Customer Satisfaction  – I was having dinner out with some friends last week, and we were having a really nice time.  The food was generally pretty good, but the person sitting next to me didn’t enjoy her main course of seafood ravioli with lobster sauce.  She explained why to the rest of us, but when [...]

The Meat Grinder – One of the most valuable pieces of equipment in our kitchen is the meat grinder.  We use it several times each week, and it has a big impact on our menus.  Without it what would we do?  By grinding meats in-house, we are able to control the quality and safety of [...]

Skate and Squid In the previous post I wrote about my approach to cooking seafood here at Rendezvous, how and why we maintain our focus on local species.  Two of my absolute favorites are skate and squid because they combine all of the best qualities: delicious, local, abundant, unique in flavor and texture, and affordably-priced. [...]

Local Seasonality + Sustainable Fish When it comes to fish and shellfish, there’s a calendar of availability based on life cycles, migrations, spawning and other creature habits and conditions. Government regulations for fishing and the opening/closing of “seasons” for many species are based on these factors as well.  We update our menu here throughout the [...]

Winter Activities It’s January 2nd, and it’s 50F out with light rain.  I just spent an hour this morning up on the roof tending to the garden.  You might ask, “What is there to do this time of year?”, and the answer — especially on a day like today — is “Plenty!”  After a couple [...]

Charcuterie Over the last couple of years restaurants everywhere have begun offering charcuterie plates, a happy confluence of chefs’ passions and diners’ interests.  From the chef’s perspective, inventive and economical use of off-cuts give cooks a new excuse to go “retro” and do some real, old-school cookery.  From the guests point of view, these foods [...]

Here at Rendezvous, the people make the party! Five years ago when we opened Rendezvous, we envisioned a certain kind of place.  Yet you never can be certain of it; in spite of whatever kind of planning and amount of effort that goes into it, once you open the doors to a new restaurant sometimes [...]

Foraged mushrooms: the essence of local, seasonal terroir As a professional chef I’ve been working with New England farmers and fishermen for over 20 years sourcing seasonal, local fruits, vegetables, meats, fish and shellfish for use on menus in my restaurants.  Using these wonderful primary ingredients, cooking and serving them at the peak of their [...]

The Houseboat Cookbook — Winter Storage in the Boat Yard “First you take an onion, peel it, slice it, sauté it in the bottom of a small saucepan with 2 tablespoons of good olive oil, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper, . . . ”   How many recipes start off this way and proceed [...]

Organic Vermont Lamb This fall, I’ve dedicated myself to pursuing the pleasures of lamb butchery and cookery.  Each week, I purchase one whole lamb from a cooperative in Southern Vermont with a great reputation for high standards in husbandry, raising, feed and environmental concerns.  What results from their protocols  is a beautiful young lamb with [...]