Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

You've probably all played this game before. Name 5 people dead or alive that you'd like to have to dinner. I've seen the game circulate on Facebook and through various emails numerous times. It's always fun to see who people select and why and to think about who I would select and why. Lo and behold yesterday Jeff and I started thinking about it yet again only this time, we wanted to limit it to specific groups. I got to thinking about who would be the food world figures I'd want to have around a dinner table. Now, our dining room table seats 14, so counting us, that means we would have space to invite 12 special guests. Here is my wish list. I can only imagine how fascinating the conversation would be.

1) Julia Child-That one was obvious as I am probably her biggest fan ever. But more importantly, Julia is a fascinating character for two major reasons. I would argue that she pioneered the notion of a TV Celebrity Chef. Secondly, she broke into a field that prior to her was dominated by men and to a certain extent opened the doors for other women to pursue culinary professions.

2) Anthony Bourdain-The irreverent chef, author and host of several travel/food shows is not only fiercely intelligent but quite thought provoking on the subject of all things food/culture related. He is also uber sexy.

3) Michelle Obama-Her Let's Move campaign is something I have been passionate about for a long time. What we eat and how it relates to our health both as individuals and as a nation is extremely important and someone in her position gives so much credibility to the cause.

4) Michael Pollan-This journalist who wrote my favorite book Omnivore's Dilemma is someone who I greatly respect with regard to his diligence in exposing the dangers of a corporate dominated food system. He opened my eyes to many of the things I am now passionate about, i.e. organic, fresh, local food and eating for health.

5) Thomas Keller-Arguably one of the most influential chefs of the last 20 years. His French Laundry revolutionized the culinary scene and he has since trained numerous brilliant chefs who currently head the top rated restaurants in the world. I particularly am inspired by his creative and playful approach to food and his down to earth demeanor.

6) Grant Achatz-The current big man on top with respect to the food scene. Next and Alinea are certainly two of the top restaurants in Chicago and perhaps in the world. I also find his story of battling throat cancer and how it influenced his cooking to be tremendously awe inspiring.

7) Jamie Oliver-He is a hero in my book for his dedication to battling youth obesity and trying to change the food system in our schools. His Food Revolution prompted me to act personally with regards to educating kids about real food and how it can impact their lives long term.

8) Paula Wolfert-Chef and author of the first cookbook on Moroccan cuisine called Couscous and Other Good Food From Morocco and more recently The Food of Morocco has inspired me since my early days in the kitchen. Her work was integral in my research for my Master's Thesis on Moroccan Tea Ritual and her knowledge about Moroccan food and culture is tremendous.

9) Mark Bittman-Chef/author who regularly contributes to the NY Times on the subject of food. Fiercely intelligent, outspoken and en pointe with his assessments about the current state of food in this country.

10) Ferran Adria-Often cited with starting the trend of molecular gastronomy and owner of what was long considered to be one of the best restaurants in the world prior to its closing in 2011, El Bulli.

11) James Beard-The flamboyant chef/author was oft cited as being larger than life. He was passionate about food and was certainly influential in bringing haute cuisine to this country during the 20th century.

12) Auguste Escoffier-Father of the brigade de cuisine system still utilized in formal kitchens to this day and credited with codifying haute French cuisine.


That rounds out the group. An eclectic mix to say the least. Now, what would I serve them? That's a topic for another blog post.

The Sad State of Food in America

Unless you've been living under a rock the last couple of weeks, you likely have seen a lot of talk about Jamie Oliver's new show Food Revolution. The series takes the super-celeb chef into schools in Huntington West Virginia where he is bound and determined to change the face of the foods that are are being fed to kids in schools which he believes are slowly killing our youth. It was coincidental that this show happened to premiere the weekend after I had been asked to do a cooking demo for a group of kids from a church after school group and had encountered a similarly alarming situation. The class was supposed to be a career day. I would demo something the kids would eat and they could ask me whatever they want about my profession.

Since it was St. Patrick's Day, I opted to present all green foods, in line with my focus on healthy eating. I brought an assortment of veggies including cucumbers, broccoli and snap peas and made them an avocado dip. Needless to say, most of the kids were afraid of the dip and definitely of the veggies. I enticed them to at least try it by offering cookies as a reward. I managed to sneak in health oats and pure maple syrup instead of white flour and sugar, but they didn't need to know that.

The most disturbing part of the whole day was when I was asked where I ate when I went out. I admitted to very rarely eating out and without thinking mentioned I hated fast food, especially McDonald's which in my opinion isn't real food and is really bad for you. If looks could kill I would be dead by now. Those kids were mortified that I would bad mouth their favorite food. I in turn was mortified at the response.

Look, I like an occasional pizza and hamburger too, but not the likes of the processed specimens found at most fast food establishments or in the frozen foods section of the grocery store. That moment and the subject of Jamie's show really got me to thinking about how dire the situation is in the U.S. The fact that many kids don't recognize and will not eat most vegetables and that they subsist off of school breakfasts and lunches that have more ingredients with multi-syllablic chemicals in them than actual food is alarming. Over and over again they pointed out on the show that this is the first generation of kids that have a shorter life expectancy than the previous generation.

I'm not a physician and I'm not a parent, but what I am is a chef who cares about food. I care about he quality of food you and I eat, where it comes from and how it tastes. I know that sometimes our pocket books dictate what we eat, but I think too many of us are settling. We can do more on a budget that not only will help us increase our life expectancy but will help our local economies. I believe that what we eat directly attributes to how much we will spend on health care in our lifetimes. So many of the diseases we suffer from can be eliminated or controlled through diet. And I'm not talking about only eating lettuce. I'm talking about cutting out processed, unnatural foods that don't even taste good. We just have to start cooking again.

If you care, start watching Jamie's Show on ABC. It is eye opening. Then check out some books that may open your eyes even further. One i'm reading currently that may be of interest is Jill Richardson's "Recipe for America: Why Our Food System is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix it." Others on my list of favorites are Michael Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilemma" and Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle."

In conjunction with this I'm planning on focusing my menus more on Mediterranean cuisine highlighting locally produced foods and less on typical mid-western fare. It may be the financially risky approach, but it is the one that agrees with my moral and culinary sensibilities. Check out our monthly menus on our website at www.chestnut-inn.com.