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.