What's Happening at the Studio

Yesterday the sun came out for a few hours, and we took advantage of the opportunity to eat outside at a nearby pub. The Phoenix is around the corner from our flat, and we had walked by it many times and wondered how it would be.

Clockwise, from top left: cream of mushroom soup, cheeseburger, prawns and chorizo, and pork belly salad

Good beer, good service, and excellent food. Although the weather has been dreary for most of the week, we are still having a fine time.

A few years ago we were in our last night in Paris after a short stay there, and Barb was craving some good steak frites. I made a reservation at a restaurant known for that, but we were thwarted by a bad case of stomach upset on Barb’s part. Ever since then we have tried to find a good place for steak frites without any success. Finally this week, we hit the jackpot.

Balthazar Restaurant, London

It seems ironic that we got such good steak frites at a London outpost of a New York City restaurant styled on a Parisian brasserie. Balthazar opened in London recently to much hype, and is so far living up to it.  Barb’s flatiron steak with Béarnaise sauce and fries (that must have been cooked in duck fat they were so good) was worth waiting for.

Steak frites

When we dined at Balthazar with our friends Rob and Angela some time ago, I remember that Angela’s duck shepherd’s pie was the best thing at our table, so that’s what I ordered. It did not disappoint.

Mission accomplished.

Many of my clients are getting interested in Pinterest. They want to create content for the new media, and there have been some opportunities for me to provide that. I recently did a fun shoot for Naked Branding, whose client Orrington Farms had several recipes to photograph.

Grilled Rib-eyes

The Steak Seasoning was quite good on the steaks above. I need to get going on Pinterest myself.

Saturday evening we had our first wood fired oven dinner with a few friends.

Radicchio and carrots roasting

One of my favorite things to serve is a series of vegetables that are roasted in the oven, and served with olives, cheese, and bread. I tossed in a few radishes with the carrots, and served radishes three ways – roasted, sliced thinly on anchovy buttered baguettes, and lightly pickled. Pickling the radishes turned them pink all over, and they were really good.

Roasted radicchio

Roasted vegetables

After the roasted vegetables, we had an appetizer made by my friend Mark, chorizo over haloumi cheese, both of which were cooked in the wfo. It is something his friends in Australia make, and was really good. Finally, I made a few pizzas. One new topping was cherry tomatoes roasted in the oven. They were really good on the swiss chard, bacon, goat cheese pizza.

Cherry tomatoes from the oven, still steaming

I recently photographed some interiors and food for a new restaurant, Central Table. My friend Matt McGuire is the manager, and it promises to be a most unusual and exciting eatery. It is billed as a “food hall”, which includes a coffee shop, market, deli, raw bar, sushi bar, grill, and hearth. In the daytime, it operates as a casual dining/takeout, and in the evening the space converts to a fine dining restaurant.

Sushi bar with chef

It is a large space, near Barnes-Jewish hospital, so it should draw much traffic from the many people working there.

Steak Tartare

I spoke to the executive chef Nick Martinkovic, who was most recently at Roberta’s in New York City, and was impressed with his creativity. Not only do they use all the parts of the cow or pig, they feel free to sample from all cuisines.

Pizza Margherita

I also spoke to the pizzaiolo Giovanni, who grew up in Astoria Queens and learned to cook from his Italian immigrant Nonna. At least, cooking everything but pizza. He learned that at various pizza restaurants. The pizza we photographed and sampled was a great example of simple ingredients perfectly prepared.

They open officially May 6, so I intend to check it out.

We were recipients of the generosity of our friends this morel season.

Thursday's morel

Starting last Thursday, our neighbors gave us a large beautiful specimen that they had found in the neighborhood. I was grilling that night, so just slapped it on the grill and we ate it unadorned.

Friday afternoon's morels

The next day, Bill came over with a few more they had just found. That night I was making chicken breasts with a mushroom/wine sauce, so they went into that and were wonderful.

Friday evening's morels

While we were eating, my friends Patrick and Françoise came over with a beautiful basket full of morels they had harvested in Gasconade County. Since we were headed to Carmi that night for a visit to  Barb’s parents, we took them along and I sautéed them and made scrambled eggs the next morning.

We are lucky to have such generous friends.

Walking up Broadway last weekend, I spotted this art installation in Madison Square Park. It looks like a giant Quaker oats box pinhole camera, minus the film. Camera obscuras have been around for centuries, and some of the Renaissance painters used them as an aid in their paintings. We knocked on the door, and were admitted by a docent. After a few seconds, our eyes adjusted to the dark enough to see the projected image on the opposite wall from the aperture. I noted that the aperture was quite large, and the docent said the artists wanted a soft, impressionistic image. I think it is also a practical consideration, since it would take several minutes for our eyes to adjust enough to see a darker image. After 2.5 minutes, we went back in the bright sunlight.

Camera obscura, Madison Square Park

The view is toward the Flatiron building, that iconic New York scene. I grabbed a photo with my phone, dim and grainy.

Image inside camera obscura

Barb and I returned from a winter getaway in Oahu recently. The day before we left St. Louis, Lambert airport was closed due to an ice storm. We were very fortunate that it reopened just in time for our flight out. The plan was 2 nights in Honolulu, and a week in a beach rental on the north shore.

Nanzan Giro Giro in Honolulu

Our best meal in Honolulu was at a Japanese restaurant called Nanzan Giro Giro. The layout is a U shaped bar with all the cooking action in the middle. The menu is kaiseki, which is a formal multi-course meal with no choice , so we trusted the chef, Yoshihiro Matsumoto. There were seven courses, all fish based, with wine pairings. The serving ware was all pottery made by a Kyoto artist. Beautiful presentation, great food, and smiling service.

Crab tempura at Nanzan Giro Giro

The scene on the north shore was a world apart. It is home to some of the largest waves in the world, and this time of year they are at their peak. The vibe there was laid back/surfer/hippie. Most of the “restaurants” there are food trucks with a couple of tables outside. Our first food truck experience was Macky’s in Haleiwa town, across from the 7-Eleven. They serve shrimp plates several ways – all with 2 scoops of rice and a salad. I tried the butter/garlic, and Barb had the lemon/pepper. Both were yummy.

Macky's butter/garlic shrimp

Macky's Shrimp Truck

Our best restaurant meal on the north shore was at Opal Thai, formerly a food truck, now in a strip mall across from Long Drugs. I had read that the best way to order was to give Opal free reign, so we did. He asked us a lot of questions about our preferences, how spicy we like our food, how hungry we were, etc. He brought us three delicious dishes that were unique and wonderful. Oh, and you can bring your own wine there, which we did.

From the grill: local sweet corn, roasted potatoes, and Portuguese sausages

Our rental was in a great location on the beach, and had a definite cottage feel. It came with a grill, so we bought food at the markets and dined in several of the nights. The gazebo right on the shore was a beautiful setting, although the high winds sometimes blew away some of the lighter weight food. The local sweet corn was terrific, as was the local asparagus, both of which we grilled. The local Food Land grocery even had local ahi, which was great on the grill. My only regret was we didn’t try an acai bowl from the food truck down the road. Next time.

View from lanai toward dining gazebo in lower left.

I got a call from our former intern and freelance assistant Elizabeth recently, and found out she is teaching photography at a local high school. She wanted to bring some students for a studio visit, and I said sure. Turns out it was 2 classes, and there were 27 of them! They were attentive and asked good questions. I was surprised to learn that they are shooting film, and not doing any digital photography yet. Some universities are phasing out instruction in film,which is a shame. Afterwards I asked Elizabeth if any of the students had taken a photo that I could put on my blog, but they obeyed her ruling of “no cell phones during studio visit!”. Hence the bus icon.

A few days later Elizabeth sent a thank you photo:

Italian breakfast cake, blackberry finaciers, and fruit salad

Our friends at Save-a-Lot have been busy lately, so they decided to have an all day outing as a reward for all their hard work. They started the day here at the studio, with a tour and some breakfast snacks and drinks. We have worked with several of the crew, but there are many new faces who were here for the first time. We enjoyed meeting new and old friends. After breakfast, they went to Art Mart to pick up supplies, then to the Art Museum to sketch and be inspired by the art. I think the culmination of the day was happy hour somewhere in Clayton.

Yes, the basket is a regulation 10' high.