Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Summer 2012 - (Page 112)

FINAL ACTS Clockwise from top left: Elverfeld orchestrating events in the kitchen; the cheese course; a most modern interpretation of apple strudel. Handkäs’ mit Musik on the menu, a stinky cheese from Hesse that is commonly eaten with vinegar and caraway. You have to be a committed patriot to put this on a menu of a world-class restaurant. But Elverfeld is a well-traveled chef who has worked in Kyoto, Crete and Dubai (where he was chef de cuisine at La Baie at The Ritz-Carlton). He is not afraid of being seen as parochial (the biggest fear of German chefs). He likes to be German, he likes soccer and fast cars — he drives a 450-horsepower Audi RS5 in hot Misano red — and he likes German food. His courage was rewarded. Aqua has thrilled the public as well as the critics. The Michelin guide awarded the first star to the restaurant in 2002, the second in 2006 and the third in 2009. Aqua has been No. 1 on almost every restaurant ranking there is. It appears as one of the two German restaurants on the influential San Pellegrino list of the 50 best restaurants in the world. Back at the kitchen party, Nadja Hartl, Aqua’s former pastry chef, offers a variation of a traditional dessert from neighboring Austria: the apple strudel. Once a dish for poor folk, Maria Theresia of Austria, one of the first working moms and very wise in the ways of keeping in style, turned the strudel into the Viennese monarchy’s favorite dessert. Hartl’s strudel is indeed fit for a queen: In the middle of the plate, between the apple spuma, a rum gel and vanilla ice cream, sits an apple spun from sugar. It looks like a precious Christmas bauble but tastes like an epiphany of raisins, rum, almond and apple. To take a bite of the apple, you have to crush it: Give it a good whack with your spoon as you would with a breakfast egg and the crispy shell combines with the creamy and airy interior to become something irresistible. Speaking of irresistible: By the end of the evening, every guest will have been served 10 plates. No sign of polite restraint. In fact, there’s a small, friendly dispute around Bühner’s stove about who will get the last little plate of dove with “mushroom soil” and sunchoke chips that tastes so delicious it’s worth fighting for. The serving staff, however, is cool as a cucumber. The waiters clear up after the guests with the calmness of a cabin crew on a Boeing 737 that has hit heavy turbulence. They smile confidently, even as happy partygoers spill some of Claus-Peter Lumpp’s (three stars, Baiersbronn) deep black chanterelle purée on their uniform sleeves. But the night isn’t that young anymore and suddenly a piece of Fourme d’Ambert from the cheese tray (one that offers all kinds of heavenly delicacies) comes flying through the room — the friendly waitress had momentarily forgotten the physical law of leverage. Time to go to bed. Download a recipe from chef Sven Elverfeld’s new cookbook at . / 112 W W W. R I T Z C A R LT O N . C O M http://www.ritzcarlton.com/magazine http://WWW.RITZCARLTON.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Summer 2012

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Summer 2012
Table of Contents
Contributors
Editor’s Letter
President’s Letter
Falling in Love With ... Boston
Technology
Design
On the Boulevards
Shopping
Jewelry
Watches
Family Travel
Wellness
Outdoors
Barcelona
Istanbul
Fashion
Culinary
Let Us Stay With You
Heritage

Ritz-Carlton Magazine - Summer 2012

https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonexperience_2014summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2014winter-ch
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2014winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2013fall-ch
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2013fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2013summer-ch
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2013summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2013spring-ch
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2013spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2013winter-ch
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2013winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2012fall-ch
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2012fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2012summer-ch
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2012summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2012spring-ch
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2012spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2012winter-ch
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2012winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2011fall-ch
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2011fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/mcmurry/ritzcarltonmag_2011summer
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com