Foodie Chap: Manresa Restaurant, Los Gatos
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.
UPDATED: Manresa Los Gatos, California - Ranked 48th best restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine's World's 50 Best list. (According to the Huffington Post)
David Kinch's singular style of American cooking has placed him on the world culinary map, and assured his legacy in the advancement of California cuisine in the 21st century. His philosophy is fostered by the terroir or "sense of place" of the California Coast, and the kind of ingredient-driven cooking and modern technique he studied in France, Spain, Germany, Japan, and the United States.
"Cooking to me is about making people happy,
but also satisfying yourself. That still gets me off."
- David Kinch, Chef/Proprieter
In 2006, he formed an exclusive partnership with Cynthia Sandberg of Love Apple Farms in the Santa Cruz Mountains, which supplies Manresa with year-round provisions and vegetables grown using bio dynamic practices. By sourcing his own produce by sustainable methods, he is creating a closed circle between guests, the farm, and his cuisine.
He has won the Best Chef in America award for the Pacific region from the James Beard Foundation. Chef joins Emily Luchetti as the newest of Deans (six in all) at the French Culinary Institute in Campbell.
Manresa has been awarded two Michelin stars for five consecutive years. To have a meal at Manresa is to escape for a few hours, your cell phone off, your troubles left at the door.
The Los Gatos restaurant recently underwent a massive interior makeover making it a more inviting and stylish restaurant than ever. There is a full service bar too where artisan cocktails can be enjoyed as part of a pre or post prandial experience.
Chef David's passion is on the plate and is steeped in every single aspect of his operation.
5 Tasty Questions with Chef David Kinch
1. Define your cuisine here at Manresa.
I like to think our cuisine is very, very personal. The style not only shows where we are, but who we are in service, ambiance and in the kitchen.
2. What do you feel your social responsibility is as a chef?
It's to make people to happy, to feed people in a healthful way, and make sure they leave happy and more importantly, come back. In terms of politics, I'm not interested.
3. It's midnight and you go to your fridge, what's that one thing that is always there?
Eggs and champagne.
4. In the soundtrack to your culinary life, name a few songs, or just one, that would tell us a little bit about you?
DK: "Prodigal Sun" by The Rolling Stones, but music's dynamic. I like things at different times and listening to a lot of different things.
Liam: Like wine?
DK: Yah, you like something and then you move onto something else. I'm listening to Mahalia Jackson right now.
5. At your last supper, you can have a couple of guests, dead or alive, who would be at the table and what would you eat?
Obviously my girlfriend, but if she can't take up a slot, Brigitte Bardot for one, it is last supper, right? I don't know, maybe Keith Richards; it could be a party. I think I'd ask them both to bring two guests of their choice and we could start a pyramid scheme from there. My last meal, I'd say as many raw oysters as I possibly could eat and probably a roast chicken that's been truffled all underneath the skin, wild mushrooms, lots of great old burgundy and ice cream for dessert.
Liam: I'm going to gate crash that one, sorry. Chef David Kinch, great answers, thank you!
Strawberry Gazpacho
(Pictured above)
2 ½ # Strawberries, greens removed
8 oz White onions, thinly sliced
8 oz Red Bell Peppers, seeded, and thinly sliced
10 oz Cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced
1ea Clove of garlic, peeled, thinly sliced
10g Tarragon, just leaves
*Strawberry Consomme
100ml Balsamic Vinegar
½ C EVOO
Make the strawberry consomme. (see recipe below.) Crush strawberries by hand over a bowl.
Add all the other ingredients, EVOO, and balsamic vinegar.
Allow to marinate for 1-2 days.
Puree in a blender,then strain.
Adjust the thickness by thinning the puree down with strawberry consomme.
Adjust the seasoning with fine sea salt.
*Strawberry consomme
Hull several pounds of ripe strawberries and place in a bowl. Wrap the bowl tightly in plastic wrap and place the bowl over a double boiler. Simmer until the strawberries have given up their liquid and nothing remains. Strain the consommé, letting it drain for a bit without pressing, and chill. This is the liquid that you use to thin down the gazpacho.
ENJOY!
(Copyright 2012 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.)
