Rock Shrimp Summer Salad

Here is another one of our specials at Café SFA.
Wild Rock Shrimp with Frisee, Watercress, Heirloom Tomatoes and Green Goddess Dressing and Topped with a Deep Fried Soft Boiled Egg.

Bistro Salad

Here is just one of the new items on the menu at Café SFA.
The Bistro salad has mizuna salad, grilled asian pears, rainbow radish and heirloom tomato with sesame crusted sashimi tuna and grilled shrimp topped fried wonton skins. It is dressed with wasabi, lemon and soy dressing. 



Here is a collage of some of the menu items.

Asian Style Red Snapper

Last weeks special at Café SFA was an incredible red snapper dish. The snapper was served with a spinach, daikon radish, red pepper and mango salad over sticky rice and topped with a chili black bean sauce.
The sticky rice is basically  cooked as for sushi rice and we topped it with the pan seared snapper and the salad.






We will be launching several new menu items in the next couple of weeks so I should have lots of photos to share.

Charred Tomato Cioppino

This was our special at Café SFA today

From Wikipedia: Cioppino is a fish stew originating in San Francisco and derived from the various regional fish soups and stews of Italian cuisine.

This version has Mussels,Clams, Shrimp, Lobster, Potato and Charred Tomato and is another of Rebecca’s creations.

Bubble and Squeak Fit For A Princess

With all the excitement of the upcoming royal wedding  our sous chef, Rebecca Murphy decided to do a new take on a classic. She took Bubble and Squeak,  a dish probably best know in England as a way to use leftovers and reworked it into a wonderful brunch item. 
The base "hash" was made with:
Sliced Cooked Potatoes 
Sliced Roasted Beets
Sliced Roasted Carrots
Shredded Cooked Cabbage
Onions
They were seasoned with salt and pepper formed in a ring mold and sauted  in butter till crisp .

We topped the hash with a poached egg which was then sauced with a grain mustard hollandaise.

We served it with a side salad of Frisse, Fennel, Dill and Chives which was tossed  with a simple  lemon and olive oil dressing.

I have to say I found this to be quite delicious.

The Many Uses of Wonton Wrappers

Obviously wonton  wrappers can be used  in their traditional manner for making dumplings. But are also very good for making a fried wonton cup which are good for serving items like tuna tartar or as a cup to hold sauces or dressings. I used mini muffin pans to lightly bake the skins just to set the shape and then deep fried them till crisp.


The more traditional use above a lobster dumpling.

Osso Bucco with Risotto

Farfalle, Beef Tips, Spinach and Sundried Tomatoes……

 

Yesterdays special at Café SFA at Saks Fifth Avenue. Farfalle, Beef Tips, Spinach, Sundried Tomatoes, Mushrooms and finished with a balsamic glaze.

Mardis Gras and all that

We had a very busy today but I took a little time to take some photos.Here is the special in celebration of Mardi Gras.
Shrimp Po’boy with red cabbage slaw, gribiche sauce and served with sweet potato  fries.

And here are some photos from one of the events held in the home department.

Comfort Food For a Snowy Morning

Here are a couple of shots of menu items from the past couple of weeks at Cafe SFA. The top photo is a basic Chicken Pot Pie with Celery Root. The other shot is lamb cutlets with Soft Polenta, Sauteed Spinach and Tomato Jam.

Farfalle Pasta with Shrimp, Roasted Vegetables and Brown Sage Butter Sauce

Todays special was a delicious winter pasta. The roasted vegetables were butternut squash and asparagus. It was topped with fried sage.

Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Naploean

An hors d'oeuvres we made for an event the other night. I am happy enough with the photo considering I used my cheapo pocket camera.

Breakfast Platter

We are reworking the breakfast plate for catering events. This looks like it is going to be one we go with. It has Pretzel Croissant French Toast, Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Sausage and Home Fried Potatoes served with Maple Syrup

Potato Crusted sea Bass with Asparagus, Mashed Potato and Tomato

Sea bass wrapped in thinly sliced potato and seared on a hot pan. Served over mashed potato with asparagus and a lobster jus. Wrapping is a little tricky but perseverance is the key. Make a slurry of egg white and cornstarch brush it on to potato to help it stick together. After searing you will need to finish cooking in  the oven. Before serving brush very  lightly with some olive oil to give it a light sheen.

Food Photography A Slow Improvement

Here are my three best shots from today. Have not bought any kind of lighting yet but used window light for these. I see a big improvement in these and hope to keep getting better. The burger looks way more well cooked than I wanted. I am also a little rushed at work when doing these but will keep plugging.

Duck With a Soy Ginger Glaze


Jumbo Lump Crabcake With Fennel
and Mandarine Orange

Angus Beef Burger With Braised Short Rib and
Provolone Cheese