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TRENDS
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Front Row
Dining
By Laurie Burstein
Talk about having a table with a view. You can’t get much closer
to witnessing a chef and a first-class kitchen in action than actually
dining right there. A few restaurants and private clubs in the area
are having fun with this trend and creating their own version of
the chef’s table as a way to provide guests with an interactive
dining experience.
There are two schools of thought on how the chef’s table came to
be. One legend is that there was a famous guest at a Los Angeles
hotel several years ago that refused to eat in the dining room with
the paparazzi. In order to appease the guest, the chef set up a
table in the kitchen and personally served the celebrity. This theory
comes from a famous hotel in Bel-Aire, Calif. The hotel now has
what they call, “Table One,” which is actually in the kitchen and
available for small, very exclusive parties.
The other thought is that the private kitchen table grew out of
the family meal table where all the cooks would gather to eat before
service and have a short meeting about specials, business of the
day, etc. This information comes from Chef David Hale who is the
executive chef of the Montpelier campus of the New England Culinary
Institute. The fine dining restaurant there is named, “The Chef’s
Table.”
According to The Ritz-Carlton, an authentic chef’s table is located
in the kitchen where the diners watch their food being prepared
and are then personally served by the executive and sous chef. For
the last several years, The Ritz in St. Louis has been hosting a
chef’s table once a month.
“It’s a way to give our guests a great dining experience,” says
Bruce Seigel, director of marketing for The Ritz in St. Louis. Seigel
says The Ritz uses the chef’s table as a marketing tool and often
invites its top clients as a way to thank them for their business.
Companies and organizations often arrange for the special table
to reward their best customers as well.
Chef Olivier Gaupin, executive chef at The Grill at The Ritz, says
an example of a chef’s table menu might include prawn-lobster cakes
and red pepper salad for starters; a main course of Mediterranean
grilled fish and lamb loin along with mushroom potato ravioli for
the main course, and a chocolate mousse for dessert. All this is
served with fine wines. A table with china and linens is set up
in the kitchen for parties usually of 10 to 12 people. The Ritz’s
chef table can average $100 to $150 per person.
“The chef’s table is the ultimate for true ‘foodies’” says Chef
Doug Knopp at the newly opened Clark Street Grill at the Westin
St. Louis in historic Cupples Station. “People love to have dinner
with the chef. I spend three hours cooking and entertaining up to
10 people,” he says. His chef’s table averages $125 per person and
includes five courses paired with fine wines.
Chef Knopp loves to talk about food and his world travels as he
prepares the meals. His varied background includes serving as chef
at the Four Seasons Resort in Nevis, West Indies, and hints of the
Caribbean often appear in his cooking. Most recently, he was executive
chef at the Chateau on the Lake in Branson, Mo. Wherever he has
cooked, a chef’s table has been a part of his experience. He prefers
to sit down with guests a week before the meal to learn of any food
allergies as well as likes and dislikes of his clients and then
tailor the private meals to fit their wishes. At the end of the
evening, Chef Knopp’s guests get to sign his “Chef’s Wall of Fame”
in the kitchen.
Another twist on the theme is an “Open Kitchen Dinner” held once
a year at Westwood Country Club. Here guests are invited into the
kitchen to serve themselves from a mouth-watering buffet and observe
some of the meal preparation, however, space limitations do not
permit actual dining there.
Head Chef Allessandro Bozzato at Truffles, located at 9202 Clayton
Road, says about once a month he hosts a chef’s table that seats
an average of six people. “Guests often use the chef’s table for
a special occasion such as a birthday. People like them because
they get to try many different courses not on our regular menu,”
he says. A variety of wines are served with each course. The table
is located near the kitchen and guests are able to converse with
Bozzato.
As part of The Ritz experience, guests mingle with the chef in the
kitchen and can even help prepare a dish. One lucky guest who got
to experience the chef’s table at The Ritz was Don Whelan, vice
president for Development and University Relations at Saint Louis
University.
“We had a front row seat in a gourmet kitchen,” he explains. “It
was so impressive to be right there as the chef explained everything
as he was cooking. Taking in the sites and smells at the chef’s
table at The Ritz was a wonderful experience,” Whelan adds
Laurie Burstein is a St. Louis-based free-lance writer
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