A Visit to Fruition Farms with Chef Alex Seidel

Hi all,

A few weeks back I went down to meet Chef Alex Seidel of Fruition Restaurant (http://fruitionrestaurant.com/) at his farm and sheep dairy. These days “locally grown” and from the farm ingredients are all in vogue and many restaurants in the area boast of using them. However, very few actually have gone so far as to open their own farm to ensure they get exactly what is needed in their restaurant at the peak of freshness and Chef Seidel is one of them.

When I was heading down there I had in mind that he was doing goat's milk cheese, which I was pretty excited about having tried several varieties before. But, I was surprised to find out when I got there that I was mistaken, and it is sheep’s milk cheese he is making. Which, after getting a bite of his freshly made ricotta chesse was very happily surprised by. I asked him why sheep and he let me know that they have a much higher fat content in their milk (8 percent vs 2-3 percent) and that makes a better cheese). He had just gotten the sheep in the week before and already he had begun making ricotta and hopes to make some hard cheeses in the near future.

While he was walking me around the farm, I was amazed at how much work had been done. Most chefs don’t have tons of time really away from the restaurant in the first place, but the amount of work that has been done there at the farm just makes me think the man must never sleep. When I mention this, Chef Seidel quickly mentions that he has had a lot of help from his sous chef and friends and even crews from different restaurants in the area have come down to lend a hand. To give you an idea of the work involved the dairy just a few months ago was a bare bones structure with dirt floors. Now it is fully tiled with a fairly ingenuous milking station and a sterile fully tiled room set up to make the cheese in as well as 2 aging rooms. Considering they did all the work themselves it is pretty amazing.





When we arrived, the first thing we did was go over to the two “covered” growing areas which are flanked by a cherry tree and black berry bushes. I put covered in quotes as currently they are not covered at all as a 90 plus mph wind storm ripped the covers right off them earlier this year. Still there are several varieties of vegetables growing. Another thing I found pretty cool is none of the people working the farm have any farm experience prior, as they all come from culinary backgrounds. So you can tell a lot of work has gone in to get the necessary knowledge to make this work.






Next stop was the barn which they also had to redo the outside of and a lot of the inside as it had fallen in to disrepair. Inside is a chicken coop with several different types of hens and roosters from which Chef Seidel gets his eggs. And of course sheep, which milled around eating a bit. I asked Chef Seidel why he decided to make the farm and besides for of course wanting to use the freshest local ingredients he could, he also said it was a chance for continuing education for the community (he had a Denver school class come down and interact with the animals and dig up some root vegetables) but also for him as a chef.





After the barn we headed over to the greenhouse where just a huge amount of micro greens were being grown. It was a lot of fun going through there and sampling a few of them. The farm supplies 40 different local restaurants with their greens. After this it was into the dairy to watch his cheese maker working on the latest batch of ricotta. The ricotta that comes from his restaurant can be found at many local restaurants. In fact, I ran across some at Argyll restaurant just last week.






What lies ahead? Well, he is planning to get some tables and cooking areas set up to have farm dinners in the future and hoping also to increase the varieties of vegetables and cheese he is making. If you have not yet had a chance to give Fruition a try I would highly suggest you do soon.

Thanks for stopping by our Colorado restaurant review and food blog. If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them here or email us at jonathan or barbara @milehigheater.com

A talk and recipe from Chef Seidel of Fruition

Hi all

This is the second part of our post for our meal at Fruition restaurant in Denver where we asked Chef Alex Seidel a few questions and he was nice enough to even gicve us a recipe to share with you.


Below is a picture of the chef.





1. What attracted you to cooking? At age 14, I started working in kitchens washing dishes and light prep work. When I went to college, I played soccer and the job that fit my free time was night cook. I started at a nice trattoria in Wisconsin. There I had two chefs that had worked in California and they introduced me to simple things like fresh herbs, stocks, and sauces. It was the opportunity to work with these guys and learn about food that I had never been introduced to in Wisconsin. I was hungry for more information. As my love grew for food, I wanted to focus more on it. So I quit college 30 credits shy and saved money to attend culinary school. I have been traveling, eating, and working ever since.




2. What is the philosophy behind your cooking, or in your kitchen? Whenever I interview someone, one of the first things I share is my philosophy on food and cooking. Most people that I know who love to cook enjoy everything from the shopping to the prepping to cooking and finally seeing the reaction once you serve your food. In the restaurant world sometimes the fun is taken out of it. Stressed out chefs, budgets are tight, employee relations, and a lot of other things that make the restaurant business tough. Through all that, I really try to create a culture that is a positive environment. My cooks and I share many laughs. We talk about food and why things work and why they don't. I hire based on attitude and work ethic, not experience. That way we can learn from each other-together. We are always trying to better understand our craft of cooking food. We don't have the pressure of brain surgery or rocket science. We are applying heat to proteins and vegetables. The bottom line is-if you love cooking-enjoy it and lets have pride in what we do and push ourselves to put out the best possible food that we can. We don't compete with other restaurants, we compete everyday with ourselves.

3. What is the biggest influence on the way you cook? Obviously, it is hard to not be influenced by myself. I love food and I also know what I like to eat. Although, in the restaurant business I am not cooking for myself. The customer and the demand from the customer is what influences the way I cook. I think people want to enjoy good food. Sometimes it is hard to find good food without going to a white tablecloth establishment and ordering the 10 course pre-fix. Trust me, I love to eat like that, but it is for a very small niche of people. I try to serve people food that they understand, that is approachable, and that they enjoy for a very reasonable price. I feel very good about the quality, technique, and seasonal approach that we take with our food

4. Is there a chef living today you would like to work with? Umm, yeh a few. There are so many great chefs in the world today. I have dined in many of there restaurants. I worked for Hubert Keller when I was in California but never for any other celebrity chefs. Thomas Keller, Eric Ripert, Jean-George, Daniel Bolud, Grant Achutz-just to name a few. These guys have unbelievable talent and knowledge. It would be an honor to work with these guys

5. Is there a particular ingredient you like to cook with more than others? I do like to cook with offal’s. Taking scrap and parts of animals that people don't think of using and turning that into something delicious is rewarding to me. When it comes to most things though, I always like change. People always ask "what is your favorite thing to cook?" and my response has always been I don't have a favorite dish-I like to create new dishes.

6. If stuck on a desert isle and could have one meal from then on out what would it be? Well's Brothers Pizza. It is a little Italian family-owned pizzaria in Wisconsin. It's the only thing I have to eat when I go back home for visits. Thin semolina crust with a sweet oregano flavor in the sauce. It is so good. You can take the boy out of Wisconsin but not the Wisconsin out of the boy

7. Is someone asked you for two Colorado restaurants to try other than your own what would you suggest? Frasca in Boulder and the Little Nell in Aspen.

8. How about one restaurant any where in the world? El Bulli in Spain

9. Would you be willing to share a recipe with us? Of course. I am not a really good recipe guy. We try to understand the fundamentals of cooking and why things are balanced. So I try to get my chefs to cook from the heart. I do have a couple of recipes and you are welcome to them all.
Fruition’s Potato Wrapped Oyster Rockefeller Recipe
Recipe Makes 45 oysters
4ea Russet potato (large)
45ea Oysters
3# Baby Spinach
1# Naturally Smoked Bacon
¼cu Sherry Vinegar
2cu Parmesan-Leek Emulsion (recipe follows)

Russet Potato-Colorado Grown in San Luis Valley (certified organic and non-irradiated)
Cut three potatoes lengthwise right down the middle. Working from the middle, with skin still on, thinly slice the potato to about the thickness of a potato chip. Make 45 center-cut chips and hold in cold water. Blanch potatoes in salted boiling water for one minute or just until you can roll the potato without it snapping. Shock in an ice bath, strain, and pat dry.

Oysters-West Coast Variety (preferably Hama-Hama)
Shuck oysters making sure there is no shell debris left over. Roll the oyster in the potato and secure with a toothpick. Fry in peanut oil at 350 degrees for two minutes or until the potato is golden and crispy.

Spinach-Colorado Grown
Cube bacon and render it over medium heat. Pour off excess bacon fat and add the spinach leaves. Wilt the spinach and finish with sherry vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Parmesan-Leek Emulsion
9ea Leeks (medium dice)
1ea Yellow onion (medium dice)
1ea Russet potato (peeled and large diced)
½cu white wine
½qt heavy cream
½cu parmesan
1bu Italian Parsley (finely chopped)
Sweat onion and leeks until translucent. Add the remaining russet potato and deglaze with white wine. Reduce the wine until almost gone and add the heavy cream. Cook the potato in the liquid mixture and use it as a natural thickener for the emulsion. Finish with parmesan, parsley, salt, and pepper. Puree in a blender and hold warm for service.



As always thanks for coming by the blog and if you have any questions or thoughts feel free to leave a comment or email us at barb or jonathan @milehigheater.com.



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Fruition

Hi all,

Barb, our friend Elena and myself made it out to Chef Alex Seidel’s restaurant Fruition this week (http://www.fruitionrestaurant.com). Chef Siedel was Executive Chef at Mizuna before he opened up Fruition and the food and flavors he put out here are wonderful. In general we found the flavors very straight forward and almost comforting in a way. The dining room is small and cozy; we did not have a cramped feeling even with people at all the tables around us. The wait staff was very knowledgeable about not only the food but the wine available and seemed to genuinely care about your experience at the restaurant.



We decided to split 2 appetizers between the 3 of us the first of which was:



Riesling Poached Pear Warm Pancetta Wrapped Dates, 34º Sheep’s Milk Feta, Candied Pecans

He said: For me the stand out here was the cheese, the sharp feta taste went so very well with the sweet pears and candied pecans. The flavors combined so well together that I almost forgot about the greens even when I was eating them and in fact don’t really have much of a memory of them even though the dinner was just last night. This was great start and I would give it a 7.

She said: This was a great starter. The sweet pears mixed perfectly with the cheese and greens. I'm discovering that I'm enjoying these different cheeses that I would have never tried before. I would also give this a 7.



The Next Appetizer




Crispy Duck Leg Confit Maple-Candied Sweet Potato, Toasted Hazelnut Salad, Golden Raisin Vinaigrette


He Said: This dish was very good by itself. With the very crisp skin that had a nice crunch then just melted away in your mouth and the sweet potatoes went very well with this even though I am not a sweet potato guy. If this would have been served by itself it was good enough to get a 8 but when you combined it with the sweet pear taste of the other dish, OH MY, that was good they should always have these together. But since that’s not the case I will keep with the 8.

She said: Yummy. Duck Confit and sweet potatoes, instant gratification for me. The duck was cooked perfectly and mixed in with the sweet potatoes and hazelnut salad was just the perfect combination for me. I would give it an 9.



Elena’s Main course:





Maple Leaf Farms Duck Breast
Carnaroli Risotto, Grilled Arugula & Smoked Duck Prosciutto, Red Onion Marmalade

He Said: DING DING WOOP WOOP we have a winner!! This was amazing, the duck had a fantastic flavor and the prosciutto was very nice. But, that risotto was out of this world. I would have been happy to have an entire plate of it. Sadly, Elena also liked this so I could not steal too much - lol. If this had just been a risotto course I would give it a 10 no problem, but I do have to measure the overall course and while every thing on the plate did taste great and it did draw a mmm from 2 of us it was not the best duck I have had, so I will give it a 9. The waiter told us this was the only dish that had been on the menu from the beginning and I can see why.

She said: Yes, I was the naysayer on the risotto. It's just not my thing, and I didn't go all gooey over it. The duck was very good though and I think even on it's on, I would have enjoyed it. I give this a 8.


Barb's Main course



Salmon Creek Farms Roasted Pork Tenderloin, Bacon Braised Brussel Sprouts, Fingerling Potato Confit, Pommery Mustard Emulsion

He said: Another very nice course. The pork was cooked perfectly and the sauce had a very nice strong taste that was just plain good. I would give this a 7.5

She Said: The tenderloin was juicy and tender, and mixed with all of the ingredients on the plate made me very happy. I'm not usually a mustard fan, but didn't mind it as the emulsion this time. I would give this an 8.


Jonathan's Main Course:




Braised Colorado Lamb Shank, Crispy Parmesan Polenta, Eggplant & Roasted Pepper Ratatouille, Goat Cheese Vinaigrette


He said: I was of two minds on this before I ordered; I love lamb, so it really called to me, but I have had bad experiences with polenta and have never had a good ratatouille. I talked to our waiter and he said it was a good dish though so I gave it a go. I am so very glad I did. The lamb was cooked like the other dishes we shared that night, perfectly with the meat practically falling off the bone. The polenta was just plain yum. I actually wanted more polenta and that never ever happens and the ratatouille had such a nice flavor I finished all of it even though I had to leave some meat behind as my appetite was reaching its limit. I would give this an 8.

She Said: I don't think I got the opportunity to try Jonathan's dish. At least I really don't remember trying it. Was this because he was hording, or I was just enjoying my tenderloin so much. So, I don't feel I can give this a score. :(


For desserts we decided to split 2 and our first was:



Valrhona Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Bean & Malted Milk Shake, Chocolate Ganache
Macadamia Nut Brittle

He said: This was good. Not sure how this kind of dish would not be good unless you did not like chocolate. But no better than good, I will give it a 6.

She said: This was very good, and I do like chocolate! The crunchy brittle mixed in with the warm gooey cake was a winner for me. The malted milk shake was just filler for me, but was tasty. I will give this an 8.

Dessert number 2



Warm Sticky Toffee-Date Cake, Gala Apple Compote, Crème Fraiche Ice Cream, Hot Toffee Sauce


He said: Now this was very tasty, which surprised me because I am not a huge fan of caramel and its like, but the apple compote was very rich in flavor and the over all taste just warmed you up and satisfied quickly. I would go ahead and give this a 7.5


She Said: Unlike my hubby, I do like caramel and mixed together with all of the other ingredients blended nicely on my spoon. Rich caramel, warm apple compote, cool ice cream....yum! I would give this an 8.5.




The numbers the over all score here was an 7.81 which is a very good score especially for a non tasting menu. (As I have stated before we give a .75 overall boost to any 5 course or more meal.) Fruition is a great place to go for a wonderful meal and as I stated earlier the flavors are spot on and not all that complicated which in some ways just enhances the meal.


We all had a fantastic dinner and would recommend Fruition highly, and if you do stop by, make sure you let them know you read about them here! Chef Seidel also took the time to answer a few questions and to give us a recipe which we will post next week! Thanks again for stopping by our Colorado based food blog. We are very happy to share our experiences at Colorado restaurants with you and of course the restaurants at places we travel. If you have any questions, comments or know a place we should try, please let us know. We would love to hear from you either by leaving a comment here or email us at jonathan@milehigheater.com or barb@milehigheater.com


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