Service All-Stars - Turnbull and Asser

One of my favorite places to shop is the Turnbull and Asser store on East 57th St. in New York. The facade is beautiful, as is the inside. I'm pretty sure it was once a townhouse, and one I would love to have lived in! I have been shopping there for close to 10 years, mainly for the gentlemen that I have worked for, but I have a few select pieces of my own.

For those of you who don't know "T & A," they are the venerable English shirtmaker of the British banking set as well as the NY power-broker set. They have been the shirtmaker to successive Princes of Wales since 1885. They are best known for their brightly colored bespoke shirts, but they also make custom suits, knitwear, neckwear, rain coats, pajamas, as well as a beautiful collection of ready-made clothing for both men and women.

I mention Turnbull and Asser because of their high level of service. I have been dealing with the same gentleman, Simon Hobbs, since the first time I walked into the store. He's moved to the Beverly Hills store, but I often still call New York for service. Anyone who answers the phone can help me. They have a great collection of records and can quickly pull up the measurements and notes of whoever I am buying for.

I called a couple of weeks ago because I had sent an email to the gentleman that I had been dealing with and I was following up. The laundress had brought me a shirt of the Mr.'s that was starting to show wear on the cuffs. Knowing that T & A replaces cuffs and collars on their shirts, I sent a photo of the shirt to see if they still had the fabric. A lovely woman, Lisa Riccardo, answered the phone and let me know that my usual contact no longer worked there. She was able to help me and left no gap in the continuity of service that I have had. I re-sent the email to her and she informed me that the fabric was no longer available, but that we could always put white cuffs on the shirt if I wanted. See, she didn't say no! She gave me an option and let me say no. My current boss wouldn't like the white cuffs, but one of my previous bosses would have.

I'm always thrilled with the service I receive at Turnbull and Asser. When I can afford to have bespoke shirts, they'll be from T & A! Until then, I can count on getting the best service when purchasing for my boss.

When in New York, visit them at 42 E. 57th St. When in Beverly Hills, visit them at 9633 Brighton Way. You could tell Lisa or Simon that I sent you, but you won't need to, as you'll get great service from the whole staff as a matter of course!

Visit them on the web at www.turnbullandasser.com

How to be a Guest

I'm surprised at how often people make graves errors in manners and etiquette. Has our modern world made us neanderthals? We're back into our event season at the house and I wanted to share a few items that would seem obvious, but apparently are not.

•               When you arrive at the home of your host, knock on the door or ring the doorbell before attempting to enter. I'm shocked by the number of people that vigorously shake the door trying to pry it open (it is only accessible from the outside with a key!).

•               Don't take things. I was standing in the living room last night ushering the guests to the dining room when I overheard one of the guests telling her date to put the cocktail napkins (linen) into his pocket! I invited them to hand them to me and I would take care of getting them to the right place. I'm not saying that they were trying to steal the napkins, but once they go into a pocket they are gone forever. We lose between 300 and 400 linen cocktail napkins per year! I'm sure most of them were taken by mistake, but only one person in the 4 years that I have been here has made the effort to return them to us. I was shocked when I opened the envelope and found a note and 2 cocktail napkins!

•               If you have a food allergy, let your host know before you are sitting at the table being served. I'm amazed at the number of people who immediately turn vegetarian when they see something that they may not like being served. When you do this, you disrupt the kitchen and the service staff. If, for some reason, you forgot to tell your host of your food allergy or strong dislike, please invite the guests at your table to begin eating. It will take a few minutes for the kitchen to prepare your special meal and the other guests at your table should not have to wait for you while their food gets cold!

•               Be gracious and remember your manners. A simple "please" and "thank you" go a long way. It seems like many of our guests are amateur party-goers.They are often demanding and rude and belittling to our wait staff. I remember one girl very upset that we couldn't make her a Bacon Martini. It's not that we couldn't, it's that I wouldn't. As you know, I don't like saying "no" but this request was pretty ridiculous, especially since she couldn't tell us what was in it! I love when we entertain the Mr.'s close friends. They have more right than anyone to make themselves at home and  be a little pushy, but they are exactly the opposite. They are kind, gracious and well-mannered. They know the house well, but wait to be escorted to where they are meeting the Mr. Because of the way that they behave, we bend over backward to give them what they want, we keep their preferred liquor in the house, know their food preferences and accommodate them in every way that we can. Everything we do for them is always met with sincere appreciation, every time that we do it for them! 

Always remember that you are in someone's home and act as you would expect someone to act in your home. You wouldn't expect your guests to push your staff around, so don't do it to someone else's staff. You would hope that your guests would let you know ahead of time of a food allergy or strong dislike, so let your host know BEFORE coming to their party.  If I don't know what to do in a situation, I'll refer to Emily Post's Etiquette, 17th Edition (Thumb Indexed) or The Amy Vanderbilt Complete Book of Etiquette : 50th Anniversary Edition for advice. Doing the proper thing is always in fashion!

Cuistot Restaurant - Palm Desert

Restaurant Review – Cuistot Restaurant Palm Desert, CA

            When I knew that we’d spend New Year’s in the desert, I wanted to take my wife somewhere special for New Year’s Eve dinner. We had eaten at Cuistot five years ago on NYE, so I thought it would be fun to dine there again. I didn’t remember the restaurant being good or not, but I would have remembered if it had been exceptional or poor.

            I booked the table online, through OpenTable as I have in the past. It’s kind of impersonal, but convenient. I received a call about a week before from the restaurant confirming my reservation and asking for a credit card to secure the reservation (common practice on very busy nights like NYE, Mother’s Day, etc.). The reservationist who called was pleasant and efficiently handled what needed to be done.

            We arrived at the restaurant a few minutes before our reservation and the valet took our car. To my surprise, we didn’t get a ticket from the valet; he said he’d take care of it. I hoped that when we were finished it wouldn’t take forever to get our car because there was no record of it.

            We entered the restaurant and found the space warm and inviting. The décor seemed to be inspired by a French country house, but updated and clean. We stood at the host stand and waited for a moment while the host was obviously busy with something more important than guests standing in front of him. When the other host returned a moment later, he greeted us and finally the host that had been standing there with his head down noticed that we were there. We were promptly seated in a booth near the kitchen, one or two away from where we sat five years ago.

            After a slightly longer than acceptable wait, a server greeted us and offered drinks. I ordered a glass of champagne, something non-descript, and my wife had only water as she’s 6 months pregnant. The drink arrived and it was fine. A food runner dropped in with an amuse-guele, that he described as potato with goat cheese. It was in fact a potato with smoked salmon, crème fraiche, and caviar. The potato was cold and undercooked, the crème fraiche runny and unappetizing. There was so little caviar it should have been omitted. I was concerned with the start of the meal, but hopeful that things would improve.

            Our waiter arrived with menus for a prix fixe menu with the only choice being the main course. The menu was as follows:

Terrine of Imported Foie Gras With Apple Compote and Calvados Gelée (optional course - $18 supplement)

Lump Crab Gratin with Celery Coulis

Consommé of Pheasant with Mini Pheasant Quenelles

Arugula Salad with Asian Pears, Baby Corn and Honey Vinaigrette

Venison Wellington with Grand Veneur Sauce and Chestnut Purée (the main course that I chose)

Fresh Chilean Seabass over Bamboo Rice with a Ginger Vinaigrette and Japanese Salad Garnish (the main course the my wife chose)

Hazelnut and Chocolate Gâteau with Pistachio Anglaise and Fresh Berries

Home Made Petit Fours

            We both skipped foie gras, as I like it sautéed and my wife doesn’t like it very much. The first course arrived on a small plate and it looked very plain and simple, like a small hockey puck though too large for a course in a 7-course menu. It was a crab cake floating in a pale green celery coulis. I broke through the over-fried crust of my crab cake with my fork and dove in. It was dry and flavorless. The celery coulis didn’t have much flavor of celery; it was just a watery pale green sauce. My wife had the same thoughts. We looked at each other and knew we were in trouble at this point.

            Following the crab cake was the Pheasant Consomme. [It arrived in a small bowl and the consomme was perfectly clean with two white quenelles of pheasant and a little bit of jullienned leeks floating in the broth.  I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. The broth was perfectly seasoned and flavorful. The quenelles were light and tasty. It would turn out to be the high point of the meal.

            The Arugula Salad arrived shortly after we finished our consomme. It was simply presented: a medium-sized mound of arugula with a few slices of Asian pear around the sides. I eventually found the baby corn at the bottom of my salad. I wasn’t paying close attention when I took the first bite of salad that included one of the slices of pear. I bit into a pear seed, which got me off on the wrong foot for this course.  The seed was just the start of it. The arugula seemed to have been just washed and still wet. It diluted what might have been a good vinaigrette, but it was just watery and nearly flavorless. I’m not a big fan of the baby corn either. They remind me of something I would find in a grandmother’s [ap0ostrophe’S] stew. At this point I decided I needed a cocktail.

            I ordered a rye Manhattan. It was made very well, the only exception being the fluorescent red Maraschino cherry lying at the bottom of my otherwise perfect drink. I quickly consumed the drink in anticipation of the main course. I was hopeful that the venison would be delicious, but at this point not expecting much.

            I got just what I expected. The venison Wellington arrived and the meat looked quite rare. Normally that would be fine, but the puff pastry that surrounded it was nearly raw itself. The flavors on the plate were pretty good, the chestnut puree was flavorful and smooth. The sauce was well made and seasoned correctly. The puff pastry just ruined the dish! It was gummy and soggy. If the previous courses weren’t indicative of what to expect, I would have sent it back. I decided to cut my losses and suffer through so we wouldn’t have to suffer any longer than necessary.

            My wife’s dish was huge. The portion of the dish was as large as I’d expect to see at The Cheesecake Factory! It had a salad on top of the piece of fish. My wife tasted it and proclaimed that she couldn’t eat is [it] because it was gross. I asked her I she wanted to send it back. She declined as she didn’t want to protract the pain that was this awful meal any longer either.

            On to dessert! At this point we were just ready to go, but we had already made it this far, so we might as well stay for dessert. The dessert arrived and it looked like something an amateur baker would make. The cake was thinly sliced and had some sort of cream sandwiched between the layers. The pistachio crème Anglais was too thin and lacked any flavor of pistachio, only having a slight green tinge to indicate that it was, in fact, a pistachio sauce. Petit fours were supposed to follow. We usually bring the petit fours home for our girls, but we didn’t want them to think that our judgment in restaurants had declined! We just got the check and got out of there!

            We exchanged some niceties with the host on our way out and exited to find our car waiting for us! The best part of the whole experience was the valet service!

            The overall experience was poor. The kitchen is producing inferior food, even by low standards. The waiter was knowledgeable and polite, while the food runners need an education in what is in the dishes that they present to guests. I’m surprised to read so many good reviews of the restaurant: I guess the guests that enjoyed their dinner have more money then sense. It was a beautiful space, but that is the only redeeming quality of this over-priced restaurant with poor food and average service. The chef apparently trained under the famed Paul Bocuse. He needs a refresher course, at least, to get the restaurant to the level where they can justify the high prices that they charge (our prix-fixe menu was $109.50 per person!).

Service

             We interact with service providers many times every day. In fact, most of us are service providers of some sort ourselves. Doctors, lawyers, chefs, accountants, stock brokers are just a few that quickly come to mind. What is it that makes the service we receive exceptional?

            Service is defined as the action of helping or doing work for someone. That’s a fair definition, but there’s a lot more to it. Service to me is asking a service provider for something and them giving it to you. For example, at a restaurant you ask your waiter for a drink and he brings it to you. Poor service is asking for something and not getting what you asked for. For example, same restaurant scenario, ask for a drink, your waiter brings you the wrong drink and has to go back correct their error. Of course, the human element is involved so errors will happen, but a good service provider will make few errors and when they do make them they will compensate for their mistakes is some way. Maybe the waiter will buy you that drink or the next one.

The guest experience is paramount to a good service provider. We choose what and where we are served. I could stay at home and have all of the perfectly made food or cocktails that I want, but I often want someone else to take care of it for me so I can relax. Sometimes I just want to just let someone else handle all of the details for me, so I can relax.

My wife and I love dining out at fine dining restaurants. We usually order the tasting menu and let the chef decide what we are going to eat, only noting to our waiter any food allergies or strong dislikes that we may have. We’ll also order the wine pairing to let the sommelier choose what we should be drinking with our meals. It’s pure luxury to have true passionate professionals choose your meal for you.

I wouldn’t do this just anywhere, however. I cooked before I got into household work and I worked for some of the best in the business, and some of the not so best in the business as well. I trained under Julian Serrano, then of Masa’s in San Francisco (now of Picasso at the Bellagio in Las Vegas), Michel Richard of Citrus Restaurant in Los Angeles, and Steven and Mitchell Rosenthal, then of Postrio Restaurant in San Francisco. I had the best schooling of all working for those men. I learned passion for my chosen field, quality standards and what great service really meant.

When we go out now, we go to Masa’s, where Gregory Short now upholds the standards that I learned at Masa’s when I was there. We also trust Per Se in New York, where my good friend worked (he’s now the chef of the new Bouchon Restaurant in Beverly Hills). We cooked together at Sundance Resort in Utah many moons ago. Or Michael Mina, who has amazing standards that are upheld in all his restaurants. I could keep going, Gary Danko in San Francisco, Picasso in Las Vegas, L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon at the Four Seasons in New York. The list goes on, but it’s actually pretty short. These places are made what they are by the passionate professionals who hold themselves to standards that are high above those of people who are just doing a job. We’ve all been to good restaurants, but how often do you go to a great restaurant?

A great restaurant (or shop, theater, club, diner) is made great by the people that it employs, their passion for service and the overall guest experience. I reflect back on my post entitled “No, you say?” and see that in my interactions with service providers, I’m immediately put on the defensive when someone tells me “no” right off the bat.

“Do you have this in a size large?”

“No.”

A good service provider would go the extra mile and do everything they could to avoid telling me no.

I was recently in a children’s store, as we are expecting our third child, looking for a kit to convert our crib into a bassinet. I was told no at another store, then called the manufacturer and they told me that I could in fact get this kit from any retailer that carried their brand. I asked at the store I hadn’t been to and the ladies told me that they didn’t think it was possible, but that they would check. I got a little perturbed, as I already knew they could get it. They told me that the buyer would call me when he was in.

I received a call and the buyer told me that it’s not something that the company sells separately any longer, but that he could order the full crib/bassinet kit, break it apart for us and just sell us the part that we needed. Now, that’s what I’m talking about!!! The sale might be small ($180), but now I’ll go back there again when I need something. I knew that I could buy the kit from an online retailer, as I was told I could by the manufacturer, but I wanted to buy the part locally. The buyer’s willingness to bend the rules and make my experience a pleasant one has gained him and his store a loyal customer who will tell everyone he meets what a great store it is! Sounds like we both win!

           

I could go on about service forever, and I’ll go on some more another time. Until then, remember that if you’re providing a service, do everything that you can to avoid telling your customer no. Make them happy. If you’re a customer, reward the business and service providers that go the extra mile with your loyalty. If you do, there will eventually be a lot more good service providers around as they’ll be the only ones to survive this tough economy.

Tasty Pheasants, Christmas Presents

Tasty Pheasants, Christmas Presents

I really love Christmastime. Once all of our shopping is done and we are ready for Santa to make his stop at our house, we can settle in and enjoy the anticipation of Christmas morning. We have watched all of our favorite Christmas movies, Elf, the Santa Clause series, Christmas Vacation, A Christmas Story, Fred Clause, and A Miracle on 34^th St. Christmas music has been playing in the house and the car for a couple of weeks. We’ve planned our post-Christmas trip and now it’s time to sit back, relax and let Christmas happen!

This year we went to the SF Ballet’s performance of the Nutcracker Suite. The SF Ballet was the first ballet troupe to perform the Nutcracker in its entirety in the United States in 1944. I remember going to see the Nutcracker as a child and I was excited to take my girls to see it this year. We went on Christmas Eve in the morning, then finished up a few loose ends related to Christmas Day and settled in for our Christmas Eve dinner. Last year I cooked an English dinner, standing rib roast, Yorkshire pudding, and Brussels sprouts. This year I cooked pheasant for dinner. I went hunting on the Tuesday before Christmas, so they were fresh from the field when I cooked them. Here’s my Christmas Eve dinner menu with recipes:

Winter Salad

Pheasant Braised in White Wine

Roasted Root Vegetables

Potato and Celeriac Puree

Warm Biegnets with Jack the Ripper Cocktails

Winter Salad:

Choose your favorite salad green. I like butter lettuce. Roughly chop the greens and set them aside.

1 head butter lettuce or other salad green of your choice

12 ounces bacon, diced and cooked

¼ cup Italian parsley, chopped

1 pomegranate, seeds removed for use (to easily remove the seeds, slice pomegranate in half and tap each half with the back of a knife over a bowl).

Sherry vinaigrette

            1/3 cup sherry vinegar

            ½ teaspoon dry mustard

            1 clove of garlic, chopped

            1 small shallot, chopped

            1 teaspoon chopped oregano

            1 teaspoon chopped Italian parsley

            1 teaspoon chopped thyme           

            ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

            Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients except the olive in a bowl with a whisk. Once incorporated, slowly add the olive oil while continuing to stir with a whisk. Add more salt and pepper as needed.

Put the salad greens, bacon, parsley and pomegranate seeds into a large bowl. Add a few tablespoons of the dressing and toss to lightly coat the salad. Add more dressing as needed. Serve immediately.

Pheasant Braised in white wine:

2-3 pheasant, cleaned and dressed

1 bottle of dry white wine, chardonnay or sauvignon blanc will do

1 white onion, chopped

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

6 stalks celery, chopped

3-4 sprigs thyme

3-4 sprigs oregano

3-4 sprigs parsley

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1 stick (4 ounces) butter, chopped and reserved

¼ cup vegetable oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Quarter the pheasant and season with salt and pepper. In a large, heavy-bottom stockpot, heat the vegetable oil. Add the pheasant and brown on both sides. Once pheasants are browned, remove from the pot and set aside. Add the onion, carrots and celery and cook over high heat until lightly browned. Deglaze the pan with half of the white wine. Return the pheasant to the pot and add the rest of the white wine, the herbs, peppercorns and the bay leaf. Bring the pot to a boil, then cover and place into preheated oven. Cook for about 3 hours, until the meat is falling off of the bone. Remove from oven and take the pheasant out of the pot and set aside. Drain the liquid from the pan into another saucepan and place on the stove. Discard the vegetables from the pheasant cooking pot. Reduce the remaining liquid until about 1 cup of liquid remains. Remove from heat and slowly add in the butter, stirring constantly. Add the pheasant back into the sauce and assemble the meal.

Roasted Root Vegetables:

Choose a few of your favorite root vegetables to roast. I like parsnips, sweet potatoes, cipollini onions, burdock and carrots for this dish.

1 large sweet potato

2-3 parsnips

6-8 cipollini onions

1-2 burdock roots

3-4 carrots (use heirloom varietals if available)

½ cup olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (you can roast the vegetables in the same oven that the pheasant is being cooked in). Peel and cut all of the vegetables into similar size pieces, about 1/2 inch cubes. Mix all the vegetables together in a large bowl and toss with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread evenly on a sheet pan and roast for about 45 minutes or until lightly browned and soft all the way through when pierced with a knife. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

Potato and Celery Root Puree

I like this slight modification to traditional mashed potatoes. The celery root adds a flavor that is pleasant and adds depth to the meal.

2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (substitute Russets if Yukon Golds aren’t available)

1 celery root

3-4 cloves garlic

½-1 cup crème fraiche or sour cream

4-6 ounces unsalted butter

¾ -1 cup buttermilk or half and half

Salt and pepper to taste

Peel the potatoes and celery root and cut into (roughly) 1-inch cubes. Place into a large pot and cover with water. Add the garlic cloves to the water (up to this point can be done up to a day in advance), place on the stove and bring to a boil. Once a boil is reached, lower to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes and celery root are soft all the way through when pierced with a knife. Strain through a colander in the sink and pass the potato-celery root mixture through a food mill (if you don’t have a food mill or potato ricer, an old fashioned masher or beaters will work fine, you just might not have perfectly smooth potatoes!). Add one stick of the butter, half of the buttermilk or half and half and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Add the crème fraiche or sour cream and stir to incorporate. Season with salt and pepper and add more of the butter, milk and sour cream to your taste. Cover with plastic and set aside until ready to serve. If it’s done too early, you can gently heat them up over medium-low heat while stirring constantly. Add milk as necessary while reheating them to make sure you don’t burn them!

Warm Beignets and Jack the Ripper Cocktails:

I was introduced to the “Jack the Ripper” a few weeks ago at my boss’s birthday party by my good friends at Rye on the Road Beverage Catering. It’s basically hot chocolate with whiskey. They made it with melted Ghirardelli chocolate, warm milk and fresh-made marshmallow. I was successful making the cocktail at home with good quality hot chocolate mix and store bought marshmallows. If you’re adventurous and want to make the marshmallows at home, try this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Homemade-Marshmallows-242701

The drink was so good all I could think about was how good it would be with warm beignets. Beignets take a bit of effort, but you are well rewarded when you have fresh doughnuts to eat while you sit by the fire and enjoy your new favorite winter cocktail.

For the cocktails:

1 quart whole milk

Good quality hot chocolate mix

Good quality American whiskey

Large marshmallows

Heat the milk in a heavy-bottom pan over medium low heat, stirring occasionally. Once milk has arrived at the desired temperature, pour into a coffee mug and add the hot chocolate mix (remembering to leave space for the whiskey!). Stir well and add the whiskey, an ounce to ounce and a half should do. Float 2 of the marshmallows on top and enjoy!

Beignets:

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup evaporated milk

7 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup shortening

1 quart vegetable oil for frying

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup white sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon

In the bowl of a mixer, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, salt, eggs, evaporated milk, and blend well with either a whisk o the whisk attachment of the mixer. If you used the whisk attachment, replace it now with the dough hook. Mix in 4 cups of the flour and beat until smooth. Add the shortening, and then the remaining 3 cups of flour. Cover and chill for up to 24 hours.

Roll out dough 1/8 inch thick. Cut into 2 1/2 inch squares. Fry in 360 degree F (180 degrees C) hot oil. If beignets do not pop up, oil is not hot enough. Drain onto paper towels.

Shake confectioners' sugar on some of the hot beignets, and toss some of the beignets in the cinnamon sugar mix. Serve warm.

Sit back, relax and enjoy!