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Taste By Greg Atkinson
Special For GuestsWith thrift-shop dishes or a backyard barn, make the mood
ASK SOMEONE in the restaurant business how to create restaurant ambience at home and the first response you're likely to get is: "Why would you want to do that?" That's precisely the response I got from Michael Whiteman. Whiteman directs Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman Co., the consulting firm that created Windows on the World and the Rainbow Room in New York City. "When you're at home," Whiteman said, "you don't want to feel like you're in a restaurant." Nevertheless, he and his wife, James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Rozanne Gold, were getting ready to host a dinner for 10 that they had donated to an auction. "The bidders paid $5,000 for this thing, and we're in the restaurant business, so they expect a restaurant-style meal," he said. Having done a few of those things myself, I can relate. Most food professionals are called upon to donate their talents from time to time, and when your reputation is built on creating not just great food but a great experience in dining, the pressure is on. But the joy comes in making a great dinner for your guests and enjoying it with them. A few years ago, I was preparing a fund-raiser dinner in a private home, and for the main course I wanted to serve braised short ribs. But that homey dish would look silly, I thought, resting on a heap of mashed potatoes, the traditional accompaniment. So instead I roasted small batons of red beets, yellow beets and carrots to create a colorful kaleidoscope of root vegetables, which were brightly seasoned at the last minute with high-quality salt and freshly ground black pepper. A sauce made by straining and reducing the pan juices to a concentrated glaze was drizzled all around. The dish was simple and homey, but colorful and surprising, too. RECIPEAnother way to surprise your guests is to serve the meal in an unconventional setting. In her book, "Big Sky Cooking," Meredith Brokaw (yes, she's retired newscaster Tom's wife) describes a dinner hosted by her Montana neighbors on the bridge that crosses a stream behind their barn. Set with vintage chairs and tablecloths, the dining area is evocative, and the recipes — including Chilled Grapefruit Soufflé piled high in Mason jars and garnished with pistachio nuts — are easy but interesting. OK, so maybe you don't have a bridge. A few years ago, my friend Jerilyn Brusseau invited me to co-host a dinner in her sheep barn. The sheep had moved out some years before, and by pulling together a few old tables and chairs, we had a setting at least as romantic as that bridge in Montana. No barn? How about an intimate dinner for two on the fire escape? As a last resort, there's always the dining room; just be sure to mix it up with something fun, like a collection of colorful plates from local thrift shops, brown paper lunch bags bursting with wheat grass, or dozens of beeswax tapers in a jumble of mismatched candleholders at the center of the table. A special dinner has to include something that will make the guests ooh and ah a little. James Beard used to say, "Always light something on fire. It doesn't hurt the food much, and the guests will love it." So, my best advice? Invest in one of those little butane torches from a kitchen specialty store or bring a propane torch up from the basement and cap off the dinner with that old restaurant favorite, Crème Brulée, finished tableside with a burst of open flame. Greg Atkinson is author of "West Coast Cooking." He can be reached at greg@northwestessentials.com.
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