| Sunday, December 5, 6:00 pm
Members
$75, guests $95
Event Location:
Café Adelaide at The Loews New Orleans Hotel
300 Poydras Street
For reservations or more information, please call 504.896.7600,
ext. 3.
The holiday season is a time when families come together, so it
seems only natural for a family of restaurants to hold its celebration
now, too. This year, Randy Evans and Carlos Guía will come
to New Orleans to join Tory McPhail and Kevin Vizard as the Commander’s
Palace family of restaurants commences its festivities.
Randy Evans, the executive chef at Brennan’s of Houston,
attended Baylor University where he studied chemistry before making
the change to cooking. The shift isn’t as unlikely as it
seems; now Evans works with what he calls “the science of
food,” combining complementary flavors instead of elements.
Evans studied cooking at the Art Institute of Houston before beginning
at Brennan’s in 1997. Now, as executive chef, he “happily
maintains those marvelous Creole classics” that are the Brennan
family signature, according to John Mariani of Wine Spectator.
Long before Venezuelan native Carlos Guía joined the Commander’s
Palace family, his own family instilled in him a love of food.
After graduating from the CIA in 1989, Guía worked in The
Waldorf=Astoria under executive chef John Doherty and became saucier
there. In Europe, Guía apprenticed under chefs across the
continent, which allowed him to refine his skills before returning
to the United States for stints at Le Bernardin and Lutèce
in New York. In 1995 Guía joined the Commander’s Palace
family in New Orleans, and by 2000 he was ready to bring his blend
of Creole cuisine to the southwest as executive chef at Commander’s
Palace Las Vegas.
Tory McPhail won’t have to travel far to join the rest of
the family for the celebration. He grew up in the state of Washington
and attended cooking school in Seattle before moving to New Orleans
to start at Commander’s Palace in 1993. After working under
late executive chef Jamie Shannon for two years, McPhail was named
sous-chef at Palace Café, another of the family’s
restaurants. It wouldn’t be until 2001, after sojourns to
Florida and London (where he worked in the Michelin two-star Picasso
Room and one-star L’Escargot), that McPhail would return
to where he got his start, this time to lead the kitchen. Continuing
in the manner of former Commander’s Palace chefs Paul Prudhomme
and Emeril Lagasse, McPhail “shoots for the stars having
already inherited the earth,” according to Brett Anderson
of TheTimes-Picayune. Writing in his gourmet newsletter,
John Mariani had this to say about dining at Commander’s
Palace: “You won’t forget [the experience] for its
hospitality, its good taste, and its bonhomie.”
The elder statesman of the Commander’s Palace family, New Orleans
native Kevin Vizard, began at Mr. B’s Bistro in 1981. Within
a handful of years, he left to assume co-ownership of Prytania Bar & Grill,
where he was also the chef. Throughout the 1990s, he was the proprietor
and chef at more of his own restaurants in New Orleans, making a
name for himself by fusing Creole cooking with Mediterranean-style
food at Kevin’s and Vizard’s. At the latter, according
to Craig LaBan of Lagniappe, Vizard cooked with a “refined
touch” and the food was “simply delicious.” In
2000, Vizard rejoined the Commander’s Palace family, and he
has recently taken over at the Brennans’ newest venture, Café Adelaide. |
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Smoked Duck Rillettes
with Bourbon-Braised Pears and Pinot Noir Aspic
Crab Boil Vichyssoise> Chilled Crab, Potato,
and Leek Soup with All the Flavors of Louisiana
Pecan-Dusted Texas Hill Country Cabrito Chop
with Galveston County Satsuma Marmalade
Broken Arrow Ranch Antelope and Shiner Bock
Burgers with Bread ‘n’ Butter Jalapeño
Pickles
Pommery Brut Royal NV
Black Bay Shrimp Terrine with Arugula, Pickled
Oysters, and Meyer Lemon-Horseradish Vinaigrette
Monchhof Estate Riesling 2003
Speckled Trout Flan with Crab, Leeks, and Seafood
Emulsion
Robert Pepi Sauvignon Blanc 2003
Roasted Foie Gras, Wild Boar Andouille, and
Chanterelle Mushroom Gumbo
St. Francis Old Vines Zinfandel 2001
Barrett’s
Quail Farm Texas Bobwhite Quail with Local
Beets, Granny Smith Apples, and Micro Celery
Salad, and Aged Balsamic and Coplin Bee Farms
Honeycomb Gastrique
Belle Glos Clark and Telephone Vineyard Pinot
Noir 2002
Three Little Pigs > All-Day Braised Kurobuta
Ribs with Chicory Coffee-Crusted Tenderloin,
Brown Sugar-Rubbed Pork Belly, Ginger-Snapped
Sweet Potatoes, Vidalia Onions, Watercress, and
Flambéed Apple Demi-Glace
Finca Antigua Tempranillo 2002
Chocolate Opera
Cake > Thin Layers of Pecan
Genoise with Chicory Coffee Buttercream, Dark
Chocolate Ganache, Bourbon Chantilly, and Pecan
Praline Cream
Ramos Pinto Collector’s
Porto
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