Legendary French Chef Jacques Pépin came to dinner at Spiaggia - and so did 100 other guests, who spent $250 a plate to celebrate his fiftieth year as a professional chef. But the truffles (briefly) stole the show.
By Nancy Ross Ryan
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Dinner Avec Jacques Legendary French Chef Jacques Pépin came to dinner at Spiaggia - and so did 100 other guests, who spent $250 a plate to celebrate his fiftieth year as a professional chef. But the truffles (briefly) stole the show.
By Nancy Ross Ryan |
|
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Those show-stealing white truffles! They upstaged the caviar at the Champagne reception at the November 9 Spiaggia gala (100% underwritten by Cambria Winery, Santa Barbara; all ticket proceeds benefited Chicago's WTTW Channel 11). The truffles unmistakably announced themselves to the nose of every guest in their wake, as Spiaggia's Chef Paul Bartolotta carried them on a platter over to Jacques Pépin who was encircled by a wreath of admiring foodies. These were large fresh white Italian truffles, 10 pounds of them, piled two-deep on the plate -- and they stopped the conversation. "Magnifique!" exclaimed Jacques, breathing in their earthy perfume. "Yes, $2,600's worth," said Paul, and he whisked them away with the promise that everyone would see them later. And see them later, the privileged 100 dinner guests did at the third course in the six-course feast. The truffles were lavishly shaved atop Uovo in Raviolo Valentino, a legendary dish that Chef Bartolotta learned in Italy from a celebrated chef. A large -- almost as big as a saucer -- fresh raviolo is stuffed with ricotta and Parmesan cheeses, fresh parsley and one perfect fresh egg yolk, then poached. Guests were instructed to break the raviolo's crown with a fork -- and watch the cooked but creamy yolk mingle with truffles. Heady stuff. Rather than a white wine, Cambria -- who provided all wines for the evening -- matched the raviolo with a 1997 Pinot Noir from Julia's Vineyard. The ever-gracious Jacques Pépin commented to the guests at large that "It's sometimes hard to find Italian and French food in Italy and France as good as some I have had here." He thanked the assembled diners for their support of PBS. "If you don't support them," he quipped, "I'll be out of a job." Quelle domage that would be! His most recent series, "Encore with Claudine," was named Best National TV Cooking Show at the James Beard Awards in May, 1999. And he announced that this fall's new series, "Julia and Jacques Cook at Home," co-stars his friend and colleague Julia Child. "You know Julia and I have both been chefs for 50 years," he said. "Only I started when I was 13 years old." The evening -- which started at 6:30 p.m. and raised a cool $25,000 for WTTW -- went on until the last bite of apple crepes in moscato wine sauce with vanilla bean gelato was eaten and the last drop of 1998 Late Harvest Viognier was drained -- well past midnight. And 100 Chicago gourmets reluctantly left for home -- with a personally signed copy of Pépin's latest cookbook, Sweet Simplicity -- Fruit Desserts-- and enough sweet memories to tell their grandchildren. "You know, I had dinner with Jacques Pépin." |
SOCIAL STUDY - Jan.-Feb. 2000