Dinner with a White Slave
Oh wait a minute. By white slave, we are referrring to the UK title of super chef Marco Pierre White's new tome. He's white, did a cookbook called White Heat, and has the last name of White. Get it? The slavery he endured was oftentimes brutal kitchen work starting in the seventies. Apparently Brits don't have a problem with the slave reference. No suprise that the U.S. version is titled The Devil in the Kitchen: Sex, Pain, Madness and the Making of a Great Chef. Our review on Jalapeno Girl is here.
Tuesday night, Incanto honored White with a dinner. It was what you'd call a full house. Incanto serves offal good stuff like whole beast meals, and has a neato wine bar. We knew there'd be some meaty numbers at this one! Chef Chris Cosentino (of recent Iron Chef fame) created a menu that honored White's approach. Cosentino also reviewed White's book for last Sunday's Chronicle, (edited by SFist Gentlemen's Auxillary member Oscar Villalon, who is our husband.)
The two chefs have a small history: Cosentino showed up ten years ago, asking to stage (work for free) with White. Cosentino remembers that White slammed the door on his face. White said about the incident, "I remember him."
We asked, "His hair?" since Cosentino sports some bleachy tips in his locks.
White said, "No, his face. Most cooks, they write a letter and ask to stage. They don't just show up." Balls out, Chef Chris, even if you were rejected! Also, we sincerely hope you get a day off soon, since it's been over three weeks since you had one.
Our first peek at White was on the street in front of Incanto. White was smoking (something we saw him do all night long), and looking up into a tree. We noticed he is at least six foot five, and quite the handsome hunk! Curious, we asked what he was doing. With a smile, he responded that he was looking for birds. We could all hear their sweet chirping. Okay, all this talk of meaty hunks and birds is gettin' our belly growling, so let's jump ahead to le menu. Then we'll wrap up with a few choice observations.
Incanto Menu for The Devil in the Kitchen
Bonus starter of Pork blood sausage with an oyster, topped by a serrano chile
Diver scallop crudo with vanilla salt & lobster bottarga
Ravello Bianco Costa d'Amalfi 2005, Marisa Cuomo
Sweetbread-stuffed trotter with shaved asparagus & mint
Pinot Nero Riserva 2003, Cantina Santa Maddalena
Whole roast squab with morels, fava & grilled ramps
Barbera d'Asti Ca' di Pian 2004, La Spinetta
Spring pudding with 25-year balsamic
Brachetto d'Acqui Rosa Regale 2006, Banfi
We sat in the center of the table so we could be directly across from White. He is a natural performer, but claims to be a barometer: "If I'm with quiet, dull people, I'll act dull. If they are reserved, I am reserved." His eyes widened, "If they are zany, I am roaring and zany!" We think he tends to always be zany rather than reserved but....
He has 25,000 acres (did we mention he has a restaurant empire in the UK?), and kills, or "goes out stalking" 200-250 deer a year. Weapon of choice: a 243. He proudly described how his son recently killed his first deer. Yummy! Breakfast of choice with his "mates" is roasted deer liver, and whole kidney, served with eggs and bacon.
Making the rounds to greet guests is to him like the reward a performing seal gets. With each return to our table, he'd pronounce, "I have five sardines!" He didn't want his handler, Naomi Epel, to leave him alone.
Catch him on Hell's Kitchen soon, where he'll be cooking trotter, which are pig's feet.
He was friendly and outgoing all night, and we saw him eagerly smile, shake hands, and hug both men and women. He's flirty all around but didn't creep us out the way some other Euro chefs do.