Dinner August 22, 2009

There are thousands of pages written about repetition–the impossibility of any repetition being the Same. One only has to spend time trying to throw wadded up paper balls into a trash can to discover that repetition has nothing to do with repeating the same. For my repetitive act does not always result with the paper in the can and quite often as this folly is played out the focus will change from the trash can to another target. If one can stay in the active motion of repetition, one begins to understand the small deviations that ripple out into larger effects. Even if one where to perfect the toss and actually repeat it as the same, Time would always turn the observing of this action into the difference between the time before and the time after...

What repetition does amount to when set into motion and accumulated is a practice. And when acknowledged as such offers us the ability to slightly adjust, tiny movements of equilibrium and deviation that shy away from expressed goals, understand the enjoyment in the nudging of a practice along with its structure...

Tonight we cooked the menu that we cooked the night before–a repetition in much the manner mentioned above. When we had Rupperts Restaurant we would say the menu changed every night but in fact often the menu changed only slightly as the dishes themselves were never the same. Always a nudging in the direction of whatever variables where presented us AND what we felt was the best possible outcome for us and our guests... "It takes years to perfect a dish" and I can honestly say that we have never approached cooking this way. Maybe because we felt as though we never had set goals of rigid expectations when it came to cooking. We did perfect certain moves or processes that contributed to dishes and always tried to see where we could go with them–never wanting to become static, understanding the goal of perfect is antithetical to perfection. Things are what the are, always in motion and isn't that wonderful?

Chefs will cook a dish a thousand times and no matter how hard they try it is never truly the same, for them or their observers, and this is what I find exhilarating about cooking... I guess its also why opening a big production restaurant in Las Vegas or any where else has never appealed to me... We had a blast in our Laboratory tonight and want to thank our guests for braving such a soaking wet night in the middle of August...

Again:

Dinner August 22, 2009

Passing
Lima Bean Puree on Spoon
Braised Cucumber
Salmon Cake on Beet Chip

Thyme Lemon Vodka Martini

Seated

Curried White Peach and Red Lentil Soup
Sliced Potato Bread

Chardonnay Borgogne Domaine de Montmeix 2006

Raw Mushroom Marinated in Lemon and Chive with Pea Shoots
Stone Baked Onion Bread

(Dom. des Roy) Touraine ROUGE "Les Linottes" 2008

Baby Chicken Gumbo, Calaloo, Okra, Tomato, Black Barley
Salty Baguette
Hot Sauce on the Side

(Puffeney) Arbois Rouge Vielles Vignes 2004

Panache D’Aramits, Cracker and Kale Sprouts with Walnut Oil

Watermelon Pudding with Fresh Local Watermelon Slice

Cremant de Loire

Honey Cake, with Frozen Honey and Vanilla with Raw Fig, Dried Fig and
Warm Fig Compote

Fennel Seed Shortbread, Oatmeal Chocolate Cashew Drops, Mint Cake with Mint Icing

Playlist for a rainy August night began with the melancholy contemporary cowboy poet Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and moved toward the Hammond B3 jazz/soul of John Patton to the quick tempo of Oscar Peterson playing Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, then Mingus, some Sun Ra and finishing with another melancholy cowboy–Townes Van Zandt... Some Cassandra, Ella, Willie, Miles, Brubeck and Etta sprinkled in along the way...

Hard Life, Master And Everyone, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Three Questions, Master And Everyone, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Lessons From What's Poor, Master And Everyone, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Maundering, Master And Everyone, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Master And Everyone, Master And Everyone, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Ain't You Wealthy, Ain't You Wise?, Master And Everyone, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
The Way, Master And Everyone, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Rich Wife Full Of Happiness, Ease Down The Road, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Grand Dark Feeling Of Emptiness, Ease Down The Road, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
A King At Night, Ease Down The Road, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
May It Always Be, Ease Down The Road, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Tupelo Honey, Blue Light 'Til Dawn, Cassandra Wilson
Ev'ry Time We Say Good-Bye, The Cole Porter Songbook (Disc 1), Ella Fitzgerald
Cantaloupe Island, Cantaloupe Island, Herbie Hancock
The Sermon, Blue Note Years- Vol 3 Organ & Soul (Disc 1), Jimmy Smith
Prayer Meetin', Prayer Meetin' [Bonus Tracks], Jimmy Smith
Let 'Em Roll, Blue Note Years- Vol 3 Organ & Soul (Disc 1), John Patton
Memphis, Memphis To New York Spirit, John Patton
The Mandingo, Memphis To New York Spirit, John Patton
Bloodyun, Memphis To New York Spirit, John Patton
Steno, Memphis To New York Spirit, John Patton
Man From Tanganyika, Memphis To New York Spirit, John Patton
Cissy Strut, Memphis To New York Spirit, John Patton
Dragon Slayer, Memphis To New York Spirit, John Patton
Something's Coming, West Side Story, Oscar Peterson Trio
Somewhere, West Side Story, Oscar Peterson Trio
Jet Song, West Side Story, Oscar Peterson Trio
Tonight, West Side Story, Oscar Peterson Trio
Maria, West Side Story, Oscar Peterson Trio
I Feel Pretty, West Side Story, Oscar Peterson Trio
Noddin' Ya Head Blues, THREE OF FOUR SHADES OF BLUES, Charles Mingus
The Bat Cave, Batman and Robin, Sun Ra and the Blues Project
Batman and Robin Swing, Batman and Robin, Sun Ra and the Blues Project
Batmobile Wheels, Batman and Robin, Sun Ra and the Blues Project
Take Five, Time Out, The Dave Brubeck Quartet
So What, Kind of Blue, Miles Davis
In A Sentimental Mood, Duke Ellington & John Coltrane, Duke Ellington & John Coltrane
'Round Midnight, Thelonious Himself, Thelonious Monk
Stardust, West Coast Jazz Box, Dave Brubeck Quartet
Stardust, Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton, Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton
Stardust, One Hell of A Ride, Willie Nelson
If I Needed You, Be Here To Love Me, Townes Van Zandt
Don't You Take It Too Bad, Be Here To Love Me, Townes Van Zandt
To Live's To Fly, Be Here To Love Me, Townes Van Zandt
Time After Time, Traveling Miles, Cassandra Wilson
Don't Explain, Mystery Lady: Songs Of Billie Holiday, Etta James