Great Chefs Cook Vegan - Linda Long [2]
And, thanks to Lou Manna, food photographer, for allowing me to practice at his studio. Thanks to Keith Johnson at B&H for setting me on the right path with the perfectly chosen equipment and for being patient with my dense questions and endless e-mails, to Ron Herald at Calumet for being willing to field my emergency calls from the road about equipment settings, and to the men at The Lens & Repro Equipment for their emergency repairs and guidance.
A thanks forward to my dear friend Paula Al-Sabah, who promised to buy many copies, even in Kuwait!
Finally, there are two men who truly made this book possible. Walter Feldesman (a most amazing man) took me to many of the restaurants to sample the food and meet the chefs, a cost that would have been out of range otherwise. His enchantment in imagining this book kept me enthused. Had I not met the incredible and very tall Gibbs Smith, quite by chance, at a book trade show and mentioned my idea to his immediate enthusiasm, who knows where this idea might be right now. A forever thank you to both of them far beyond these words!
Introduction
After growing up in the restaurant business, being vegan for several decades and living in New York City where the restaurants are among the best in the world, I have had my share of experiences trying to order plant-based food from menus. To the surprise of many chefs, no vegetarians want to be offered a plate of unseasoned and overcooked vegetables. And, we don’t want to be stuck with a plate of pasta every time we go out to eat with our friends.
There are some really wonderful vegan restaurants and I have found all my friends truly enjoy them with me from time to time. However, people go out to share a meal and talk, and it is fun to try all kinds of restaurants.
Launching the idea to write a cookbook happened unexpectedly. Because of a wonderful gentleman, Walter Feldesman, who loves eating at the top restaurants, I had the opportunity to dine at two of the best, Jean-Georges and davidburke & donatella. When making the reservation at Jean-Georges, I mentioned that there would be one vegan and would that be a problem? I was told that it would not be. Once seated in the beautiful windowed space overlooking a winter snow scene at Columbus Circle, I was handed a menu. I told the waiter that I was the vegan on the reservation and perhaps would not need the menu. He left for the kitchen and came back to say, “The chef has planned black truffle dumplings with pumpkin puree and tiny diced cubes of celery and yellow zucchini topped with maple sake foam.” Not even a mention of a plate of vegetables! I talked about that dining experience for a long time afterward.
A few weeks later at davidburke & donatella, David came out to the table himself to ask a few questions. He would not tell me what he was going to serve but an amusing smile emerged as he went to the kitchen. Soon, I was served what he called a Vegetable Torte. I called it a Vegetable “Carousel.” It was a perfectly molded circle piled high with colorful and beautifully prepared and seasoned vegetables, topped with mashed potatoes that had been leveled flat to hold a border of perfectly spaced peas around the top edge. After the joy of eating this creation, we discussed the protein content, and David suggested that adding any kind of beans as one of the layers would work well. Clearly, this was a dish that could be adapted endlessly.
I wanted to really experiment now. I encouraged Walter to consider reserving at other top restaurants and see how more great chefs did things. He was game, and eventually he began tasting my food and wanted to order as I did, stating that he could not believe he was eating so much plant food and loving it. So, on to Chef Gabriel Kreuther, then at the Ritz-Carlton on Central Park South, now at The Modern at The Museum of Modern Art. When the amuse-bouche (the tiny one-bite starter) came, I remembered that I had forgotten to state at reservation that a vegan meal was needed.