Chefs flout tradition in a more casual world

Casualization is a rapidly expanding cultural phenomenon. In lifestyle terms, it’s reflected in the demise of the formal living room and the rise of the laid-back family room. In social terms, e-vites have replaced written invitations, and flip-flops and baseball caps have become acceptable attire. The casualization of the restaurant industry is part of that trend, and it represents a sea change in what, where and how consumers eat. It was also the subject of the 14th Annual Worlds of Flavor International Conference and Festival held in November at The Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone campus in St. Helena, Calif., where chefs discussed the many ways casualization impacts their menus.?

It bends the rules. The relaxation of kitchen codes was epitomized by an anecdote from Jeff Kim, a chef at Namu restaurant in San Francisco, who owned up to getting a favorite dumpling recipe via Google. That surprising admission was immediately surpassed by his cheerful confession to putting butter in dashi, the classic Japanese stock. He commits such culinary heresy because, he says, the result is just so tasty. Kim was followed on the program by Maria Jose San Ramon, a widely celebrated specialist in Spanish gastronomy, who not only endorsed the use of good-quality canned foods and convenience ingredients, but also suggested vermicelli noodles as a quicker alternative to more laborious rice when making paella. And Rick Bayless, master of Mexican cuisine, heartily endorsed a high-quality prepackaged tostada. The message: World-class chefs are chucking the old orthodoxies in favor of approaches that are compatible with contemporary tastes and demand for convenience.?

Bill Kim — no relation to Jeff — is also a culinary iconoclast. He’s a former fine-dining chef who operates Urbanbelly, the super-hot noodle and dumpling bar in Chicago. There, he takes what he describes as a cut-and-paste approach to menu development, in which he draws on his mastery of classic techniques and applies them within the limitations of a fast-casual kitchen. He’s replaced the conventional back-of-the-house brigade with a staff of three, dispensed with a corkage fee and opted for disposables as he delivers “good food fast” to a packed house. His menu includes a meatball sandwich with lemon grass, Thai basil and mint, and udon noodles with what he calls Asian Bolognese. ?

It lifts the spirit. Joyce Goldstein, an early proponent of Mediterranean cuisine at her groundbreaking Square One restaurant in San Francisco, defines depression as dining alone with nothing to eat but a boneless, skinless chicken breast. Her remedy for this sad state is chermoula, a North-African marinade that mixes herbs, spices and olive oil into a bright mélange of flavors and breathes life into a boring protein. She also recommends cures for the common sandwich, such as white-bean or spicy-?avocado spreads, or the combination of cheese with fig jam. She provides a 21st-century update to humdrum tuna salad by putting the classic Ni?oise salad in a wrap.?

Similarly, eggs can boost both sagging spirits and dull dishes. Indeed, eggs are fundamental to many international dishes. Conference attendees could sample fried eggs with potatoes from the Basque country, Mediterranean deviled eggs stuffed with tuna and, in a real ingredient tour de force, Asian spicy fried rice with roast duck, fried shallots and a 65-degree egg — a highly prized take on hard boiling in which eggs are cooked at 65 degrees Celsius to creamy perfection in the shell using immersion circulators.?

It crosses borders. Menu casualization also owes a great deal to globalization, which has demolished both trade and culinary barriers. Bill Kim looks to Italy when he makes his dumplings by using the classic tortellini fold, which he nimbly demonstrated at the conference. Rie Nozu, who operates a celebrated noodle shop in Tokyo, takes her inspiration from American cookery: Her mac-and-cheese ramen wowed the crowd. Both dishes were perfect illustrations of the free exchange of trends and techniques that informs the new, relaxed attitude toward dining around the world.?