Joseph Mahon

Barramundi Mode

I sourced some Barramundi from Australia. The fish is very versatile and can take on a lot of different flavor combinations. It is prized for it's flaky, sweet meat and a great price point for me. It is a great alternative to 3#-4# Wild Striped Bass. I really love to pan roast this fish, the texture contrast plays a key role in the overall dish. It is best to first blanch the fish in a flavored stock, thus condensing the skin. This will give a more uniform layer of crispness when roasting. The Chinese have been doing this for century's with peking duck. I took some inspiration from Mediterranean ingredients. The dish has chickpeas, capers, tomatoes, bay shrimp and basil. The 2 forms of chickpeas: hummus and blanched. I made a quick tomato fondue using an infused olive oil and then added some bay shrimp until cooked to complete the method. The basil was pureed and capers were fried. Everybody loves a menu item they feel they already know! JM

Equipment Mode

I am a chef who is huge on details. Having the proper equipment in the kitchen is paramount to any chefs success. How are you suppose to produce consistent, quality products without the correct tools? Good tools/equipment make the cooking process less stressful and gives you the ability to concentrate on other things that are going on in the kitchen. It is not very fun or smart to be sauteing a piece of fish in a pan where the heat is unevenly distributed throughout the pan. When I talk about tools I mean stoves, ovens, knifes, pots, pans, cutting boards, containers, floor mats, towels and anything else that will assist you in the cooking process. These are all the details that I believe, are sometimes overlooked and might clog the vision of the person cooking. Overtime, working with solid equipment will give you a more consistent product and a better mind set when approaching cooking. I believe a big factor of a great chefs success, is the equipment he or she uses in there own kitchens. The chefs I work with always spared no expense to get the best tools/equipment to succeed. Like most things, equipment is an investment; you must understand it, take care of it properly and will pay off in due time. JM

Swordfish Mode

I have had a purveyor keep calling me about some beautiful fish he had coming off the coast of Hawaii. I believe around this time of year all the Tuna are going south, so I decided to get some wild line caught Swordfish. The season for Swordfish only last for a couple months. They also had in season Blue and Emerald Snappers, however they were a little to expensive. I can not be selling $42 menu items given the situation with our economy. Perhaps, I could but we need to sell more than 2 orders. Swordfish was a great deal considering it was caught yesterday and delivered this morning. It was some of the best sushi grade Swordfish I have worked with in a while. I wanted to leave nothing to waste. I cut out the loins and sectioned off the belly. I cured the belly with ginger, mustard seeds, fennel seeds, salt, sugar, thyme, shallot, garlic and confit it in duck fat. It was cut into thin strips and made into a warm salad. The salad consisted of cured tomatoes, celery leaves, shaved carrots, tat soi, chive, cilantro and a meyer lemon vinaigrette. The loin was simply grilled and served with a parsnip-mushroom puree and Syrah gastrique. I really enjoy leaving nothing to waste and utilizing the fish in 2 different preparations. I believe it is the only way a chef can demonstrate his/her true integrity for a product. JM

Dinner Mode

Cook Mode
Dinner

Artichoke Soup
Meyer Lemon Pearls, Smoked Salmon and Asparagus

Wild Watercress Salad
Poached Fingerling Potatoes, Cashews, Endive, Cabrales Cheese and Chive Emulsion

Pan Roasted Scallops
Corn Risotto, Celery Salad, Fava Beans, Cayenne Oil

Tahitian Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta
Rhubarb Consomme, Mint, Almonds

$ 35 donation

Executive Chef: Joseph Mahon

I am very excited to be posting the first dinner for Cook Mode. We will be stopping reservations at 20 people. Please email to confirm your seat at the dinner. The location of the dinner will be announced within the week. We encourage you to bring your own wine. Wine suggestions will be offered on future posts by a professional sommelier. Stay posted. JM

Beet Mode

Beets! I have become very fond of this ingredient over the years and has been a staple of many of my menus for a long time. I use them with salads, lobsters (Hot and Cold), halibut, salmon, canapes, terrines and soups. Beets are great for making good margins and balancing out your food cost. Andrew Carmellini first showed me how to properly handle them when I started working at Cafe Boulud years ago. I roast them on a bed of salt at 350 for about 2 hour or until fork tender. However, this all depends on the beets size and if there are all uniform in size. I am using Red Ace Beets today, however there are numerous variety's from farmers all over Southern California including candy cane and golden beets. Typically, the structure for beet salads consist of a variety of Beet, Cheese, Nut, Fruit and a Green. I used a goat cheese thinned out with a touch of cream and seasoned with shallots, tarragon, chive and lemon juice. I used toasted sliced almonds, asian pear and garnished with corn shoots and micro celery. I use a lot of sherry and herb infused vinegars when it comes to any of my sauces to go with any of my beet salads. In this dish I used an infused red wine reduction with the scraps of shallots, tarragon and asian pear. I balanced out the reduction with sherry vinegar, honey and almond oil. I always believe that one of the quality's that defines a great chef is how he can take an everyday staple and turn it into something spectacular and completely transformed. JM

Pea Mode

I recieved my first order of fresh peas for the season. On a scale of 1 to 10 there were a 8.5. All the starch has not yet converted to sugar, there best when they are really sweet. However, this did not stop me from using them today. This dish was made from left overs and do not mean from last night. Earlier in the day, I was doing a tasting event for some clients from a museum that wanted really artistic presenations with the flavor to match. I had a smoked- artichoke emulsion, shucked- blanched peas, pea tendrils and some perfect little golden corn shoots from todays tasting. We had some huge tomatoes that I blanched off, de-seeded and made it in a long strips. I simply cured it with salt and a touch of sugar for 30 minutes and rinsed it off. I believe the halibut was the natural way to go for developing the last stage of this dish. A simple pan roast with a touch of lemon juice and black truffle oil did the trick. JM

Scallop Mode

Well, last post of march, how the days fly. This post is really exciting to me because it is so fun to work with diver scallops.I received these scallops off the gulf of maine. Scallops are noted for there meaty texture and sweetness. Bay scallops tend to be the sweetest in my opinion, however that is for another post. Just like the monk fish, scallops are very versatile and take on a lot of different flavor combinations. Scallops, consistently go well with heavier counter parts like vegetable purees, starch purees and risottos that are usually balanced out with a sweet/acidic sauce for hot preparations. I did a two part cooking method. First I poached them in a scallop stock until barely cooked, then pan roasted them and finished them in the oven. I served them with a corn risotto, corn sauce, cayenne oil and a celery leaf salad. This dish is very focused, quality of ingredients play a vital role for it to be successful. JM

Monk Fish Mode

I received some stellar Monkfish today from the east coast of the United States. Each tail weighed on average 2 1/2 pounds. Monkfish is a lean fish, considered by many as "Poor Man's Lobster". Just like Lobster, Monkfish is extremely versatile and can take on a lot of different flavors. Pork is an excellent flavor, so I decided to wrap it in proscuitto. Prior to wrapping, I made sure the monkfish was seasoned and had an even layer of lemon thyme leaves. The fish was then wrapped in plastic wrap, making sure to form a uniform cylinder. I sous-vide the fish for 26 min. then finished it off in a saute pan. This crisps up the proscuitto and gives a good texture contrast for the dish. The other elements on the plate are smoked- potato puree, braised cabbage, braised red wine onions and a jicama-radish salad. The salad lightens up the dish and gives a great balance for everything else on the plate. JM

Sea Salt Mode

Sea Salt, Sea Salt, Sea Salt.....where do I begin? Simply put, do not use anything else for your seasoning purposes when cooking. Great, solid, consistent cooking is all about the little things. Sea salt is a huge detail in how your cooking of a recipe tastes. In my case, Baliene sea salt is my salt of choice when it comes to the dish's I serve. Throughout my career, sea salt in one form or another has always played a key role. Sea salt comes from various parts of the world including Cayman Islands, Greece, Hawaii, and Cape Cod. However, in my opinion, the french sea salt fits my palate the best. It is extremely interesting how each salt has it's own distinct characteristics of that region of the world. Salt is a double sided sword in the sense that it can be your best friend or worst enemy. Food that is over-salted can not be eaten and under salted food taste like what your mother use to make for dinner. The careful balance of seasoning with salt can take an good dish to a great dish in one pinch. I do not know any other ingredient that can that. JM

Spring Mode

It is getting towards the end of March and I can smell spring in the air. This is the best time of year for chef's. It's the season where you simply let the integrity of the ingredient stand on there own. Everything is at the peak of freshness, so cooking begins to be more technique driven. Working in California gives us first helpings on some of the best produce in the country. Morels, Asparagus, Peas, Fennel, Apricots, Chive, Garlic Chive and Artichokes all come to mind when I talk to my purveyors and local farmers at the market. Today, the name of the game is Asparagus! We simply blanched it in salted water, cooled it and toss it with some lemon vinaigrette. I serve it with artichoke-chive puree, parmesan-creme fraiche, sweet 100 tomatoes and a lightly poached egg yolk. We garnished with shaved parmesan and pine nuts. Seems like a lot of players, however these are all timeless flavor combinations that will please some o the most discerning tastes. JM