Chef of the Day

I recently had the honor/opportunity to be a guest at a lunch at Seattle Central Community College's culinary program. For the final project of each graduating student, they are the "Chef of the Day". This entails planning and executing a multi-course lunch for a group of twelve. My friend's roommate had his day last Thursday.
Dylan Carson themed his lunch "Liquid Gold" for the olive oil that was a component of each of the five courses. In addition to the five courses, Dylan started out the meal with olive oil from the Spanish Table (probably one of my most favoritest places ever.) with the fresh bread made daily as part of the culinary program.

Olive oil to set the tone for the meal. Photo by Kristin


First course. Photo by Kristin
For the first course, Dylan presented an amuse bouche of sea urchin panacotta, Dungeness crab, avocado, lime-olive oil. I never had sea urchin before and it played nicely with a pungent saltiness against the creamy avocado and sweet crab. The lime-olive oil provided a nice acidity and extra richness.

Perfectly cooked striped bass. Photo by Kristin
The second course consisted of Meyer lemon-olive oil poached striped bass, shaved fennel salad,toasted pine nuts, Belgian endive and orange gelee. This is the course where everyone started saying "mmmmmmm" and "oh, this is cooked perfectly!" The tender, succulent bass contrasted wonderfully with the tart and sweet gelee, crisp fennel and crunchy pine nuts.

Sop-it-up-with-bread-good soup. Photo by Kristin
The middle and third course was a soup described as "Creamy parsnip and pear puree,crispy pancetta,olive tapenade,pear chip and roasted red pepper-olive oil." I would describe it as "Dear Universe, Could I please have this for lunch everyday during the winter? Thanks and kisses..." I think everyone else agreed by grabbing most of the sliced bread to soak up every last delicious drop.

The fourth course. Photo by Kristin
For the "main" or fourth course, Dylan prepared Rack of wild boar loin, wild boar demi-glace, mushroom and sage farro, asparagus and olive oil sabayon. To start with, I would have been quite content with just the mushroom and sage farro for my lunch. The flavor was outstanding. Paired with the creamy sabayon, rich demi-glace and tender wild boar, it went past "lunch" and into "dinner". I savored every bite, but have to say I left a little of the boar. Only because I knew the next course included an olive oil cake and that, that I had to leave room for.

Savory and sweet dessert. Photo by Kristin (eek! bad lighting!)
For dessert, the fifth and final course, we had olive oil cake, olive oil and cognac gelato, poached dried fruit compote. Out of everything on the menu, this was the course I was most excited for, and I was not disappointed. I am intrigued by desserts that include savory elements. I am a person that would much rather have cheese than the "death- by -chocolate -sugar-bomb". That's not to say I don't love chocolate. Just a square of high-quality dark please. Anyway, Dylan made not only an olive oil cake, (a fave of mine as far as cakes go) but an olive oil gelato. This is something I've toyed with making but haven't for fear that I would be the only one who would like it and be stuck with a whole batch of it.(Which, that could be ok if I didn't like my current wardrobe so much!) Both the cake and gelato were fabulous. The cake was very moist, thanks, I'm sure, to it's main flavor component being olive oil(!) and it 's perfect accompaniment the poached fruit. The gelato I saved to have as it's own. It was creamy and a little grassy/peppery, with the true character of olive oil coming through. It was served garnished with a tuille that I wished were a little lemony. Then it would have been perfect!

I would say that overall, Dylan's lunch was cohesive and well thought out. After each course, everyone's plate was almost licked clean and that is always a good sign. Especially given that about three quarters of the guests are in the industry and they can be a hard group to please.

I'd like to thank Dylan for including me. Great job!

And for anyone in or visiting Seattle in search of a great lunch and the best deal possible, stop by Seattle Central on Broadway. Three courses of restaurant quality plates at about 15 bucks. They strive to include local, sustainable products to boot. The decor/atmoshpere is a little lacking, but I understand that the whole program will be undergoing a renovation soon. But seriously, the food can be so good as to make up for it. I think each week is themed--French, Mexican(two that I personally experienced)Thanksgiving, etc...