The career of a freelance journalist has its upsides. One of the best, especially when writing about food, is the chance to spend time in restaurant kitchens. There, you can watch chefs at work, learn about ingredients and tools, and gain insights into professional techniques not found in cookbooks. It's a shame that serious cooks can't easily sneak into their favorite restaurant's kitchen for a similar experience.
Cavallo Point, located at the Army post Fort Baker, boasts a very good restaurant, Murray Circle. The resort also houses a well-regarded cooking school in a large, bright space upstairs. Typically, the school offers 10 classes a month, covering topics from Italian seafood to Vietnamese specialties like pho and pate à choux.
This past June, the cooking school introduced a new offering: Chef's Counter, a three-hour, four-course event that blends a cooking class with a private chef dinner, led by the school's head chef, Tony Adams.
Equally passionate about teaching and cooking, Adams holds a Bachelor of Culinary Arts degree from Johnson & Wales University and spent six years as an instructor at Le Cordon Bleu in Orlando. After becoming head chef at Cavallo Point's cooking school in 2016, he collaborated with the resort to create the Chef's Counter series.
"While this was a group effort, Tony surely deserves most of the credit," explained Kelsey Gummow, a representative of the resort. "This program is his baby, so to speak." The resort hosts a Chef's Counter dinner for just six guests once a month.
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My wife and I secured the last two seats for the Chef's Counter dinner in late January. It was a chilly night, so we spent some time by the fireplace at Cavallo Point's Farley Bar. At the appointed time, we headed upstairs and were greeted with flutes of bubbly from J. Lassalle, a family-owned Champagne house.
Adams, energetic and enthusiastic, welcomed us and invited us to enjoy the hors d'oeuvres: seared octopus with olive oil aioli, deviled eggs with smoked shrimp and pesto, gougères stuffed with marinated grilled artichokes, and Santa Barbara uni wrapped in shiso leaves. Adams described the uni as "the biggest, creamiest and best in America," noting that we were eating the sea urchin's reproductive organs.
Before leading us to our seats, Adams introduced Cavallo Point's wine director, Chappy Cottrell, who favors flavorful, high-acid wines. Cottrell previewed the wine pairings, from a Napa Valley chardonnay for the butternut squash soup to a late harvest Anderson Valley gewürztraminer for the poppy seed Pavlova.
As we moved to the kitchen, I observed Adam's setup: a large wainscoted island with two industrial ovens, 12 burners, and ample counter space.
Once we settled in, Adams began. "Let's talk about hush puppies!" He explained that hush puppies are related to quick bread because they use baking soda as a leavening agent and are fried, enhancing their deliciousness. "I don't trust people who don't like hush puppies," he joked. These hush puppies were made with cornmeal from an heirloom variety of red corn grown by Full Belly Farm. To avoid grittiness, Adams hydrated the cornmeal properly, a process that can take several hours. He fried them in rice bran oil, which is less expensive than peanut oil but still has a high smoke point.
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Adams' assistant pureed the squash in a Vitamix, seasoned with ras el hanout and roasted on a bed of onions and garlic. Quickly, they assembled the soups: squash puree, a hush puppy, smoked black cod, shallot persillade, and Périgord truffle shavings. As the soups were served, the atmosphere became quiet, broken only by the sound of spoons scraping against the Heath Ceramics bowls.
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The next dish, cornmeal fried Miyagi oysters, came with a lesson in lecithin. Lecithin, an emulsifier in egg yolks, is crucial for the silky texture of mayonnaise and gribiche, a mayonnaise variant made from cooked eggs. The lecithin in the egg yolks was boosted by the whole grain mustard, which also has emulsifying properties.
The Marin Miyagis were stellar: dredged in cornmeal, fried to a meaty crunch, served on bitter greens, and garnished with candied lemon puree, trout roe, gribiche, and egg yolk cooked sous vide to a custard-like consistency. (Adams mentioned that Target sells a good sous vide cooker for $150.) Our fellow guests were unfazed; they already had sous vide machines.
While preparing the main course, king crab, Adams discussed black garlic, shio koji, and powdered milk. Black garlic, fermented in controlled conditions, develops a sweet, funky flavor. Shio koji, rice cultured with Aspergillus oryzae, has been used in Japanese cuisine for centuries as a flavor enhancer. Powdered milk, when whisked into melting butter, transforms into flavorful browned flecks for seasoning.
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Taking notes as Adams whisked and chopped, I wondered why he didn't have a cooking show. However, upon tasting the crab, thoughts of television were replaced with gratitude for the chance to be part of this unique experience and for the talents of a chef and educator who has found a perfect medium for his gifts.
Here's a simplified table highlighting the key components of the Chef's Counter menu:
| Course | Dish | Key Ingredients/Techniques | Wine Pairing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hors d'oeuvres | Seared Octopus, Deviled Eggs, Gougères, Santa Barbara Uni | Olive Oil Aioli, Smoked Shrimp, Marinated Artichokes, Shiso | J. Lassalle Champagne |
| First Course | Butternut Squash Soup | Ras el Hanout, Smoked Black Cod, Périgord Truffle, Heirloom Red Corn Hush Puppies | Napa Valley Chardonnay |
| Second Course | Cornmeal Fried Miyagi Oysters | Lecithin, Gribiche, Candied Lemon Puree, Trout Roe, Sous Vide Egg Yolk | |
| Main Course | King Crab | Black Garlic, Shio Koji, Powdered Milk | |
| Dessert | Poppy Seed Pavlova | Late Harvest Anderson Valley Gewürztraminer |
The Chef's Counter dinner offers a unique blend of culinary education and gourmet dining, making it a must-try experience for food enthusiasts.
