Friday, July 24, 2015
Cheese, Crackers and Chef Chris… at the Taggart Table
Chris Singlemann’s interest in cooking goes back to his youth coming from large family and spending the summer’s with his Grandfather who was a Chef developing recipes for Bickfords in New England.
Chris started his career at the four star French restaurant, La Mascotte in Commack and worked for some of the finest French & Italian Chefs in the industry. Chris obtained his AOS in Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University, had the opportunity to train a short stint in France and he became the Executive Chef at Watermill Caterers in 1995.
Currently, Chris is the Vice President of the Eastern Long Island Chapter of the American Culinary Federation. In 2014 he received the Presidential award and more recently was named Chef of the Year by the Eastern Long Island Chapter.
Read more about
Chef Chris Singlemann
http://www.watermillcaterers.com
Chef Chris Singlemann has had the friendly courtesy to share some creative thoughts with Frank Duffy from the Taggart Table.....
The Taggart Table: So, what was breakfast today?
Chris Singlemann: My wife was kind enough to make me pancakes with fresh blueberries from our backyard, turkey bacon and cranberry juice.
Taggart: High school was in Hauppauge?
Any creative memories there?
And a Johnson & Wales University graduate?
Chris: High school culinary memories go back to Boces Culinary program, I was fortunate enough to have Mr. Arcery as one of my instructors. He was a man who inspired all his students to be the best they could be. It did not matter weather you wanted to do fine dinning, casual, a la carte, catering or just good home cooking, just do it with passion and do it to the best of your ability.
Johnson & Wales was a great opportunity and I am grateful for the foundation it has given me.
Taggart: You come from a family, of nine. Lots of food, lots of cooking …and no leftovers?
Chris: Never leftovers & you learned to eat quickly. If you did not eat quickly you did not get seconds, everyone else did. This suited me fine, as any Chef knows, you eat quickly & on the run.
Taggart: Watermill Caterers
since 1995....
That’s a labor of love…
Chris: So often I am told I am an enigma, nobody in this industry stays in the same job for that long. For me; my career and life has to be about relationships and balance. I have come across many individuals who think the grass is always greener on the other side and not appreciating what they have in front of them. I have been very fortunate to have a family, an employer, colleagues and friends who have supported ALL my efforts, excursions, growth, and education through out my culinary journey. This keeps my passion alive, I believe the greatest aspect of our industry is the sharing of ideas and experiences.
Taggart: When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
Chris: At a very young age, I always loved hanging out with my Grandfather in the kitchen or making different dishes for my family to try. We would pick items from the garden, Pepe (that was my grandfather) was big on making stocks, soups and we did a lot of canning, preserving!
Why is everyone taking pictures of their food?
(A chef’s perspective): So our society has become an extremely visual community, technologically and media based. If you do not keep up with this you are dead in the water. We take pictures of our food to show what we can do, how we may be experimenting and to once again not only share ideas but hopefully inspire each other to reach out of our comfort zones.
Taggart: If you were not a chef, what would you be doing?
Chris: I cannot imagine not being able to do something without food! It is a crazy and demanding industry; not only on us who live it everyday, but maybe more so one the ones who love and surround us. This is what makes me happy, to this day my wife does not understand when I say how just cooking at home relaxes me!
Taggart: Whats your favorite area of Long Island?
Chris: East End, wineries and farms, beaches!
Taggart: What is your favorite vacation spot?
Chris: My Backyard!
Taggart: Name a few creative and inspirational heros:
Chris: Steve Jobs and Bill Gates! Two men who not only changed any industry but changed how the world thinks!
Taggart: What ticks you off in the kitchen?
Chris: Complacency!
Taggart: What do you do for fun away from cooking?
Fishing? Golf?
Chris: Yoga, bike ride, golf!
Taggart: Who in the food world do you most admire?
Chris: I admire Thomas Keller, a man who stuck to what he believed in, when others did not understand what he was doing. I also believe Chef Keller combined new techniques and technology, while staying true to many traditional methods and never sacrificed flavor for flare!
Taggart: Favorite foods to cook with?
Chris: Venison, a variety of game meats, fresh tomatoes and vegetables
Taggart: What do you like to eat when you’re at home?
Chris: Very simple, healthy, basic natural flavors!
Taggart: Are there any foods you just don’t like?
Chris: Brains, just cannot relate to the texture of them.
Taggart: Backyard veggies are exciting. I hope the term “Farm to Table” is accurately used.
Chris: I think it is a term extremely abused. I love to eat from my own garden in my backyard & I am trying to develop stronger relationships with different Long Island Farmers, but we are not even close to farm to table. I believe I could count one one hand, how many restaurants on Long Island TRULY represent this term.
Taggart: Any books that you may write?
Chris: Hmmmm!
Taggart: What do you most love about your job?
Chris: I love the aspect that you can never know everything. It never gets boring, aside from such a variety of cuisines (individual regions), ever changing techniques, personal interpretations and styles, we also have an expanding global market (making more intriguing product available).
Taggart: What’s your proudest accomplishment?
Chris: I feel my greatest success has come from using my talents and those around me to benefit others. I am proud of being part of the teams that put together Sweet Dreams (fundraiser for Autistic Children, ran 5 years) and more recently SEED (Sustainable East End Development). I believe one of the greatest assets of our industry is giving back to the community.
Taggart: Do you give cooking demos or cooking events?
Chris: I have done numerous cooking demos and events in the past and I am always eager to share in any in the future for a good cause.
Taggart: A Harry Chapin Quote… "So, in a world that has enough food to feed everybody twice over, and yet half a billion people are starving, and a country where there is enough food to feed everybody six times over and yet 20 million Americans are malnourished, there is something really basically wrong in the structure; otherwise we wouldn't have these symptoms."
Taggart: I spent time, years ago with Harry Chapin at his house. Would you do a cooking demo for Long Island Cares?
Chris: It would be my pleasure and honor to be a part of it!
Taggart: Let’s wrap up with a good dinner. (besides Watermill) Where do we go?
Chris: There is so much talent on Long Island, I like Orto in Mt Sinai, East-West Bistro in Hicksville, Lola in Great Neck, has a great new young chef de cusine.
Christopher Singlemann…
Certified Executive Chef
and Vice President ACF Eastern Long Island
Friday, July 10, 2015
Thyme with Tom at the Taggart Table…
Tom Schaudel is considered by many as Long Island’s top chef. Tom is one of Long Island's most prolific, prominent and dominant chefs, and has been the driving force behind many top Long Island restaurants, since 1983. Over the years Tom has owned more than a dozen restaurants and has received numerous awards over the years from The James Beard House, The Magro Foundation, The Child Life Rainbow Program, The Wine Spectator, The Wine Enthusiast, The Long Island Food Critic, Island Harvest, Long Island Press Best of the Best, and Dan’s Papers and in 2010 was the inaugural inductee to the Long Island Restaurant Hall of Fame. Tom has left an indelible mark on the Long Island culinary industry. Currently, Tom owns four Long Island restaurants and a catering business including Jewel. His impact is undeniable, say industry leaders.
Tom Schaudel is Long Island’s homegrown restaurant king.
Read more about Tom
at his website:
http://tomschaudel.com
Tom has had the friendly courtesy to share some creative thoughts with Frank Duffy from the Taggart Table.....
The Taggart Table: So, what was breakfast today?
Tom Schaudel: Hazelnut de-caf and a diet peach snapple
Taggart: High school was in Carle Place?
Any creative memories there?
Tom: I wasn't much into high school and was working full time by sixteen years old. I did do some interesting woodworking in Mr. Peterson's shop class
Taggart: And a Culinary graduate in 1973?
Tom: Yeah, it seems so long ago. I made some life-long friends there...and drank a lot of beer.
Taggart: When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
Tom: By sixteen I'd pretty much figured it out. I'd been working in a steak house and I fell in love with the restaurant culture and the pirate's life in the kitchen. I had a guidance counselor named Art Smulyan who I liked very much. WE wound up spending a lot of time together because of my aversion to school work. I told him, somewhat reluctantly, that I liked cooking and he suggested that I try to go to a cooking school. I had no idea that they even existed.
Taggart: If you were not a chef, what would you be doing?
Tom: I think probably a musician. It's a parallel existence, really. You have an art form, a way to express yourself, an audience, a performance, and if you're lucky, some groupies who follow you.
Taggart: What's your favorite area of Long Island?
Tom: There's always going to be a soft spot for Carle Place for obvious reasons, having grown up there, but my heart lies on the East End. I've lived in East Hampton, Montauk, and now Jamesport. I considered East Hampton my "Hometown" for a long time now but have since moved to the other Fork. There's a lot about the South Fork that I miss, but as I mellow out some I think the North Fork is now a better fit.
Taggart: What is your favorite vacation spot?
Tom: Any place that has great restaurants, great wines, and if possible, a beach. I've been doing Europe of late but I think it's time to get back the the Caribbean.
Taggart: Name a few creative and inspirational heros:
Tom: George Strunz, my grandfather. The kindest man I ever knew. Tom Waits, just the best songwriter. Steve Vai, the greatest guitar player I've ever seen. Muhammad Ali, he NEVER, EVER quit.
Taggart: What ticks you off in the kitchen?
Tom: Passionless effort. Why bother?
Taggart: What do you do for fun away from cooking?
Tom: Golf and guitar and still trying to get better at both.
Taggart: Do you paint or draw?
Tom: I can't even draw my signature and if I painted, it would be houses not portraits.
Taggart: Say a few words about your band….
How often do you play?
Tom: We play a lot in the summer. I'm lucky to be surrounded by phenomenal musicians. I'm really not sure why they let me in the band, frankly. Hurricane is Brian Le Clerc (Monster guitar player), Mike Le Clerc (Bass), James Benard (Drums) and Klyph Black (Guitar and slide). I also play an acoustic duo with guitar wizard, Mike Dorio on a year round basis. I've been fortunate to have played with some incredible talent over the years: Steve Vai, Andy Aledort, Bosco Michne, Frank Fornay, John Spanierman, and Johnny Ray, to name a few. It's been quite a ride.
Taggart: Who in the food world do you most admire?
Tom: There are many to be admired and I do but I'll name two. The first is Jean Georges Vongerichten. He's the man that, through his use of vegetable juices and such changed the way the world thought about food. That's huge. Anyone can make a great dish but to change the habits of an entire art form? Wow. Thomas Keller would be my second because he never sold out his art, struggled his ass off, and finally found his audience. He NEVER, EVER quit. and we should all be glad he didn't.
Taggart: Favorite foods to cook with?
Tom: I'm a fish guy at heart. There are so many varieties and so many ways that you could cook a particular piece of fish every day for years and not duplicate the dish. Add sauces, vegetable, vinaigrettes, ect and the possibilities are endless.
Taggart: What do you like to eat when you’re at home?
Tom: I really don't eat at home. I do have cheeses on hand in case of an emergency but nothing in the way of food.
Taggart: Are there any foods you just don’t like?
Tom: I'm not wild about okra and I can' get chicken or beef liver down, but I can eat my weight in foie gras. Odd, no?
Taggart: Favorite cookbooks?
Tom: Alfred Portale's Gotham cookbook comes to mind, The French Laundry cookbook. And the writings of Gensel, the only chef author of his time to write about the horrible condition of the kitchens and the trials of working in them. I have several hundred more and cherish them all.
Taggart: Where can we find your book: “Playing with Fire: Whining & Dining on the Gold Coast.”
(besides Amazon)
Tom: It's available at my restaurants and wineries and bookstores on the East End.
Taggart: Where can we find your wines, besides your restaurants?
Tom: In my cellar. :-) I make them exclusively for the restaurants and my own amusement.
Taggart: What do you most love about your job?
Tom: I get to create at my own pace and fancy. It's the greatest art form out there...and then you eat it...and start all over again.
Taggart: Is Jewel your proudest accomplishment?
Tom: That's like asking who's your favorite child. I only have one so the answer is easy, and she's my greatest accomplishment.
Taggart: Do you give cooking demos or cooking events?
Tom:I do occasionally do cooking demo although I have nothing scheduled at the moment. We do events all the time: charities and such.
Taggart: I spent time, years ago with Harry Chapin at his house. Would you do a cooking demo for Long Island Cares?
Tom: Sure, no problem.
Taggart: What else is there that readers might be interested in. What do people not know about you that you wish they did?
Tom: I'm afraid of spiders
Tom Schaudel is considered by many as Long Island’s top chef. Tom is one of Long Island's most prolific, prominent and dominant chefs, and has been the driving force behind many top Long Island restaurants, since 1983. Over the years Tom has owned more than a dozen restaurants and has received numerous awards over the years from The James Beard House, The Magro Foundation, The Child Life Rainbow Program, The Wine Spectator, The Wine Enthusiast, The Long Island Food Critic, Island Harvest, Long Island Press Best of the Best, and Dan’s Papers and in 2010 was the inaugural inductee to the Long Island Restaurant Hall of Fame. Tom has left an indelible mark on the Long Island culinary industry. Currently, Tom owns four Long Island restaurants and a catering business including Jewel. His impact is undeniable, say industry leaders.
Tom Schaudel is Long Island’s homegrown restaurant king.
Read more about Tom
at his website:
http://tomschaudel.com
Tom has had the friendly courtesy to share some creative thoughts with Frank Duffy from the Taggart Table.....
The Taggart Table: So, what was breakfast today?
Tom Schaudel: Hazelnut de-caf and a diet peach snapple
Taggart: High school was in Carle Place?
Any creative memories there?
Tom: I wasn't much into high school and was working full time by sixteen years old. I did do some interesting woodworking in Mr. Peterson's shop class
Taggart: And a Culinary graduate in 1973?
Tom: Yeah, it seems so long ago. I made some life-long friends there...and drank a lot of beer.
Taggart: When did you know you wanted to be a chef?
Tom: By sixteen I'd pretty much figured it out. I'd been working in a steak house and I fell in love with the restaurant culture and the pirate's life in the kitchen. I had a guidance counselor named Art Smulyan who I liked very much. WE wound up spending a lot of time together because of my aversion to school work. I told him, somewhat reluctantly, that I liked cooking and he suggested that I try to go to a cooking school. I had no idea that they even existed.
Taggart: If you were not a chef, what would you be doing?
Tom: I think probably a musician. It's a parallel existence, really. You have an art form, a way to express yourself, an audience, a performance, and if you're lucky, some groupies who follow you.
Taggart: What's your favorite area of Long Island?
Tom: There's always going to be a soft spot for Carle Place for obvious reasons, having grown up there, but my heart lies on the East End. I've lived in East Hampton, Montauk, and now Jamesport. I considered East Hampton my "Hometown" for a long time now but have since moved to the other Fork. There's a lot about the South Fork that I miss, but as I mellow out some I think the North Fork is now a better fit.
Taggart: What is your favorite vacation spot?
Tom: Any place that has great restaurants, great wines, and if possible, a beach. I've been doing Europe of late but I think it's time to get back the the Caribbean.
Taggart: Name a few creative and inspirational heros:
Tom: George Strunz, my grandfather. The kindest man I ever knew. Tom Waits, just the best songwriter. Steve Vai, the greatest guitar player I've ever seen. Muhammad Ali, he NEVER, EVER quit.
Taggart: What ticks you off in the kitchen?
Tom: Passionless effort. Why bother?
Taggart: What do you do for fun away from cooking?
Tom: Golf and guitar and still trying to get better at both.
Taggart: Do you paint or draw?
Tom: I can't even draw my signature and if I painted, it would be houses not portraits.
Taggart: Say a few words about your band….
How often do you play?
Tom: We play a lot in the summer. I'm lucky to be surrounded by phenomenal musicians. I'm really not sure why they let me in the band, frankly. Hurricane is Brian Le Clerc (Monster guitar player), Mike Le Clerc (Bass), James Benard (Drums) and Klyph Black (Guitar and slide). I also play an acoustic duo with guitar wizard, Mike Dorio on a year round basis. I've been fortunate to have played with some incredible talent over the years: Steve Vai, Andy Aledort, Bosco Michne, Frank Fornay, John Spanierman, and Johnny Ray, to name a few. It's been quite a ride.
Taggart: Who in the food world do you most admire?
Tom: There are many to be admired and I do but I'll name two. The first is Jean Georges Vongerichten. He's the man that, through his use of vegetable juices and such changed the way the world thought about food. That's huge. Anyone can make a great dish but to change the habits of an entire art form? Wow. Thomas Keller would be my second because he never sold out his art, struggled his ass off, and finally found his audience. He NEVER, EVER quit. and we should all be glad he didn't.
Taggart: Favorite foods to cook with?
Tom: I'm a fish guy at heart. There are so many varieties and so many ways that you could cook a particular piece of fish every day for years and not duplicate the dish. Add sauces, vegetable, vinaigrettes, ect and the possibilities are endless.
Taggart: What do you like to eat when you’re at home?
Tom: I really don't eat at home. I do have cheeses on hand in case of an emergency but nothing in the way of food.
Taggart: Are there any foods you just don’t like?
Tom: I'm not wild about okra and I can' get chicken or beef liver down, but I can eat my weight in foie gras. Odd, no?
Taggart: Favorite cookbooks?
Tom: Alfred Portale's Gotham cookbook comes to mind, The French Laundry cookbook. And the writings of Gensel, the only chef author of his time to write about the horrible condition of the kitchens and the trials of working in them. I have several hundred more and cherish them all.
Taggart: Where can we find your book: “Playing with Fire: Whining & Dining on the Gold Coast.”
(besides Amazon)
Tom: It's available at my restaurants and wineries and bookstores on the East End.
Taggart: Where can we find your wines, besides your restaurants?
Tom: In my cellar. :-) I make them exclusively for the restaurants and my own amusement.
Taggart: What do you most love about your job?
Tom: I get to create at my own pace and fancy. It's the greatest art form out there...and then you eat it...and start all over again.
Taggart: Is Jewel your proudest accomplishment?
Tom: That's like asking who's your favorite child. I only have one so the answer is easy, and she's my greatest accomplishment.
Taggart: Do you give cooking demos or cooking events?
Tom:I do occasionally do cooking demo although I have nothing scheduled at the moment. We do events all the time: charities and such.
Taggart: I spent time, years ago with Harry Chapin at his house. Would you do a cooking demo for Long Island Cares?
Tom: Sure, no problem.
Taggart: What else is there that readers might be interested in. What do people not know about you that you wish they did?
Tom: I'm afraid of spiders
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