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Q & A:
Guenter, what
is the reason you became a chef?
When I was 13, my mother told me I would be a chef.
Mothers know these things.
So, there is no history of your family working in the
restaurant industry?
No. (Note: his parents were in the wholesale vegetable
business)
What gives you inspiration when you cook?
Seasonings, food.
What about “Tuna in a Can”?
And life gives me ideas too.
Do you have any favorite recipes from your childhood?
My Grandmother slow braises on Sundays with either
veal or pork.
Do you have a signature dish?
I hope I don’t have one dish, it is variation
that I like.
What is your favorite style of cookery?
I draw from everything.
What about your classical training, doesn’t that
affect your approach?
No, that was a long time ago. I’ve been doing
this for 40 years now.
Is cooking an art, craft or science? Why?
Craft, you must approach it like a craftsman. When
you know the techniques, you can cook the food. Not art,
it has no basis.
5 ingredients you would take if you were stuck on a desert
island?
Ridiculous question.
Who do you consider to be the best chef in Atlanta? The
world?
That would only be in my opinion, and I am not a
critic.
What is the most memorable meal you have had?
Many, too many too list.
And the very first memorable meal you made?
I don’t know.
What is the best restaurant in Atlanta? The world?
What is best? My opinion, no it’s only an opinion.
What are your favorite cookbooks?
There are a lot of chefs who make cookbooks, with
a lot of photography but I like the ones with philosophy
and simplicity like Marcella Hazan. She tells you how to
make a good spaghetti, with a bolognaise sauce. That is enough.
Any pet peeves when dining out?
I try to enjoy it when I go out and not critique.
You can have lousy food in a very nice restaurant and great
food in a lousy looking restaurant. I love good caviar but
bad caviar, well it’s horrible.
What is your favorite winemaker and vineyard?
The wine is about the integrity, the people who make
it. It’s not a style or preference. There are good wines
from California and Germany and there are bad wines from
Germany and California.
What wine styles go best with your food?
Elegant wines like German Riesling, burgundy.
What about Cotes de Provence or Bandol?
We have some Cotes de Provence, but they are not the
heavy, heavy wines.
Do you have any kitchen horror stories or food disasters?
Laughs, no if someone came in and killed all the
chefs that is a horror story. Chefs have many things to deal
with, accidents really not disasters. If the power goes off
well you just have to deal with it and go and tell the customer.
To garnish or not to garnish, how important is presentation
vs. taste?
Presentation means nothing, there is a certain aesthetic
but I am not looking for a plate. The food is it.
Best trend in food? Trend you’d like to see less
of?
Trends are bullshit. They are for people who know
nothing about food.
What about organics?
They have been around for years.
Do you miss the culinary scene in Europe?
I go back all the time. I would miss it if I didn’t
go there.
Do you like southern food?
What is southern food? A chicken fried is that southern?
Grits, that’s just polenta. I like the products from
the land. There are some good farmers. But the land has to
be developed to the way they were growing 100 years ago.
What is your favorite thing to cook at home?
I don’t cook at home.
Recipe: Chilled Bouchot Mussel Veloute, Tomato Essence
Gelee, Cucumber Salad
Ingredients – Velouté
10 # mussels
210 gram diced shallot
parsley stem
5 tbsp coriander
1 liter dry white wine
saffron
1 bay leaf
100 gram risotto
_ liter cream
_ liter cream fraîche
lemon grass
Ingredients – Tomato Gelee
5 # tomatoes
salt & pepper
7 gelatin leaves
Ingredients - Cucumbers
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, grated
salt & pepper
1 tbsp brown rice vinegar
1 tbsp grape seed oil
Procedure - Velouté
1/3 of mussels steamed in a covered casserole. Clean and set aside
covered with cooking liquid.
Put rest of mussels, shallots, parsley, coriander, ginger, lemon grass,
saffron, bay leaf, white wine, and rice in a casserole. Bring to a
boil and let cook for 15 minutes. Add cream and cream fraîche.
Strain and blend in a mixer. Chill in ice water.
Procedure – Tomato Gelee
Season tomatoes with salt and pepper. Marinate for 2 hours. Mix
in a Robocoup and hang cheesecloth to strain. Bloom 7 leaves of gelatin
in 1 liter of tomato water.
Procedure -Cucumbers
Season cucumber with salt and pepper; strain and mix with oil
and vinegar.
Presentation
In a soup cup, pour 100 ml of tomato water and chill until firm.
Quenelle one spoon of cucumber salad on gelee and garnish with four
mussels. Serve with chilled mussel velouté.
Flat Rock Farm Egg, 30-Year-Old Balsamico Vinegar,
Fresh Truffles from Perigord, Fried Rosemary
Ingredients
6 farm eggs, cleaned
_ l vegetable consommé
50 ml truffle juice
soy sauce
balsamico
1 truffle
1 bunch rosemary
peanut oil
Procedure
With egg cutter, take top off of egg. Mix egg with truffle juice,
vegetable consommé and soy and pour back into eggshell and steam.
Fry rosemary in peanut oil and dry on a paper towel.
Presentation
With a coffee spoon, pour some balsamico on egg. Shave truffle
over and garnish with crispy rosemary.
Fallow Deer Loin in Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Pink Lady Apples Baked
in a Clay Pot, Celery Beet Salad
Ingredients – Fallow Deer Loin in Black Trumpet Mushrooms
1 venison loin, cleaned
1 # black trumpet mushrooms
1 chicken breast
5 egg whites
_ lt vegetable consommé
1 celery root, wrapped in foil and baked in oven
2 beets, boiled in salted water
grapeseed oil
salt and pepper
brunoise shallots
lemon juice
Procedure – Fallow Deer Loin in Black Trumpet Mushrooms
In a Robocoup, mix chicken breast, trumpet mushrooms, egg whites
and consommé to a very fine mousse. Season venison loin with
salt and pepper. Coat loin with mousse and wrap in plastic wrap. Poach
in water to 175°, 16 minutes.
Ingredients - Pink Lady Apples Baked in a Clay Pot
10 Pink Lady apples, peeled, cored, thinly sliced
turbinado sugar
butter
Procedure – Pink Lady Apples Baked in a Clay Pot
Brush clay pot with butter and layer apple slices with sugar and
bake for 4 hours at 300°.
Ingredients – Celery Beet Salad
1 celery root, wrapped in foil and baked in oven
2 beets, boiled in salted water
grapeseed oil
salt and pepper
brunoise shallots
lemon juice
Procedure – Celery Beet Salad
Cut celery and beets into round circles. Add shallots, salt, pepper,
grapeseed oil, and lemon juice. Mix together.
Presentation
Slice venison into medallions. Garnish with celery beet salad
and apples.
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