Brazen (Revisited)

ColUMNISTS BRAZEN AIMING FOR TOP CHEF FROM THE HEARTLAND BY SUNIL MALAPATI “There is a tide in the chef competition that is affairs of men, highly regarded in the food Which taken at the flood, community. But the locales leads on to fortune.” have all been centers Chef Kevin Scharpf already known for special seems to have taken that cuisines (New Orleans, old Shakespearean adage Seattle, etc.). Kentucky to heart. He opened his promises to be differ- Brazen restaurant some ent: bourbon is the only three and half years PHOTO: SMALLZ & RASKIND/ food I can associate with ago just as the Millwork BRAVO MEDIA Kentucky. I asked Chef District was finding its BRAZEN CHEF AND OWNER Kevin about the attitudes footing and helped usher KEVIN SCHARPF towards Midwestern food, in the Millwork renais- often relegated to casse- sance. Now, he aims to compete for nothing less than roles and pies. He believes the prestigious Top Chef title, the first Iowa chef to be that there is a certain selected to be in the reality-show competition. Proud of simplicity and respect for representing good-old Midwestern cooking, Chef Kevin ingredients that is back seeks to usher in a welcome spotlight on a regional in vogue after years of SALMON TARTARE cuisine that does not always get the credit it deserves. flirtation with molecular So, what made Chef Kevin decide to even apply gastronomy. He is proud to to be on a prestigious show like Top Chef, usually lead the charge of putting Iowa on the culinary map. citrus notes. He decided to smoke onions, dehy- cast with big city chefs and Michelin star awardees? So, how exactly does a chef operating at an exceptional drate them and make a powder. Modernist tech- I asked this and many other questions in a wide- level look at food? The night before my interview, I had the niques have made a difference to how chefs think ranging interview sitting down in the warm interiors pleasure of dining at Brazen with Bryce, Christy and Kristina about ingredients. While Chef Kevin is trained of Brazen Open Kitchen on a brisk fall morning. and we shared all the daily specials between us. Since my and usually sticks to classical French techniques, Chef Kevin has a stolid Midwestern head on a lanky illustrious predecessor has reviewed Brazen twice already, I he is not afraid to experiment once in a while. frame, confident in his abilities but not arrogant. His decided to take a different approach and asked Chef Kevin The powder then was added to the soy vinai- culinary training extends from an apprenticeship at La to walk me through the development of a single dish. After grette along with black garlic to accentuate the Fougasse in Minneapolis, MN during culinary school all, every dish tells a story, and the menu at Brazen is a earthy and fermented notes. The soy sauce sup- to working for world-renowned French chef Daniel collection stories from the chef. What follows is the story plies the acidic notes essential to a tartare. Black Bouloud at Restaurant Daniel in New York, NY. So, of salmon tartare with some digressions from yours truly. garlic is made by subjecting garlic to low heat for when he moved back to the Midwest to first work at an extended period of time, lending sweet, smoky Diamond Jo as a sous chef and then open his own SALMON TARTARE UTILIZES THE earthy notes. A lot of effort for just the vinaigrette! restaurant Brazen, he did wonder if moving back to SCRAPS FROM WHOLE SALMON… the Midwest helped or hurt his culinary development. Chef Kevin believes in respecting the ingredients and a SMOKED RADISHES AND FENNEL… Brazen is undoubtedly an extension of Kevin Scharpf, mouth-to-tail approach. They source whole fish to get the A tartare needs a different textural element and the Chef. There was a risk attached to being the first to best quality possible and filet the fish themselves. The frequently an herbal component for contrast. Thinly open a restaurant in the Millwork district, what with the leftover scraps could be used to make stock or salmon shaved fennel works both texturally and adds an Co-Op struggling to make it and no other food venues cake. This time, he decided to use the scraps from the herbal anise quality. Smoked whole radishes are nearby. There was a definite buzz and excitement sur- belly to make tartare: traditionally, they have the most fat thinly sliced and add a peppery freshness to the rounding the area, but it was not quite the bustling area and thus are suited for raw or lightly smoked preparations. dish. (Slicing after smoking tones down the smoki- it is today, and Brazen has been part of that develop- ness significantly, making it more delicate.) ment. Starting and maintaining a restaurant can and CONSISTENT EXPERIENCE OR often does divert attention away from the food itself NEW EXPERIENCE? PART ONE… CONSISTENT EXPERIENCE OR and could make a chef more cautious in their artistic As a restaurateur, a chef has to contend with customers NEW EXPERIENCE? PART TWO… development. Chef Kevin takes a lot of pride in Brazen who desire their favorites constantly versus those who Salmon tartare as assembled above is a thrilling (as well as he should), but now it was time to test himself crave new experiences. It is to Chef Kevin’s credit that he experience. A good cook is content to give you a against the big city chefs and validate the hard work. recognizes both groups want good food and he wants to satisfying meal, while a chef working at a high level The arduous process to get into Top Chef started with a satisfy both. The salmon fillets go on the entrée menu (Kris- thinks through all the choices he or she makes and lengthy online application form two years ago. Chef Kevin tina ordered the dish and I had a heavenly bite!) and it is develops a dish so it tells a story and expresses a reached out to Chef Fabio Viviani, a fan favorite from the time for the chef to play a little. A tartare is already pushing philosophy. The tartare provides a harmonious experi- 2008 season, and was encouraged by the support. After boundaries in Dubuque, so the question is whether to go ence of taste, flavor and texture and is definitely an a Skype interview, he made the final round of selection further or temper it with traditional accoutrements. In this adventure. I am not a big salmon fan, but I had quite for last year’s Colorado season but did not make the case, he decide to push further into modernist techniques. a few bites of the tartare when Kristina ordered it! actual cast. This might be a blessing since the Kentucky One of the impressive things about Brazen is that season might prove a better fit for the Iowan chef!Top SMOKED ONION SOY VINAIGRETTE… even the familiar dishes can tell surprising stories. Chef started as a reality competition more interested in It is time to think about flavor. Chef Kevin wanted to Chef Kevin is passionate about pasta and it shows up contestant drama but quickly evolved into a legitimate play with earthy notes instead of the more traditional as a significant part of the menu. I ordered the pasta 22 COLUMNISTs 365INK MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 1–NOVEMBER 14, 2018 ISSUE #329 DUBUQUE365.COM COLUMNISTS I WOULD EAT 10 SALMON TARTARE IF YOU WOULDN’T JUDGE ME FOR IT was one of the motivators for apply- ing to Top Chef. Instead of fixating on “what needs to happen” based on a fixed dish, he learnt to listen to what the ingredients were trying to tell him. Ultimately, a dish only works if it has a genuine story to tell, and that only hap- pens when you respect the ingredients. While we will not know for a while how Chef Kevin Sharpf fared in his quest for the Top Chef title (the season premieres Dec. 6 on Bravo), I was able to ask what he took away from the competition. The first thing he got from the experience was the camaraderie among the chefs. As a chef in Dubuque, Kevin special, which was ravioli made with the is not always able to bounce around aforementioned smoked onion pow- cutting-edge culinary knowledge. Now der served with brown butter, sweet he was with 14 other chefs with varied potato and braised greens. The surprise backgrounds and was able to create new was in the plating—it was purposefully friendships. The second big takeaway difficult to get all flavors in one bite, was confidence in himself and his and the dish offered surprising notes abilities. He could operate way outside at different points. One of the intrigu- his comfort zone and not be scared. ing details I learnt was that there were Now, Chef Kevin Scharpf comes back small dollops of savory apple butter to us with a new arsenal of techniques at the bottom of the plate, lending a and culinary knowledge and renewed sour-sweet taste to some bites. Where confidence in his abilities. He believes the tartare was harmony, the pasta Dubuque is at the epicenter of great was a melody strung together with things and cannot wait to showcase subtle grace notes. (This is a feature of the Midwestern cuisine and help it many Asian cuisines, but harmony is achieve the recognition it deserves. typically prized in Western cuisine.) He is working towards more than his Clearly, Brazen’s dishes tell well devel- restaurant, acting as a catalyst for oped stories, and Chef Kevin, with his small farmer growth in our region.

Load more