I've been a huge fan of Jason Travi's approachable cuisine for some time now. Fried monkfish medallions over wilted spinach, steak tartare on toast...even a chocolate fondue extravaganza. I went to the Culver City spot so often that Max, the sommelier, eventually started giving me a neighborhood discount. When Riva came into play, I was excited. A few of us from FoodDigger went in the first week and we experienced a number of different crudos, pizzas and desserts. From what I ascertain now, Sydney Hunter was the Chef de Cuisine. It didn't strike me as anything big, as my thought was it was just an extension of Jason's menu. Simply put, I looked at the food almost like I would at Houston's menu, albeit more sophisticated. Well, Sydney is still the Chef de Cuisine, but now I don't look at his cooking in the same way.
Riva closed, and the ownership decided to open a second location of Fraiche. They contacted us about a potential event, and as time passed, we became intrigued. So, we went about touting this event as a mini FoodDigger TastEvent. We invited Lindsay and Julie from www.laist.com, Esther from www.estarla.com, Caroline from www.carolineoncrack.com, Kevin of www.kevineats.com, Ryan from http://tangro1.blogspot.com and Maya of www.shopeatsleep.com. As we arrived, we were presented with the menu. At the bottom was Chef Hunter's bio. Per the bio, Sydney graduated from Cordon Bleu in Pasadena in 2001. He did an externship at L'Orangerie in the last three months of his schooling under mega chef Ludo Lefebvre. By '02, he worked with Alain Giraud at Bastide. By '05, Giraud departed, and Sydney was back under the tutelage of Chef Lefebvre, who made Sydney his sous chef. After Ludo's departure, Walter Manzke came in and retained Sydney as his sous chef. After also working with Paul Shoemaker, Sydney decided to accept the responsibility of Chef De Cuisine at Riva.
Sydney worked with Chef Travi's menu for a while. In the recent past, Chef Travi left(while still retaining a stake in Fraiche) to focus on family, leaving more free reign for Sydney. Hence, this dinner, to allow for Sydney to better show his skills. Fraiche also hired Iain Walling as Wine Director, replacing Max, a man whom I've grown to love after my many visits to Fraiche Culver City. Suffice it to say, I was not sure what to expect with the wine pairings Iain would provide. By the way, all photos were taken by Kevin.
Japanese Scallops- Tender and sweet scallop with braised pearl onions, lobster glace, lemon oil and orange. Upon eating this dish, I realized this wasn't the Fraiche I was used to. I immediately got transformed into another world with the subtle flavors and textures.
Fois Gras Terrine- Light and delicate fois gras layered with prosciutto and fig puree. Plated with orange gelee and campari gastrique. Speaking at length with Sydney, he spoke reverently of his experiences with Chef Ludo. He remembered him as tough, but fair. Always pushing to create new flavors. He even said that if we were able to "taste" Ludo in the terrine, then he would know he did it right. Well, he did it right. The terrine did make me think of Ludo. Light, but rich...hard to describe how good this was.
John Dory- With pearl onions, baby turnips, carrots, toasted brioche crumbs on top. Wonderfully tender fish with the textural contrast of the toasted crumbs paired perfectly with the vegetables.
Halibut- Topped with paddlefish caviar, the halibut was cooked traditionally in the oven. Sydney added this as a surprise dish, essentially putting together a dish from stuff he found in the kitchen. This really showed his skills. I had asked Sydney if this was prepared sous vide, because it was cooked so perfectly.
Rabbit Three ways- Three parts of the rabbit prepared three different ways. Another suprise dish not originally on the menu, Sydney wowed us with this dish.
Bone In Chop- These slices of tender and flavorful pork were accompanied by baby turnips, brussel sprout leaves, butternut squash puree and pepitas(roasted pumpkin seeds). This was a spectacular dish. I had others which I would call my favorite, but this is the only dish I remember every detail of. The slightly fatty pork was tempered by the sweetness of the squash, the hint of earthiness from the turnips, and the tiny bitterness from the brussel sprouts...all finished by the nice woodiness from the pepitas. Excellent.
This pork dish accompanied the Bone In Chop. Decadent and rich, we shamelessly asked for an additional four servings.
Milk Chocolate Cremeux- We finished the meal with this final course, which was adorned with candied pecans, brown butter ganache and coconut sorbet. It was at this point when people were seriously questioning why we called this a mini TastEvent. We all agreed that this was indeed a mega TastEvent, as we considered licking our plates as we finished the cremeux.
As we finished the evening, Sydney gave us a tour of the kitchen. He showed us the pizza ovens and talked about having ideas of what to create with them, now that pizzas were off the menu. I came into Fraiche Santa Monica expecting a nice meal, without a clue about the chef. I came away awed by his talents and skill, and with an even deeper love for Fraiche. I was concerned when I heard that Jason Travi would not be at the helm, but with Sydney, they will be more than fine. I'm not sure you can get all of these dishes when you visit Fraiche, but I'm sure Sydney will wow you like he wowed us. Thanks to Chef Hunter, Iain, the amazingly helpful staff and all of our guests for delighting us with their company.