Pssst -- New blog address!

Hey, readers. Wondering where the Pachamama's blog went? It's still around, we promise. Check out our blog at its new address:

http://www.pachamamas.com/blog/

(Now it's more closely linked with the main Web site.)

Thanks!

Hello and Good-bye!

Well, faithful blog-readers, it's time for me to formally introduce myself... and then say good-bye. I'm Becca Evanhoe. I've been writing these posts for the Pachamama's blog since its inception. And tonight is my last night as a manager here.

I started as a server two years ago, and moved up to manager about 8 months ago. Now I'm headed of to graduate school in a few weeks. I'm getting a little misty-eyed, trying to write about how much I've loved being part of the Pachamama's crew. It's difficult to talk about something you love without using cliches, but it's late, and I'm tired, so I'm going for it.

This has been the best job I could imagine. I've made some of my best friends. I've had a job that I looked forward to going to every day. I got to live in a world of daily food adventures and incredible cocktails. I feel lucky, lucky, lucky to have had the chance to work for this place.

Below is a picture of me, taken tonight. Pachamama's tradition: On your last night as an employee, you get a pie in the face. A pie** thrown with love and respect, of course. Tonight, for my pie-ing, the kitchen staff talked one of our favorite patrons into doing their dirty work: former Jayhawk and NBA retiree Scot Pollard. That's right; I had the honor of taking a pie in the face thrown by a sports superstar, making this pie-ing one for the Pach history books.

Scot looks great, but this isn't a flattering picture of me -- mostly because I'm laughing hysterically.



There IS a new manager hired in my stead who is the designated blogger and Facebooker. So rest assured that the Pach blog continues on!

Well, the restaurant is getting quiet, so it's almost time to close 'er on up. Goodnight, Pachamama's! I love you!

** We call them "pies," but it's really just whipped cream.

We love Quince Paste.

Yes, we love quince paste (especially on the Ham and Cheese Baguette!), but what is a quince? Well, glad you asked. Quince is a pale yellow, pear-like fruit that is sour to the taste.



It was first cultivated in the middle-east and subsequently brought over to Greece, where it gained culinary popularity and mythological stature. In fact, quince domestication predates that of the apple, and is considered by many scholars to be the forbidden fruit described in the Garden of Eden. Exciting, no?



Despite it's sour taste, quince can be made into delicious marmalade, jams and jellies. The term "marmalade", originally meaning a quince jam, derives from "marmelo," the Portuguese word for this fruit.

On the Safe Side: Our thinking on the Gulf of Mexico's seafood

Although the culinary impacts of the BP oil spill are the least of the nation's concerns, here at Pachamama's we do have a responsibility to think about the issue from the epicurean lens. Should we continue to serve seafood from the Gulf, or find another source?

Most of our fish comes from Hawaii*** (with a few exceptions, such as the Alaskan halibut on this month's dinner menu). The main Gulf-of-Mexico-sourced product we serve is rock shrimp, in our "Rock Shrimp and Mac & Cheese 'Lollipops'". So it's our duty to figure out if Gulf seafood would be safe, and to do that, we had to figure out what safe meant.

An AP article in Sunday's Lawrence Journal World, "Agency: Gulf seafood tested so far is safe for eating," says that the FDA has deemed Gulf seafood safe for eating. They do a "smell test" (that's what it sounds like) and some basic chemical analysis for just some of the chemical compounds resulting from the oil spill.

But the problem is, the Gulf of Mexico and its fishing industry is huge. The FDA can't test all the fish all the time, and seafood processors get seafood from many different fishermen. So doing a wide enough sampling is difficult, and controlling where the seafood is caught is difficult, too.

And this sort of statement is worrisome, too: "One fish sample has failed the smell test, but did not show concerning levels of contaminants, Kevin Griffis of the Commerce Department said Friday." To paraphrase: the sample did contain some contaminants, but FDA says that the levels weren't high enough to be problematic. But isn't any amount of oil-based contaminant a bad thing?

To be on the safe side, we're backing away from shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico. Once we run through our stash of shrimp (we buy a high-quality frozen product), we'll be looking for other sources of a high-quality rock shrimp to use. We'll keep you posted on what we're able to find.

***Note to readers: The eco-impact of serving any seafood in Kansas is something we think about a lot, and it's a topic worth discussing on this blog. Stay tuned for posts on our viewpoints concerning environmental issues such as over-fishing and farm-raising, quality of product, human health, transportation and fossil fuels, etc.

What is "New American Market Cuisine"?

This post aims to shed light on the basics of Pachamama's culinary philosophy. Perhaps this explanation is coming to you a little late -- afterall, this blog has been going for half a year now. But lately, we've been training new staff members, and part of their training is to learn more about Pachamama's and its cuisine, so the topic is on our radar. In training new service staff, we explain how to answer the question, "What kind of food does Pachamama's serve?"

Here's what we tell them: "Pachamama’s Restaurant serves New American Market Cuisine, a term for upscale cooking that blends flavors from America's melting pot with traditional techniques. The cuisine includes ethnic twists on old standbys and Old World peasant dishes, re-introducing us to America's diverse culinary heritage with an emphasis on seasonality and sustainability."

So "New American Market Cuisine" may seem like a catch-all — and it can be; the description covers a lot of ground, which reflects the sprawling nature of the style of cooking. It’s a way of combining all of the “Bests,” such as highest quality ingredients, most favorite dishes in a cuisine, and elegant and complex cooking methods.

Sometimes our chefs cook dishes inspired by peasant food (shepherd's pie), other times it’s homestyle soulfood (shrimp & grits), and even classic French cooking (coq au vin).

Some passions of ours:

* Local produce & meats.

* Ingredients (particularly seafood) that are as sustainable as possible.

* House-made (a.k.a. from scratch): If we can make it, we make it here with our own little hands. That includes mozzarella, ketchup, marshmallows, simple syrup, infused vodkas and whiskies, burger buns, salsas, broths, etc.

* Great wine and cocktails: Here, too, we try to blend old classics (cocktails like Manhattans, and traditional French and Italian wines) with new innovations (original cocktails designed by our bartenders, and wines from younger wine-growing regions like South Africa and Virginia.)

* Nose-to-tail eating. We are passionate and respectful carnivores. No part of an animal goes to waste on our watch. Cow heads are boiled into headcheese; duck fat is reserved and used to make dishes richer; chicken bones meet carrot and celery stubs to be turned into stock; pork scraps are ground with spices and sausaged; ends of tenderloins and steak trimmings are ground into our Star Bar burger meat.

Whew. That's today's bit of insight into the viewpoint from which Chef Ken and his crew work from. Chef Ken Baker’s guiding principle for Pachamama’s cuisine, whether the dish is simple or refined, classic or avant-garde, is this: that every dish be striking, playful, thoughtful, and of course, delicious.

Summer Desserts!

These pictures were taken just a few minutes ago at our staff tasting. Here's the summer dessert line-up:

Baked Alaska with Raspberry Sorbet, Bittersweet Chocolate Brownie, and Torched Meringue.





Callebaut Chocolate Bread Pudding with Chocolate Swirl Brioche, Caramelized White Chocolate Ice Cream, and Warm Chambord Sauce.




Ricotta Vanilla Bean Crêpes with Ricotta Chocolate Chip Filling, Strawberries, and Candied Citrus Ice Cream.



Moist Coconut Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, Pineapple Ice Cream, and Macadamia-Coconut White Chocolate Bark.





Cherry Tarte Tatin with Puff Pastry and Rhubarb Ice Cream.

TGIF Wine Tasting: Firecracker Reds for the 4th

IL POGGIONE | 2007 ROSSO DI MONTALCINO, TUSCANY, ITALY
Younger, more accessible version of Brunello, but already very well-developed with a strong character, Rosso di Montalcino is a very important wine for Tenuta Il Poggione. Produced entirely from Sangiovese grapes from the youngest of the estate’s vineyards, Rosso di Montalcino is matured for 12 months in large barrels before undergoing a period of bottle aging. Aging in wood, though not obligatory for the production of Rosso di Montalcino, tones down the tannins typical of a young Sangiovese and gives this red wine the complex aroma and body that make it a great “young Brunello”.

EBERLE | 2006 ‘VINEYARD SELECT’ CABERNET SAUVIGNON, PASO ROBLES, CA
Eberle Vineyard Selection Cabernet Sauvignon displays 100 percent varietal characteristics blended from five distinguished Paso Robles vineyards, including the Eberle Estate vineyard. Approachable and enjoyable in its youth, lush with flavors of wild berries, cassis and moderate tannins, it is also worthy of aging for several years.

DRY CREEK | 2007 ‘HERITAGE CLONE’ ZINFANDEL, SONOMA, CA
The 2007 Heritage Zinfandel combines fruit from the warm Dry Creek Valley and cool Russian River Valley appellations. Aromas of blueberry and raspberry are framed by notes of white pepper and chocolate. On the palate, an abundance of fresh berry fruit mingles with dollops of creamy oak. The tannins are refined and smooth, giving this wine a long and satisfying finish. 87 percent Zinfandel, 13 percent Petite Sirah.

Chef's Inspiration: Baby Back Ribs and a Fried and Stuffed Squash Blossom

The latest from Chef Brian Strecker: a half slab of Berkshire pork baby back ribs with peach BBQ sauce and a fried squash blossom stuffed with white cheddar and jalapeno. See pictures of the blossoms being stuffed below (pictures were taken around 1:30 p.m. this afternoon):

Pachamama's Crew has Worlds and Oceans of Fun

A group of hosts, servers, and cooks made the short trip to Kansas City to have some serious day-off fun.

And... New Summer Entrées.

Ladies and gentlemen, the stars of the show. (These aren't all the entrées; not pictured are Applewood Smoked Duck Breast, and Artichoke Crusted Clarks Farm Chicken Breast.)

Phyllo Wrapped Alaskan Halibut with arugula, serrano ham, and snap pea-marcona almond vinaigrette.




Coffee and Peppercorn Rubbed Beef Ribeye with gorgonzola and corn whipped potatoes, garden beans, and natural jus.




Farmers Market Vegetable Shepherd’s Pie with summer vegetable ragout, lemon-truffle whipped potatoes, and pastry.




Oaxaca Cheese Stuffed Thick Cut Pork Chop with crushed hominy, avocado, cabbage, radish, and chili rojo.



** As always, this photography is intended for educational, rather than artistic purposes!

Say hello to summer!

Our staff tasting JUST finished for the new menu. We'll post the starters now and the entrées tomorrow. (Plus a behind-the-scenes look at the meeting itself...).

Little Gem Wedge "BLT" with heirloom tomato, avocado, applewood-smoked bacon, and camobozola-buttermilk dressing.



Smoked Hawaiian Ono-Coconut-Tomato Salad with chilis, macadamia nuts, lime, grilled country bread, and coconut preserve.



Rock Shrimp and Mac & Cheese "Lollipops" with celery pesto and long pepper aioli.



Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras with griddled johnny cake, maple, summer melon, smoked sea salt.



Sheep's Milk Cheese & Charred Corn Gnudi with local chanterelles, Moroccan-spiced blackberry brown butter.



And here's what it actually is like to be a server at Pachamama's -- tastings are fun, but they're also serious. Our servers read study guides, take notes, and listen to mini-tutorials from Chefs Ken and Brian to get to know our menu. (There's a written test over food and wine pairings in a week.) Study up, folks!

New Summer Dinner Menu on Thursday

A couple of sneak peeks from the new menu... These are Chef Ken Baker's and Chef Brian Strecker's notes from the staff study guide. (The staff has a tasting of all the dishes Thursday afternoon, just before dinner service, and a written test the following week.) We'll take pictures at the tasting and post them shortly after!

From Ken, who creates the starters:
Smoked Hawaiian Ono-Coconut-Tomato Salad
with chili, macadamia, lime, grilled country bread, and coconut preserve.

Ono is a Hawaiian mackerel -- a very fatty and flavorful fish that takes to smoke like a frog to water. Here, it is paired with coconut, toasted macadamia, lime, chili, basil, cilantro, and ginger. This is a dish of the South Pacific. Served in a rocks glass with some coconut preserves to spread on grilled bread with the salad.

From Brian, who creates the entrées:
Coffee and Peppercorn Rubbed Beef Ribeye
with gorgonzola and corn whipped potatoes, garden beans, and natural jus.

Bye Bye Tenderloin, Hello Flavor! Filet is good, but for true carnivores we need more fat. Here, we rub a 16-oz ribeye with a coffee and peppercorn rub before charring lightly on the grill. Sweet and salty components are folded into the potatoes. Various bean will come into play here as well like roma beans, green, yellow and purple wax beans plus more. They are blistered with a little bacon and onions just like grandma made and the dish is finished with a reduction of red wine and veal stock.

What's a shandy?

Our central topic of debate today. Some bartenders said a shandy was beer and ginger ale; others said beer and lemonade. (At least we agreed on the beer part.) But luckily, it's the year 2010, and cell phones can access the internet. So we quickly found out through wikipedia that a traditional UK shandy has carbonated lemonade, and shandygaff has ginger ale, and a German version uses carbonated lemonade as well, which they call a "Cyclist."

Why did we care so much? Well, right now we're serving up Free State Wheat State Golden for $2 a pint -- or, you can get a shandy made with it for $2. So when you come in to order a shandy, you can specify whether you want it with lemonade or ginger ale.

Or both. We tried it with both at the same time -- we're calling it "Pachamama's style" -- and it's worth a try at $2 a pop.

TGIF Wine Tasting: Loring Wine Company Pinot Noirs

Loring Wine Company is owned by Brian Loring, a self-proclaimed "Pinot Freak." He's a winemaker who carefully selects his grapes from fantastic vinyards in Oregon and California.

From his Web site: "My philosophy on making wine is that the fruit is EVERYTHING. What happens in the vineyard determines the quality of the wine - I can't make it better - I can only screw it up!"

Clearly, he makes serious wine without taking himself too seriously.

He'll be at the Pachamama's TGIF wine tasting on Friday, June 18 with his sister Kimberly. Come try five of his pinots, with paired appetizers, for $35 a person. Please call 785.841.0990 to make a reservation. You won't want to miss this experience!

Wakarusa Valley Farms: Mushrooms!

Wakarusa Valley Farm is a certified organic (since 1989!) local Lawrence farm that grows veggies and gourmet mushrooms. (You can get these goodies at the Downtown Farmer's Market, and at the Community Mercantile.)

We will sing the praises of the farm's mesclun salad mix another time. This post will glorify their beautiful, pale pink and yellow oyster mushrooms in a series of pictures. (We got in a big box of them yesterday.)


Looks like something in a coral reef, doesn't it?





*Please bear in mind that the person taking these photos is by no means a professional!

TGIF Wine Tasting: German Rieslings

SCHLOSS WALLHAUSEN│ 2008 P2 ‘TWO PRINCES’ RIESLING, NAHE
Schloss Wallhausen is one of Germany's oldest traditional wine estates. Prinz zu Salm, the estate owner and current president of the Association of Prädikat Wine Estates, can trace his family tree back to 932 and his vineyards to 1200. “Two Princes” P2 is the signature wine of Prince Michael and Prince Constantin zu Salm-Salm, members of the 31st and 32nd generation of winemakers at the family’s estate Schloss Wallhausen. Their winery is known for exquisite Rieslings.P2 displays a perfect balance between sweetness, acidity and minerality. Delicate flavors of apricot and nectarine, with a lovely, crisp finish.

JOHANNISHOF│ 2007 ‘V’ RIESLING KABINETT, RHEINGAU
The Eser family can trace back wine growing to the year 1685. Some of the very best vineyard sites like Goldatzel, Hölle, Vogelsang in Johannisberg and Berg Rottland in Rüdesheim e.g. belong to this estate. A small and compact region, the Rheingau runs from east to west parallel to the Rhine’s 20 mile deviation from it’s northern course. The vineyards line the slopes between the protective Taunus hills and the heat-reflecting surface of the Rhine. This Kabinett wine is a typical Rheingau Riesling with its fruity character and light cherry flavor.

DR. LOOSEN│ 2007 ‘BLUE SLATE’ RIESLING KABINETT, MOSEL
Kabinett is the lightest and most delicate style of Riesling in Germany. It is produced from the earliest picking in the best vineyard sites. This estategrown Dr. Loosen Riesling Kabinett embodies the racy, mineral-driven style of steep, blue slate vineyards in the famous middle Mosel villages of Bernkastel, Graach and Wehlen. Dr. Loosen Rieslings from these villages are some of the most elegant white wines in the world, with fine density and subtle power.

JAZZOO: 1,000 sandwiches in two and a half hours.

On Friday, June 4, a crew of Pachamama's cooks and servers went to Jazzoo, an annual fundraiser for the Kansas City Zoo. (Money goes towards feeding animals and funding children's educational programs.) It's a chance for restaurants and bars to show off a little.

Each vendor gets a little tent and a table to serve food and/or drinks at, and these tents line the sidewalks of the KC Zoo. We were next to Big Momma's Bakery, a KC establishment famous for its dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls. They proved to be great booth-neighbors (we got to end our evening with a midnight snack of rolls.) Be sure to check them out - this is a business with some serious history.

At Pachamama's booth, we were serving pulled pork sandwiches with blue cheese & red cabbage slaw, and smoked apple butter. We also had a white gazpacho that was refreshing and zesty: garlic and almonds, sherry vinegar and olive oil, a dash of buttermilk, and a few other ingredients were pureed up into a pretty off-white soup, and garnished with grapes and almonds.

Here's cook Avery, chef/owner Ken, and server Tiffany. Time is about 6:00 p.m. They don't know what's about to him them...


Ken and Avery cut up rolls. Almost 1,000 rolls, that is.


Tiffany sets out the first round of sandwiches and gazpacho.


This is what the sandwiches looked like -- and they are about to disappear at a rapid pace.


Okay, notice that the ABOVE picture is taken during daylight, and the BELOW picture is taken at night time. This transition represents THE LOST HOURS; that's how it felt to our staff, too! As soon as guests began to arrive, the Pachamama's tent was swarmed with people. "Heard you had pulled pork!" "Our friends told us we've got to come try some of that pulled pork!" "Back for seconds -- I just love this pulled pork!"

Between 6:30 and 9:00 p.m., Ken and Avery assembled nearly 1,000 little sandwiches, which Tiffany immediately passed off to the horde of people crowded around the booth.

And then ... as suddenley as the rush began, it was 2.5 hours later, the sandwiches were all gone, the air had cooled, and the staff could ladle out the last of the gazpacho in relative calm. Here's Ken, able to finally relax:


Tiffany and the lonely last tray of gazpacho:

Ono! I mean, Wahoo! I mean... yum.

Farmer's Market veggies destined for tonight's entrée special... with a cameo by Wheatfields' baguettes.

Today's blog is dedicated to our entrée special this evening: pan-roasted Hawaiian ono (a.k.a. wahoo - a type of mackerel.) Ono are big, strong ocean fish with short pointed noses. (They are less susceptible to over-fishing, because they tend to travel solo, rather than in schools like tuna.) These were allegedly Ernest Hemingway's favorite fish to catch, because they put up such a fight. The meat on these fish is beautiful and very white, flaky, and delicate, with a mild flavor profile (think antithesis of tuna).

Chef Brian went next door to the Downtown Farmer's Market and bought green tomatoes, snap peas, and kohlrabi. (Kohlrabi, if you haven't tried it, is fantastic; it's the purple veggie in the pictures with the green leaves. It's a cultivar of cabbage, with a super subtle cabbage flavor and a nice crunch.) He's going to purée the kohlrabi, fry the green tomatoes, and blister the snap peas. The dish focuses on the flavors of the fish and vegetables as the stars of the show; rather than having sauces or excess spices that overpower the fish and produce, the velveted kohlrabi will act as a sauce and the veggies' flavors will be loud and clear.

TGIF Wine Tasting: McLaren Vale, Australia

Australian winery McLaren Vale is a South Australian wine region with a Mediterranean climate where farmers have been growing grapes since the 1850s.

D’ARENBERG | ‘HIGH TRELLIS’ CABERNET SAUVIGNON
The nose is perfumed, juicy and ripe with fresh blackberry dominant before a complex background emerges of fresh mint and an earthy character reminiscent of summer rain. The palate is tight and focused with varietal blackcurrant forming the core. Given time to breathe, raspberry and blueberry emerge along with coffee bean and cocoa notes that are well balanced by the cedar character of the subtle toasty oak.

MITOLO | ‘JESTER’ CABERNET SAUVIGNON
Lifted peppery spice leads into an herbaceous mix of blackberries, currants and cloves, with hints of liquorice, tar and leather whilst remaining fresh and vibrant. The youthful tannin structure will evolve over the next few years to become soft, supple and smooth.

SHIRVINGTON | CABERNET SAUVIGNON
The wine was 100% barrel fermented and aged for 12 months in 70 percent new oak and 30 percent one year old oak (a mix of French and American oaks, at that.) The wine has a deep maroon red colour. The varietal nose is an intense display of wild black currant and dark cherry, intermingled with freshly ground cinnamon, crème brulee and a fresh leafy lift. The palate is vibrant with sweet fruit, developing into a fleshy, creamy mid-palate. Fine savoury tannins built into the wine give it structure and persistence with a raw silk feel.