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Feature article
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Troutdale chef making Beard House debut
By Fred Sauceman
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| Darrin Shelley, executive chef at Bristol’s Troutdale, shown here at an international gastronomy conference in Madrid, Spain, in 2006, will bring his culinary talents to New York City’s James Beard House for a dinner on June 14. |
This month, Darrin Shelley will load his car full of Tennessee produce — fresh fennel, baby lettuces, tomatoes, and strawberries. His destination will be 167 West 12th Street in New York City.
Executive chef at Bristol’s Troutdale Restaurant, Darrin was invited to cook a meal at the James Beard House, named for the late gourmand who was known as the “dean of American cookery.” Out of this house operates the James Beard Foundation, which puts on the culinary world’s equivalent of the Academy Awards each spring.
Being asked to cook at the Beard house is an honor reserved for the nation’s most accomplished chefs. Darrin’s June 14 appearance is being promoted as a “Taste of Tennessee.”
“Considering that the Troutdale is located in an historic house dating from 1850, chef Darrin Shelley should feel right at home at the landmark James Beard House,” reads the May/June 2008 “JBF Events” booklet. “And were he still alive, James Beard would no doubt find comfort in Shelley’s acclaimed all-American cooking.”
Darrin estimates the meal itself will run some three to four hours. The cost is $165 for the general public and $125 for Beard Foundation members. Preceding the six-course meal will be four different hors d’oeuvre choices: butter-poached lobster medallions with fava beans, zucchini brunoise, and basil oil; potato risotto with leeks and summer mushrooms; seared Hudson Valley foie gras canapés with white truffle royale on brioche; and smoked trout cakes with spicy pepper relish.
This will be Darrin’s debut at the Beard House. The Troutdale’s dining room manager, Melissa Ward, made the initial contact.
“We’re ecstatic,” Darrin tells me. “We honed in on June 14 as the best date to feature seasonal produce. We’re taking as many locally-grown products as possible, to showcase Tennessee and Virginia. We’ll be using micro-greens grown by Ned Johnson of Johnson City and organic products from David King of Abingdon.”
The first course will be pan-roasted veal sweetbreads with Silver Queen corn pudding. The sweetbreads remind Darrin of “an expensive chicken nugget.” Paired with the corn pudding, he says the course is reminiscent of fried chicken and creamed corn from the farm.
Other courses feature orange marlin and pickled fennel; Spanish-influenced white asparagus, roasted in the oven and served with Serrano ham, Manchego cheese, and shaved truffles; seared Japanese sea bass with Kumamoto oysters; a pan-seared beef tenderloin; and for dessert, peach tarte tatin with vanilla bean caramel and pink peppercorn ice cream.
The Troutdale’s sommelier Charlie Berg has paired wines with each course. He and the Troutdale team will arrive in New York on June 10.
“It’s a great honor to represent Bristol and Tennessee to the culinary world,” says Troutdale owner Ben Zandi. “The James Beard Foundation is the highest recognition anybody can have in the restaurant business. Darrin and sous chef Steve Burse are classic cooks who believe in the very basics of culinary rules. They’re in tune with basic ingredients, with a little bit of flair and proper technique, and this menu is exactly that.
“We’re not trying to create something we’re not. Our intent is to promote our part of the world, the talents here in the Tri-Cities as well as what Tennessee and Virginia have to offer. These young people work 12 hours a day and put their heart and soul into their work.”
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Food writer Fred Sauceman, author of the book “The Place Setting: Timeless Tastes of the Mountain South — from Bright Hope to Frog Level,” is senior writer and executive assistant to the president for public affairs at East Tennessee State University. E-mail him at sauceman@etsu.edu.
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