L2O Blog

Final Cut

The final cut on the fish usually happens in the afternoon or just before service. This work is usually done at the station, while the primary preparation and break down of the fish is done earlier in the butcher room. Butchering the fish is a two cook job, taking several hours in a busy day. Then the fish is left as a fillet with skin on, or whole until prior the service.

The final cut does not have the same intensity as the whole process of receiving, scaling and filleting. It is better for delicate meat to rest and get cold again to finalize the last cut so the meat will be firmer and easier to work with. This is especially true around the belly part where the meat can be 1/16 of an inch and of course is the best part of the fish.  Final cuts have to be precise and served immediately to avoid any change in the flavor or the pristine texture of an unusual meat. After a while you'll know how every piece will react under the final cut, adapting the process for the best results. But it is also an evolving process that never ends. 

I use to do a lot of the fish preparation, but now the team is taking over most of it. I still cut the fish during service hours which keeps me busy most of the time. 

Attention to Details: Design

Many of the design details in the dinning room are unique as they are ideas the team thought about, and at the end of the day the architect brought to life. The idea or the emotion of thinking about this is usually blur in your mind unless you are a specialist and know exactly what to do with these inspirations to make them real. As a group you develop the feeling of a space and create the dynamic that you want it to have. Design, elevation, material and the puzzle of all these components bring a kind of visual to it. But really it is the architect who dictates the space and makes it what it is. Our architect Dirk, who has done several residential projects, put a lot of attention into the small details in every inch of the space. Every corner, every cut and every shape were meant to live together for the next several years. The beauty come when the restaurant is finalized and the reality of the space is beyond any pictures, dreams or fears that happened during the construction process. 

Attention to Details

Focus has, like anything else, different degrees. It is different than discipline. It is giving complete attention to what you are doing at the moment to achieve the best results. Like anything else, results and reaction from each individual are different from one person to the next. The attention to detail is a long term skill that you increase as you become older and more responsible. 

Focus throughout the day, and especially during service hours, is a training that L2O has tried to develop early on from the opening. In the kitchen we created a space which is very comfortable to work in, and puts you in the right position to organize yourself with that mind set.  Over the past eight months the kitchen has seen an increase of care and focus brought to the small details and this clearly makes a big difference in the long run. It is a great improvement in the day-to-day that give us more consistency and more comfort. This process will never end, but there will come a time when everybody feels comfortable and then it becomes natural. Once it is second-nature, making improvement and progress is easier.

Chocolate Box, The Color

We have decided to enclose several chocolate and almond preparations into a perfect box made out of chocolate. One of the steps is to find the right color for the box. We've tried red mixed with brown and bronze mixed with brown, and have several options with a very good visual effect. We opted for the bronze, second from the right as it fits well with the composition. We use an air brush and food coloring to achieve this result.

Basil Folded into a Cube

An aroma can be easily captured and concentrated to take on a different aspect, then be diffused into other components. Basil not only has a beautiful color but is also a wonderful flavor that reminds you of summer along a warm coast. Here the basil is just blanched and mixed into a sweet syrup. It is emulsified like a marshmallow but with a much lighter structure. The flavor is reinforced with a freeze dry basil tea during the emulsion. When it sets, it is cut into small cubes and wrapped in a basil sheet to give it the aspect of a surprise. The flavor is surprisingly intense with a good balance between sweetness and greenness. Olive oil and Murray salt give it the last touch to be on its own, or without seasoning to be part of a dessert. For now it is planned to be part of a dessert, which is finalized but not yet on the menu.

Ginger, the Fragrance

Ginger is a spice that has up to 3% essential oil. It is, in some sense, a delicacy in cooking. The spiciness, the fragrance, and the intensity awaken any preparation. We use it in many forms. 

Lately, we peel it and juice it through a fruit juicer. The juice is strained, then distilled to extract all the oils and natural juices. The result is a clear liquid. There is no more oxidation and no need for vinegar or sugar to keep the color more attractive. Like any vegetable that has starch there is an oxidation when it comes into contact with oxygen. 

For a further preparation we set the ginger with LA Gellan and dice it into small cubes. It will become one of the garnishes for a lemon myrtle bouillon that we are serving. In this form the ginger becomes a perfume in the dish. The spiciness and the occasional harshness of the meat itself has disappeared and only the fragrance remain.

It is just a long process to get there and the end result is about 20% of the initial product.

Beet Salad, Watercress, Frozen Carrot, Final, Second Service

Beet Salad, Watercress, Frozen Carrot, Final, First Service

Grapefruit in a Different Form

Ruby red grapefruit juice freshly squeezed it is not only a fruit juice it is a real pleasure. It has sweetness,acidity, and bitterness that create an emotion of "feeling great" when you drink it. 

Grapefruit has it's place either in the few first bites of the meal or towards the end. Thinking of the end we worked on a preparation that will be included in a sweet dish. 

The juice is mixed with a small percentage of emulsifier and gelatin, then poured into a ISO. The mix is molded into a sphere floating in liquid nitrogen. It sets hard immediately, then it is flipped over to "cook" and then is detached from the mold. The total operation takes about a minute. It is removed from the bath and is ready to be used, or more precisely ready to be eaten. The inside is still soft and bubbly while the hard shell dissolves instantly in the mouth.

Cotton Candy Radish Soy

Sometimes sweetness can be surprisingly good with the natural spiciness of a vegetable. Radish has enough punch to take the sweetness and balance it well when there is an addition of salt. Here is the freeze dry powdered soy sauce over the cotton candy with liquid drizzled over the greens. Each of these components have the same intensity and really complement each other well.

This is not a dish that we have on the men. It is sometimes just interesting to taste, but not satisfying enough for the appetite.  It is a study of components that are far apart, but can link together when well balanced.