The 4th annual Starchefs International Chefs Congress took place last week in NYC. Once again, it has proven to be a fountainhead of creativity for chefs, mixologists, and industry professionals. I could wax on at great length about the ideas and inspiration presented there, but instead, I'll let you see for yourself.
Richard Blais Workshop: Breakfast, in B Minor
smoked corned beef hash sausage, buckwheat pancakes, whipped maple, iced coffee, brown butter.
David Bouley Paris to Tokyo: French Cuisine, Japanese Techniques
miso black cod, black onion powder
Yoshihiro Murata The Quest for Umami
Modern kaiseki; an homage to autumn.
vegetables with kuzu jelly and aromatic kombu dashi.
April Bloomfield Pig, Pig, Pig
slow poached St-Canut suckling pork belly, onion puree, deep-fried garlic confit, fried pig ears, puffed skin.
Pierre Gagnaire Creativity a la Minute
Le maitre de Cuisine takes on a mystery basket of American ingredients. He prepares 3 dishes plus 3 alter-dishes from leftover components.
top: duck and shrimp sauteed in duck fat, teardrop tomatoes. alter-dish: langoustine bouillion, kale, beet and asian pear puree, micro-greens butter. bottom: almond and toasted flour crumble, salmon belly, scallions, pequeno cucumbers, fresh dates, thyme, honey.
Johnny Iuzzini, Sam Mason, Alex Stupak Three Men and a Dessert
Actually, three men and three desserts.
top: Alex Stupak's "Apple Pie" (sauteed apple mosaic tiles, pecan shards, whipped cider, vanilla ice cream with liquid caramel center. bottom: Sam Mason's "Jello Shot" (bbq sauce-infused whisky, watermelon) missing: Johnny Iuzzini's "Dirt Pot" (chocolate pudding, soil, and agar noodle 'gummi worms')
Jose Andres American Cuisine Through a Spanish Lens
"Tom Collins" carbonated spheres
Masaharu Morimoto Hook, Line, and Sinker
raw fluke, cooked eel
Rohini Dey and Maneet Chauhan The Deal with Fusion
India meets Latin-America
Tandoori Skirt Steak, sauteed spinach, fried plantains
Juan Mari Arzak Techniques From Arzak Laboratory
top: seared tuna with blackened tuna skin emulsion. bottom: "Lunar Rock" orange, passionfruit, milk chocolate, black sesame, red wine. Last picture shows the dish glowing on a custom LED-lighted plate.
Sean Brock Getting Down with Lowcountry Cuisine
top: "the garden" bottom: "hoppin' john"
Rick Tramonto The Birth of Modern American Cuisine
lavender lamb loin with toasted almond espuma and chocolate-red wine sauce
Nils Noren and Dave Arnold High-Tech Delicious
Mokume-Gane fish and lamb, pumpernickel ice cream, curried apple and fennel
The descriptions of the dishes are from memory (which sometimes fails me). I would appreciate any corrections/clarifications.
For a day-by-day wrap up, go to starchefs.com
For more photos and descriptions, check out docsconz's blog. John photographed everything.
Playing with Fire and Water 
I know you spent a good deal of time downing beers with us, so when did you get all of these amazing photos? I wasn’t that drunk.
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The problem with photographing everything, Linda, is that it takes time to get everything out! Nice work!
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Je connais les délices de certains des chefs dont vous parlez, j’aurai aimé être à NYC pour déguster des yeux tous ces plats !
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Gah, I wish I could have gone with you. Looks amazing. Are we still on for October?
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Apparently, neither was I.
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wish you had, too.
working on getting a weekend off in Oct… will be in touch.
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thats strange…. i have a website titled “The Quest for Umami”
i actually link to your site b/c it is so stellar! visit, if you like. although, it is no where near as good as yours.
amazing pictures by the way.
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I guess I was in the “downing (Belgian!) beers corner” when you were out and about taking pictures.
That sad I think this bog rocks.
Nor surprise you were there at ICC thus.
Keep it up, I know I will be following you up 🙂
http://chefskitchenblog.blogspot.com
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Kitchen Design With different amazed to Choose From Today
Many styles and designs to select the form of this training and get a new kitchen fitted, we have. This may be an idea of period features and antique furnishings, traditional cuisine, such as, or better yet practical cabinets and faucets with a clean…
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