When we took the little side project and added a French chef to it, we got our first formal seating of Table For Six. Plating and tablescape design were obviously on our mind. When Chef JB and I couldn’t agree with each other, instead of arguing, we just sketch what we had in our mind. Just like that, we almost instantly understood each other – “ouai, ouai, exactement” – then we moved on to make it happen.

If, like me, you are as obsessed about design as you are serious about food, you must get yourself a copy of the Design Observer’s latest quarterly – The Food Issue. And if, like me, you missed the very insightful Taste symposium this past February in Los Angeles, this reader is like a can opener for curious thoughts and research on our food culture.

Link to podcast on the symposium (and ‘sausage party’ the movie)

Preview the Food Issue on Blurb:

Little Mushroom set out for an adventure
Lost into the woods, they ran into Ms. Quail
and Mr. Black Boar.

Chinese steamed rice with mushroom,
edamame, Xinjiang dates, spicy sausage and quail egg.
Come back in March for step by step recipe.

a.k.a. the one with all the rabbits. Table For Six May edition invited our guests to casa Aaron Sokolik and Sabrina Wirth-Sokolik. Tech entrepreneur and chef Aaron created an incredible six course tasting menu featuring rabbits and other animals on the farm. Special thanks to our wonderful guests, the most lovely Sabrina, and three very special bunnies: Maximilian, Augusto and Erasmus. To participate our project and stay updated for future events, please visit https://tableforsix.co/sign-up/. Interested in becoming hosting a pop-up? Please write to nicky@tableforsix.co 

Where’s our dinner next? Shhh.. it’s a secret. 😉

Double Fried Tenderloin w/ Tarragon Aioli and Chive Blossom

Pressed Pork Belly, Braised Carrots and Greens

Rabbit Leg & Hen of the Woods Mushroom Ravioli w/ Rabbit Liver Pate

Kidney on Sorrel, Rabbit w/ Tomato Lavender Jam and Cabbage, Pistachio Potato Mash

“Every Bunny Died for Love” themed goodie bags

the UWS dining room

Spring time arrived fashionably late in New York City. At the farmers market however, spring is in full bloom. Make sure to pick up some asparagus and spring lamb on the way home – they are most delicious right about now. For our spring menu, we organized our first pop-up event at Chef Bryan’s very own rad pad on the Upper East Side.Deeply inspired by the season, Chef Bryan created a delightful range of flavors: fresh asparagus with creamy poached egg, celery heart and feta cheese, roasted spring lamb with young artichokes and mint pesto, and a rich earl grey cheese cake with blueberry dust.

A Pop-up dinner Chez Bryan

Fresh Asparagus with Poached Egg, Celery and Feta

Spring Lamb with Artichoke and Mint Pesto

Earl Grey Cheese Cake with Blueberry Dust and Preserved Lemon Caramel

Special thanks to our friends, old and new, who came to our spring gathering: Ruth and Phil from W42ST, architect Gary (SOM), architect/talented digital artist Jiaying, Aaron and Sabrina (artwirth.com & Ten Arquitectos)

For Table For Six’s winter 2016 menu, we visited Northern Italy in the 1960s. We found inspirations from both Antonioni’s first color film Deserto Rosso (Red Desert) and Giorgio Morandi’s late still life paintings (on view by appointment at Center for Italian Modern Art). Shot in Ravenna, Red Desert set out to paint an alienated industrial landscape and the internal world of its protagonist. The colors in the film were widely studied; Antonioni sometimes literally painted the scenes so the fruits on the vendor’s cart, the trees and the sidewalks could come together to achieve a very precise color palette, a palette astonishingly similar to Morandi’s still life paintings towards the end of his life. A Bologna local, Giorgio Morandi spent most of his life painting and teaching copper plate etching in Bologna. Coincidentally Red Desert was released the year Morandi died in 1964.

Scene from Deserto Rosso, 1964

Giorgio Morandi, Still Life, Oil on Canvas, 1956

Spicy Almond stuffed Olives \ Asparagus mini crepes

Seared Scallop w/pink peppercorn and Meyer lemon crisp (image courtesy of Pinsi Lei)

Osso Buco w/ risotto alla Milanese and brocolini

Pear Walnut Cake w/ creme fraiche

2016 marks the new collaboration with chef Bryan Mercado. With extensive experience as a private chef cooking from a home kitchen, Bryan brings to the project just the love and energy it deserves. Our winter menu now includes exciting spring colors of bright yellow and grassy green. Tremendous thanks to our January guests: Alexandria S Lee, TJ, Julia H, Sebastian+David, and our most lovely birthday girl Ellen. Make sure to check out Ellen’s amazing project the Fleet and support local modern dance groups!

smoked duck breast with pistachio butter

butternut squash soup with chive oil and pepitas

John Dory w/ fennel madarin and black garlic on scallion puree

Flourless Chocolate Torte with kumquat and rapsberry

a little tb6 macaroons to take home

We named her Loraine. 15 pounds and 4 ounces, and gloriously delicious. To quote our seasoned food critic Gary: “That’s the juiciest breast I’ve ever tasted.” And for the Austrian: “I hate to say this but it’s better than my grandma’s turkey on New Year’s Eve.” 😏 😏 😏

Thanksgiving is centered around the turkey and in my kitchen the turkey is centered on one question: to brine or not to brine. But before we get to Table For Six method of how to roast the perfect bird, we have several more steps and about 2 days to go.

Now, important steps to a perfect turkey:

— 1.5 days before Thanksgiving —

1. The bird: Pick a fresh (not frozen) organic (not just cage-free) heritage bird or at least a half heritage (sometimes they are called heirloom). From heritage to heirloom to organic to non-organic cage-free to a regular frozen turkey, the flavor profile decreases significantly as the price tag gets smaller by a logarithm of 1/2. I suggest a second best to a heritage bird, which would be between 60-80 dollars for a 14 lb. Don’t bother the rest of the steps if you bought a frozen turkey that hasn’t been thawed yet.

2.0. Remove neck and giblets. With a paper towel, pat the skin and the cavity dry.

2.1. Do not name the bird. (Although I couldn’t help it as I was massaging truffle oil on its skin. Loraine, after the chicken in BMO noir from Adventure Time.)

3. Brine. After reading articles after articles about the pros and cons of brining, I decided to try a two step brining. First prepare a buttermilk brine with salt, bay leaves, juniper berries, thyme, onion, fennel seeds or whatever spices you would like to add – to Thomas Joseph’s recipe I added about a cup of dried orange peel. With a paper towel, dry the bird free of blood and excess water. Use a brining bag and a bucket big enough to hold the bird and all the liquid. For each pound of turkey, you need 1 full hour of brining. (i.e. 15 hours for a 15 lb bird). Keep the bird bath in the refrigerator the whole time. (Time to clear and clean the fridge!)

4. Post-brine drying. Take the bird out of the brine, discard the brine and rinse the bird under running water for about 1-2 minutes. This is to remove excess salt from the skin. Pat dry with paper towel, then back into the fridge with a damp paper towel covering the breast, for another 1 hour/pound. (about another 15 hours for Loraine)

–5 hours before guests arrive–

5. Take the bird out of the fridge and leave under room temperature for at least an hour. This step is very important for a crisp skin. Make your cranberry sauce and mulled wine while waiting! 

>>>super easy NY Times recipe for lime zest cranberry sauce
6. Oil. While waiting for the oven to pre-heat  to 400 degrees: massage the bird with herbed butter and drizzle with truffle oil. Onion, lemon, herbs and apple into the cavity. Tug the wings under and truss the legs with twine. (Always cook the stuffing separately.)

7.  Put the bird into the oven breast down for the first 15 minutes, and lower the temperature to 375 for another half an hour. Flip the bird to be breast side up (ask a friend to help if you have a big bird!) and back to the oven for another 3 hours.

7.01 Bask the turkey (pour juice over the breasts) every 30 – 40 minutes, cover the breasts with aluminum foil if the skin starts to burn.

(Time to set the cheese and wine station!)

8. Stab an instant thermometer into two locations: the deep end of the breast and legs. When both read 165 degrees, the bird is done.   Garnish and serve. For carving techniques, one must understand the turkey’s anatomy. I used Chef Steps super awesome video diagram. See link below –

Anatomy of a Turkey by ChefSteps