The bison, more commonly known as buffalo in the U.S., has had its impact on American history and culture, but has yet to be a presence on the American table. With a quarter of the fat of beef, it makes for an intriguing alternative. The question is: with so little fat, how best to cook it?

Art Culinaire,  Winter, 2007  

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In dry heat cooking, bison requires a gentler touch that can be problematic for the restaurant kitchen, especially one that's cooking beef right alongside. According to the National Bison Association, "low and slow" is the best approach. Preferred cooking methods for tender cuts are roasting and broiling, as long as the oven temperature is 275 degrees and the broiler rack is kept well away from the flame. Lower heat doesn't mean longer cooking time, though. Lacking fat marbling, bison cooks more quickly than beef and should be closely watched. For those who insist upon well-done meat, dry heat cooking is not recommended at all. In this case, very "low and slow" moist heat cooking of less tender cuts will give the best result.

As long as bison is prepared properly, it will win people over for its most important quality--a taste sweeter than conventional beef.

ONE FOR THE TEAM

RJ Cooper, Chef de Cuisine, Vidalia, Washington, D.C.

RJ Cooper is the kind of chef who likes to mix things up, as the saying goes. That may be why the self-described misfit took on the position of chef de cuisine at one of the capital's long-time favorite restaurants. As he told chef/owner Jeffrey Buben, he intended to keep Vidalia as relevant as it ever was. "With anything that's aging, you have to renew its vibe. And I think what I did was put a different energy in it," he explains.

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Energy is a thing Cooper has to spare, and it's the whole reason he's cooking today. While working in a bakery as a teenager, he discovered that professional food service was the best place to give his personality full play. "It was the same energy that I found in sports, the same ideals, the same adrenaline pump ... that's what I was looking for. And I didn't want to wear a suit and tie," he adds.

With his path chosen, Cooper left his native Detroit and headed to Kendall College in Chicago for culinary training. Upon graduation he immediately set off for Atlanta, intending to work for Jean Banchet at Ciboulette when it opened. "On our way down there we stopped in a small town and didn't make it down there at the time we were supposed to. A little bit too much fun," he admits.

When he did finally arrive in Atlanta, he went to work at the Ritz-Carlton, and eventually for Gunter Seeger. Ultimately he was a member of the opening team at Brasserie Le Coze, under Gilbert Le Coze and Eric Ripert. Moving between Le Coze and Le Bernardin, Cooper was making his way up through the ranks when he decided it was time for a move.

That move took him all the way to Anchorage, Alaska. What was meant to be a short visit turned into a stint of several years at a restaurant called Captain Cook. "I called Eric and said, 'I really like it up here.' I was a ski bum, and I really enjoyed living up there," he recalls. Soon enough, however, the lower forty-eight beckoned. "You can only grow so much, and I really missed the city, so I ended up back on the East Coast."