One layer at a time - lacquering food

Art Culinaire, Winter, 2002

Bill Yosses

Citarella The Restaurant

New York, New York

at Citarella The Restaurant, pastry chef Bill Yosses believes in the power of quality ingredients: "Ingredients inspire me, especially new ingredients. It's a challenge to adapt them to my desserts and present them to customers in a compelling manner. It takes time to build up a clientele that trusts you. When you put something a bit different on the menu, you want your customers to be intrigued, not put off. But there is a kind of a tightwire that all chefs walk when it comes to introducing new ingredients to your menu. Chefs are tempted by the exotic because they come in contact with a lot of different foods, recipes, and ingredients. For us, what may be banal may not be typical to the everyday customer. We are drawn to the unusual, whether we simply have exotic tastes, or we're trying to make a mark for ourselves within the industry. Through all of this, we find ourselves being edited by our public. What we think is going to be a blockbuster, isn't always one."

ChefYosses' interest in food as a career started in 1982. While in France, he visited the Rungis, a French marketplace just south of Paris, known for its abundance of fresh produce, meat, and fish. He found in the French a profound love for food and decided that this zeal was something he wanted to cultivate back in the States. Happily, while working with Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller at The Polo, he was able to foster this same passion for food in American diners. His culinary journey eventually steered him to the Ram's Head Inn on Shelter Island where his interest in pastry became established. After heading back to France and working with the likes of Pierre Herme at Fauchon, Yosses returned to New York in 1985 and teamed up with David Bouley at Montrachet. From there, he moved on to Bouley and Bouley Bakery.

As pastry chef at Citarella, Yosses has come full circle; working at Citarella affords him, once again, access to marketplaces and a wealth of ingredients, not unlike the Rungis in France: "One of the reasons I like working at Citarella is because our sources are extremely varied. My desserts reflect products from the best producers in the country. Citarella has the buying power to move a lot of produce sold to us by good organic and artisan farmers. These farmers are growing items of the highest quality, and I'm able to gain access to them immediately. From there, it's my job not to screw it up."

Gamba Sandro

Lacquered Maine Lobster (Serves 4)
ingredients


For the lobster sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 lobster bodies, halved
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1/2 onion, peeled and chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 star anise
1 quart water
2 ounces unsalted butter, chilled
For the cherries and fava beans:
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup red wine
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cold
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup fava beans, blanched and peeled
For the lobster:
1 gallon water
1/4 cup star anise
1/2 bulb fennel, trimmed and chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup white peppercorns
3 bay leaves
2 lemons, halved
4 1 1/4-pound Maine lobsters, claws and tails separated
2 tablespoons olive oil
Reserved lobster sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
For the cranberry sauce:
2 cups cranberry juice
1 tablespoon arrowroot
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
Salt and pepper to taste
For the garnish:
Chervil