Michel Nischan

I enjoyed the most silken, softly scrambled eggs topped with caviar (I know there is a French description of this method) at the Mayflower Inn in Washington, Connecticut when John Farnsworth was the chef there. Best damned eggs I ever had! Otherwise, I love a perfectly cooked, hot hard-boiled egg - especially on a rainy day. On humor, I used to offer it in my previous restaurant Miche Mache (see a caped chef's post) through menu pricing - $6.36, $17.26, $12.02 - and terms like "Roller Skate" to title a skate dish where the skate was rolled around Provencal style vegetables. I currently receive considerable direction as to how and how not to word my menus. If I win the lottery and open my own empire, I will re-inject my menus with humor. As for the pricing at Miche Mache, many guests "got it" as poking fun at the $12.99 thing, which is really cheating to charge $13, but some did not. The comptroller of Mac Warehouse worked himself into a frenzy trying to figure out if the pricing helped us achieve an exact food cost, tax advantage, etc. He actually presented me with his pencil figuring and was quite flabbergasted when he couldn't make sense out of it. He wasn't relieved when I told him the pricing was just a joke. On why someone dines at Heartbeat, I just want them to like what they eat. If someone doesn't choose where they eat based on some of the beliefs I espouse, that is up to them. I am here, first, to please my customer. This is the hospitality business. Because I have a deep sense of the effect of my choices on those I feed, I buy the way I buy and cook the way I cook. I do this for selfish karmic reasons as well as good will. I will engage anyone regarding their views on all that we've discussed through these eGullet postings. I do all I can to support farmers and artisans who sacrifice much to do what many of us know in our hearts to be the right things. If I can help enlighten someone, I will do so proudly, but I refuse to push my views on others. I personally have ignored important truths because I was turned off by the presentation. I would never want to turn anyone off and have them find a truth too late.

I know Dan and Michael and all of our discussions together have encouraged me. They are great chefs running a great restaurant and doing so many good things for good reasons.

Jinmyo, I do use soy products. We use traditional shoyu, as well as a variety of other tamari. We use several varieties of miso and also use edemame as a welcome to our guests and in some sautes and soups. I don't know what natto is, but would love more information on it. We once served tofu, but the offering caused many people to feel this proved we were a "health food" restaurant, thus jeopardizing our concept. When we do noodle dishes, most have tofu in them. We use these products in sauces, marinades, cures and as seasonings in general.

Another series of great questions that will require some time to answer...must go get ready to cook for dinner, so I will answer these in a day or so.

Thanks for the good words and thanks for commenting on the "winter" asparagus. We are on management contract to the W New York and are a hotel restaurant. There were times when we and the hotel were getting to know each other. We must also respond to our guests' legitimate requests. At the time we were serving winter asparagus (we no longer do), the hotel was concerned about guests paying $300+ for a room and not seeing anything on the menu they were comfortable ordering. We put on the steak and served it with asparagus to appease this concern. We have since addressed this through our room service menu by offering more mainstream, comfort-style foods, and have secured a commitment from the hotel to allow us to pursue our beliefs in Heartbeat. While we cannot go as far as we would if we were free-standing, we won't be serving asparagus in February.

Actually, many people have been advised by their doctor to get more cheese into their diet. While we refrain from using butter and cream, we do use cheese and offer cheese selected from Murray's on request. We will be making this clearer in upcoming menus.

We have done wine and food pairings at Heartbeat, though I must confess we haven't followed up as we should. We need to get better at letting our guests know what we're up to. I will be saving this comment and acting upon it. Thank you.

The food in this country is NOT underpriced - it's so much more complicated than that. If we added the costs of corporate farm subsidies, healthcare costs traceable to conventional farming practices, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, hazardous agricultural waste cleanup, etc. to the food consumers are buying, the food would no longer be underpriced. Our government and corporate communities have simply spread the costs out over a variety of categories, making it conveniently impossible for consumers to know the real price of the foods they eat. I feel the organic/sustainable movement (of which I am part) should do more than just pontificate in intellectual terms to ourselves. I was preparing for an organic conference I was unable to attend and wrote the following notes: One of the greatest services the organic movement could offer the public would be a compilation of the facts formatted in a way that shows the social costs of our current food system. When the average housewife, bread-winner or working parent team can look at a simple presentation showing the social costs (healthcare, government subsidies, hazardous waste clean-up, etc.) of our current food system in terms of dollars and cents, they can make informed decisions. Dividing these costs out and adding them to the price of a gallon of conventional milk or pound of factory-raised meat would go a long way in persuading the public to lean toward supporting family farmers and organics. In short, we need to stop preaching to the choir and try to reach the general public using language they understand.

Cabrales, these are outstanding questions, and I have a lot to say on both - but it will take me some time to draft a reply. Give me a day to get back to you.

Moderation is king. We have seen them all - Atkinians, Pritikonians, Zoners, etc. We honor their requests immediately, but do not design dishes to fit into any of these diet categories. Many of these diets may result in quick weight loss, but could easily spell trouble over the long term. I think we get a more vocal variety of diet-following customers because of who we are. We gladly accommodate them, as well as gladly comment on their diet if they are unwitting enough to ask.

Each restaurant is truly its own being. The concept, execution, service style and menus are all individual. Check averages and mix of sales vary dramatically as well, making it irrelevant to benchmark one against the other. The various Nobus compare financial results and strategies; the rest are evaluated by their overall profitability and community impact. Because our restaurants are decidedly chef-driven, recipes are not shared. Best practices in the front of the house are shared, and are actually the signature of a Myriad restaurant. We also have many team members who have worked their way through many of our restaurants, which provides them with a very broad base of experiences. We have such an amazing variety of concepts, each with their own individual point of view. Many of our team members are blessed with the opportunity to acquire a lifetime's worth of experience while working for one organization.

What went wrong is that the initial reaction and subsequent overreaction to unhealthful eating was generated by health food restaurants and clinical nutritionists rather than chefs. Most health food restaurants are passionate only about what they don't want to put into their bodies rather than being passionate about the flavor of what they do put in. To many in this camp, eating is nothing more than an exercise in subsistence. The flavor of food is far less important than what the food may or may not do to them. Most clinical nutritionists might barely be able to boil water, but are great at making charts and graphs. To them, food is data rather than our most intimate relationship to the glory of nature. Because these "health police" took it upon themselves to be the "authorities" on the subject, and moved immediately to open restaurants and grocery stores full of bland, lifeless, passionless, statistics-laden food substitutes, they created an extremely negative perception of healthful eating. This has caused many of my colleagues to run as far from healthful cooking as possible - and while some do cook more healthfully than others, they are afraid for their lives to admit it. Our society has also enjoyed "excess born of success" that has caused us to bathe and breathe in artisanal products that were originally intended as enhancers and perfecters, rather than main subjects, like butter. Vegetables became "wimp food" and we foolishly began ordering meat with startch, fat, fat, starch and more fat. You can eat very healthfully and eat butter, cream, goose fat and so on, but not when these ingredients are prevalent in every meal you eat. Balance is the key. All chefs and restaurateurs are responsible for what they serve, though many will disagree. There is no question that what we choose to cook has a direct impact on the eater. Unfortunately, the lure of stars and culinary awards has many chefs believing the more decadent the better. On the flip side, all chefs and restaurateurs have an absolute right to serve what they want - how they want. This is what makes our business so exciting and personal. I do believe that the pendulum needs to swing back more toward the center, and that the "health police" need to be incarcerated.

Yes, it's true! I have always loved pure, loose-leaf teas. They are produced as seriously and lovingly as any wine. There are highland, lowland and coastal plants of the same genetic makeup that each respond differently to their terroir - not to mention the many different varietal plants and production methods including aging and smoking. I do not believe in the frou-frou oiling, flavoring, perfuming and blending of "designer" teas; rather I love well-crafted leaves brewed individually with great care. I hired James Labe, who shared this belief. His only job was explaining and brewing tea and I didn't know how better to explain him than referring to him as a sommelier for tea. I apologize that it caught on and became bastardized by others who started pairing their "personal blend of passion-fruit lotus tea" with this or that dessert. Our intention was to offer very fine teas, each brewed individually according to their own character. While many American diners have kind of smirked at us, international travelers and press have applauded us for taking this centuries-old art more seriously than crushing low-grade teas into a paper bag and pouring hot water on it.

Cabrales, we visit many of our farmers. Unfortunately, the resonsibilities of running a restaurant do not allow us to visit all of them. Stone Church Farm and Four Story Hills Farm are my two favorites in terms of the care and artisan spirit that goes into raising the birds. Chickens are not the only animals to be concerned for. Beef, pig and lamb farming cause tremendous impact on the environment as well as the lives of the animals and the humans who consume them. A baby chicken varies only in cooking time, though the flavor is somewhat milder than a larger chicken. Some farmers address this by adding milk to the feed of the chicken. Chefs like to use baby chickens because we can serve a whole chicken per person, thus giving the guest an opportunity to experience all cuts of the chicken. My favorite method is to remove the bones except for the shin and upper wing joint, and pan roast the bird. This 'butterfly' method allows the chicken to cook quickly to order resulting in a hot, freshly-crisped chicken.

THANK YOU FOR ASKING THIS QUESTION!! We are NOT a health-food, vegan, or no-fat restaurant. (I'm not yelling, but am excited by the opportunity to answer this. ) We focus on providing a healthful upscale dining experience to people who don't want to have to worry about what ingredients might be hidden in restaurant menu offerings (read "Poached Turbot" unadmittedly poached in goose fat with no mention of it on the menu .) Here is what makes us more healthful than most of our peer restaurants: we do not use butter or heavy cream in any of our savory dishes. We are not no-fat as we use amazing (and amazingly expensive) olive oils, nut oil, etc. We do not use processed starches and sugars because of their highly negative impact on individuals with conditions like heart disease and diabetes. (My son is diabetic, which is why I started cooking this way.) This is what prompted me to experiment with self-thickening juices, using potato water instead of arrowroot/cornstarch slurries, etc. We do not substitute ingredients for butter or cream because they are irreplaceable (there will never be a "creamless cream sauce" nor a "butterless Hollandaise"). Trying to replace such culinarily significant products would be sacrilegious. We pretend they never existed and focus on getting the best natural products possible and treating them in a way that shows them proper reverence. We use amazing artisan farmers and producers like Keith Martin of Elysian Fields' lamb (he also serves Charlie Trotter and Thomas Keller), Eric of Early Morning Seafood, the Khmer Growers of Western Mass., Eckerton Hills Farm, etc. Truly great lamb does not need butter to taste exceptional, rather to be respected in the cooking process and paired with ingredients it responds well to, like high-grade sumac, garlic, rosemary, pomegranate, fresh mint, chilies, etc. (not all together!). We are definitely not vegan, although because we are perceived as a restaurant of well-being, we attract some. Therefore, we always have at least two vegan items on the menu. We do not serve tempeh, soy cheese, several varieties of tofu, etc. In short, butter and cream are the most irresponsibly used food items in many restaurants because they allow their abusers to use ingredients with reckless abandon. The result is that feeling many diners get when they try to go to sleep and can't lie on their left side, so they try their right side. That doesn't work so they try their back - they don't dare lie on their stomach. They think they ate and drank too much when, in fact, they just weren't designed to ingest countless ingredients. I cook with butter for my personal cooking but use it much differently. I start with an exceptionally well-made base stock with high-grade ingredients, like slightly overripe heirloom tomatoes, 12 year old balsamic, and a fresh bay leaf. To this I add a thumbnail or two of butter. Because the ingredients are well-matched and stand on their own as great products, a little butter goes a long way. Many chefs reduce multi-ingredient stocks with wine and vinegar, then mount a pound of butter into 1/4 cup of reduction. This is ludicrously unnecessary. Though I cook with butter (and cream) and believe you can cook healthfully with these ingredients, we would not have been taken seriously had we used them. We needed to make a statement. I think I've finally figured out that I wasnt personally clear enough in my initial interviews to avoid the confusion that now exists. I also feel we, as a restaurant group, did not go far enough with written collateral, like take-aways, to explain what we are about. I know this was long-winded, but I hope it helps clarify our concept.

Actually, I use vegetable juices that are high in starch like sweet potato, regular potato, kabocha/hard squashes, corn, etc. Some the juices are very powerful with starch, like sweet potato. If you heat pure sweet potato juice in a saucepan, it thickens instantly and actually becomes too thick. Also, the flavor of potato starch takes a while to cook out. I allow the sweet potato juice to sit 2 to 4 hours, allowing most of the starch to settle on the bottom of the storage container. I then pour the juice off, leaving the starch behind (the starch is great for gnocchi). Now the juice can be simmered and reduced. The sauce thickens through a combination of reduction, and the remaining starch catching up to the reduced amount of juice. Corn starch is gentle, so corn juice can be heated immediately after juicing. Hard squash starch is medium in strength and has an agar-agar like quality that is reminiscent of the stickiness of okra. I counter this by starting with a stock or tamari reduction with a little maple syrup or cane sugar. I add the juice and allow it to cook gently for 20 to 40 minutes without coming to a full simmer. Once the sauce/soup thickens, I allow it to just come to a simmer, then remove it from the fire. Other juices have little or no starch and make great syrupy reductions, like root vegetables. I especially love rutabaga. The tannins and natural pectin allow you to emulsify incredible amounts of oil into the syrup, making for great warm dressings or sauces. I also combine these syrupswith reduced vegetable and animal stocks to add depth and complexity.

I did not cook for His Holiness, myself. I asked Hideji Asanuma, one of my line chefs (who is a practing Japanese Buddhist) to cook for him. While the event attendees dined on a five course extravaganza, His Holiness wished for a simple soup. Hideji was one of the opening chefs for Honmura An, the renowned Japanese noodle house, and made the best dashi-based miso soup I have ever tasted. Hideji was so excited that he had his mother ship ingredients from Japan for the soup. It was important to me that the soup be as perfectly simple as possible, as well as being prepared with great love. Hideji was the man for the job. All the participating chefs spent time with His Holiness. While the time was short, it was very easy to see what makes him so very special. His sense of humor, wit, positive presence and genuineness were powerful testaments to his deep sense of humanity. He spoke with us all as though he had been hanging out with us for years. He blessed us all by draping a prayer scarf over each of our shoulders and thanked us for helping the people of Tibet. The experience is one of the most treasured in my life and continues to grow through my memory. [i'll have the full menu for the event scanned and posted here later today.]

The question that prompted my suggestion toward tofu was not printed which places my statement in a cloudy context. The writer was asking about animal fats and ways women can get protein when cutting back on meat. Tofu is not fat-free. In fact, it contains a decent amount of fat. Tofu is an important source of protein for vegetarians and many studies indicate that soy proteins and estrogens are beneficial to women. I read the article and flinched just a touch because I felt it might give the impression that I'm a tofu fanatic, which I'm not. In fact, tofu is not on our menu regularly. I do enjoy prepared tofu, especially that served in some Chinese restaurants in the form of freshly steamed soy curd served with ginger syrup. We used to have a dish that featured silken tofu, which I glazed with a reduced tamari and cane juice simple syrup. I sliced a 1/2" slice of tofu with a cheese wire, laid it on a broiler tray and spooned the syrup on top. I refrigerated it for an hour, spooned more syrup on top, then broiled it until the glaze caramelized and the tofu jiggled like warm creme caramel. Interestingly, the flavor and texture is comfortingly similar to warm creme caramel. Tofu is also an excellent addition to any Asian style noodle dish. Medium firm tofu can be marinated with tamari and miso, then grilled and added to salads or vegetable sautes. Liza, thanks for asking about Chef's Collaborative. I am on the Board of overseers and have been a member since the early '90s. Chef's Collaborative celebrates local, seasonal and artisanal producers and foods, while doing our best to openly discuss - with our colleagues and guests - the food issues we face daily. Because chefs feed thousands of people every year, many are aware of the impact of our purchasing decisions on our customers and the environment. We often risk losing business by deselecting foods that are popular with the dining public at large - like Chilean Sea Bass. Many take issue with our beliefs by mis-portraying the Collaborative as a group of fear-mongers who are using statements about protecting species as marketing ploys. I like to point out that with the restaurant business operating at substantially lower profit margins than those of most businesses, it is not a good marketing decision to remove a profitable, high-selling item from a menu for any reason - let alone spending considerable time and labor to find sustainable alternatives. This helps explain our commitment to the preservation of responsibly managed farmland, family farmers, and species of animals that can easily become extinct as a result of over-consumption. The best way to support the work of Chef's Collaborative is to patronize restaurants whose chefs are members.

Yes! 'Taste, Pure and Simple,' published by Chronicle Books, will be on shelves next September. The cookbook focuses on the first two years of our work at Heartbeat. It informally discusses the challenges and revelations we encountered in presenting a restaurant that does not use butter and cream. I chose recipes that were doable for the home cook, while still challenging those with cooking backgrounds. The book expands on juice work by introducing the reader to juices that thicken themselves in the cooking process, and also looks at methods like low-temperature sauteing.

The proportion depends on the meal period. Breakfast is around 70-80% hotel guests. Lunch is about 30% hotel guests and dinner fluctuates between 10-40% depending on whether the groups in the hotel have planned meal functions or not. On younger clients: Great question. Most of our diners are 35 years of age or older. Some like the youthful atmosphere and some do not. We don't see many of the younger clientele because they are there to drink, not to eat. The club-like atmosphere of the lobby bar and the notoriety of the Whiskey Blue predominantly attract club-goers rather than diners.