Category Archives: Local Ingredient

Recipe for Sustainability: While Michael Cures Sierra Mackerel for Solutions in Monterey Bay, We Watch the Seafood at Home

Posted on May 17, 2012 | Leave a comment

Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program is helping all of us help the oceans.

Michael’s headed to California today on an invitation from the Monterey Bay Aquarium to attend its annual Cooking for Solutions event where he will be honored with a distinguished group of chefs as a Seafood Ambassador.

The focus of Cooking for Solutions is to help people connect their individual buying decisions to the health of the oceans and the soil.  The events support the aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, helping consumers make informed seafood choices while dining out or in the grocery store through pocket guides, website, mobile applications and outreach efforts.   Since 1999, it has distributed tens of millions of pocket guides, had more than 240,000 iPhone app downloads, and cultivated close to 200 partners across North America, including the two largest food service companies in the U.S.

Seafood Watch is also a resource for the decision makers on the supply side of the marketplace — restaurateurs, food service companies and retailers like us.  In fact, we recently called on their help with a question about grouper.  Our sourcing decisions are made based on longtime relationships with trusted local suppliers, first and foremost.  So when fisherman George Figueroa from Trigger Seafood came to us wanting to offer spear caught black grouper in the area of the Florida Keys, and because of the particular stigma attached to grouper, we made sure to check with Seafood Watch, too.

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Posted in Local Ingredient, Special Event, Away Game, On the Menu Now, Fisheries Update, Wild Things

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Genuine Cayman Sneak Peek: “Brasserie Catch” Snapper Episode & Recipe

Posted on May 9, 2012 | Leave a comment

The third episode of our new show, Genuine Cayman, airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. (rather than 7:00 p.m.) on Cayman 27.  In “Brasserie Catch,” Michael heads out fishing with chef Niven Patel of the Brasserie Grand Cayman, one of the first fine dining restaurants on-island to make a conscious effort to source locally — even planting its own garden right behind the dining room.  South Florida chef Dean Max took over the operation in 2006, and back in Janurary of 2010 when we visited during Cayman Cookout, it was our first taste of what a restaurant like Michael’s Genuine could be on-island long before we opened our doors for the first time later that summer.  Much of the groundwork laid by Dean and his paved the way for us to make connections with local farmers that now form the backbone of our menus in Grand Cayman.

We wanted to get to know how Niven was embracing his own new arrival on island from Miami earlier this year, recently taking over the kitchen, so what better way than to go fishing out on one of the restaurant’s boats (yes, they have two that exclusively catch for the Brassiere!)  From the looks of it, the chefs had more than mere fishing line in their hands, like a refreshing coconut water drink care of beverage director Kyle Kennedy, made with sugarcane straight from their garden.  Way to go fish, gentlemen!

Preview the fishing trip in the You Tube video above, and stay tuned for the full episode on-air including the preparation of Niven’s “Brasserie Catch” Snapper with Local Beans, Pickled Green Mango and Seasoning Pepper Vinaigrette, that you can make yourself at home with the recipe below.

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Posted in Behind the Scenes, Genuine Cayman, Local Ingredient, MGFD_GCM, On the Tube, Recipe, Video

Meme Want My Fish in a Bag

Posted on May 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

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Three times is a charm.  Thanks to daily menu change emails from the team in reservations, we tend to notice when @MGFD_MIA chef de cuisine Bradley Herron hits on a dish he’s having fun fooling around with.  The set-up of the moment? Al cartoccio, or, better yet, Bradley’s term of endearment — fish in a bag.  It’s going three weeks strong now, first Yellow Jack with  artichokes, fennel, asparagus, & lemon, followed by Flounder with leeks, georgia corn, asparagus, and thyme, for which our friend Steve Tweeted some love.  Michael’s a big fan, too.

Mutton Snapper al Cartoccio comes together with heirloom tomato, chorizo, chickpeas and cilantro, courtesy Bradley's iPhone.

“I love fish in a bag. I think the Harry’s pop-ups with Vetri and Sawyer inspired him to do it at Genuine. Fish in cartoccio was one of the first things I made at Dilullo’s. It’s nothing new, but that’s what’s great about it.  Rolling those bags up man? I remember that shit.”

We asked line cook Jason Arroyo about the simple preparation yesterday.  After the fish is wrapped up in parchment with a few ingredients and a great compound butter, the little packages quickly bake in the kitchen oven, rather than next to the wood fire which would be a challenge to manage during a busy service.

Knowing Bradley’s penchant for fish-cutting, there will likely be more bags to come before he tires and moves on. Yesterday’s Mutton Snapper was deliciously smokey and rich, but I have my fingers crossed that we’ll get some cobia in there next.  If it’s anything like what we tasted at Greenhouse Pizzeria, he’s got that one in the bag!

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Posted in Chef Pops, Dishing, Harry's Pizzeria, In the Neighborhood, Local Ingredient, MGFD_MIA, On the Menu Now

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