- 6 months ago
Bon Appétit spends a day on the line with Chef Lois Picken, head chef at NYC’s Huso. Step inside the fine dining kitchen of this Michelin-starred restaurant hidden in the back of a caviar shop, where rare beluga and osetra caviar, bluefin tuna tartare, Wagyu beef en croûte, and live scallops power a seasonal tasting menu.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Husso is a restaurant at the back of a caviar store in New York City.
00:04In nine months we got our first star, which is a tremendous achievement for all of us involved.
00:10I'm the head chef, therefore my role is making sure the kitchen is running,
00:15everyone's doing what they're meant to be doing and doing it correctly.
00:18We change the menu seasonally according to the solstice,
00:22so we're not even at our one-year mark and we're on our fifth menu.
00:25So it's constant R&D, it's constantly a chef coming up with ideas,
00:29me facilitating how to make those ideas come to life.
00:38Hi, it's 10am, my name's Lois, I'm the head chef here at Husso Tribeca.
00:43It's freezing outside, minus 14 degrees Celsius.
00:46We're just going to go into our caviar store and sneak into the restaurant.
00:50This is our caviar store, this is where everyone enters through.
00:52We have a speakeasy vibe, so let me take you through.
00:56This is our dining room, we have 11 tables upstairs.
00:59The kitchen is downstairs, that's where my world is, so let's go down.
01:07As the first job of my day when I come in, I like to just check one of our most
01:11valuable deliveries
01:12that we get in this restaurant, which is our caviar.
01:15We have our ossetra and we also have our beluga.
01:17Caviar is eggs from Assertion.
01:20We use it in this restaurant as something to enhance our dishes.
01:23I think it's a great seasoning as well.
01:25As you can see visually, they do look quite different.
01:28This is the beluga, it has a grey tone to it and a little bit lighter colour.
01:32And then we have the ossetra here, which has a little bit of a green tinge to it.
01:36And you can definitely see the structure of the egg a lot better.
01:39Beluga is, you can't get it anywhere else in the United States of America,
01:43unless it's from Marquis, who is the company that we are associated with.
01:47It was nearly extinct.
01:49We took it on and we nurtured that species and brought it back to life.
01:55And because of that, we earned the right to have them under our Harnet.
02:00So that's something that we're extremely proud of.
02:02The fun thing about the name of the restaurant is that the scientific name for beluga is huso huso.
02:06So it kind of ties everything together.
02:09You just want to always use a mother of pearl spoon so you're not damaging any of those eggs.
02:13So on a metal spoon, the sharpness of the edge can really break all the eggs and make all of
02:17the inside ooze out.
02:18The mother of pearl spoon is a lot softer and it works more with the eggs than against the eggs.
02:23What I like to do is put it on my hand just so I can really inspect in the light
02:27each individual egg.
02:29This seems to, all the way down, be pretty stunning.
02:32And then the best part of the job is I get to taste beluga.
02:35So this is the one that we have on the menu every day.
02:38And it can also be an add-on to extra dishes if the guest wishes.
02:42Seems like a really good batch today.
02:46It's harder to pop them in my mouth because they have way more structural integrity.
02:49Which is exactly why we use it on the menu just as our standard caviar.
02:54It just holds everything up a lot better.
02:56The flavour definitely on the saltiest side this time.
02:59So we will have to adjust a few of our dishes just to make sure that everything's harmonious.
03:05Now that all this is done, we can move on to the next sauce.
03:11Now it's time of the day to do the tuna.
03:13This is for our first course of the tasting menu.
03:15It's served cold, as a tartare, with ossetre caviar.
03:18And we also have a smoked sturgeon bavoie on top.
03:22Just to warm people up for the first course of the evening,
03:26we also serve it with a tuna consomme, which is what I'm about to prep.
03:29We have our bluefin tuna carcasses.
03:31As they are a small restaurant, we don't go through a whole tuna throughout the whole week.
03:35Therefore, we do get the piece of tuna and the bones separate.
03:38It's pretty small, but it does the job for us and it's super, super flavourful.
03:45So the smaller we cut it up into pieces,
03:48the more surface area we're going to get for the caramelisation around the outside.
03:52And that equals more flavour for us in our consomme.
03:55As you can see, I am ripping the towel, but that's a hell of a lot cheaper than ruining my
04:00chopping board.
04:02These towels, we actually have a little bit of a rule with the chefs that they have five towels a
04:07day,
04:08which from where I come from, that's very, very generous.
04:11But it's just to make sure that they are more disciplined and they're cleaning down
04:15and a little bit more thoughtful on how they get around the jobs of the towels.
04:18If you need six, you've got to come ask me very nicely and hope I'm in a good mood.
04:22So it's going to go in the oven.
04:23We're going to put a little bit of oil on it to really encourage that manner of reaction.
04:27Super hot oven, about 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
04:29We are going to get the base ready.
04:31So we're going to slice up some onions, some fennel.
04:33So for the charred ones, we just cut those in half.
04:35They will go straight on the flat top on some foil.
04:38And these other ones, we just slice super thin.
04:40When you are cooking something so delicate as a fish, especially for a consomme,
04:44you want everything really finely sliced, so everything cooked super, super quick.
04:48That means that you're not going to get that stewed, bland flavor.
04:52You're going to get super light, fresh, some tuna consomme.
04:54I started cooking when I was 15 years old.
04:58Professionally, I've been cooking my whole life.
05:01I told my dad I wanted to be a chef when I was four years old
05:04and that I wanted one restaurant in London and one restaurant in New York City.
05:08So we're getting there on the dream.
05:10I love sports in general as a person.
05:13I love the competitiveness, the drive to succeed at something.
05:17That may seem somewhat impossible.
05:20And I'm not that athletic.
05:22So cooking is my thing.
05:23And if you want to be in the sports world of cooking, it's in Michelin.
05:27So I'm just going to put a little bit of oil on here just so it doesn't stick.
05:30If we don't do that, then you're going to get all the great caramelization and flavor
05:34is going to stick onto the foil.
05:36If you were to put it in a pan, the heat would have to go from the stove through the
05:41pan to the onion.
05:43You're not going to get that dark, dark caramelization.
05:45So if you stick it straight on the flat top, this is called the bullseye of the stove.
05:50This is where it gets the hottest.
05:51So I'm just going to move it around until I get the perfect color all the way around.
05:55And that's really going to intensify that flavor.
05:57They're starting to really get that color there.
05:59As you can see right now, I'm just going to sweat down these onions.
06:03Yeah.
06:04You got a towel for me?
06:07Just gave up one of his towels.
06:09Yeah.
06:11That's the perks of being a head chef.
06:13Everything at your disposal.
06:15I'm going to hand this over to the meat chef and he's going to finish it off for me.
06:19So now it's time to do the cold part of the first course.
06:21So that is our tuna tartare.
06:23So we have our ikami sapu.
06:25This is the upper loin of the tuna itself.
06:28This type of tuna is super, super lean.
06:30I'm going to cut it into quite a thick steak.
06:33Our dish consists of a pounded little puck on top, which is a really lovely presentation side.
06:38And then we also have the dice at the bottom.
06:40I lay these out.
06:41So this is where we get our anger out.
06:45Very gently start to pound it.
06:47And when you're pounding, you don't want to just press down because you're just hitting one part of the fish.
06:52You want to pound and push out.
06:54So you're really like encouraging it where to go.
06:59So we're just going to fold it up like that.
07:03Going to go put that in our freezer and let that freeze up before we punch it into little pucks.
07:07And now our pucks are ready to punch out nice and frozen.
07:10If you cut it too warm, your ring punch is not going to go through and have a really lovely
07:16perfect cut.
07:17You're going to have some little rips and tears, which is obviously not Michelin worthy.
07:20I'm going to take the trim here, mince this up so it has a different texture.
07:24That gives an almost like a chew toro type of feel to the mouth, like a fatty texture.
07:30And then we're going to have the lean dice.
07:32So you have two different textures there when you're biting into it.
07:35Next we're going to put in is finger limes.
07:37So these, just like caviar, they pop in your mouth.
07:39Obviously a lot more acidic.
07:41It gives a really exciting feel to it.
07:43It's like because every bite you're popping with different acidity levels.
07:47These are pretty expensive.
07:49So it's really important that we get every single piece out.
07:51We get our tweezers and we just pick through.
07:57Making sure we get every single seed out.
08:00Go ahead, put that in.
08:02We also add some chives.
08:04Maldon salt.
08:04It has less of a harsh flavor.
08:07Black garlic shoyu glaze.
08:08I would describe it as a similar to an eel sauce.
08:12As I've been seasoning this, I always keep in the back of my mind that this is served with aceto
08:16caviar.
08:17So that's where I need to really take in the fact that it doesn't need too much salt right now.
08:21Because we're adding that salt layer then.
08:24So this is all done.
08:25Just before service, we start dressing them.
08:27Making them super pretty for the guests.
08:32Now's the time of the day that I can go into the office and do my invoices.
08:37Just have to wade through the jungle.
08:39Every day the invoices come in.
08:41I check the prices.
08:42I check the quantity.
08:44Then I just scan them on my phone.
08:46And then I have to send those to two different places.
08:49One is to our accounting team in Miami.
08:52And then also I have to upload it to Toast so it can go on my inventory.
08:56So my food cost is great.
08:59After the invoices, the DOH side of things.
09:02So that's the Department of Health.
09:03So we're getting up to one year of opening this restaurant.
09:06And we haven't had an inspection yet.
09:08So any day it can happen.
09:10So I'm just going to go to the fridge and the freezer right now.
09:13Just have a look around the kitchen as well.
09:14Just to make sure everything's in tip top.
09:18What I'm looking for is all of the seafood at the bottom.
09:22Any raw proteins at the bottom as well.
09:24And then we build it up going from ready to eat at the top.
09:28For example, if I was to move this chicken up next to our English muffins here.
09:33That would be a huge no-no.
09:35That would be at least 10 points.
09:36If you fail an inspection, that is pretty much closed down at the restaurant.
09:42Just to make sure that I set myself up for success.
09:45We do hire someone to come in who is an old inspector.
09:48She has 20 years experience.
09:50She comes in, she tells me everything I'm doing wrong.
09:52She comes back the next month.
09:54She tells me everything I'm still doing wrong.
09:56And then the goal is after two, three months that we're perfect.
09:59Ready to go.
10:00My team are pretty well rehearsed in how I like things.
10:03So we're looking great in here.
10:04And if we have an inspection, I feel pretty confident about it.
10:09Now we're going to prep the beef on croup.
10:12This beef is a terrorist major cut.
10:13So it's known as the petit filet.
10:16So there is two pieces in the whole cow, which makes it a little bit more desirable to have.
10:20This is the final savory course before you head into the desserts.
10:24With it being a beef on croup, it's quite decadent.
10:26It's also served with a sauce perigol, which is a truffle sauce.
10:30We are going to wrap the wagyu in the pancetta.
10:33Even though it will be wrapped in pastry and no one will see it,
10:37it's important for us to keep the techniques of everything looking nice.
10:41So what I am doing is making sure that this meat side here is always on the same part,
10:49because that's going to be my outside.
10:51So now when I roll that, it's going to be the most beautiful layering on the other side.
10:56How we encourage the pancetta to stick to the wagyu is that we use a GS,
11:02which is the chef's term for meat glue.
11:04Just a very light sprinkle just encourages it to make sure everything sticks together.
11:08Really important that we wrap it super tight, just to encourage the sticking even more.
11:12It's easier when you get another piece of cling film to help with the friction.
11:15And we just roll it and roll it until it's in a perfect cylinder.
11:20A pet peeve of mine is people not cutting the little tails off.
11:23It upsets me immensely.
11:25We just need to give it some time for the glue to activate.
11:28In that time, we're going to get the pastry ready.
11:30So we egg wash the inside to make sure that everything is one whole structure
11:34and nothing's peeling away from each other.
11:36Our meat that's completely stuck together here.
11:38So we're going to put that in the pastry.
11:40And we roll it around until the seams they meet there.
11:43We egg wash it first.
11:44We let the whole of the egg wash dry whilst we're doing that.
11:47We do all of our braids.
11:49Every single guest gets a braid on each of their portions.
11:51It's quite labor intensive, but it's pretty striking when it's on the plate.
11:55So it's definitely worth it.
11:56Some of the male chefs seem to have a bit of a problem with this task,
11:59but the female chefs seem to smash it out.
12:01This is honestly one of my favorite tasks that I've been given in this kitchen.
12:05A lot of other people can't do it.
12:07And I like to do stuff that other people can't do.
12:09It's a little bit different to braiding hair.
12:10You've got to be a little bit more careful with it, obviously because it rips,
12:14but just remaining super tight with the braid itself.
12:18Since they could unravel in the oven,
12:20we like to just give them a little press down at the end just to make it a little bit
12:23more secure.
12:24Another thing that makes it look a lot nicer is making sure that the grain of the braid
12:29is coming the same way every single time.
12:33So that looks like a pretty great one.
12:35So we're going to go put that in the freezer to firm up before we put it in the oven.
12:41So now it's the time of the day where I prep the scallops now.
12:44So these are live in-shell scallops.
12:46This is one of my favorite jobs to do.
12:48Pretty much throughout my career, wherever I go, I try and make it my responsibility.
12:51And in past restaurants where I've worked,
12:53it's definitely been a bit of a gateway to the more senior members of the team,
12:58of racing who can do it fastest and the most precise and the best.
13:01We have a flat side of the shell and we have a rounded side.
13:05The flat side is where I want to keep my knife against.
13:08That's why I use a flexi knife.
13:09I'll flex it against there and I'll push down to try and scrape everything out.
13:13This is what we call the skirt.
13:15And then we have the roe underneath.
13:16The roe is edible.
13:17We're going to keep it for a later date to use it,
13:20dry it out and make some powder with it.
13:21You flip the skirt around.
13:23You just tease the scallop out with your knife.
13:27Look it out.
13:28So this dish is one of the guest favorites at the moment.
13:32It's a celebration of sunchokes.
13:34We serve it with a salt baked sunchoke puree.
13:37We also have pickled and roasted sunchokes.
13:40And we make our own sunchoke caramel with that.
13:42So that's something that is really special because I learnt it through a mistake.
13:46I over reduced the consomme one day and I made caramel.
13:49And I decided to keep that in my repertoire and try and use it.
13:52And it's made it onto the menu today.
13:54When we're packing away scallops, there's a few things to check for.
13:58Naturally, there is a mussel on the left-hand side of the scallop itself.
14:02As you can see here, we have a flat side to a rounder side.
14:04We like to put the flat side on the side of the container.
14:08And then you just match that.
14:10The flat side on the left.
14:11Sorry, can I get a taste?
14:13Yeah.
14:17You need more salt.
14:19I feel like I'm constantly getting spoon-fed all day.
14:22Which is part of the job and not a bad part of the job.
14:25Especially with food like this.
14:26But one of my roles is to taste every single thing that is prepped throughout the whole day.
14:30And make sure it's up to the standard.
14:32As long as we go left to left every single time.
14:34When they sit up in the fridge, they're going to keep their structure.
14:38And then that's going to help when we're pan searing that they're not going to fall on themselves.
14:42And we're just going to get an immaculate sear on the face side.
14:45Rather than also down here.
14:47I'm going to just finish this up and pack them away.
14:52We've got 30 minutes before service.
14:54So we're just going to do some tasters right now.
14:55So I do the tasters just as my last chance to be able to taste what the guest is tasting.
15:00And I'm the last line of defense.
15:03So if there's something wrong right now, we fix it straight away.
15:06And make sure the guest doesn't have to experience that.
15:08So here we have the first course.
15:10The one that we made together earlier.
15:12So this is the tuna.
15:13Just going to try it with the bavoie.
15:17So far so good.
15:18So here we have our beef sauce.
15:20This is our truffle perigold sauce.
15:22Really beautiful chopped up truffles in there.
15:25You need sherry vinegar in there and some butter.
15:27A little sherry?
15:28Yeah.
15:29It's just a little bit like flat.
15:31And there's not a lot of body feel.
15:36That's way better.
15:37So just getting ready for service.
15:38This is my expo station.
15:40So this is where I stand pretty much 99% of service unless I'm going to check out the sections.
15:45I have eyes everywhere.
15:46It's a fantastic base.
15:47I have a 360 of the kitchen.
15:49I can look at the garnish, the meat section, the pastry and the gar manger all at the same time.
15:53I just spot things before they go too wrong.
15:55I get my tickets through here.
15:57And then I have this sheet that is here every single day.
16:00And that just tells me the times people are coming in.
16:02Any of their allergies and any guest notes if they've been already before.
16:05When they came.
16:07And then if there was anything that happened that was something that I need to know from their last visit.
16:14Check on Full Top.
16:16We.
16:16Have a good service.
16:17We.
16:18How many?
16:19Seven.
16:20And that means it's time for you to go.
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