The Art of the Plate: Chef Mike Lata of FIG Joins Students in the Production Kitchen

Friday, April 18, 2008

Chef Mike Lata of FIG Joins Students in the Production Kitchen

There were lucky students and happy diners on April 8th. when Chefs Council member Chef Mike Lata joined Chef Instructor Scott Stefanelli and the students in the production kitchen.
Under the guidance of Chefs Lata and Stefanelli, students cooked Chef Lata's "Braised American Red Snapper with Artichokes and New Potatoes" as the Special of the Day in the Mikasa Dining Room.
Prior to opening FIG as Executive Chef/Partner, Chef Lata was Chef de Cuisine at Ciboulette, an Atlanta restaurant founded by Chef Jean Blanchet and his protégé Chef Tom Coohill, and Executive Chef at Anson, Charleston. Chef Lata was co-founder Charleston Chapter of Slow Food convivium and hosted the first James Beard out-of-house event in South Carolina. Chef Lata was Nominated for James Beard Top Chef Southeast in 2007 and 2008.

The Chefs Council of the Culinary Institute of Charleston provides insight and vision for the Institute's programming and academic offerings.

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What We're Reading

“Eating from the Ground Up”

Out just in time for the vegetables appearing at our farmers markets, Alana Chernila’s cookbook focuses on creatively using every root and leaf. While some of the recipes may be familiar concepts – think stuffed tomatoes – hers are packed with millet, basil, and parsley. Fried rice stars salmon, fennel, and Swiss chard stems. Roasted asparagus are sauced with a combo of butter, garlic, nutritional yeast, and tamari. Stone fruit, raw corn kernels, scallions, basil, and jalapeño make a cool salad for hot weather. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.

"Soul: A Chef's Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes"

“This book is my homage to the cuisine of my family,” Chef Todd Richards writes in his autobiographical collection of essays and recipes. “These are the ingredients of my people. This is my sermon about my Soul food.”

Bringing accolades for his stints at Atlanta’s Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons, James Beard nominations, and, of course, his prowess at Southern cooking, Richards seasons the pot with a powerful bouquet of flavors as he pays his heritage forward. Collards cooked with ham hocks are accented with piquant pickled collard stems. Blueberries are found in fried pies; strawberries are plated with champagne aspic, whipped cream, and honey. Grilled peaches pair with radishes on toast spread with pimiento cheese. Sweet potatoes are layered with cauliflower and crab in a lush gratin.

"Soul food," Richards tells us, "is the original cuisine of the South, born from an involuntary collision of cultures."
Published by Southern Living. $35.