What I will cook for you

As you know, we're trying to raise money to feed people who don't have enough to eat. In 5 days, we've already surpassed our total for last year! We've raised over $18,000!! Woo hoo! You people are the greatest!

We still have a week to go, so this is no time to rest on our laurels. Wouldn't it be great if we could double last year's earnings? Think of all the people we could feed.

To encourage you to part with more of your hard earned cash, I want to whet your appetite with some food porn. If you bid on my prize and win, these photos will give you a visual taste of some of the dishes you may be served.

It's said a picture is worth a thousand words. The slideshow below, then, gives you a 24,000 word description of the kinds of foods you can expect me to cook for you and your friends when you win my prize (UW35) for the Menu for Hope. These are also some of the dishes you may one day eat at my restaurant, Olallie!

(Click on any of the pictures in the slideshow for a complete description of the depicted dish. Also, let me know if you have any problems seeing the slideshow, as this is the first time I've used it. If you have trouble - it doesn't work in my RSS reader, for example - click here to be taken to the version on my FlickR page).

As you can see from the photos, the way I cook isn't real "restauranty." Nothing is stacked and there are no drizzles or foams or spheres. I like to think of it as excellent home cooking. I sometimes describe my cooking style as urban farmhouse. By that I mean I use the best seasonal products from local farmers, ranchers, and fisherfolk to create boldly flavored, rustic dishes.

The flavors and aromas of Spain, Morocco, southern France, Italy, and occasionally my wife's India find their way into my dishes. Because I have deep respect for the unique spirit of each of those cultures, I strive to create dishes that retain an authentic sense of place, what the French call terroir. Rest assured you won't find mango chutney on your paella or some equally ill-conceived fusion of flavors.

I'm no creative genius. I cook from my heart more than my mind. I'm a Quixote of the kitchen. I'm happiest when I'm grinding spices in my mortar with a pestle or tending the fire in a wood-burning oven. The most important thing to me is that my food is, in the words of Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini, good, clean, and just. My cooking is steeped in love.

My personal kitchen motto comes from a dyslexic English bacon curer named Maynard Davies. In his 2004 autobiography (available only in the UK), he described his customers from a bygone era this way: "the people who really looked after themselves, and invested in themselves, never bothered about the price: all they wanted was good food to eat." He summed this up as "good food for good people." That's pretty much what you can expect to get when you win my prize (UW35) or dine at Olallie.

Don't waste another moment, good people. Go straight away and make your donation! And, with a little luck, you'll win some good food. Either mine (specify UW35 in the "personal message" section of the donation form) or one of the more than 150 other fantastic prizes listed here.

Food|and Drink|Menu for Hope III

Comments

[David]

Stop torturing us!
I've already bid on your dinner, and let me tell you, Sam and I are going to be two very luck customers (when I win, of course...)

[Tea]

Oh, Jeeze. I always knew your photos were gorgeous but this is ridiculous. I'm just going to put it on loop and sit here and drool for awhile.

When was that opening date again?...

[Kalyn]

What a lovely prize and a wonderful way to entice people to bid. Thanks for helping spread the word. Isn't it wonderful how generous people are being? BTW, I love the photo of you and your wife too.

[Melissa]

Brett, you're killing me! This looks so indescribably delicious. If only I could redeem one of your tempting prizes... Hope those Bay Area folks realize how lucky they are. Don't any of your options include international airfare?

p.s. Such a lovely picture of you two!

[neil]

When I look at my atlas you are only six inches away, I would so bid if I could, it would be worth the airfare. I reckon your new restaurant is going to do very nicely.

[Mimi]

I'm late to this post — in fact, I've just discovered this blog — but I wanted to say that I liked the way the food looks. My father was a chef and while he appreciated presentation, he would never makes stacks or spheres.