Cooking Class

Want to learn some tricks from a top Houston chef? Try this one-night cooking class

Looking for a little entertainment with dinner? Or how about the chance to learn cooking techniques from a well-regarded Houston chef? How about a fun, interactive date? Can you get home from work a little later than usual?

If so, I have an idea.

Quattro, the Italian restaurant in downtown Houston's Four Seasons hotel is offering cooking classes Wednesday through Saturday evenings. They start at 6:30 p.m. and last a couple hours. For $79 (or $149 for two), diners receive instruction from executive chef Maurizio Ferrarese or a member of his team on a specific cooking topic. The class also includes a three-course dinner built around the night's class. Usually, the classes are $130 per person, but the special price is available through Sept. 28.

Ferrarese set the tone for the evening with a simple set of instructions. "I talk. You chop."

I recently attended a class titled "Pasta Sauces ABC" with Ferrarese. As a mostly indifferent home cook (my specialties are grilling meat and the occasional dump and stir), I evened things out by inviting a friend with professional cooking experience to join me. Our agenda for the evening included a classic tomato sauce and a garlic sauce that's the basis for seafood dishes like linguini vongole. Then we made fresh pasta.

Ferrarese set the tone for the evening with a simple set of instructions. "I talk. You chop."

So we did, starting with blanching Roma tomatoes for the sauce before moving on to cutting onion, parley, basil and more. While the Romas simmered down to almost nothing in a pot, we turned to the garlic sauce. Ferrarese demonstrated techniques like the proper way to prepare leeks and that cool way chefs dice onions.

My cook friend bailed on the role of taking over prep by picking up my camera and shooting the images above. Throughout, Ferrarese kept things moving, and a server ensured our wine glasses stayed full. It made for a light-hearted, jovial atmosphere.

With the pasta sauces on their way, we turned to making pasta. Thankfully, Ferrarese had all the ingredients ready to go. Add them to a mixing bowl and let the machine combine them into dough. While the finished dough went to chill, Ferrarese produced another batch that was ready to flatten and cut.

Finally, it was time to eat. Ferrarese returned to his role in the kitchen, and we sat down to dinner that began with Quattro's signature riff on vitello e tonno tonnato (veal with lightly seared tuna). From there, the pasta and garlic sauce we made showed up with a variety of shellfish (clams, lobster, shrimp), but the individual strands looked far too evenly cut to have been the ones I made. Finally, Ferrarese returned to prepare tiramisu tableside.

"I'm telling everyone I know about this," my friend gushed.

"Me too," I said.

Why not? It had been a fun evening full of delicious food. Want to give it a shot? Call Quattro at 713-276-4700 for details.

Tomato Conserva Recipe

Ingredients:

10 lb ripe tomatoes
1 onion
2 celery stalks
5 garlic cloves
Parsley
Basil
Bay leaves
Salt and pepper

Method:
Blanch and peel tomatoes. Chop tomatoes, celery and onion. Place them in a pot with all the herbs. Close it with a lid and cook for 45 minutes. Stir in the meantime. Pass it to the food miller, season it with salt and pepper. Fill up the bottles and close with a lid. Boil it for one and half hours covered with water.

Garlic and Seafood Base

Ingredients:

100 g spring onion
10 cloves of garlic blanched three times in milk
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh chili
5 basil leaves
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
Leaves from a sprig of fresh thyme
200 mL water
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
Fresh shellfish such as clams, shrimp and/or lobster

Method:

Chop the garlic. Cut the spring onions into thin strips.

In a large saucepan heat over low heat 3 tablespoons of oil with the bay leaf, add the garlic and onions and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes and discovered, dipping from time to time with a little broth. Remove from heat, add the pepper and thyme leaves. Season with salt. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Remove the thyme and bay leaves. Blend to achieve a smooth consistency.

Sautee your seafood in a pan with oil, add cherry tomatoes if you want a touch or red in the sauce, and emulsify with the garlic base. Toss the pasta in it.

Sandler attempts to replicate, mostly unsuccessfully.

Photo by Eric Sandler

Sandler attempts to replicate, mostly unsuccessfully.

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a new chapter

Houston's shuttered kosher steakhouse reopens as a non-kosher neighborhood grill

Courtesy of Exodus Bar and Grill

Owner Jason Goldstein, chef Arturo Macias, and general manager David Tenorio are ready to welcome diners to Exodus Bar and Grill.

Jason Goldstein is leaving the world of kosher restaurants behind. Although his Meyerland restaurant Genesis Steakhouse & Wine Bar closed on April 30, its space won’t stay empty for long.

In its place, Goldstein will open a new restaurant called Exodus Bar and Grill. The name has two meanings. First, Exodus is the book that comes after Genesis in the Jewish Torah (aka, the Old Testament). Second, it’s a not-so-subtle poke at the Houston Kashruth Association (HKA), the organization that, in Goldstein’s opinion, forced the closure of Genesis when it removed the restaurant’s kosher certification in January. Unlike Genesis, Exodus will not be a kosher restaurant.

“It’s very much like Houston’s. A lot of the idea comes from Houston’s. A nice establishment that caters to the masses,” Goldstein tells CultureMap about Exodus. “People in the neighborhood want a nice restaurant they can go to with good service and good ambiance.”

When Genesis lost its kosher certification, the six Orthodox Jewish rabbis who make up Houston’s Vaad Harabanim urged their congregants not to dine at the restaurant, as it no longer met their standards for being in compliance with Jewish dietary laws. While it’s likely those very religious people won’t dine at Exodus, Goldstein thinks the new concept will appeal to both less traditionally observant Jews who worship at nearby synagogues and residents of neighborhoods like Bellaire, Meyerland, and Westbury who don’t want to leave the area to get a good meal in a nice environment.

Operating as a non-kosher restaurant comes with some notable advantages compared to operating a kosher establishment. Most importantly, the restaurant will be open on Friday nights and during the day on Saturday, which is strictly forbidden by the HKA. In addition, non-kosher meat is less expensive than kosher meat, which means Exodus’ menu will offer a lower price point than Genesis did. Exodus will be able to serve dishes that mix meat and dairy such as a chicken alfredo pasta, a cheeseburger, or even something as simple as mashed potatoes with butter. Finally, it will also serve non-kosher ingredients like shrimp and other shellfish.

Indeed, a draft menu Goldstein shared with CultureMap shows how Exodus will take advantage of those opportunities. Tentative menu items include fried calamari; blackened redfish with shrimp; gumbo with shrimp, chicken, and beef sausage; and a burger topped with mushrooms and Swiss cheese. None of them would have been allowed at Genesis.

Certain staples of the Genesis menu will remain. For example, Exodus will serve all of the sushi items that Genesis did. In addition, the old restaurant’s ribeye and beef short ribs will be available at Exodus.

Jewish diners who prefer a kosher steak or kosher chicken will still be able to get it at Exodus for an additional fee. Goldstein says those items will be cooked in separate pans but served on the same plates and with the same utensils as non-kosher dishes. Since some kosher mindful Jewish people already follow those standards at other restaurants, Goldstein thinks they’ll appreciate being able to dine that way at Exodus.

Kenny & Ziggy’s owner Ziggy Gruber has been an outspoken supporter of Genesis throughout its dispute with the HKA. He’s feeling optimistic about Exodus’ potential to connect with diners.

“There is a lack of casual, family type of neighborhood joint over here,” Gruber says. “I don’t think that it’s a bad idea. On the weekends and at night, he’ll do well. You and I know Yiddishe people like to eat. If they like the food, they'll patronize his establishment.”

Goldstein expects to be closed for a week or so while he makes some interior changes to distinguish Exodus from Genesis. Initially, the restaurant will operate with the same menu at lunch and dinner, and Goldstein plans to add weekend brunch once Exodus has established itself.

“We’ll start with one menu, execute it, and go from there. We can’t all be 20 pages like Ziggy’s menu,” he says with a laugh.

Located at 80 Braeswood Square, Exodus Bar and Grill will open at 11:30 am Monday-Friday; 4 pm on Saturday; and 1 pm on Sunday. Brunch hours will be announced in the future.

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