At Atelier in Chicago, led by James Beard Award-winning chef Christian Hunter, the chefs elevate Midwestern ingredients into fine dining plates. One such transformation of local produce and proteins involves turning Lake Superior walleye into crudo garnished with smoked rhubarb, allium, and chile crisp, plus a flavorful stock made from the bones. With a strong focus on seasonal ingredients, every dish at Atelier tells a story, celebrating the farmers and produce in the region.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00This is some walleye coming from Lake Superior.
00:03It has already been deboned for us tonight.
00:08I'm trimming up the belly, and then I'm taking the skin off as well.
00:11The skin goes on the chili crisp component of this dish, giving it extra crunch.
00:16Our third course is the walleye crudo.
00:18It is three slices of very thin walleye coming from Red Lakes in Minnesota.
00:24I like to describe the walleye we get in as actually one of the most neutral fishes that I've ever worked with.
00:29It doesn't taste like the sea. It honestly tastes like a Minnesota lake,
00:34which makes it a great canvas for us to kind of utilize a bunch of sauce work.
00:42Larder on eight.
00:45Two salads up.
00:46Two salad.
00:49Larder for four. One no nuts.
00:51No nuts.
00:57So I actually break down this fish kind of into two sections.
01:00I follow this line right here. This is where their pin bones are.
01:05And their pin bones end right about here.
01:07We actually don't use the tail for crudo.
01:09We've been using it to R&D like a smoked dip coming up on the menu.
01:13So what I actually do is I just come around here, kind of do a C-cut, just to get all those bones out.
01:18This also allows us to have one really nice loin to make very even cuts of crudo.
01:24So since taking over the menu, there are specific products that I knew that I've wanted to use.
01:28The walleye specifically was one.
01:30And that's kind of the start of my creative process is finding the product first,
01:33and then kind of using whatever knowledge I have after that to create a dish from said product.
01:39So now that we've taken the tails and the loins and gotten all the pin bones out,
01:43I'm going to pass over a few loins to Chef Christian so he can get them sliced for our crudo.
01:50I don't glove my knife hand because just on the off chance that you might catch a scale, a piece of bone,
01:57you have a little bit more sensitivity in your hand.
02:00You don't want it to be too thin because it's such a small bite,
02:03but we also don't want it to be too thick because the texture on the fish is really important.
02:07It's kind of the most important part when you're doing a crudo.
02:09So these are whole walleye.
02:11We've taken the fillet off, and we're using the bones right now.
02:14We're going to roast in the oven until they have a really nice golden color to them.
02:17And then we're going to make a stock from there.
02:19I take the bones and I roast them until they're a nice, really golden color.
02:23This is going to be the consomme or fume that you sip alongside the crudo.
02:29I also always save a little bit of the stock before, and we kind of add that as a mother stock.
02:34Just pour in some boiling water on all this fond that's developed while it's cooking.
02:38It helps release all of this fond that we're going to add back to the stock.
02:42In any type of stock, the fond and any of these crispy bits on the bottom are where all the flavor is.
02:48We are fired on two walleye right now.
02:50To finish the dish, we are going to do the garnish and then assemble on the plate.
02:54Fermented green garlic goes down.
02:56Then we've got our smoked rhubarb here, and then we have our chili crunch here.
03:00We've got a little bit of fish skin on the chili crunch and then a dianthus flower.
03:05We finish the smoked rhubarb with preserved lemon and a marigold flower.
03:12Just pour dashi.
03:13Chef, we're coming up on two walleye.
03:1810 a.m., in time right now.
03:21I'm running GM Station for Chef at the moment.
03:24I've got a ton of prep to do.
03:25We're going to start with pita and then kind of work our way down.
03:28Pita is part of the larder course.
03:29Everything that we put on the larder course is going to go into the pita.
03:33Everything that we put on the larder course is kind of a reflection of what's going on in the moment.
03:38At this point, my job is to support my chef and the team here.
03:42You know, the whole intent is for Chef Braden to put his impact on the food outside of your flour.
03:50If you have a really nice yogurt, and these guys are really nice,
03:53they make a plain yogurt that's super thick, and it tastes really, really nice.
03:58Fine dining, I've been in it for quite some time.
04:01I always kind of came across as a little bit too stiff, too prim and proper.
04:05And so, for me, this larder course was designed to break that down a little bit.
04:10It's a four-menu drop, and everything is meant to be eaten with your hands.
04:16All right, so the rest will work by hand just to get to that right texture.
04:22I kind of want to get it to a point where it releases from the bowl.
04:26It's not nearly as sticky.
04:28The tension is pretty much built up through the gluten.
04:32What I'm looking for is it to be tacky, but still not stick too much.
04:36We still got to let it rest for about an hour, hour and a half,
04:39and then we'll portion it, rest it again, roll it out, cook it up, and then cook it again.
04:46On to the next.
04:49So right now, my priority of what to change on the menu is our salad course.
04:53I wanted to do a Thai som tam or a version of it of some kind.
04:57Of course, we don't have green papaya here in the Midwest,
04:59so I wanted to sub it out with kohlrabi and maybe some peas, sugar snap peas as well.
05:05Right now, I'm making the dressing for it.
05:07It's typically sometimes used with those dried small shrimp, and you crush it up in a big bowl.
05:11We don't have any of those shrimp at the moment, so I'm going to rely heavily on fish sauce
05:15and some more umami flavors like dochujang and gochugaru.
05:19Lime, ginger, garlic, and we'll put a little heat in there as well.
05:23What we have in common is definitely our love for local vegetables.
05:27That's like produce, dairy, wherever we can find it, and then play with it.
05:32We're not scared to try any type of cuisine.
05:35We kind of have, I would say, a little bit of a global technique in our background,
05:38and so we mix the local product with global flavors and techniques.
05:43I'm not too far away removed from my first executive chef job, which was less than four years ago.
05:48With that in mind, I want to be here to support Chef Braden,
05:52but also it's his opportunity to make mistakes and to also succeed.
05:58So the goal is to give him the opportunity to do the thing,
06:02be around to pop off questions, talk food, but really give him the opportunity to shine
06:07because that's exactly what this workshop is about.
06:10I mean, this whole dish, like anything the chef does, what it starts out right now
06:14isn't what it's going to finish like.
06:16A dish is not complete until it's its last day on the menu.
06:20If you add the shrimp in there, or like a shrimp paste, that's the funk,
06:24and then we'll just have to make a veg dressing.
06:28And a lot of the time, too, with these first drafts of dishes,
06:31I'm not getting the plate up completely down yet.
06:34By any means, that's definitely kind of the last priority.
06:37We're just making sure the components and touches are at least there,
06:40so when we try it, we know what we're tasting.
06:43We don't have palm sugar, but it does need a little bit more sugar.
06:46Yeah, yeah.
06:47But I like where that is.
06:49That's what you want.
06:50Cool.
06:51No, that's awesome.
06:52Cool.
06:53All right, let's get it on by Friday.
06:55So now we're going to start rolling out our pita dough.
06:57It's been rested, proofed up again.
07:03So after we portion, I'm going to roll them into balls,
07:06and then we'll let those balls rest.
07:08We'll get the plancha started.
07:10We'll roll them all the way out, and then we'll cook them all the way.
07:13Then after that, we'll let them cool down.
07:15Then we'll cut them, and we'll portion them and fry them.
07:23So for final savory, we have a Rouge Poussin course.
07:27This bird's coming from North Carolina.
07:29It's called Rouge because it does have a little bit of a reddish hue
07:32compared to most chickens.
07:34What makes this breakdown of this bird a little bit different
07:37than most chickens or anything else is that I need to try to save
07:40as much skin as possible for our roulades.
07:43I'm trying to utilize that skin as best as possible to stay on the breast.
07:46So what I'm going to do is kind of pinch it, and right here at the leg,
07:49I'm going to skin it, coming along the leg here.
07:52Use my two fingers to kind of spread that skin out
07:55and see how much I'm going to yield.
07:57We make sure that it's not just vegetables that we use in season,
07:59but there's actually meat as well,
08:01that is really a lot better with chicken specifically.
08:04All the spring forage that they eat really translates to the meat itself
08:07compared to a winter chicken getting fed grain.
08:10Taking the breast off now, trying not to waste any skin.
08:13We'll be hitting the wishbone right here.
08:16Follow that down.
08:18Getting in here is where I can find just a touch extra meat for us.
08:21So now that this is all done,
08:23we're going to separate it into its each prep project,
08:25the breast into the roulades, the legs into the confit,
08:29livers into the mousse, and then the bones into our stock.
08:32Right here, we're going to teach Chef Thomas how to do our poussin roulade.
08:35We've gotten the breast already off the chicken,
08:38and we've separated the tenders from the breast themselves.
08:41We're just going to kind of go through one more clean through.
08:43So for the breast itself, spread out all the skin as best you can.
08:46We now have to separate the skin from the breast.
08:49What we're going to do is we're going to lay it out on some plastic wrap.
08:52We're going to put a little bit of our lovage here and some Activa
08:55and roll it up and then take the skin and roll that
08:59around it. We'll give it a nice tight tie up,
09:02and then we're going to sous vide it at 63.5 degrees Celsius
09:06for about an hour to an hour and a half.
09:08So these are some local radishes that I pan roasted the other day,
09:13and we're actually going to use this as the base for our anchovy
09:17roasted radish dressing.
09:18All we're doing is kind of accentuating the flavors that are already there.
09:23Literally anchovies, the radish, cherry vinaigrette,
09:26salt to adjust. That's it.
09:28So then once this veg dressing is kind of set up the way we want it,
09:31then we'll add our anchovies and finish this bad boy up.
09:41We're about 10 minutes away from breakdown.
09:43We basically scrub, sweep, mop, all that good stuff.
09:46We're going to finish up staff meal, staff meeting at 430,
09:49and then we're an hour away from service starting.
09:52I prefer working in the kitchen.
09:55I prefer working with small teams.
09:57It's where you can really get the most out of what we're doing here.
10:00It's a do-it-yourself team, so we all take responsibility
10:03for the dishes, cleaning, everything like that.
10:05There's a lot of equity with all of us,
10:07and I think that's what really helps everyone
10:10with the camaraderie and the teamwork aspect of things.
10:13So we are less than 10 minutes away from pre-service,
10:16which is kind of the start of, really honestly, the start of service.
10:20So service starts, first table in at 530.
10:23So right now we're kind of finishing up small touches,
10:26getting garnishes ready, setting up stations,
10:28and then we're going to go at it.
10:30For those of you who were not here over the last couple days,
10:33our bread has changed to a sourdough baguette.
10:36The organ meat people are still going to get the poussin dish,
10:39but the rillette is going to be a mushroom sausage
10:42because there is the liver mousse in the rillette.
10:44Still no caviar supplement.
10:46Besides that, I think that covers it.
10:49You know, just a little touch.
10:51Anytime someone wants to come here and they celebrate something
10:54and they let us know, we always get a card ready for them
10:57that staff is all signed.
10:59The roulades are out of the sous-vide.
11:01Now I just open them up so that they're ready for service,
11:04so that the skin just dries out and we get a nice sear on them.
11:08Larder for four, one no nuts.
11:14It's really fun to be able to do everything in-house,
11:18tell the story of the farmer that irrigated this crop,
11:21planted this crop, raised this crop.
11:26We put it into our tasting menu.
11:28We talk about the story behind it,
11:30picking up the story and carrying it on.
11:32Two salads up.
11:34Two salads.
11:38Right now we're kind of in the middle of service.
11:40Half the tables have started their menu.
11:42The other half are kind of towards the end of final savoring.
11:44You'll see hotlines about to kind of get hit
11:46with the main savory courses right away.
11:50I want to have food that speaks to the locality
11:53and the seasonality of what we have in the Midwest
11:56and here in Chicago.
11:58I think that's priority number one.
12:00What Atelier brings to that is the idea of a workshop
12:03or always in motion and always evolving.
12:10It's really nice not to be restricted to one type of cuisine
12:14or one type of technique or style.
12:16I think that's one of the best aspects of this job
12:19is when we can all do that together.
12:23Hash, two birds.
12:25Table seven, walking.