Young & Hungry

I remember being a teenager and stocking up on merino wool-silk blend sweaters at the mall.  They felt soft, cozy, luxurious, and I loved them.  Then one day, someone slipped me a four-ply Ralph Lauren cashmere cable knit and my view of the world (and textiles) radically shifted.  The same thing happened the first time I tried Tom Colicchio’s gnocchi. 

 
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There are many outlets in life: martial arts, shopping, anger management classes.  When I need to unwind, I seek mental escape through the practice of executing a complex recipe; somehow, the numerous steps and rigmarole ease my mind while I focus on the task at hand.  Bonus points for finding a complex recipe for a dish that is traditionally simple.  Enter Tom Colicchio’s chickpea salad recipe from my favorite cookbook, The Craft of Cooking.  Now, I have been making chickpea salad for years (also called chi chi beans in my family) and find it no harder than opening up a few cans of naked beans and jazzing them up with some oil, vinegar, and seasonings.  Delicious.  Simple.  Too simple. 

 

 

 

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I am pleased to announce our newest Y&H undertaking: our weeklong ode the toppest chef of all, Chef Tom Colicchio, not merely a culinary icon, but also a personal muse and (imaginary) mentor to both of us.  Stay tuned as we share our favorite TC recipes, recreated in our own kitchens. 

 

 

Our obsession with Chef Colicchio has taken the following forms:

 

 

• Countless dinners, lunches, brunches at Craft Atlanta, Craft Dallas, Craft anywhere, a venue worthy of commemorating any event, major or minor.
• Countless lunches at ‘wichcraft in NYC, which are the crux of our trips and around which all other activities are planned.
• Katy’s birthday celebration at W Dallas encompassing both dinner and brunch at Craft, the former of which also allowed us to schmooze with Sous Chef Jeff Harris, who later became Chef de Cuisine when Kevin Maxey moved on to Craft Atlanta (note photographic evidence below.)

 

Enjoying Craft

• Cooking class at Central Market featuring Craft’s most famous recipes, resulting in us now being able to roast our very own Hen of the Woods mushrooms.
• Obsessive and meticulous reading of The Craft of Cooking and Think Like a Chef slash recreating the most delicious looking recipes ourselves, the results of which will be displayed in the coming days. 
• Submersing ourselves in respective utter seclusion Wednesday evenings in order to intently watch Top Chef without interruptions.

 

 

….and so on.  We hope you enjoy this culinary journey as we walk in the apron of one the world’s most esteemed chefs.