Congrats to CIC Friend Chef Frank Lee - Twenty Years!

Last night, the Charleston Wine + Food Festival hosted a Toast + Tribute dinner for CIC's friend and mentor Chef Frank Lee. The night before, the Maverick Southern Kitchens group celebrated the twentieth anniversary of Slightly North of Broad restaurant, the corporation's flagship property. As one of the group's principals and its Vice President of Culinary Development, Chef Lee had a lot to celebrate! Here are some of our favorite pictures of Chef Lee teaching at CIC, plus pictures from the anniversary party. And do not miss the video at the end of the post!

CIC Culinary Chair Michael Carmel welcoming Chef Lee to CIC

Below: Chef Lee at a CIC Farm to Plate class.

With CIC Chef Ben Black
at a CIC Farm to Plate class.

L-R: Patrick Saboe, winemaker;
Chef Lee;
 Suzanne Hagin; Eric Coriher
at SNOB's anniversary party

Hail, hail the gang's all here!

Here's a tribute video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XUc-f8lCqQ&feature=share&list=UUHXcrW_WQvcRSunM0uQAH1w

And the link to a tribute article in Charleston Magazine:tribute article

Chef David Vagasky Takes Advanced Artisan Bread Course at San Francisco Baking Institute

Semolina

Rye

Window pane test

Overnight retarded

Above - l-r: Rye ready to be baked, multigrain ready to be baked, day-one baguette

CIC Alum John Ondo Featured in Charleston Magazine

Chef and co-owner of Lana Restaurant and Bar, CIC alum John Ondo is featured in the December Food and Wine issue of Charleston magazine. In the picture, he is picking lemons from one of the trees at Rosebank Farms. John shares his delicious recipes for Preserved Meyer Lemons, Preserved Meyer Lemon Risotto, and Meyer Lemon Tart. 
http://charlestonmag.com/charleston_magazine/feature/sweet_tart

CIC Grad Ellis Grossman Featured in Charleston Living Magazine

CIC grad Ellis Grossman, founder of the Black Bean Company restaurants, was featured in Charleston Living Magazine. 

"What began for Ellis Grossman as a fascination with the farm to table movement—now a mainstay of the Charleston culinary community—has sprouted into an entrepreneurial endeavor that boasts four restaurants and keeps on growing. Grossman and partner Joseph Lawlor have built their business on what they see as an “up and coming” trend in the restaurant industry. What sets their Black Bean Co. apart in this food-driven town is a novel delivery system for fresh fare—a sort of hybrid of the fast casual and casual dining eatery. 
“'We're trying to redefine the fast food industry with food that's healthful and reasonably priced,” says Grossman, who graduated from the Culinary Institute of Charleston at Trident Technical College with a degree in culinary arts and business technology. He cultivated his interest in fast food with stints at large chains like Bojangles, where he was district operations director, and later Taco Bell. At the same time, he was developing an expertise in increasing profitability, consulting for hotels and restaurants on the side."  

To read more: http://charlestonlivingmag.com/2013/09/29/black-bean-co?tracking=related 

CIC's Shane Haffey Featured in Edible Louisville Magazine

Edible Louisville featured CIC's Shane Haffey in an article about the Kentucky Bourbon Red turkeys, which Shane raises.

"Bourbon Reds have brownish to dark red plumage with white in the flight of their tail feathers. The neck and chest feathers are a deep chestnut mahogany and the under color feathers light buff to almost white. With a black beard and a throat wattle that starts out red and changes to a bluish white, it is quite a sight to see several dozen in flight.

"Lexington Bourbon Red purveyor and chef Shane Haffey of Fairyhouse Hall raises Bourbon Reds for use at Fairyhouse Hall’s heritage food culinary events, such as the Slow Food Lexington dinner party series. Haffey’s collection of heritage poultry, pigs and cows are pastured or free range and he attests to the Bourbon Reds’ astonishing social dynamic."
Read more at: http://ediblecommunities.com/louisville/november-december-2013/bourbon-red-turkey.htm

Congrats to CIC Grad Chelsey Conrad!

Congrats to CIC grad Chelsey Conrad! After several years in the kitchen of Chef Frank Lee at Slightly North of Broad, Chelsey is now sous chef at Butcher & Bee. Both restaurants have received kudos in the media for their outstanding cuisine.

The Charleston City Paper describes Butcher & Bee: "Butcher & Bee continues to be a leader in the lunch and late-night dining scene, getting tons of local and national attention, mostly because of their crazy good sandwiches. Our favorites include pulled squash with smoked slaw, barbecue sauce, and pickles; roast beef with chimicurri, onion jam, and mayo; and pork belly with hoisin, mayo, cabbage, cuke salad, and peanuts. With a garden out back and access to a handful of carefully cultivated purveyors, Chef Stuart Tracy makes up fresh, vibrant sides as well. The chalkboard changes every day, but we love to see braised lima beans with pork belly and a poached egg; the roasted beet salad with radish, feta, and heirloom carrots; and Brussels sprouts with apples and peanuts. On weekends they reopen the doors at 11 p.m. for a late-night crowd, serving up an incredible burger, fries, and other special surprises until 3 a.m. Occasional pop-up dinners are popular and require a call-ahead reservation." http://butcherandbee.com/ 

Congrats to CIC grad Ulfet Ralph

CIC grad Ulfet Ralph has been given the position of chef at Purée, at Mount Pleasant restaurant that specializes in dishes for vegetarians, vegans, and the gluten-challenged.

Zagat says: "A fresh approach to organic Southern fare (rosemary barbecue, pan-fried tofu) – including a selection of baked goods – draws vegetarians, vegans, the gluten-free and their friends to this reasonably priced, child-friendly Mount Pleasant alterna-eatery; the menu offers plenty of fare for small diners too, and the airy, summer-cottage setting includes a selection of baby goods for sale."
Also pictured,  Jenan McClain, owner.
http://www.thinkpuree.com/cafe/about-us/

Congrats to CIC Grad Jamie Simpson

CIC grad Jamie Simpson is now the chef at The Culinary Vegetable Institute, a part of The Chef's Garden in Milan, Ohio.

"The Culinary Vegetable Institute provides the world’s most innovative chefs with a place to share knowledge, experiment and discover techniques for growing and preparing the most flavorful varieties of vegetables in the world. The collaboration between the garden farmer and the chef and between the old and the new is the foundation of the Culinary Vegetable Institute (CVI). The CVI Kitchen Garden™ team searches for the best techniques to produce the most flavorful vegetable varieties in an organic fashion. The CVI is a learning center for the most progressive chefs to pass their vegetable knowledge and techniques to the rising stars of tomorrow."

Under the guidance of Bob Jones, Sr., Lee Jones, and Bob Jones, Jr., The Chef's Garden employs traditional farming methods combined with innovative technology to stay on the leading edge of the produce business. The Jones family's farm has been delivering products with optimum shelf life, quality, flavor and nutrition direct from the farm to the world's most discriminating chefs for nearly 30 years.  

Farmer Lee Jones was a guest of CIC at our Diversity Dinner during the Charleston Wine + Food Festival a few years ago. 

http://www.culinaryvegetableinstitute.com/ http://www.chefs-garden.com/

Chef Carmel and CIC Student Eric Stungurys at Boeing

 

As part of TTC's partnership with the College of Charleston and their Farm to Table Initiative with Boeing, Chef Carmel and CIC student  Eric Stungurys represented the CIC/TTC at Boeing’s Family Day Saturday. Chef Carmel gave cooking demonstrations and the two of them served samples of a very healthy spaghetti squash Provençal to approximately 1500 people. The Boeing-supported Farm-to-School program is increasing the availability of healthy, locally grown foods to local elementary school students through school gardens. The program also certifies farmers to sell their produce to participating schools.

Also in the photo are Olivia Thompson, health professor at COC, and her Teaching Assistant Natasha.

CIC Faculty Retreat in Asheville

Home of our Farm to Table class field trips. Now home of our Culinary Institute of Charleston faculty retreats. Asheville, we love you!

We went mushroom foraging with master forager Alan Muskat, of No Taste Like Home. WOW!  Alan "takes you through field and forest, sorting out the vicious from the delicious." You can see some of the day's haul below.We are grateful to No Taste Like Home for the foraging photographs. To learn more, go to: http://notastelikehome.org/index.php

                                                                                 

We always visit the French Broad Chocolate Company!

We were able to visit with David Bauer at his Farm and Sparrow Bakery, a wood-fired craft bakery, flour mill, and homestead located near Asheville in Candler, NC. His breads are made from stone-ground flours that are milled on site. The faculty from our Baking and Pastry department were quite excited about this. To learn more: http://www.farmandsparrow.com/

Curate, Katie Buttons' award-winning tapas bar, is a new discovery. It will now be on our Asheville favorites list.





One of the places that we always dine is The Corner Kitchen in Biltmore Village, an Asheville pioneer in Farm to Plate cuisine. Pic and menu below.

Fall is a beautiful time to visit The Biltmore Estate's gardens.
We also always love the house tour and the winery tastings.

CIC Chefs and Students Participate in Chefs Collaborative Summit 13

CIC chefs and students dove into the Chefs Collaborative Sustainable Food Summit 13, which took place in Charleston this week. In addition to attending the Summit, they were involved in two of the major events. CIC Chef Instructor Kevin Mitchell  and CIC Adjunct Chef Instructor Simon Andrews (Executive Chef of the Francis Marion Hotel) joined Chef Charlotte Jenkins of Gullah Cuisine restaurant to produce a Gulllah luncheon for the attendees. The vegetables below came from just one of six food stations, another of which included an array of perloos. Chef Mitchell speaks about it here: http://soundcloud.com/chefscollab/episode-3-kevin-mitchell-and 

Chefs Andrews and Mitchell before
the Gullah luncheon.

Chef Charlotte Jenkins, Chef Mitchell, CIC students
 Amanda Black and Arthur Zander

Okra Stew, Collards, and Succotash at the
Gullah luncheon.

In the spirit of Chefs Collaborative, CIC Culinary Department Chair Michael Carmel and CIC Chef Instructor Scott Stefanelli cooked cassoulet made from local Keegan-Filion chickens and pork to serve at the Monday evening reception. Held at the South Carolina Aquarium, other Charleston chefs providing dishes include Chefs Sean Brock, Mike Lata, Craig Deihl, and Frank Lee.
For more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-Ann-Fineman/post_6124_b_4318112.html

 (that picture at the end - why that's Farmer Celeste Albers with her pigs!)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julie-Ann-Fineman/post_6124_b_4318112.html

L - R: CIC student Kirsten Lawton, Chef Scott Stefanelli,
CIC students Barmesha Johnson and Eric Walker, and CIC Culinary Dept. Chair Michael Carmel.

Chef Williams Gets Props from the City Paper

Chef Williams in the Zero Cafe kitchen.
Photo by Jonathan Boncek of the
Charleston City Paper.

CIC Adjunct Chef Instructor Randy Williams is the man who makes the magic Thursday through Saturday at one of Charleston's newest hot spots, Zero Café.  

From the City Paper: "A sign hangs over a big red door, but that's not the entrance. To find Zero Café, you need to trespass upon Zero George Hotel's main courtyard, space that until a month ago was reserved solely for the boutique hotel's guests. The property, owned by former Orient-Express president Dean Andrews, has been open since February, quietly garnering rave reviews ever since. In June, Travel + Leisure named it one of the world's best new hotels for 2013.

"Expectations for the recently opened cafe are similarly high, and chef Randy Williams easily rises to the challenge with a seasonal menu of small plates and unique takes on classic cocktails.

"Although the decor embraces the casual luxury style currently in vogue, its fixtures and furnishings evoke a feeling of simple elegance rather than vintage industrial, better suited to sophisticates than hipsters. An exposed kitchen greets guests in the first room, and depending on the night, there may be a cluster of guests hovering nearby swapping trade secrets with Chef Williams. A short hallway leads to a second room that houses the small wooden bar. A third, in the back, holds several tables while on the patio there's plenty of room for al fresco dining." See more at: 
http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/a-new-cafandeacute-hides-away-at-zero-george/Content?oid=4803178