Though it’s only day one, I’ve learned a few things already down here in New Orleans at Tales of the Cocktail. Such as– apparently there’s an East Coast and a West Coast style of cocktail making. I can sample a dozen cocktails in a night and still be fresh the next morning. And there just isn’t enough time to taste and sip from every stop I’d want to in a weekend.

Last night, our very own Gina Chersevani did a terrific job pairing cocktails with the tasting menu at John Besh’s Restaurant August. Metrocurean and I especially liked this cocktail:

Lavender and Cucumber Sour

1.5 oz. Hendrick’s Gin-1/4 oz. Domaine de Canton Ginger Liquor - 3/4 oz. Sonoma Lavender Syrup - 1/2 oz. lemon juice - 1/2 egg white - 2 slices cucumber - 2 dashes lavender bitters.

Muddle cucumber with lavender syrup. Add Hendrick’s and other ingredients, and shake well.  Serve over fresh ice in a rocks glass, and garnish with a cucumber slice and sprig of fresh lavender.

1) In Paris, Burgers Turn Chic. New York Times. Over the course of nine months, burgermania has hit Paris.

2) A Warning from the Sea. LA Times. Pacific oysters are plagued by bacteria:”Science has identified the culprit, a strain of bacteria called Vibrio tubiashii, which is harmless to humans but fatal to baby oysters. It attacks them in their vulnerable, free-swimming larval stage before they settle to the seafloor, latch onto rocks or other oysters and grow thick shells.”

3) Proof: Drinks are Getting Larger. San Francisco Chronicle. “”William C. Kerr, a senior scientist at the Alcohol Research Group of the Public Health Institute in Oakland, who authored a study that will appear in a scientific journal in September. He found that the average pour was 6.2 ounces and very few were as small as 4 ounces.”

4) Choose Your Shrimp Wisely. Atlanta Journal Constitution. Whether it’s wild or farm-raised in Asia or the US, the AJC offers a guide and a pair of articles.

5) French (Re) Connection. Chicago Tribune. “French is back, and that’s a good thing—not just for diners but also for home cooks interested in tackling the cuisine.”

It’s not everyday you get to interview a three star Michelin chef such as Antoine Westermann.  I was nervous to meet him since he’s so accomplished and since my French is limited to “What time is the train leaving?” Yet the afternoon was lovely and he put my butterflies at ease.

The former chef at Le Buerehiesel in Strasbourg and currently at Drouant and Mon Vieil Ami in Paris, and Fortaleza do Guincho in Portugal, Westermann was in Washington last week to visit with chefs Nicolas Legret of The Willard Room and Christophe Marque of Cafe du Parc.

How did you decide to give up your Michelin Stars and turn your signature restaurant, Le Buerehiesel over to your son?

My son and I worked in the kitchen together for seven years. He’s 34 years old. Every day he said, ’Yes, Papa.’ Ten times. Fifteen times. It’s not possible for a father to have a son say yes all the time. So two years ago, I put my stars in his pocket, and I stopped cooking there. I trust my son, so it was easier for me to say ‘Ciao.’

Today, I smile. But it took two and a half years to make this decision. It’s difficult to give up what you fight for. Now I am free like a bird and happy that my son has earned one star on his own.

How has dining changed in general and in the US in particular in the last twenty years?

I focus on three things in cuisine: taste, quality of the product, and  sophistication. . . The third, . . . this is now put aside among top chefs. . .

Now I know that Americans like eating in the manner that French people do. When I started 30, 35 years ago, American cuisine was an exception. Now, Americans not only like good eating but they like knowing about it. In the US, you have a lot of good restaurants. In a few years, you will have a lot of good products, too. Things are moving in this direction, as they have been France, where there there are many specialty shops. 

What are your most exciting challenges right now?

In the past, I worked 18 hours a day, every day in the kitchen with many cooks. Now I teach more. I tell my chefs they have to think about cooking, cooking. cooking. Twenty four hours a day. When they get up in the morning, when they’re bicycling, when they’re on a plane, they have to be in love with cooking. They have to love other people and love giving other people pleasure. When you are a cook, you have to think, ‘What can I do to make something the best?’ every day.

I say to my cooks now,  ‘It’s your time.’  This is a real pleasure. Today, I am astonished at what they can do. 

How did you connect with The Willard Room and Cafe du Parc?

The manager of the Willard asked me to come. Doing something for me here is a pleasure. There are bistros in Washington,  but making one that is different is a nice challenge. At these restaurants, the chefs find the best products– the best chickens, veggies, pork, etc. It’s not as easy here as it is in France to find it.  And, they create a signature style: not too much butter or fat. . . . . Use vegetables, think for health, flavor with herbs.

Anything else you would like to convey to readers?

A chef in France, Alain Chapel, wrote a book that translates to “Cooking is more than Recipes”. I like this headline. This is what I think. And what are the ways to make it better tomorrow.

(Photo: Nicolas Legret, Antoine Westermann, and Christophe Marque)

Calling all Top Chefheads. Bring your cameras and your appetite to see the show’s winner Stephanie Izard join cast members Antonia Lofaso, Andrew D’Ambrosi, Nikki Cascone and Lisa Fernandez as they come to DC to support Chef Spike at Good Stuff Eatery at 8:30pm Monday night.

“You really bond with people while you’re filming the show,” said Spike Mendelsohn. “I’ve made some great friendships which I know will continue and it’s just fantastic that everyone is taking time out of their restaurants to show up and support my opening.”

Good Stuff Eatery. 303 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. 202-543-8222

Lately I haven’t been in cooking mode and I’m trying to cut back on going out for sit-down meals, which means more raw stuff or takeout. Aside from apples and honey or kitchen sink sandwiches–  white bread, mayo and slices of fresh tomato– it means more takeout. 

Top three things in rotation?  An eel and avocado handroll from Banana Leaves; a pair of carnitas tacos from Taqueria Distrito Federal ; or turkey and provolone at Dupont Market.  Not very creative or ambitious, I realize.  Any suggestions for smallish, delicious takeout options for days when you’re hungry and on the go? 

1) Restless Pioneers, Seeding Brooklyn. New York Times. When restaurant gentrifiers aren’t welcome, they’re “chased down the street with pitchforks.” Also, Save Room for the Sweet Mobile.  I have to tell you, I don’t miss the Brooklyn ice cream truck, lapping the neighborhood with its demonic tune.

2) New Guys Are On the Rise. Washington Post. Tim Carman writes on burgermania. “Is there enough appetite to support all these burger joints, no matter how upscale their products?”

3) Piri Piri Starfish: Portugal Found. LA Times. “From Africa came what the colonists called “piri piri,” a searingly hot pepper that lends its name to an elegant new cookbook on Portuguese cuisine.”

4) Kitchen Essentials: 10 Techniques Every Cook Should Know. San Francisco Chronicle. Bread, brown, fold, dice, roll, roux, temper, make a vinaigrette, segment citrus, and make a pan sauce. There you go.

5) Simple French Flair in Under an Hour. Boston Globe. For your last minute Bastille Day fete.

(drawing from SFGate.com)

Bryan Voltaggio and his team are putting the finishing touches on Volt, his 9,720 square foot restaurant housed in the 1890’s Houck Mansion for a July 18th opening. The space showcases a top-of-the line, custom kitchen juxtaposed with the building’s original mosaic tiles, moldings, and old growth beams reconstructed to make up the host stand in the restaurant’s dramatic entrance way.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your menu?

A: I’ve built on relationships with area farmers to cultivate a farm-to-table menu. I grew up in Frederick County picking berries and strawberries here in Frederick County as a child. And I’m glad to come back to use organic, sustainable ingredients from the farms near where I had grown up.

Q: What does New American cooking mean to you?

A: It’s using great products with minimal changes. It’s being responsible to the environment. It’s using classical techniques, paired with modern plating. It’s using something like the antigriddle, but not making a dish because of the equipment. It’s letting what’s in-season drive the menu.

Q: What’s advice most resonates as you’ve focused on opening your own restaurant?

A: I went to Culinary Institute of America, where we had to design a restaurant as part of the program. I worked at Aureole in New York. I opened Charlie Palmer Steak and was the GM and chef; that was the closest thing I’d had to ownership. A chef I had worked for once said  to me, you’ll work under all these different chefs and cull all these experiences the combination of which would equal me, my cooking identity. This restaurant is the culmination.

Q: What’s one of your top priorities, days away from your opening?

A: We’ve hired 25 people to work in the kitchen and 25 servers. We’re still putting it together, but you’re only as good as your staff. You have to invest in them. I want them to feel challenged every day, but I want them to feel comfortable where they are. That’s what I’m doing now.

Volt. 228 North Market Street. Frederick, Maryland. 301-696-VOLT

1) Sweet Heat. New York Times. In Brooklyn, summer is the season for jerk.

2) The Picnic Spread. Washington Post. Three caterers emphasize fresh and fast for a lovely picnic.

3) Spicing Up Sausages this Fourth of July. San Francisco Chronicle. Two dozen types of sausages for grilling.

4) Cool Drinks. LA Times. “Aguas frescas have a long tradition in Mexico and Latin America, where the “fresh waters” — made with fresh fruit or rice, tamarind pods or dried hibiscus flowers, sugar and water — are the perfect thirst-quencher for hot weather and sometimes-hotter cuisine.”

5) Dried Cherries Now Expand the Market to Year Round. Chicago Tribune. How an industry was rescued.

The charming chef has had several months to get into a groove at renowned 2941. What are some of his observations of his new home?

How did you decide on leaving Cafe Boulud for 2941?

“I knew when I turned 30, I was going to go on my own. But what I did not know is that Cafe Boulud would be reviewed that summer.  That made things tricky.  Half my career was with Daniel. I didn’t want to break that bridge. But if I didn’t leave, . . .  40 is just too late. So right after that review, I said, ‘I’m leaving the restaurant in good hands. I’m giving it back to you the way you gave it to me.’  I reminded [Boulud] he went out on his own when he was 30. I said I want to find out what I can do.”

How does your experience here differ from yours in New York?

“I have more time to think here than I did in New York. New York is very intense. So really, the challenge is for me to be known. In New York, there’s a restaurant on every corner. And working for Daniel– well, once you’re there you earn your name there.  My biggest challenge now is to surprise people and keep them remembering their experience.”

What’s one of your many aspirations for the restaurant?

“What I want to teach my cooks is a love of cooking. . . . .You have to look at a tomato and be excited and say wow, because it’s just great. My challenge is to teach them to have feeling.  And I think that our cooking is getting more refined and that makes me happy.”

How does restaurant culture differ between New York and Washington?

“It’s a family of chefs. I was very welcomed here in DC. You feel that everyone is close to each other even though everyone is competing. In New York, it is very difficult to go into someone’s restaurant and meet the chefs. If you don’t know them, it’s tough.”

“Here, it’s different. I went to see Eric Ziebold [of CityZen] two weeks ago and he came out and we talked. He said to ask if I needed help with anything. . . .  It’s unusual to have someone offer to help. That doesn’t happen as much in New York.”

Between interviewing for DC Chefs, guest blogging for The Food Section for two weeks, visiting family in Pawleys Island and at Atlantic Beach, celebrating a friend’s birthday (it’s today!), and hitting up the Rammys, it has been a busy couple of days.  Meatier posts as the week progresses.