the guest. I think it looks good to start with. - Needs a little more finesse and refinement.

The most important thing for a chef is to get to the point where he can create dishes, but it takes a lot of work to get to that point. And people usually want to go too fast. They don't understand the complexity that goes into making this successful dish, but this is the beauty, this is the reason we do it. How do we want guests to eat that? - Basically, at the end of the day, the sauce will be the carrier for all the ingredients. - Driver. Very nice. Somehow I would love to have something crunchy here. - Well. - I don't know if they are the fried prawn legs. - Yes, sure. - And break down and put a pair on it or something maybe. - Yes Yes. -Something citrusy here. - Yes. - In my opinion, something crunchy here. - Yes. - But we have beautiful flavors, good umami.

It lasts very well. A beautiful wine with this and I think you are in heaven here. As long as we follow all the parameters that define us. The door is open and the fun can begin. - Thanks cherf. - Very nice, it looks good. (classical music) - It's approaching 4:45 when all the chefs are expected to have their tastings. We do this extensive testing of each service to make sure the quality is where we want it and we make last minute adjustments to where we need to be. Make sure to put a little more lemon on the fish.

Oh, very nice otherwise. (classical music) Foie gras is always good, right? - Cook in an environment like this. Really the most important thing is to work as a team. Asking questions can be a treasure for you. Because you have a lot of knowledge around you. Use it to your advantage. No one is going to knock on your door and say, hey, I'm going to show you something. In fact, you have to knock on the door and say, show me something today. When you long to learn, you learn and that's really what it is. Get the knowledge and then have fun.

There is a lot of fun in what we do. Good service guys. - Three, two, one. Genuine passion and relentless pursuit of excellence drive us to create an authentic and memorable experience. - Pick up, three caviar, pick up two foie, hamachi - Yes chef! (piano music) - Right. - Yes, we are going to add a little fleur de sel and mignonette. In fact, we had a recurring guest. So we wanted to give them something different. So let's ask your opinion on the prawn dish we created. So here we use a regular guest as a guinea pig, especially regular customers, who we trust and want to hear what they say.

Good? And just an additional component here is Kaluga caviar, nori corn bread and chive cream. (Noisy utensils) - Perfect. Look, it's locked up tight now. And the great thing about that dish is that you have it completely figured out. And then you have that leg that you're supposed to hold in your hand and eat with your hand. For me it is very important to be close to people, to be accessible. And be with them in the trenches and show them and lead them, show them how it's done and give them something so they can take it and improve it for the next generation. (soft music) - Good. - Come on, two ducks and one without a goat. - That people don't receive the special dishes, the pigeon and everything, and everyone is happy? - Very happy. - Good.

It's around 9:15 right now and all the tables are ready. The service was smooth so far. And we have those tables to take care of right now. Tomorrow is another day. (light laughter) (music plays)