[ATL] Element under Richard Blais

[Dave the Cook]

As the indefatigable and amazingly accurate micropundit revealed on his blog, Blais and his team (known collectively as "Triail-Blais") have signed on to revitalize Element at 11th and West Peachtree. Here are some notes from a pre-opening party Saturday (19 May) night.

• Sous chef Jeff Sigler was shucking some sort of Pacific oyster, and serving it with carefully mounted garnishes of chorizo, beer reduction and microgreens. To do this, he had comandeered a section of the upstairs bar (ironically, a sushi bar when the property was known as Cherry, a couple of years ago). Similar to a shifting One concoction that sometimes featured mussels and sometimes oysters, these could only have been improved by a lower serving temperature, forgivable under the circumstances.<br><br>
  
• We sampled four other portions (one of them repeatedly): bay scallop with tortilla risotto and smoked tomato powder; "waffles and eggs": a cocoon of waffle batter, deep fried and served in a mini-tagine with a poached quail egg and a drizzle of maple syrup; A thin toast topped with beef marrow, bits of oxtail and wine reduction; and a mostly boneless half-quail, dipped in egg wash and panko, then deep fried.
  The quail was the winner. The mostly boneless part meant that only the thigh bone remained. The rest was flattened before frying, so the effect was that of a large, butterflied, deep-fried shrimp, with only the bone poking up as a handle. Nothing molecular about this, though the sweet/slightly hot mayonnaise that garnished it was reminiscent of other Blais romps through the emulsion garden. To give the scallop its due, I only had one small sample; it seemed promising. Likewise the bruschetta; I need to get better about hooking waitstaff elbows. The waffle and egg wasn't up to a similar dish I had at One, which used a bit of smoked sous vide belly to much better effect. In fairness, this sort of dish requires careful timing -- not a reasonable expectation in party circumstances. Still, it seems to me that the waffle component should be added to the egg and bacon, rather than substituting for the pork: breakfast in a bite.<br>
  
• Copies of a prospective new menu were circulated at the party. I found out today that there were actually several versions, accidentally publicizing the evolution of Blais's thinking. The fact is that the menu probably won't be set until Tuesday morning, and there's every chance that it will change by Wednesday dinner. The team took a bold but obvious step in closing the restaurant after the party; Sunday and Monday are being spent in staff training, menu finalization and prep.
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• Nevertheless, here are some of the ideas presented on the menu that I brought home: kampachi sashimi, ginger juice and soy caviar; chicken wing confit, barbeque carrot, celery dressing; lamb spare ribs, goya malta, sourwood honey; mozzarella, warm figs, olive oil marmalade; Riverview Farms pate, candied fennel, pistachio arugula emulsion; "Pot au Pho": shrimp noodles, shaved beef, spiced consomme; strawberries, whipped almond, cilantro sorbet.
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• The above notwithstanding, when I visited the kitchen this afternoon, I saw two immersion circulators full of sous-vide bags. I thought I recognized the contents, but asked director of cuisine Mark Nanna (most recently sous chef at Pura Vida and a former Blais colleague at One) anyway. "Yeah," he replied, "It's cool to think about what's in there: tails, feet, bellies. Nothing that you'd expect at a traditional restaurant. No steaks, no roasts . . ." I was right: pigs' feet, ox tails, pork belly. (An interesting aside: the belly, which had been given a quick cure in the morning, had been sealed up with an unmistakeable yellow smear of French's mustard.) A few minutes later, lamb rib sections (sans loins) were added. Clearly, the Tilia is working overtime.
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• As of today, anyway, Blais plans to include a "staff meal" special on the daily menu -- a gambit that might pay off big with the neighborhood clientele, which includes a fair number of business travellers looking for comfort food, as well as with the staff, who'd be less likely to dress up hot dogs with bottled Italian dressing if they knew it was going on the menu -- and that they have an opportunity to eat better themselves if the staff meal is subsidized at retail.
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• Blais has ambitious notions for Element (by the way, is there a better name for a molecular gastronomy restaurant? I haven't seen one). He's revived vendor relationships that lay dormant since his escape to Miami, and he's excited about local production -- the invocation of Riverview Farms, Sweet Grass Dairy and the legendary Dan Moore speak to this commitment. He talks about a menu that might change weekly or even daily, depending on what comes through the back door or what he can cadge from nameless sources. Kitchen shelves (what there are of them; it's a small space) are already stocked with methylcellulose, calcium chloride and a number of other reagents. There's a cannister of LN2 in the kitchen, and another at the downstairs bar.
  

The Kennesaw initiative is still alive. In the meantime (my earliest estimate for opening Elevation is mid-July), this opportunity came along, and Blais grabbed it. A number of questions come to mind quickly: can Element overcome the reputation of the former Cherry as a singles-bar scene, and more recently, a middling lunch-dinner-brunch restaurant, and become a destination venue? Will folks from Virginia Highlands, Decatur and Druid Hills brave the parking challenges of the neighborhood? Two years after Blais the restaurant closed abruptly, is there a profitable niche for (in the adopted lingo of the new Element) a gastro lounge and food lab in the Atlanta market?

Element opens for dinner Tuesday, 22 May. They're not on OpenTable yet; call 404.745.3001 for reservations.

[BryanZ]

Very interesting.

[Norm357]

As of today, anyway, Blais plans to include a "staff meal" special on the daily menu -- a gambit that might pay off big with the neighborhood clientele, which includes a fair number of business travellers looking for comfort food, as well as with the staff, who'd be less likely to dress up hot dogs with bottled Italian dressing if they knew it was going on the menu -- and that they have an opportunity to eat better themselves if the staff meal is subsidized at retail.

That's brilliant.

[ROWDY]

First, thanks for the info regarding the opening of Element (Blais).

Here are some pics from last night if anyone is interested:

I thoroughly enjoyed:

Key lime soda, citrus vodka (frozen via nitrogen tank), on the rocks

Apple-ginger-Margarita (Frozen via nitrogen tank)

Oysters and Pearls, meyer lemon dippin dots

Yellowtail sashimi, beets, apple caviar, fresh horseradish

(Jason) Mollinari's Lamb Prosciutto, yogurt ravioli, arugula salad

Imported by Franco, burratina, tiny basil, strawberry water, frozen olive oil

Lamb spare ribs (sous vide), goya malta, sourwood honey, scallion (pictured above)

All were very tasty, but my faves were the sashimi and lamb prosciutto dishes... and probably the beausoleil oysters... and the fact that Blais is truly supporting local talents such as offering Molinari's prosciutto.

The staff meal is indeed cool. Yesterday the staff meal was Spring Vegetable Risotto... barkeep AJ said it was "awesome."

Cheers

Edited May 24, 2007 by ROWDY (log)

[Chris Amirault]

All were very tasty, but my faves were the sashimi and lamb prosciutto dishes... and probably the beausoleil oysters... and the fact that Blais is truly supporting local talents such as offering Molinari's prosciutto. 

←

Would that be Jason Molinari (jmolinari on eG Forums)?

[Dave the Cook]

Yes indeed, and it was very, very tasty, if sliced just a bit thick for my taste (not Jason's fault at all; the restaurant didn't have a slicer).

The "ravioli" were actually yogurt spheres created (inverse spherification) with sodium alginate -- a fun riff on the traditional middle-eastern combination.

Thanks for the photos, Rowdy, and welcome to the Society!

[jmolinari]

Yep. It was neat to be on the menu:)

Sucks that they didn't have a slicer. I needs to be nice and thin or it is chewy.

anyone have a pic of the dish? I wasn't able to make it there tuesday.

hope everyone who tried it enjoyed it.

jason

[Dave the Cook]

I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures, Jason -- as often happens with charcuterie in my vicinity, it disappears too fast!

What's going on at Element is quite different from One, and though the chef seems to have plenty of freedom, it's not like Blais, either. The aim seems to be to maximize flexibility, whether it's in the menu, the dishes, or even the ingredients. Opening night, there were lots of changes, even as things were leaving the kitchen.

The filet, for example, was plated at least three different ways during the first night. I think I got the last one of the evening; it came in three medium-rare pieces (marrow coins on two of them) with airy-but-rich Robouchon-style potatoes, glazed pearl onions and a syringe of melted marrow. Two ramp leaves were plastered to the plate. As I ran the edge of my fork along them, they crinkled up like an accordion. The filet is not my favorite cut of beef (it's pretty far down the list, actually), but I wanted to see how it worked as a sous-vide item. I'd call this very successful.

I also got a taste of the fish. Though slightly overdone, it was an excellent piece of flounder treated with a twist on the classic meuniere (a bit of the chutney described below anchors the filet to the plate). The accompaniment of scallops are gnocchi in name only; they're called that simply because the tiny bays resemble the pasta. I can't believe that the doneness issue won't be straightened out quickly. Blais has a long-standing fondness for fish (he was, believe it or not, a Fish Fellow at the CIA).

There were also menu changes from the first night to the second:

• They switched out the beet cubes and apple caviar on the sashimi for beet caviar and apple sorbet. If you go there tonight, you'll get whipped apple in a crunchy malt sphere.
  
• The mozzarella (which was great, though a little underseasoned) sold out the first night. It's been replaced by a chevre (not too goaty) from Sweet Grass Dairy.
  
• They found some nice-looking soft-shell crabs, which they're serving in a straightforward (for Blais) style: brown butter, curry and a chutney they invented the night before that uses the dregs (pine nuts, the solids from Jana Valley butter, a handful of parsley) from making the foamed butter on the fish in combination with some eastern spices.
  
• The potatoes that accompanied the filet have been replaced by a whipped corn puree with a touch of truffle oil.
  
• Tuesday night, the crew loaded up a huge saucepan with chicken wings, chicken fat, duck fat, thyme and rosemary. This was covered tightly and tucked into a low oven overnight: chicken wing confit. Last night, they were grilling a mess of them with some Korean smoked spices and serving them with ping-pong ball-sized turnips in a ponzu-like broth and turnip greens scattered with lardons.
  

Some of these changes are the unavoidable consequences of overhauling a menu in three or four days, of course, not to mention trying to maximize the value of the inventory left over from the previous menu -- something any good chef should be doing in these circumstances. They also speak to what Blais seems to be trying to accomplish here, which is not to recreate One, Bazaar or Blais (the restaurant), but to advance the simple cause of good food at reasonable prices. That he goes about it in his own way simply makes it more interesting: sometimes it means cooking asparagus two different ways for a single plate (the fluke), or reinventing a classic dish of mussels by pouring on a thick beery broth and gilding the lily with smoked aioli; sometimes it means reviving a beautiful medley of vegetables that dates all the back to his Fishbone days. And sometimes it means eliciting the best that a humble chicken wing has to offer -- or finding a few quarts of perfect strawberries and leaving them pretty much alone so you can celebrate their ephemeral singularity. Then, like a lot of dishes on the Element menu, they'll be gone. That's not a reason for despair, though. It means there's room on the menu for the next new thing.

[ROWDY]

Yes indeed, and it was very, very tasty, if sliced just a bit thick for my taste (not Jason's fault at all; the restaurant didn't have a slicer).

The "ravioli" were actually yogurt spheres created (inverse spherification) with sodium alginate -- a fun riff on the traditional middle-eastern combination.

Thanks for the photos, Rowdy, and welcome to the Society!

←

Dave 'da Cook, thanks for the welcome.

Also, nice post on Element. Fitting with your post, I think Blais also nailed it with his description of Element as being similar to a culinary "garage band." Element is definitely more my style from a culinary perspective with a blend of, maybe I am trying too hard to sound sophisticated, but... avant garde and rootsy? Regarding atmosphere, I feel there may be a bit of a temporary identity issue considering Element's pre-Blais vs. current Blais personality... but it sort of makes the exprience interesting. On Tuesday night, a DJ was busting out hits from TV on the Radio, The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and many others. It initially caught me off guard, but I warmed up to it, especially considering the respectable song selections. I am not sure what the future holds, but it will be interesting. To me, it is about the personality of the food most importantly and Blais sings an undeniable super tasty, crafty tune.

3 more thoughts:

1. I am looking forward to Sunday Brunch at Element... with sous vide eggs.

2. I thought the beets worked uniquely well with the yellowtail.

3. It was dark and my lamb proscuitto pic didn't turn out so well. Sorry Jason M. I will order it again very soon and give it another shot.

One more pic... the sold out cheese... my favorite part was the combination of frozen olive oil, tiny basil, and strawberry water... I think the burrata cheese was from some local guy named Franco who gets the cheese from Puglia, Italy.

Cheers

Edited May 25, 2007 by ROWDY (log)

[Dave the Cook]

. . . .

Element is definitely more my style from a culinary perspective with a blend of, maybe trying too hard, but...  avant garde and rootsy. 

Yeah, I think that's right. My impression of Blais's cooking though is that while he's always interested in a new technique, he's very well grounded in tradition. And while he insists on food being prepared properly, he's not above having fun -- wit has been a consistent part of his cuisine. In any case, you're not likely to find avant garde techniques or ingredients on the menu unless they have a good reason for being there. Taste matters above all.

Regarding atmosphere, I feel there may be a bit of a temporary identity issue considering Element's pre-Blais vs. current Blais personality... but it sort of makes the exprience interesting.  On Tuesday night, a DJ was busting out hits from TV on the Radio, The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and many others.  It initially caught me off guard, but I warmed up to it, especially considering the respectable song selections. 

I found the music loud to the point of being distracting, but by the time I ate, the room was nearly empty, and it echoed relentlessly. Regardless, I think we agree that most of the -- well, it would be going too far to call them problems, so let's call them "stuff," collectively -- we're pointing out are part and parcel of a venue undergoing a personality transplant. It's unfair for anyone to take minor issues like these too seriously. My take is that Element is off to a promising start. A serious review needs to wait for the frozen olive oil to settle.

[ROWDY]

Blais could cook out of a station wagon and I would be there. Now there is an idea... Blais the ice cream man with bells and all... touring through suburbia ATL while entertaining kids and adults during the summer months with liquid nitrogen treats...

Subtle disclaimer... I never consider myself to give "serious" reviews due to my particularly limited skillset. I do love the culinary world though. I prefer to jump in and have fun eating the unsettled frozen olive oil... before it sells out... just my inpatient style unfortunately.

I agree, I think Element is off to a very promising start. In fact, I think I may even be a little sad when it fully develops. Element today is like seeing a young, super talented indie band with a huge buzz in a small venue... the way I like it.

Cheers

Cheers and thanks

Edited May 25, 2007 by ROWDY (log)

[TheFoodTutor]

Visited last night, and all was delicious from from everything I tasted:

JMolinari's Lamb Prosciutto, yogurt ravioli, cantaloupe caviar. Excellent, and a fine example of someone who has been doing something well for a long time, finally getting his due recognition.

Soft poached egg, hollandaise "carpaccio," grilled asparagus. Let's not dwell on the whole sous vide process for the egg, shall we? I'm tired of hearing about it. I just want to eat it. Also an excellent dish.

Soft shell crab, brown butter chutney, curry remoulade. Light, crisp batter, sauces that complement well. A+.

Lamb short rib, sourwood honey, malta goya. Again, nice cooking process, but the end result is what makes it great.

I ordered "Family Meal," but well, the best laid plans of mice and men. . . I did eventually get to try a bit of it in the kitchen. Nifty idea, at any rate. The Staff Meal of the day was a sort of "impasta" of shredded vegetables, sauteed in smoky tomato. My taste of it was quite good, but I ate too many other things to miss eating a plate of it.

I got a special rendition of an amuse, because Chef Blais noticed that I'm on the proverbial wagon, and thus didn't want to send me a nitro margarita. Instead, I got a taro chip with tomato gelee in a smoke "vapor" - wood chips under a shot glass - with a smattering of mole powder. Quite the sensational, space-age Dorito. Loved it.

Very cool caviars, especially the beet caviar on the hamachi. Looking forward to learning more about making that. I'll most likely revisit soon. If anyone from eGullet should happen to bump into me there, don't be afraid to say, "Hi."

[ROWDY]

Tonights pics from Element...

Root beer float

The celery chip with salsa gelee

Hammock Hollow squash impasta, sweet grass dairy chevre, truffle flavor

Hamachi belly, beet caviar, avocado, apple, horseradish

oxtail terrine, red wine marmalade, bone marrow foam (in spoon)

Smoked beef brisket, caramelized carrot...

sweatbreads, corn, morels, Chinese mustard

More poison by barkeep AJ

Chocolate cake, freeze dried strawberry, shiso sorbet, almond per menu

The crazy thing is that it tasted even better than it looked... 'twas nasty good

Cheers

Edited May 27, 2007 by ROWDY (log)

[JAZ]

I had a great tasting menu at Element a few nights ago. The service was a little uneven, but the food was all great. A few highlights:

"Fried fish and some tartare sauce" is a deceptively pedestrian name for a dish that has probably spoiled me forever for fish and chips. A piece of white fish (not sure what) was cooked sous vide (I assume) until it was silky, and then battered and fried a la Heston Blumenthal. Served with a paper-thin lemon slice also battered and fried, which made me never want to eat anything else with fried fish. It was great on its own and brilliant with the fish.

Tagliolini with pork belly and parmesan, served topped with a poached egg yolk, was also spectacular. (Forget eggs benedict -- this would be the perfect brunch dish.)

The sea urchin with smoked bacon made me realize that I really do like sea urchin. (Admittedly, I'd only tried it once, and it was terrible. I was happy to have a good example of it to change my mind.)

The diver scallop with sweetbread hash (which also had tiny cubes of potatoes and -- I believe -- shitake mushrooms) worked remarkably well. I tend to think of scallops as delicate and it always surprises me that they can stand up to strong flavors. This was a great combination, and the scallop was exquisite.

Other dishes were uniformly good -- I thought everything worked in both concept and execution.

If I had a complaint, it would be the cocktail list -- nothing seemed particularly complex or very interesting. But I'm told that they're working on that, so I hope to see less vodka and more variety in the future.

[Dave the Cook]

There's no doubt that if you like your food funky -- and I mean funky in a good way, with deceptive culinary depth and earthy flavors and aromas -- you'll love the lamb prosciutto (which got a tableside spray of what the chef called "eau de lamb"), the uni and the short-rib cannelloni. (The prosciutto, as a dish, could use a hit of acid, but it works extremely well nevertheless.)

In my report on Blais (the restaurant), I said that I wanted Blais to hand out his freeze-dried capers like mints at the hostess stand. At Element, I wish he'd package the bone marrow foam in those plastic, foil-sealed salad-dressing containers.

[ROWDY]

A touch of my experience at Element last night...

Blais & Co.

Cheers

[JAZ]

Creative Loafing has a piece on Element: Lab Experiment.

There's country pate served with freeze-dried cherries and mustard ice cream (a fave in the world of molecular gastronomy). There's a lusty oxtail terrine, just slightly gamy, served with a marmalade of red wine and – brace yourself – bone-marrow foam. All of these ingredients make sense – they are in other forms traditional to a great degree – but the alchemy distills and isolates flavors, transforms texture and, honestly, the world seems different.

I find it interesting that except for that bit, the author really doesn't talk about the food much -- he's much more entranced with the theory.

[Fat Guy]

He's entranced with the theory but much of what he says about molecular gastronomy is hard to swallow. I mean, trying to trace molecular gastronomy to Julia Child? Come on.

[Dave the Cook]

It's not a stretch to draw a line between Julia Child and the Food Network, but I agree that it would be impossible to connect that to the molecular gastronomy impulse -- if not for all the molecular chefs on FTV: Rachael Ray, Paula Deen, Giada De Laurentiis and Sandra Lee, to name a few.

Nevertheless, he does a pretty good job of describing the jolt of one's first encounter with a well-done bit of MG:

. . . the alchemy distills and isolates flavors, transforms texture and, honestly, the world seems different . . .

-- and he shows that he has a clue about new paradigm restaurants when he notes that "(w)it matters greatly in this kind of food."

But he really doesn't get Blais, or Element. I've spent quite a bit of time with the chef lately, as I'm working on a book about restaurants and he's been kind enough to let me tag along. My assessment is that Element isn't a showcase of molecular gastronomy -- and for all his fun and games (excellent video, Rowdy -- thanks!), Blais is not at heart a molecular guy. He's a classically trained professional who has the palate and imagination to know when something -- new or old -- works, and he's smart and talented enough to pull it off most of the time.

[Dave the Cook]

Blais and Element line-cook Billy Cole appeared on Good Day Atlanta this morning, making corn-pops ice cream, frozen banana cream pie, Coca-Cola rocks and Tang (scroll to bottom of report). These days, he's adding a little fennel pollen; I wonder if NASA knows about this.

[ROWDY]

Things continue to be ridiculously sick at Blais.

There is a plethora of talent in the Element kitchen. As kindly and appropriately listed on the menu, here was the starting line-up for last night's all-star game:

Dani Freidman -center field

Lok Pokhrel - right field

Brandon Burke -left field

Cooper Miller -SS

Billy Cole -3rd base

Jef Wright -2nd base

Jeff Sigler -1st base

Mark Nanna -catcher

Richard Blais -pitcher/manager

Last night:

Peach nigiri (goat cheese)

Foie Gras, peanut, fennel confit

Black cod, kabocha, truffle, oxtail jus

Smoking Tequila shots

Beef tongue with horseradish foam

The peach nigiri was absolutely freakin' beautiful. IMO, it would work a little better to use half as much slightly overpowering goat cheese to avoid losing the peach flavor. Still 'tis a creative, wonderful winner.

Foie gras presentation was disgustingly sexy in presentation. Wow, and the taste with peanuts was reminiscent of childhood candy... not that I grew up eating foie gras.

Black cod was perfectly cooked with wonderful flavor combinations. Blais owns fish.

Tequila... hard to screw up... and even more exciting when smoking

Finally, my fave.. beef tongue. I don’t even have to mention presentation here with arugula, horseradish foam, and the perfectly executed progressive dots. Shazam!

Cheers

[jmolinari]

The presentation of the beef tongue is beautiful

[ROWDY]

Here is a video of my latest experience at the bar of Element in Midtown Atlanta Georgia...

Chef Blais III

Here is an earlier video of Element

Blais does Punk

MRE?!

Dining at Element is a lesson for me everytime. Good people here.

Cheers

Edited June 30, 2007 by ROWDY (log)

[Reignking]

Here's the AJC's review of Element.

[Dave the Cook]

I'm sure Blais is disappointed, but I'm also pretty sure this is as good a review as he could have hoped for. It seems early for a major review on the part of the AJC, given that he's only been at the place for eight weeks; on the other hand, it's a testament to the chef's talents that Ford thought it important to get something in print quickly.

I'd quibble with some details, but over all, I think she's mostly on the mark with respect to the food and the service; it's unfortunate that Element apparently missed a fourth star due to the decor, and because Ford doesn't care for meat cooked sous-vide. If I have a substantial problem with the review, it's that Ford (and of course, she's hardly alone in this) is preoccupied with the sizzle of molecular gastonomy and misses the steak: a discussion about what's going on at the leading edge of restaurant concepts. Blais is one of a handful of chefs who are in the midst of just such a dialogue -- a direct conversation conducted in the language they know best: ingredients, passion, gustatory pleasure and exemplary technique. When the food hits the table, nitrogen doesn't matter, nor do water baths or lecithin; what matters is tasty food, on the plate. Ford concludes with "Innovative artists are always misunderstood." I don't think she's helping.