John W.
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Posts posted by John W.
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Mssr. Wabeck,
I'm not sure how you escaped the preliminary "this or that" questioning, but it has become standard for getting to know our respondents on the Q&A . So, please...
Dis or Dat
Izod Lacoste or Polo Ralph Lauren?
Dr. Elliot Kupferberg or Dr. Jennifer Melfi?
Argyle or plaid?
Scoop-neck or V-neck?
Hellman's or homemade?
Computer or Sex?
Izod. But old school sweaters. No golf shirts.
Dr. Melfi. Kupferberg is her mentor right?
Argyle.
V-Neck. (what is this, a fashion show?)
Hellman's. I'd have to charge you a buck for homemade.
What?
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Mssr. Wabeck,
I'm not sure how you escaped the preliminary "this or that" questioning, but it has become standard for getting to know our respondents on the Q&A . So, please...
Descendants or ALL?
Eat First or China Express?
Lawn Bowling or Badminton?
The Colonel of KFC or Rick Bayless of Burger King?
Pinotage or Spatburgunder?
Sushi or Ceviche?
Ladies WITH Riedel glasses or ladies WITHOUT Riedel glasses?
All right, joking aside. Here's a few your way: (1) If Burgundy was to instantaneously disappear, God forbid, what viticultural area would console you? (2) If you had only three bottles of wine, three ingredients, and three albums with which to prepare a meal on a remote island what would they be?
Thanks for doing the Q&A.
Derek
Descendents.
I might need a write-in on the next one, as I've not eaten at either Eat First or China Express. I'd go with Hope Key.
Lawn Bowling, as you could have a beverage whilst playing.
Rick Bayless. The Colonel doesn't have Topolobampo behind him.
Spatburgunder. I've not had a Pinotage that I like.
Sushi. With foie gras on top.
Of course ladies with Riedel glasses.
I could live with either Cote Rotie or Hermitage. Coulee de Serrant would do in a pinch.
Am I by myself on this island?
'94 Coulee de Serrant
'95 de Vogue Musigny
'89 Chave Hermitage
Epoisses
Scallops
Bacon
The Bouncing Souls, self-titled (especially song #14)
The Big Boys, "The Skinny Elvis"
Dillinger Four, "Midwestern Songs of the Americas" (Avril sez they are punk rock)
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With Friday just around the corner, could you talk about the Wine Happy Hour that you're featuring now at the restaurant?
Yeah that. Today is wine ghost town with the Prince concert tonight.
Shall I declare shill alert?
I taste so much wine and can't possibly take it all. We decided to do a happy hour, around all this stuff. Typically one red and one white. There is a theme every day. Today's theme is:
a) wines that start with Y (see wines that are not yellowtail)
b) wines that are Australian
c) wines that are from Yarra Valley.
The deal is this - It ain't $2 Buds. It ain't 2 for 1 rail drinks. It's quality glasses of wine for a pretty reduced rate. We were pouring Lignier-Michelot Chambolle Musigny 1999 for like $12 and O. Leflaive Mearsault '00 for $10. Normally I'd have to hit someone for twice as much. I think it's a pretty good deal.
I think tomorrow needs to be grand cru bubbles day. You know, for the ladies.
We just started this last week, we'll see how it goes.
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Actually I am going to trek to Firefly one of these days. I'll have to come late so I can catch Chef at the end of a shift and get a chance to chat.
Gillian Clark is going to be at Firefly too?
Here we go.
For the record, I hate being called chef. DIfferent strokes for different folks.
My apologies. Having been trained to use that title as a sign of true respect (and not every chef I've worked with would I call Chef), that's how it was meant.
Is John better?
John is better.
No offense taken.
No calling me chef, no name on my jacket, no name on the menu. I've always been weird about that.
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We got hard-cooked eggs. We got BBQ. No duck. I could come up with something else.
Sure. Why not .
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Wonder if I can sneak one more in...
Can you comment a little bit on your vision of what a relationship between front-o'-the-house and back-o'-the-house should be? And how to achieve that? It seems that it is often fairly acrimonious, which of course doesn't make sense, but happens a lot still. It is pretty smooth at Bis, but I heard from our kitchen crew that this is not the case in most places. With you wearing both the chef and GM hats, you must have some interesting insights into this.
There should be mutual respect. Servers think the cooks are crybabies, cooks think servers are lazy and make a hell of a lot more money. We started at the begining. Of course we have had problems. During the pre-opening training, the servers were taught correct verbage when addressing the kitchen. Say you have a steak that needs to be cooked more - DO say "I need this cooked more." DO NOT say "the guy on table 42 ordered this medium. It's not medium." That's enough to incite a riot on a Saturday. On the other side of the kitchen doors, we try to go with this mantra for the kitchen staff - Don't send a waiter back to the table pissed off. It's taken me along time to establish this. Being nice to people is tough (especially for me, I'm pretty shy around people I don't know), and I make sure the cooks know that (although I might exaggerate a bit).
I still get plenty pissed off, but instead of starting out beating a waiter, I'll give them a chance to respond. If it's a BS excuse, then it starts. (seems hypocritical, but it's only for mistakes repeated over and over and over).
We have a pretty good relationship between the front and the back. It helps the restaurant out as a whole, I'd like to think that most of our staff get it.
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What is your least favorite part of being an executive chef?
what is the thing you miss most about being a line cook?
thanks.
The babysitting. My intense dislike of that ensures I'll never have kids.
In addition to the chef gig, I am also the GM, and work the floor three nights a week. Without my constant attention to anything (try as I might, it's tough to be everywhere), stuff that could be resolved at the start sometimes get to the babysitting/handholding stage. (Not that it's a huge issue, I just hate babysitting).
As for what do I miss as a line cook, at Firefly, nothing. I am still one. Saute for lunch four days a week, garde manger (ok, salad bitch) 2 nights a week. Set up/break down too. I was in heaven during restaurant week when the beatings were being issued. I can still bring it a little bit.
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John,
Many restaurants have decent wine lists and offer terrific food, but fall short by serving their wines at to warm a temperature. They obviously spend time to prepare and create wonderful meals and select wines for the list, but the wine service seems to be an afterthought. Your ideas?
And as an aside, what would your version of devlied eggs be like?
In my distorted view of how a restaurant should be run, 1/3 of the attention should be paid to food, 1/3 to wine and the remainder to service/ambiance. That said, when the restaurant was first being built, there was supposed to be a small wine closet just behind the bar. We lost that to the handicapped-sized bathroom. That meant we would have to trek all the way through the kitchen to retrieve each bottle of red, which is most defintitely out. Something would have to be built or bought, so we invested in a Euro-Cave. That simple (but not cheap) detail has paid off immensely. We bought good glassware. We train our staff, not to remember what each wine tastes like, but what it should taste like. Then it's up to me to buy varietally correct wines. I am most proud of the wine program we have.
As for deviled eggs? You know if I tell you then I have to make them for Morela.
Let's do this - Do the standard deviled egg style, jack up the deviled bit with some lime and chili, then top with duck carnitas hit with some good BBQ sauce. Scallions. Some pink bubbly, it just might work.
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What do you think is the perception of American quisine internationally amongst laypeople, and what can be done to improve it? And how would you describe what "American quisine" is to a foreigner?
From my personal experience of growing up in Europe, I can tell you that ragging on "amerikan food" is one of the favorite pastime of Europeans, second only to, oh, never mind. Seriously, people in the Old World seem convinced that culinarily, nothing greater than a hamburger ever came out of America. When I go visit my family and friends now and try telling them how great the U.S. dining scene is, I often get a reaction of incredulity along the lines of "oh, I know, burgers & fries for breakfast and dinner, morbidly obese people wandering around", followed by, "so what is it that American food is all about?"
This is where I get lost, because how do you explain the great variety of choices we have here in a few conceptual terms? This perfect piece of rockfish, this little mound of sweet potato puree, this butterfly shrimp, this lamb chop? Honestly...I would like to have something intelligent to tell them. I am sure people in food biz know it well, but an average European still thinks Americans don't know what good food is...and I mind that very much. Thanks for reading!
Let's give this a shot.
What do you think is the perception of American quisine internationally amongst laypeople, and what can be done to improve it? And how would you describe what "American quisine" is to a foreigner?
"so what is it that American food is all about?"I'm pretty certain they think it's Whoppers and Cokes. The best way I can see to improve the perception is to hire a PR firm to re-work the whole image of this country as far as the rest of the world is concerned. In my limited travels, (Japan twice and France once), I've never run into the "hey big mac jackass" comments when my profession is revealed.
I hope to see an answer to that in my lifetime. Is it an American chef cooking French food at such a high level, like Thomas Keller? A Japanese chef, such as Morimoto, doing what he does in the US? Alice Waters? Then you throw in the Italian chefs. And Indian chefs. American cuisine cannot be defined in a neat sound-bite right now. For me, how I cook in a perfect world, it's whatever cultural influences I've come across (and it's a lot), grounded by French techniques (that's my training).
(Please forgive the bad quoting, having a bad computer moment right now)
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John,
Could you talk a little more about produce sourcing, please? How do you find what you want? Do most of your goods come from the D.C. region? from broader? Do you have contracts with a few farms? with many? make friends at the markets? with friendly middlemen? --thanks
I've been dealing with the same companies for a long time now. I know what they have, they know what I want. Most stuff is from local companies. I buy from Eco Farms, and Tusacrora Organic Co-op from Pennsylvania. I buy coffee from la Colombe out of Philly. I think that is as far away as I go.
Given what Firefly is, I don't need the tricks up my sleeve so-to-speak to get the really crazy stuff. It just isn't warranted. I'd love to smash out mastutake fricassee as much as the next guy, or black quinoa crusted whatever, but I trust I'd quickly be out of a job. I'd like to say I go to the market alot, but I don't, as one of the your (collective) e-gullet heroes likes to challenge me to chess after Timberlakes after BdC on Saturday nights. Being the public figure I am (sarcasm here), I wouldn't be looking my best so to speak.
But I do enjoy it when I go to the Dupont one (about once a month lately).
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Hi John, thank you for answering my earlier question. I do have one more for you, and I appreciate you taking the time to talk to us.
What do you think is the perception of American quisine internationally amongst laypeople, and what can be done to improve it? And how would you describe what "American quisine" is to a foreigner?
From my personal experience of growing up in Europe, I can tell you that ragging on "amerikan food" is one of the favorite pastime of Europeans, second only to, oh, never mind. Seriously, people in the Old World seem convinced that culinarily, nothing greater than a hamburger ever came out of America. When I go visit my family and friends now and try telling them how great the U.S. dining scene is, I often get a reaction of incredulity along the lines of "oh, I know, burgers & fries for breakfast and dinner, morbidly obese people wandering around", followed by, "so what is it that American food is all about?"
This is where I get lost, because how do you explain the great variety of choices we have here in a few conceptual terms? This perfect piece of rockfish, this little mound of sweet potato puree, this butterfly shrimp, this lamb chop? Honestly...I would like to have something intelligent to tell them. I am sure people in food biz know it well, but an average European still thinks Americans don't know what good food is...and I mind that very much. Thanks for reading!
This needs time, and a glass or two of wine.
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Hi John-- it's been too long, I need to drop in at Firefly sometime soon. Thanks for doing this Q&A.
I'm off to California for a longish vacation. I won't get the chance to go to Napa/Sonoma, but I'll be driving through the Monterrey area and Big Sur on my way from San Francisco down to San Diego. Are there any wineries you'd recommend?
Also, what kind of chef are you away from your professional life? What do you cook for yourself at home, or for a small dinner party? Or do you avoid cooking altogether?
Mike;
I never spent any time in those areas. It was either North Coast or all the way down to Santa Barbara. I'll check some stuff and get back to you. If you have time for SB county I can steer you in the right direction.
What kind of chef am I away from the office? A creature of habit, who doesn't eat at home. The stories about Sette and BdC are true. I eat at those two places quite a bit. I haven't dirtied a pot in my own apartment since March, with the exception of my coffee pot. I generally cook on Sundays, for assorted luminaries, at an esteemed colleague's house in Virginia. Menu items have included burgers (enriched with foie gras pate, as Fresh Fields won't give higher than 85/15% mix of ground beef). The latest version had a Camenbert-morel topping. We've done 6 or 7 course menus (all grilled), each with paired wines. That is if the guests show up on time. Left to my own devices, I'll invariably end up drinking too much wine, and then we bum-rush local eateries.
Back in the day, I'd cook lengthy dinner parties. Multi-coursed affairs. It's too much damn work, takes too long to clean up, and I'd always try to do restaurant stuff and set off the fire alarm because I used too high of a flame.
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What is the funniest thing (kitchen incident, customer request, etc.) that has happened to you in your career?
Define funny. I've seen or been part of some pretty stupid (or funny depending on how you look at it) events, most not fit for a board such as this.
There's the usual "I don't want the pickled jicama, can I have a steak instead."
Or the "I want eggs benedict, but ham on one muffin, sauteed spinach on the other, hollandaise on the one with spinach and if you put hollandaise on the one with ham I'll be on the phone with Sietsema before you have a chance to replate it." Slightly exaggerated, but you get the picture. Try rolling that when you have 100 on the books (all with similar requests) for Easter.
On that topic, I ask this question; Why does brunch bring out all the loony tunes requests? I can see no bread on your burger for lunch. I can see no blue cheese on your Michael's Rib Eye Diablo, but the requests for brunch are insane.
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But seriously, John I am very much looking forward to my first of what I hope will be many great meals at Firefly later this week. As an amateur cook, I am very much affected by the seasonal availability of some things -- around here that would be mostly fruits and vegetables. I often experience a feeling of regret as late October comes and the good stuff dwindles. Have you had much experience with preserving summer's bounty in any way shape or form?
I just let the summer fade on out. I can still get tomatoes from PA until frost hits, I've gone as late as early November if I remember right. If you're asking about canning and preserving, I don't have much experience with that.
What's wrong with turnips, celery root, squashes? October is my favorite time of year I think.
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Chef Wabeck,
I have only dined at Firefly once but my wife and I loved it. Everything from the ingredients to the thoughtful wine list and ambience made it a winner and we hope to dine there again soon. My questions for you are what do you find to be the greatest challenge as a chef in DC and (on a purely frivolous note) what is your favorite city in terms of eating out? Thanks for your time.
My most serious challenge? More space in my kitchen.
I used to think that DC was never taken seriously as a food city. I really believe that is changing.
As far as eating goes, you have to say NYC. It's the biggest stage, with the most pressure. I still have a half-a-dozen on my list that I MUST go to, and the list keeps getting longer.
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John,
Did anyone in your family influence your culinary talent? Who or what got you started in the kitchen? At what point did you stop playing golf?
My parents influenced me indirectly. My father was a Doctor of Food Technology, specializing in poultry at the University of MD. In the lab where he worked was a pressure fryer/cooker. That's where the best fried chicken I've ever had came from. My first food memory as a child was eating radishes right out of the dirt in our garden. I still to this day love radishes. My parents were not terribly good cooks and adhered to the cook the hell out of it style. I didn't have time for food until it paid the bills. After a failed attempt or two to go to regular college, I ended up working in Ocean City, Maryland. After seeing people twice my age making next to nothing, and all the bad habits that went with Ocean City, I wised up and went to CIA.
I feel I have run into the right people at the right time - Bill at Red Sage taught me how to move my ass, work harder, faster, do more. Ris taught me how to make food taste good. About balance. Nora forced me to learn about different cuisines, as there was much more than Asian or Southwestern (which was all I knew and cared to know at the time). The guy who taught me how to cook professionally actually works in DC now as a rep for a wholesaler. I still stay in touch with him.
I stopped playing golf due to tendinitis (which I still have) like 7 or 8 years ago (which sucked because I was down to a 9). I have made a total of $20 playing golf in my life, not enough to pay the bills.
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John, to the extent that you're willing to divulge...
your lamb minute steak is fantastic. Even my lamb-hating wife enjoyed tasting mine. My questions are:
-what cut is it?
-how do you prepare/cook it?
Again, fantastic stuff. Thanks for creating such a wonderful atmosphere and wonderful food.
Lamb is simple, but it's a definite butcher's cut. It's from the leg, the butcher cuts cross-sections with a band saw. We could never do that here (no band-saw).
Olive oil, salt and pepper, on the grill, for a minute (give or take). Let it rest.
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John, one thing I've gleaned from you is how important you think it is to pay your respects to other chefs and restaurants in town - you seem to view it as a matter of honor as much as anything. Would you expand on this?
To build on this, and considering the unfortunate trend of chefs putting down other chefs, is there anyone in this town whose cooking you admire?
Secondly, would you give any advice to someone who would like to become a more sophisticated wine drinker?
Now, if I could only have some tips on increasing my tolerance for alcohol...I seem to be useless after two glasses, and it is hurting my social standing
If I list people and somebody is not on there, they get pissed off (really). Let me say this as a broad, ass-kissing statement. I started cooking in DC in 1992. I am quite proud of how far this city has come culinarily. The level of dining has increased immensely. The competition has too. That can only be good.
As for wine, keep drinking. It does amazing things for your tolerance too.
Off the top of my head, buy How to Taste by Jancis Robinson. Do the side-by -side comparisons. You can really develop the understanding of why the world's wines taste as they do. That to me is very important. You can take the wine list with confidence when your table says "I want X."
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John, one thing I've gleaned from you is how important you think it is to pay your respects to other chefs and restaurants in town - you seem to view it as a matter of honor as much as anything. Would you expand on this?
It's really tough to explain. It's just how I am. And I wasn't always like this. I can't put my finger on an event that changed my behavior.
The answer could be as simple as I treat people how I'd like to be treated. Or it could be that the chef community in this city is pretty tight.
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Honestly, if you wanted me to recommend something, I'd ask what you were drinking.
OK- so what should I be drinking and then what should I pair it with?
Off the top of my head: The grilled lamb minute steak with Tillamook mac-n-cheese. Drink the 2001 Yering Station Shiraz from Yarra Valley Australia (I think 5% viognier blended in, not 15% alcohol, not blueberry syrup shiraz). I really like the wine, I really like lamb, everyone wins.
Or, have the soft shells with quinoa and buerre blanc with the 1997 Savenierres, because you can't have enough chenin blanc.
Fried oysters with Camille Saves brut rose (grand cru).
Salmon gravlax with Crenshaw melon and the 2001 Kelham Cellars Sauv. Blanc.
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John,
Is there any dish on your menu right now that you enjoy making more than others? If someone were dining at Firefly tonight, what would you recommend that they order?
I like this menu. Often, there's a few dishes that I hate but they sell so I don't take them off. I typically work saute for lunch, our pasta (mushroom cacciatore type thing) is my most enjoyable dish. To get the sauce just right every time takes some discipline. As an added bonus, I'm allergic to mushrooms, so tasting every one (which I do) is like playing with fire.
Honestly, if you wanted me to recommend something, I'd ask what you were drinking.
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If you were to open a kitchen accessories store, what would you call it????
Maybe something original like "John's Country Kitchen."
Not touching this one.
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John,
Several times over the last few weeks I have seen you indulging at Teasim on R street (honestly, I am not stalking you--but I go to Teasim everyday and have been to Firefly many times--so you are recognizable).
Since you seem to love tea, I was just wondering if you plan on offering a bigger selection of teabags at Firelfy?????
Nope. Tea is out. Coffee.
Try something else pal.
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John,
One of the things that I admire about your cooking is the attention paid to the quality of ingredients. I still dream of the smoked duck breast salad.
Where do you provision your stuff around DC (especially relevant if it's open to public)?
Is it easier today than it used to be to find top-notch-kick-ass supllies around DC?
PS - Unfortunately my surburban life, impending child, and budget conspire against my ability to come down to Firefly as much as I'd like, but I'll see you soon!
I don't really buy from anybody different than anyone else. Keany for produce, Samuel and Son seafood from Philly (if you ask nicely they'll send a driver to pick up some steaks from Gino's or Pat's, I prefer Pat's). I buy from farms when I can. We can't afford to buy stuff from the super-premium places, and the restaurant rarely sees wild mushrooms. I do, however spend a lot of time dealing with above purveyors on quality. It's very expensive to re-send a truck out if the produce company sent me crap spinach, so they realize they need to get it right the first time. I hate to have to call them to re-send two bunches of basil (well, not that much), but I will. I've dealt with my fish company (S+S) since I was at Nora. Sammy has put fish that got missed in the trunk of his car and drove it down here from South Philly on Saturday afternoon more than once. Service like that goes far with me.
I think the quality of stuff in DC has improved, but what I would really like to see (and I'm seeing the beginnings of this movement) from these guys, especially produce, is more variety of stuff. The reluctance to bring in a specialty product because it won't sell does not hold merit anymore. DC diners are demanding more than meat and potatoes these days.
A Chat with John Wabeck
in D.C. & DelMarVa: Dining
Posted
4:30, goes 'til 7.