The Metropolitan's 'Best Chefs' share smart spring menu tips

The Metropolitan’s ‘Best Chefs’ share smart spring menu tips

0 Comments Published by les March 31st, 2009 in Business News, Cuisine, Salt Lake City.

Editor’s Note: In the recent Salt Lake Magazine’s 11th Annual Dining Awards, The Metropolitan’s Culinary Collective represented by chefs Chris Durfee and Justin Shifflet took the 2009 honors for ‘Best Chef’. These two talented gentlemen graciously answered a few questions about spring menu planning. The Selective Echo is pleased to present their responses.

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SE: Besides items such as asparagus, artichokes, lamb, peas, and rhubarb, what are the other essential food stuffs and ingredients to have on a spring menu?

CD and JS: New potatoes, sweet onions, green garlic, fava beans, baby greens such as ramps and sorrell, wild mushrooms like morels, chanterelles and porchini, fiddlehead ferns.

SE: Where do you turn to for inspiration in your spring menus and cooking?

CD and JS: My inspirations for spring menus come from the change to warmer weather and the new ingredients that are available. Also memories of planting and working in my parents’ garden as a kid.

SE: What spring items do you find to consistently a perennial favorite among customers?

CD and JS: Some examples of past spring menu favorites are a spring pea salad served with pea tendrils, shaved Parmesan Reggiano, and a lemon oil; green garlic soup served with olive oil and fiddlehead ferns, and veal loin served with yellow chiles stuffed with housemade queso fresco, crispy flatbread and arugula coulis.

SE: For those home cooks and gourmet foodies, what are the best tips for preparing baby vegetables, in particular?

CD and JS: Do as little as possible when using baby vegetables. Use light seasoning and simple cooking techniques such as blanching and roasting to maintain the delicate flavor and appearance of the vegetables.

SE: In terms of spring cooking and menu planning, with the renewal of the growing season cycle, how do you, as chefs, promote the provenance of your dishes, especially as customers are increasingly interested in the origin of the food they’re eating?

CD and JS: We try to buy as much product as possible locally. We support local growers and purveyors such as Miller Honey, Beehive Cheese, Shepard’s cheese and the local farmer’s market.

SE: In terms of fish and seafood, what are your particular favorites for the spring time season?

CD and JS: They include soft-shell crab, wild salmon, diver scallops and striped marlin.

For more information about The Metropolitan, see here.

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