A Culinary Thrill at the J&G Grill at Deer Valley

Last week as we had a Crosswalk Press retreat in Park City, UT, we had the opportunity to have one of our working dinners at the J&G Grill at Deer Valley. J&G is a signature name for this famous chef Jean-George Vongerichten restaurant. While JG was not personally there to greet us, we were welcomed by both the Chef de Cuisine, Shane Baird, a fiery young (29) chef with international experience that belies his youth, and Regis Perret, General Manager, with a convenient name for his current position at the St. Regis. The cuisine is considered to be French-American with Asian influence. After a delightful dinner, mixing things up by ordering the vegetables as our starters, followed by Hawaiian Butterfish with Malaysian Chili Sauce and Thai Basil and Bryna’s selection of the “Neighborhood Menu” (their version of a fixed price menu), we were treated to wonderful narratives about chefs’ weekly calls with Jean-Georges to discuss menu ideas and to pool the wisdom of the entire team. We then moved on to the full kitchen tour and were astounded by the size of the kitchen (behind the scenes) and the scale of the operation to support the culinary needs of this exclusive hotel and restaurant. (Photos below)

 

Shane was also kind enough to share several of his recipes with us and I will share a couple of our favorites here. The Butterfish was delightful, but the dish can be substituted with halibut if that’s easier to find in your part of the country.  The Caramelized Cauliflower and Pistachio Pesto will be shared in my next post.

 

Butterfish with Malaysian Chili Sauce, Thai Basil
Sauce
2 oz. Garlic, minced
3 oz. Ginger, minced
4 oz. Scallion whites, sliced thin
4 oz. Scallion greens, sliced thin
1 jar Guilin chili sauce
4 oz. Light soy
3 oz. Rice vinegar
3 oz. Shaoxing
4 oz. Sugar

Fry garlic in non-stick pan in grapeseed oil until golden, then strain through chinoise and put in a rondeau.  Repeat with ginger.  In the rondeau, sweat scallion whiles without oil over medium heat until completely soft.  Add remaining ingredients except scallion greens and cook, stirring until loose syrup consistency.  Place scallion greens in hotel pan and pour sauce over them, stirring thoroughly to wilt.

Serve
Butterfish fillet – skin off
Celery, brunoise
Thai basil oil
Inner leaves of celery

Season Butterfish gently with salt and white pepper.  Sauté in grapeseed oil over medium heat until golden and just cooked.  Blot well on paper towel.  Heat sauce in a small pot until just hot, being careful not to reduce.  Heat celery with a water and salt.  Place a pool of the heated sauce in the center of serving plate and encircle with basil oil.  Place Butterfish on top.  Top fish with a mound of the celery, garnish with celery leaf and drizzle basil oil over.

The Kitchen Tour