Chummy Mary anyone?
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Monday, October 24, 2005
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Celebrity Chef in Northport
Mario Unplugged - article from Record Eagle: July 4th, 2005 by Kathy Gibbons.
By the time you read this, two legs of lamb that marinated for days at Mario Batali's Northport home will be but a memory in his family's outdoor cooking hall of fame.
Last Tuesday, Batali coated the lamb with a mix of cumin and Greek yogurt he bought at Hansen's in Suttons Bay, and rolled them around a stuffing of preserved lemons, cilantro and chilis. They would remain marinating that way in anticipation of his new wood-burning pizza oven being completed.
The oven was still under construction Tuesday, but he was hoping to be cooking the lamb in it by Friday. Even unfinished, though, the oven was already clearly established as a shrine-like visage in a corner of the yard.
"I am going to cook my Christmas ham out there," he said, not unlike a proud new father. The internationally known cookbook author and chef, who owns seven restaurants and a retail wine store in New York, is a Food Network star with three TV shows, and soon-to-be owner of yet another restaurant in Las Vegas, spends a week at Christmas and about half of his summer at his family's house in Leelanau County. Most of the rest of the year, they live in New York City.
While he's here this summer, Batali will donate a dinner for 12 to the Leelanau Conservancy. It's one of 100-plus items currently up for bid in the Conservancy's Online Silent Auction.
"We know a bunch of people in the group," Batali said. "They said, 'Do you want to donate a book?' I said, 'A book? Let's make some money.' "
The dinner is set for Friday, Aug. 26, at Cherry Basket Farm in Omena, which has a catering kitchen. The evening will include a hands-on cooking lesson, wine tasting and dinner with Batali, just named Outstanding Chef of the Year by the James Beard Foundation.
"A lot of times when you do these bid-out dinners, they don't have a good kitchen, and you're digging through the back of their cupboards," he said. "I'm going into a restaurant kitchen; it's going to be fancy and luxurious."
He points out, though, that the winner and guests will be put to work.
"If they don't help make the gnocchi, they won't eat."
Batali, his wife Susi and their two young sons have been coming to Northport for the past several years. Susi's from New York, but attended the University of Michigan and had friends from Cincinnati turn them on to the tip of Leelanau County. The Batalis rented a house for a few seasons. When the owner decided to move back in, they looked around and found a place on the water of their own to buy two years ago.
Their house is currently being renovated. Saws were buzzing and hammers pounding as Batali sat last Tuesday at a picnic table on their new screened-in porch. He had a Target bag filled with a bunch of new music - a lot of country, a lot of rock - and was taking the CDs out of their wrappers and putting them in cases as he talked about food and the time he spends in the Traverse City area.
While they also own farms in upstate New York and Italy, Batali, Susi and their children have made themselves a home away from home here. The boys go to day camp and otherwise enjoy lazy summer days and quiet star-lit nights at their place on the beach.
When he can, Batali plays golf. Getting a chance to be, say, 400 yards away from another person is a nice respite from working shoulder to shoulder on a line in a kitchen.
"I spend my life standing right next to people," he said.
While here, the Batalis like to cook, for themselves as well as friends. Batali is a regular at Hansen's. ("Dave Hansen will get me just about anything I ask for.") He buys his meats mainly from Burritt's in Traverse City or Hansen's. He loves the international section ("the back left corner") at Meijer, saying he can find just about anything he needs there.
"Plus you can get your tires there, too," he added. (For trailers and bicycles, that is.)
Earlier that day, Batali had gone out to buy fresh whitefish from Carlson's in Leland. He was having guests for a business lunch on Wednesday - they were coming to discuss his new product line with Copco - and was going to make them fish tacos. He gets his tortillas from Osorio El Mexicano in Traverse City , or Meijer.
For bread, it's Stone House. The Batalis pick fresh cherries at a friend's orchard. Other produce is from local purveyors, with Jim Bell's Bell's of Christmas farm market and garden shop near their house being a favorite.
"When you get snow peas from him, you know they were on the vine the day before," Batali said."
In fact, he said, the best meals are simple and fresh. His favorite way to eat pasta is a simple mix of olive oil, garlic, chilis and - not cheese, but breadcrumbs.
The key, he said, is to use "great ingredients ... and don't mess 'em up too much." He said such ingredients are abundant in the Grand Traverse region.
"What you have here is so remarkable," he said. "Like that Lake Michigan whitefish, fresh today. All I have to do is not burn it."
Susi wants their sons to cook one meal a week all summer, with each having to come up with his own menu. For the 7-year-old, it's sloppy joes, and Batali rattled off the recipe: 5 T. tomato paste, 2 t. sugar, 2 lbs. ground turkey, 1 jar Ortega mild salsa - simmer 45 minutes and serve on buns. For the 8-year-old, it will be grilled hamburgers with corn on the cob, though he and dad still have to work out the recipes.
They also enjoy dining out and love that they can call up and get reservations with only a day or so notice, unlike New York.
"We still have the New York City mindset - you've got to call and get reservations, everyone freaks out if you don't call in advance," he said.
The night before, the Batalis had been out to dinner at Hanna in Traverse City. Batali raved about the mussels in Thai curry sauce that chef/owner Jim Milliman cooked up.
"He (Milliman) made it perfect - just beautiful, simple, perfect food," Batali said. "Without a doubt, it's the best meal I've had up here."
The two had not met before, and following dinner, Batali went back to the kitchen and introduced himself. Milliman had known he was cooking for Batali, but said he tries to give celebrities privacy when they come to his restaurant and so hadn't gone into the dining room to meet Batali before that.
"I think it would be terrible to be a celebrity because you can't go anywhere, so I have always offered chefs and others privacy," Milliman said later. "If they want to come and talk, they can."
The Batalis will probably make it to Tapawingo in Ellsworth twice this summer. They like sitting outside and dining at the Riverside Inn in Leland. The Eat Spot in Northport is a favorite because it's close, they said, and convenient for when they just want to pick up a pizza; they like the sandwiches, too. The Batalis were sorry to return this year and find Woody's in Northport closed.
Last year, Batali's favorite restaurant meal here was at Mode's Bum Steer in Traverse City. "It was steak and salad bar," he said. "The waitresses have attitude in a good way. It was a great experience."
Batali has never thought about opening a restaurant around Traverse City - then, he said, it wouldn't be vacation anymore. So he comes and goes to New York. Relaxes with his family when he's here. And enjoys showing his little piece of paradise to visitors who have never been to northern Lower Michigan before.
"They're amazed. The beauty of this is it is still undiscovered," he said. "For Michiganders, it is (discovered). But for the rest of us. ...
"It's a very special place. This is where we come to chill."
Mario Batali's Favorite Pasta: Olive oil, Chilis or dried chili flakes, Garlic, Fresh chopped parsley, Pasta, Breadcrumbs made from stale bread
Boil pasta until al dente. Drain. Put olive oil in a cool pan and sauté garlic and chilis or chili flakes. Add cooked pasta with a little bit of the pasta water and stir until coated. Sprinkle with parsley and homemade breadcrumbs. Serve.
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