Discover Top Posts Tagged with #david guas

“D.C.'S RESTAURANT INDUSTRY PREDICTS THE FUTURE OF DINING”

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Victor Albisu

Ashok Bajaj

Jeff Black

David Guas

Marjorie Meek-Bradley

Mike Isabella

Bill Thomas

Bertrand Chemel

http://dc.eater.com/2015/9/15/9329533/future-dining-dc-future-week

#Victor Albisu #Ashok Bajaj #Jeff Black #David Guas #Marjorie Meek-Bradley #Mike Isabella #Bill Thomas #Betrand Chemel

Chef David Guas & The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel

Talk with Chef David Guas, Host and Co-Judge on Travel Channel's "American Grilled," as well as Deanne French, Director of Public Relations, and Shannon Gilbert, Director of Sales at The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel.

#David Guas #ritzcarlton #Ritz-Carlton #Laguna Niguel #Orange County #SoCal #American Grilled #Travel Channel #chef #travel #hotel

Banana Pudding from DamGoodSweet: Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth, New Orleans Style via Epicurious

pros: this banana pudding is creamy and light, and not too sweet. You can layer it up with bananas (at the bottom of my glass, there), vanilla wafer crumbs (mixed up with cinnamon and sugar), and whipped cream if you’ve got it (not in this picture). It actually tastes almost exactly like those Jell-o powdered banana pudding, but a lot better. Also, it's made with whole milk, so that's fairly light, right? cons: I wouldn’t try making this without an electric mixer, by which I mean one of those Kitchen Aid beasts. It really needs some whipping after the corn starch starts to thicken the pudding. I think without an electric mixer, it would come out super lumpy. I whipped the dickens out of it, and it still has a lump or two. Also, don’t skip the banana liquor (am I really advocating buying *banana liquor* of all things?! Hear me out). Without the banana liquor, it just ends up being vanilla custard. It is the only thing giving the pudding any banana flavor. Even if you’re making this for children, they will *never* know. I wouldn’t know if I hadn’t made it myself. It will not make them drunk or give them a taste for alcohol. I say this because one of the commenters on the Epicurious site said she skipped the banana liquor because she was making it with her son. Totally unnecessarily, IMHO. notes for next time: It’s pretty straight-forward. Don’t be fooled by the claim that this makes six servings. That's six servings for people who don’t really like banana pudding. Otherwise, I’d say it makes about four servings. Go make it!

#banana #pudding #David Guas #Raquel Pelzel #Epicurious

What's On Your Table? District Farmers Explain Benefits of Locally-Sourced Food

WASHINGTON-- George Washington stands atop a pastry case in Arlington, Virginia’s Bayou Bakery, holding a sickle and a sack of grains. The figurine, purchased at Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, belongs to restaurant owner David Guas. Seeing as the Mount Vernon grist mill supplies all the bakery’s cornmeal and grits, Guas figured a little tribute was in order. The historic mill uses corn from local Virginia farmers to create the freshly-ground ingredients Bayou Bakery cooks with. The partnership wasn’t instant-- after competing in a cornmeal hoecake bakeoff at the estate, Guas wanted more. “They didn’t have any delivery ideas, they didn’t have any idea of price, we just made it work, and now I physically go to Mount Vernon to the grist mill and pick up my cornmeal”, he says. While Bayou Bakery is covering both the local and historical bases, other area chefs are working to locally source the food they put on your restaurant table.

In a metropolitan area like D.C., finding farm-fresh produce can be difficult. Finding organic, locally grown food is even harder. However, to some chefs, going the extra mile for natural food is worth it-- for reasons more than taste. Partnerships between independent, family-owned farms and local restaurants are mutually beneficial: buying directly from farmers gives chefs the freshest food possible, and allows the producers to profit more than if they sold to retailers. Less than 2 percent of the American population works in agriculture, and many family-owned farms struggle to stay in business.

Thanks to increasing demand for organic, natural food, things are starting to look up for independent producers. Some restaurants form relationships with farms across the country. At District Commons in Foggy Bottom, the popular “Pig Board” features ham from Norwalk, Iowa. According to chef Aaron Daniels, La Quercia Farms’ high quality pork is worth the distance. “The fact that they even source the salt they use to cure the meat from right here in America, it just makes it such an uber local product,” he says. “It’s something we want to support, and it just wows our customers, so really it’s a win-win.”

For chef Andrew Evans, of Easton, MD.’s BBQ Joint, the differences between humanely raised, hormone-free meat and generic supermarket meat are clear. He wants you to imagine a rope. “Think about a rope as a muscle strand”, Evans says. “If you have a whole bunch of strands of rope, they’re going to trap more water than a few bigger, fatter strands. If you dip a mop in a bucket of water it can hold a lot of moisture. if you dip three strands of rope in the water it’s not going to hold much.” Hormones used to speed up the growing process of mass-produced meat often result in tougher, less flavorful meat. To Evans, higher-quality proteins have a finer muscle development--multiple strands of rope-- and no other meat compares. As a barbecue pitmaster and a restaurant owner, he won’t serve anything else.

To some, sourcing food from multiple farms might be a hassle, but for Chef Guas, it’s a privilege. As someone who considers fresh, organically grown food a customer’s right, knowing when and where his produce is coming from is a big deal. Take, for example, his relationship with Pearson Farm, his pecan supplier. The Georgia family farm provides the nuts Guas uses in his desserts. “What I love about dealing with farmers and vendors like them is that there’s a date on the box, a harvest date, so you know [the nuts] are not just sitting in some warehouse... these guys are picking them and shelling them during the harvest, and we’re getting them a week or so later” says Guas, “you don’t often think about nuts as a fresh crop”.

At District Commons, Chef Daniels pays attention to the seasons. There are certain things the restaurant can’t buy seasonally, like lettuce, but the chefs work to include as much natural, small-batch produce as possible. “When you pop something in your mouth that’s cared for, that’s created by a small producer, you’re going to taste the difference easily”, he says.

Organic living is hugely popular, and attaching “all-natural” to a product makes it almost fly off the shelves. Most restaurants jump at the chance to advertise their sustainability-- so why is Guas so quiet about his? “I think it’s more of an obligation that we have, rather than something to promote”, says Guas, “I can sleep at night knowing that I’m offering a quality but also a well-sourced, safe product.”

Shuttling around from market to market for organic, local food is a lot of work, but Guas is more than willing to do it. And he comes bearing gifts-- on Saturdays he can be found handing out Bayou Bakery Beignets to his frequent vendors. His relationships with the farmers are important. Not only does Guas receive the highest quality produce for his customers, he also supports the independent farmers that care about quality over quantity. As chef Daniels puts it, “the more you support those around you, the better for both the economy, and for your palate-- why not benefit both?”

Originally appeared at wtop.com

#David Guas #Andrew Evans #Aaron Daniels #Bayou Bakery #BBQ Joint #District Commons