Interesting Article

Six Northwest Oysters On The Half Shell

Only five !

Claude Patry ~ Paul Bocuse

In culinary terms,this is an extraordinary montage of my good friend Claude Patry and his mentor Paul Bocuse. It spans Claude's thirty seven year distinguished career as a first class chef. 

The top photo is of  Bocuse and his crew long before he became famous internationally and he was just setting out to world wide fame. Claude is on the extreme left  and Bocuse is on the right. At this stage Bocuse was just an ordinary chef with his own restaurant; but he had something the others didn't have. He had a lot of showmanship and business savvy. My friend Claude did his apprenticeship there long before all the cooks of the world were  knocking on Bocuse’s door to learn the business and get a reference from him.

This montage shows Claude in 1969 as an apprentice and then in 2006 just as he retired. I was supposed to go back to France for his retirement party but unfortunately, and much to my regret, I couldn't make it. 
After leaving Bocuse Claude came to The Meridien Hotel Cairo Egypt where I got to know him. We have remained friends ever since. When he left Cairo he went to Paris where he worked in a Russian restaurant and, as I was in Paris at the same time, we saw each other weekly and  our friendship continued. He later went to work in Michelin star restaurants such as Roger Verge's Moulins de Mougins. He then opened his own restaurant which was very successful for many years.

He was an excellent cook, he had a great talent for his profession and it all came very naturally to him. He was more cut out for the finer side of cuisine and individual restaurants than the rough and tumble and incessant politics of  hotel life. 

Another Goulash

Lamb Chop Baked With Peppers And Potatoes.

Indian Fried Chicken

Marinated in yogurt and Indian spices for two days then fried  and served with sweet potato mash and yogurt mint dip.
Note: buttermilk would have made a better marinade.

Chicken Soup / Collard Greens / Potato Dumplings

Pulled Pork Sandwich On Focaccia.

Stouffer Hotels Conference Austin Texas

In spite of it's name association with frozen foods this hotel company which was alive and well in the 80's was very focused on food quality and there were some very good chefs and some high profile hotels at that time. There were also a few duds; The Madison Hotel in Seattle being one of them.  One of the  high profile  hotels was The Esmeralda Resort in Palm Desert California. It was the jewel of the desert.
At the time the hotel was run by an excellent general manager called Anthony Stewart Moore. He had not reached the full scope of his abilities at that time but he definitely had the heart and spirit of a real hotelier. I am sure he improved greatly over the years and would become one a few outstanding managers that I have seen. He had a very difficult job at the Esmeralda and did not have the greatest of support staff save.
He was eventually replaced by someone who would have been better off as a stevedore on the New York docks and from there the decline of the hotel started. This fellow spoke from both sides of his mouth and was never seen in the operation except for one time. We were doing a function for BMW motors. He wanted a BMW so he was everywhere looking as if he was in charge of things he did not fully understand.
He spent most of hit time on the golf course and was never seen out and about in the hotel like a real general manager. He was really a salesman and knew little about running a hotel in my opinion. When he wasn't on the golf course he was in the bar.
The company was eventually  sold to Renaissance Hotels. They told us everything was going to remain the same and the quality was going to be a primary concern. So we were told  not to worry.
Then they changed everything, fired all the key people and put young , inexperienced people  in their place. Everything went downhill from there. They replaced me after almost nine years in the company and  in this fine hotel with a banquet cook.
A few months after the acquisition the President was gone, corporate chef was gone, corporate f&b was gone. Otherwise nothing changed.
This photographer  who took these photos was absolutely awful. I don't know who hired him.

Scrambled Eggs With Sweet Peppers / Crispy Bacon And Pratais.

Baked Lamb / Bacon Collard Greens

Paul Bocuse With Fernand Point

Beef Goulash / Parsnip / White Potato Mash.

Claude Patry/ Jacques Lang

This is my good friend Claude Patry with the French Minister of Culture Jacques Lang. This photo was taken on the 3rd of March 1986.
I worked with Claude in Egypt in 1974 and we later got to now each other in Paris in the late 70's. I worked with him in Roger Verge's restaurant ' Le Moulin de Mougins' and stayed with him and his future wife when I was there.  I was at his wedding, we ate in Paul Bocuse's restaurant with his parents and my girlfriend at the time. If only I could find the photos. We were two of a group who stayed in touch over all these years even though our paths have gone in different directions.
Were we a stable of racehorses Claude would be the ultimate thoroughbred. He has a pedigree from all the finest restaurants in France. He even worked for Bocuse before he was well known and he has the photos to prove it.

Chef Philomena Walsh

The reason I put this up here is it reminds me of the great meal that Phyllis prepared in her place during  the visit to Ireland in 1998 or so. It was a great dinner and I don't really know if I ever thanked her or told her how much I appreciated it at the time. She made a roast lamb and I could see that she had put a lot of work into the preparation of it. Sometimes we forget how much effort goes into such a nice meal. I still remember it. 

An Excellent Shrimp, Okra And Spinach Curry

Flared Chicken / Shrimp Brochette / Sauteed Spinach

Another Great Lamb Tajine With Almond Couscous.

Dindins

Nothing special. Charred New York steak with lemon garlic compound butter,
baked potato and green beans with toasted almonds

Maurice Brazier In Yugoslavia

June 1977

This was a weekend of French Cuisine in Belgrade Yugoslavia sponsored by the Meridien Hotel Paris.

Beef Fajitas / Rice / Black Beans

Doesn't look like much but this was just great.

Chicken And Pepper Kabob / Couscous