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Foodie Chap: Chef Mark Dommen of One Market San Francisco

Chef Mark & Liam
Chef Mark Dommen & Liam Mayclem (credit: Liam Mayclem)

 

KCBS radio "Foodie Chap" and CBS 5 television "Eye On The Bay" host Liam Mayclem introduces us to the culinary stars behind the food and wine loved by so many in the Bay Area.

KCBS Foodie Chap Podcast:

KCBS Foodie Chap: Chef Mark Dommen of One Market

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Chef/Partner Mark Dommen is a unique talent who has spent more than 20 years in the kitchen. After years of classical training with some of the world's most eminent culinary masters, Dommen's move to head One Market Restaurant in 2004 marked his exciting return to the San Francisco dining scene. His modern take on American cuisine earned the restaurant a 3-star review from San Francisco Chronicle critic Michael Bauer, Dommen was named a 2007 StarChefs.com "Rising Star," and the restaurant has held a consistent presence on the Chronicle's "Top 100" restaurant list. In 2011 ONE MARKET was awarded a much-coveted Michelin star.

Dommen's contemporary, seasonal American fare developed through his work in some of the world's most distinguished restaurants. His career began at Fleur de Lys in San Francisco, where Chef Hubert Keller became Dommen's mentor in the art of contemporary French cuisine. Dommen later spent four years in New York, honing his craft with one of his largest influences, Gray Kunz at Lespinasse and also with David Burke at Park Avenue Cafe. By the time he opened Palladin as Sous Chef for the legendary Chef Jean-Louis Palladin, his immersion in the art of French cuisine was well advanced. Dommen was next invited to join Julia's Kitchen in Napa Valley as the opening Executive Chef. While he was at the helm, the restaurant was named one of Esquire magazine's "Best New Restaurants."

Chef Mark Dommen
Chef Mark Dommen (credit: Liam Mayclem)

"Cooking to me is respect for the ingredients
and making people happy!"
- Chef Mark Dommen

Dommen describes his approach to cooking as "blending the freshest, seasonal ingredients from California, while using the classic French techniques I have honed from my previous experiences." His seasonally changing menu includes inventive farm-fresh dishes such as Lightly Smoked Tasmanian Trout Mi Cuit with potato rˆsti, organic chicken egg and pancetta vinaigrette; Dungeness Crab with green apple water and jalapeno sorbet; and Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin with dandelion "persillade," salsify and natural jus. Chef's weekly beast meals are not to be missed. Plus, the "Chef's table" is also the place to sit at the heart of the action smack dab in the middle of the ONE MARKET kitchen. The experience is a steal too at $85 for a very special seven-course dinner, where you are treated like a guest at Chef's home table.

Some of Dommen's favorite dishes to make when not in the kitchen at One Market Restaurant include pizza and barbequed beer-can chicken cooked over apple wood chips. He lives in Napa with his wife and two daughters and enjoys skiing, golf and fishing in his spare time. We met in the kitchen at ONE MARKET for our Foodie Chap chat. We talked food, family and about a charity near and dear - MAKE A WISH.

Enjoy the chinwag and please try chef's amazing crab salad recipe.

Cheers, Liam

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5 Tasty Questions: Chef Mark Dommen

1. Chef, Cooking to you is about...?
About respect, respect for the ingredients and making people happy.

2. The dish that reminds you most of home?
Cheese fondue, classic swiss cheese fondue.

3. The Guest that provided the biggest privilege to cook for...?
Julia Child, the first time was squab and black sea bass and when she came back to the kitchen she was like, "I really loved the way you cooked that black sea bass," and that just made my day.

4. If not a chef, in a second life if you come back as something else, what might you be?
A fireman. I love fire.

5. Last supper you can have a couple of guests at the table. Who will the guests be and what will you eat?
I would have loved to have met James Beard, so James Beard would be one of them. And then probably my parents, I love them as well. And what would I eat? I would start with all the things that are bad for you fois gras, some pasta with white truffle and egg, and then finish with french fries, there would have to be french fries at the table.

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Dungeness Crab Salad
Hand Picked Dungeness Crab Salad (credit: Liam Mayclem)

HAND PICKED DUNGENESS CRAB SALAD, GREEN PAPAYA, CITRUS, CILANTRO PEANUTS

Serves 4

12 ounces Dungeness crab, cleaned, body meat and leg meat
Lemon juice, to taste
1/4 cup, lemon oil + 2 Tablespoons
1 small green papaya
1/3 cup lime juice
1/3 cup red boat fish sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
Sea salt
1 jalapeno, peeled and diced
1 pomelo, segmented
1 blood orange, segmented
1 grapefruit, segmented
1/4 cup peanuts, toasted and crushed
Micro cilantro

If you are cooking your own crab, start with a 2+ pound live crab. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; the pot needs to be large enough to hold the crab. When the water is boiling, add the crab and cook for 16 minutes at a steady simmer. Take the crab out of the water and allow to cool. Clean, crack and pick the meat from the shells. Place the body meat in a small bowl separate from the larger leg sections. Toss the body meat with 2 tablespoons of lemon oil and lemon juice to taste. Mix and set aside.

For the green papaya, peel the papaya and cut into a fine julienne using a Japanese mandolin. Salt the papaya very liberally with salt and mix well. Set aside.

Make the dressing for the papaya; combine the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, and 1/4 cup of lemon oil. Whisk together and set aside.

With a vegetable peeler, peel the skin off the jalapeno pepper and then dice it very finely.

Peel and segment each of the citrus. Keeping each one separate from the other.

Rinse the salt off the green papaya with water and dry using a clean kitchen towel or napkin. Dress the papaya with lime and fish sauce dressing. Mix well and allow to sit.

Divide the papaya among four ring molds, top with the marinated crab body meat. Garnish the top of the crab with an assortment of the citrus segments. Top with segments with crab legs. Finally sprinkle with the diced jalapeno, chopped peanuts, and micro cilantro. Drizzle the whole salad with a little more lemon olive oil.

Enjoy!

 
MAKE A WISH
www.wish.org

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services may have contributed to this report.)

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