View photos from Michael Schwartz's book signing at Books & Books here.
Michael Schwartz made his first Miami appearance to promote his new cookbook, Michael's Genuine Food, on Saturday. Schwartz conversed with Sun-Sentinel food writer John Tanasychuk before a packed house at Books & Books Coral Gables. Indeed, Tanasychuk started the Q & A by calling to order the "meeting of the Michael Schwartz fan club." And judging by the applause Schwartz received after he answered almost every question, this was a crowd of devotees.
The first section of the Q & A was an interview between Tanayschuk and Schwartz, who addressed some of the same questions from his recent Sun-Sentinel interview with Tanayschuk. As far as being a culinary innovator, Schwartz said, "Jose Andres is a culinary innovator... I'm a good shopper."
The most important thing for Schwartz is ingredients: "A lot of what
I say and think is inspired by Alice Waters. She always talked about
spending money on locally sourced produce and buying shoes at
Payless...It can be more expensive to buy local produce, but I've found
that if something is seasonal and it's abundant, it's usually more
affordable"
more accessible: helping start the Roots in the City market in
Overtown with his friend, Michael Nischan. "It's a lot better to
buy locally, but it's still difficult. Part of my job is to bridge the
gap between farmers and people who want to buy their food."
As
far as other chefs including more local food on their
menus, Schwartz said, "We're a pain in the ass...we're always nagging chef
friends to go out and support local agriculture. Some do. Some
don't. Chefs are really busy. Some don't get a chance to leave their
kitchen much. It's not easy. Some people walk the walk, but everyone
likes to talk the talk."
The chef also offered himself to anyone
who wants advice on raising chickens in a residential area, as he did
for a while in his Miami Beach backyard and he gave props to his wife,
Tamara, for inspiring him to examine his food choices throughout their
marriage. "I'm not done," she called out from the audience.
Schwartz
did get some difficult questions from the audience, which he answered
with aplomb. One man said indignantly, "I enjoy your fettuccine carbonara
and I like the poached egg that you serve on top. But why on earth
would you use bacon in fettuccine carbonara instead of pancetta?"
Schwartz reiterated the question: "In case you guys didn't hear, he
wants to know why I bastardized the recipe...what I encourage you to do is
to make your own bacon. I include a recipe in the book. It's not
hard I encourage you to make your own bacon instead of buying fancy
imported pancetta from Italy."
Afterward, the audience descended
on a free potluck supper prepared by selected friends and family of
Michael's Genuine. Michael Schwartz's brand manager, Jackie Sayet, came up
with the unique idea. Folks like Sam Gorenstein (chef at BLT Steak
Miami Beach), Hedy Goldsmith (pastry chef at Michael's Genuine),
"Frodnesor" (Food for Thought/Cobaya) and Donna Reno (Slow Food
Miami) were assigned dishes from the new cookbook, including grouper ceviche,
beet and tomato salad with blue cheese, almond braised lamb shanks and
toasted almond salad, and butter lettuce salad.
Kudos to Michael
Schwartz for his disclaimer that the free potluck would offer just a taste,
and that if you expected a full dinner you'd probably be disappointed.
People sometimes have trouble with this concept in Miami.
Complimentary beverages of Aperol cocktails and homemade cherry soda
with rosemary from the Michael's Genuine menu and live music by Escaleno soothed
hungry folks as they waited. Given the crowds on hand, the food stretched a long way.
It was a good time. I stayed up late Saturday
night, eagerly paging through all of Michael's Genuine Food, feeling a
growing pride (and an increasing appetite). The new cookbook and
Saturday's event reminded me of how far the food scene in Miami has come
in the past five years.
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