David Pasternak, 2004 New York's best chef, has been here!!!
It's been exciting to meet him on the docks of Ancona's port. He was supposed to be there at 3,30 AM. At 3,05 he was already there, excited to be a day out at sea with my father's fishing boat Peppinello.
David Pasternak, chef at Esca and involved in partnership with "the legend" Mario Batali, with whom he opened the Bistro du Vent too. Both restaurants in Manhattan, of course!
It took a few time to wait for David's first magic: he grabbed a couple of cuttlefishes, five or six crawfishes and ten sardelles, cleaned them in five minutes, wet with lemmon, a sip of oil, salt and pepper, and they were served. The faces of the crew, who was mistrustful (raw fish? oh my God!), turned into happyness after one minute, and the fish was gobbled up two minutes later!
Extremely interested in everything involved with fish and fishing, he studied all the phases of the routine, before doing his second miracle, to transform an anonymous box of pasta into a delicious dish of Spaghetti alla Giuseppe Peppinello, after my grand-grandfather's name, whose nickname was Peppinello (that's why our fishing boat was named so). Some squillas, ten red mullet, some cuttlefishes, a crawfish (already caught, of course!), three or four fresh tomatoes, some garlic... and a crew astonished!!!
What really surprised me of that day was to see how a good chef is really a good chef, capable to make a great dish from almost nothing. Obviously, I'm talking about equipment, from the knife, to the oven, to oil, to herbs, pasta and so on. It's been the fundamental skills of a chef at work, no doubt.
And I'm sure that David has the chance to have the freshest fish ever, and had fun to cook it.
And, finally, I'm sure that at Esca I will eat the best fish ever. Hope to visit David in New York, as soon as possible. Thanks a lot, Dave!
David Pasternak, chef at Esca and involved in partnership with "the legend" Mario Batali, with whom he opened the Bistro du Vent too. Both restaurants in Manhattan, of course!
It took a few time to wait for David's first magic: he grabbed a couple of cuttlefishes, five or six crawfishes and ten sardelles, cleaned them in five minutes, wet with lemmon, a sip of oil, salt and pepper, and they were served. The faces of the crew, who was mistrustful (raw fish? oh my God!), turned into happyness after one minute, and the fish was gobbled up two minutes later!
Extremely interested in everything involved with fish and fishing, he studied all the phases of the routine, before doing his second miracle, to transform an anonymous box of pasta into a delicious dish of Spaghetti alla Giuseppe Peppinello, after my grand-grandfather's name, whose nickname was Peppinello (that's why our fishing boat was named so). Some squillas, ten red mullet, some cuttlefishes, a crawfish (already caught, of course!), three or four fresh tomatoes, some garlic... and a crew astonished!!!
What really surprised me of that day was to see how a good chef is really a good chef, capable to make a great dish from almost nothing. Obviously, I'm talking about equipment, from the knife, to the oven, to oil, to herbs, pasta and so on. It's been the fundamental skills of a chef at work, no doubt.
And I'm sure that David has the chance to have the freshest fish ever, and had fun to cook it.
And, finally, I'm sure that at Esca I will eat the best fish ever. Hope to visit David in New York, as soon as possible. Thanks a lot, Dave!
posted by Angelo at 5:25 PM
6 Comments:
I enjoy reading the stories on your site. Keep up the super articles!
betting
Thanks a lot, dear... who are you? :-)
Angelo, I enjoyed reading more about the cooked or raw magic of David Pasternak, but you left out most of the story! I love to eat, sure, but how did the fishing go? I'm a fisherman, and David claims to always catch enough to eat. So, is he a good fisherman, or was the fishing so poor the day you took him that he had to make a meal for you & the crew out of so small a catch?
Greg Lauber, far from the sea
Kansas City, USA
Well, actually David came to see my father and the crew fishing. We were not fishing with the hooks, but with the net. Of course, that's professional fishing, so we got 100 Kilos of fish, and David just used a very very small part of that to cook. And he did a great job!!!
Therefore, I can't say wether he's a good fisherman. But I know for sure that he's a great cooker!
hi Angelo!
bravo e complimenti!
mi chiamo Angelo e sono di Ancona anche io, vivo a New York da un po' e preso dalla nostalgia sfogliando I website del conero sono arrivato fino a te.
sono convinto che avrai successo in quello che fai ...te lo meriti...
non puoi sbagliare il pa' cu l'oio e' sempre il pa' cu l'oio.
saluti
I'm a culinary student, Germaine Calliste,who externed briefly @ Esca. I had always wanted to be there and i wasnt disapointed. Chef Pasternak is a Maestro. From a small kitchen emerges some of the freshest,most innovative yet simple italian-seaffod cuisine i have ever tasted. He was very gracious to me and not once acted like the 'Celebrity' that he is! He is a Genius and My Idol! Thanks Chef!
Grateful Student.
Germaine Calliste.
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