Chef Shaya Visits Jefferson Elementary

It must have come as a delightful surprise to 3rd grade teacher Lana Nuccio of Jefferson Elementary School when Chef Alon Shaya greeted her and her husband as they were dining at his new restaurant -- and revealed his interest and experience in providing cooking demos for young students.

Shaya, executive chef and partner at Domenica, the latest venture of renowned chef John Besh, has spent much of the last year-and-a-half preparing for the restaurant’s opening – much of that time training in and around Parma, perfecting his understanding of the culture and cuisine of the Italian countryside. Still, he managed to remain involved in New Orleans Outreach, an innovative program dedicated to enriching the quality of the city’s public schools by linking them with volunteers and other community resources. “It’s a great program,” says Shaya, “not only because it gives them instruction, but because it improves their quality of life. For instance, I go into a kindergarten and do a cooking demo, but I’m stressing the importance of being in the kitchen together as a family. It’s how I learned to cook, and it’s the basis of my bond with my mother and grandmother.”

So the following week, Shaya and Felicia Dewey, one of his cooks at Domenica, drove the ten minutes to Jefferson Parish and unloaded their gear: everything necessary to create Lasagne Bolognese and Gianduja Budino, or hazelnut chocolate pudding – plus enough hot, pre-cooked lasagna for the entire third grade – all 55 students.
“When I was growing up in Philadelphia,” recalls Shaya, “kids wanted to be firemen and policemen. I don’t think it even occurred to anyone to want to cook for a living. But I went in and asked them who wanted to be a chef, and all the hands went up! I think it’s thanks to all the cooking shows, the profession is getting so much more visibility. It’s really heartening.”

Shaya showed them how to make the pasta and the meat sauce from scratch, as well as how to assemble all the layers. Then he slid it under the table, “my ‘magic oven!’” pulling out the prepared dish, piping hot and ready to serve. Topped off with a dessert of chocolate pudding [candied hazelnut topping optional] the students had a mighty fine Italian feast, plus a heaping serving of inspiration and encouragement. Who knows? Maybe our next great generation of chefs will be coming out of Jefferson Elementary School….

DamGoodSweet Sell Out at Disney

Pastry chef David Guas packed up his knives (and mouse ears) and moved into the kitchens at Disney World’s Epcot Theme Park for the 14th Annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival last week. David participated in two demos, both of which were sold out, one by more than 30 people!

Kicking things off on October 9, chef David Guas prepared Chocolate Cupped Cakes with Coffee and Chicory before having his first book signing for DamGoodSweet.  Sundays are the sweetest days at the festival, and on October 11, David was the featured chef for Sweet Sundays where he will whipped up three desserts selected from DamGoodSweet: Banana Pudding with Vanilla Wafer Crumble, and just in time for Halloween treats, Heavenly Hash and Caramel Peanut Popcorn, and hosted a second book signing. By the end of the signing, David had sold all of the books and was signing photos and programs!

The 14th Annual Epcot International Food & Wine Festival began September 25 and continues until November 8, 2009 and features more than 60 visiting wineries, breweries and distilleries and more than 100 visiting chefs and speakers including Todd English, Cat Cora and Andrew Zimmern.

Roosevelt Grand Opening Celebration

October 23-25th, 2009

Domenica is honored to be a part of the legendary celebration, the grand opening of the historic hotel – The Roosevelt New Orleans. Join us for an unforgettable weekend of famous performers including a Friday night celebration with the Neville Brothers, the Saturday evening black-tie Grand Opening Gala with Allen Toussaint and Irma Thomas, and a Sunday morning Champagne Jazz Brunch with renowned clarinetist, Tim Laughlin.

There was never any question that the restaurant anchoring the always elegant, newly renovated Roosevelt Hotel would be anything but sophisticated and true to the Italian heritage found in New Orleans. Besh Restaurant Group is proud to have Domenica as part of the revitalization of a New Orleans landmark. Home to the legendary Blue Room and The Sazerac Bar, The Roosevelt’s splendid interiors boast a history of glamour and the goings-on of high society, the infamous underworld, and everyone in between. Now with Domenica offering simplicity in pure modern sophistication, The Roosevelt is complete with authentic Italian cuisine with a few sly and calculated nods to the Old World.

To make reservations for the Roosevelt Hotel event, please call 504.648.1200

Domenica Restaurant

Roosevelt Hotel

123 Baronne Street

New Orleans, Louisiana 70112

(504) 648-6020

Facebook.com/DomenicaRestaurant

Twitter @chefjohnbesh

Milky Way

Through his Havana-born father, there is a certain amount of sweetened condensed milk flowing in David Guas’ veins.

“When my sister Tracy and I were little, we loved it when our dad would demonstrate his quick-method for making dulce de leche. All it involved was peeling the paper label off a can of sweetened condensed milk – Borden’s or Eagle, it didn’t matter which – and boiling it, completely sealed, for a couple of hours. I happen to like mine really dark,” he points out, “so now I let the can simmer for a good six hours.” Their father still never tires of telling the story of when he and his brother, as children, forgot to keep the boiling pot topped off with water: after a while, the can exploded, blasting dulce de leche all over the kitchen – ceiling, light fixtures, you name it. They got in big trouble, but that didn’t put them off the sweet stuff.

And sure enough, when Guas made a pilgrimage to Miami to learn about Cuban desserts first-hand from his aunts and cousins there, he found sweetened condensed milk in abundance. Their friend and housemate, Teresita, who cooked homemade desserts for a number of local eateries, made her great big sheets of flan with nothing but sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks. “My own technique is a little more complex – a few more ingredients keep if from setting as firmly as hers – but it just goes to show you how they use the stuff in the old country. It’s a real staple.”

“Oddly,” he reminisces, “one of my favorite condensed milk memories growing up is not at all Cuban, but pure New Orleans. Sno-balls were a regular treat of my childhood, and the ‘crème de la crème’ version of this summertime delicacy was to choose your favorite flavor and have it drizzled liberally with sweetened condensed milk. I loved strawberry syrup – also chocolate – on the fluffy shaved ice with milk; if you were going all-out, you’d also have it ‘stuffed’ with soft serve ice cream. Nothing cooler, nothing sweeter.”

These days, sweetened condensed milk is a key component of Guas’ key lime tarts, lemon ice-box pie, and, of course, flan. He likes his dulce de leche [very dark] with ice cream. He drizzles it on top, heating it up for more fluidity, and often swirls it right in when churning his own. His father? “He would dig out a great big spoonful for himself – to eat plain – whenever he transferred it from the boiled can to a jar or Tupperware container to store in the fridge,” says Guas, “Too rich -- and believe it or not -- too sweet for me!”