Akhtar Nawab, New York

This sexy chef has a spicy menu and a saucy smile to match. His undeniable talent with Mexican cuisine will shine once again when he opens La Cenita in New York City this fall. Nawab previously served up some of the city’s best tacos at La Esquina and prior to that, he was the executive chef at CraftBar. We can't wait to dig in to what's sure to be an inventive and creative small-plates menu as soon as La Cenita opens its doors.

Date-night dinner: It depends what’s available at the green market. At this time of year, maybe an heirloom tomato and ricotta cheese crostini with a little balsamic vinegar and a roasted local fish, like black sea bass with tomatillos, avocado, and olive oil.

Favorite way to sweat: Running in Central Park around the Reservoir or chasing my daughter, Ela, around.

Food splurge: Salt and pepper BBQ beef brisket and a Basil Hayden.



Biography
Raised in Louisville, KY, Akhtar Nawab grew up on his mother’s traditional Indian meals. While studying at The University of Louisville, Akhtar got his first restaurant job at Ditto’s Bar & Grill when he was 19, bussing tables and washing. After four years working the pantry station, he enrolled in the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, graduating in 1996. After graduation, he worked at Bizou in San Francisco, under Loretta Keller, who would become one of his biggest culinary influences. After Bizou, Akhtar continued his training with San Francisco chefs, working with Traci des Jardins at Jardiniere and Roland Passot at La Folie.

In 1998, Akhtar moved to New York to work for Tom Colicchio at Gramercy Tavern. Over the course of four years, he spent time at all of the kitchen’s stations. In 2001, he joined Colicchio to open Craft as its sous chef. One year later, he assumed the chef de cuisine position at Craftbar, where he was later promoted to executive chef.

Currently serving as executive chef at The EU, Akhtar focuses on simple, thoughtful dishes that approach seasonal ingredients with a Mediterranean sensibility.

Interview
Interview:
Tejal Rao: How did you get into cooking?
Akhtar Nawab: I went to a liberal arts college for a year, but I wasn’t particularly motivated or excited about it so when I was 19, I moved back to my hometown in Kentucky and took a job at a restaurant as a bus boy and dishwasher. When a job opened in the pantry I worked there for a while. It was a meaningful experience – I think I craved the discipline because I was so rambunctious.

TR: A lot of cooks envy chefs like you, who started really young.
AN: It did give me a head start. I was exposed to the industry at a young age because of that job, which was really a matter of luck. After being there for four years, I moved to San Francisco. I was 23 when I enrolled at California Culinary Academy.

TR: How was that, after you’d already worked in a restaurant?
AN: It wasn’t really worth it in the long-run, but I met some really great people who helped me get good positions.

TR: Your first job out of culinary school was at Bizou, how was that
AN: Loretta (Keller) is one of the best cooks I have ever met. I learned integrity and the importance of good ingredients when I worked with her; she’s a really important mentor for me.

TR: Thoughts on culinary schools?
AN: I don’t really recommend them; I think schools are meaningless. People who can afford them often don’t even follow through with their careers once they graduate. I care so much more about recognizable references when hiring someone. As long as you’re here everyday and do your best, I don’t care about whether or not you had formal training.

TR: What about stages – where have you staged?
AN: Jardiniere and Charlie Trotter.

TR: What are some of your favorite underappreciated ingredients?
AN: Dandelion greens, puntarelle, and radicchio – bitter greens are so versatile. Really good butter is important too.

TR: What are a few of you favorite flavor combinations?
AN: Asparagus and morels; pickled cherries and Schezwan peppers; cêpes and Marcona almonds.

TR: What’s your most indispensable tool?
AN: Cake tester to test the doneness of everything and a Winston CVAP. I worked with Howard Richardson [corporate chef at Winston Industries] at my very first job in Kentucky.

TR: What is your favorite question to ask during an interview for a potential new line cook?
AN: I ask if they will be here everyday and do their best.

TR: What tips would you offer young chefs just getting started?
AN: I am dissatisfied with the quality of cooks out there right now because I feel the necessary dedication is lacking. You have to carefully consider whether or not this is the career that you really want. You have to go into it fully aware of the kind of commitment it requires.

TR: What are your favorite cookbooks?
AN: Grand Livre de Cuisine by Alain Ducasse and Essential Cuisine by Michel Bras.

TR: What languages do you speak?
AN: Spanish

TR: Where do you like to go for culinary travel? Why?
AN: I’d like to go to India. As I get older, I find their food more and more exciting. The regional cuisines are different in very subtle ways. They take a lot of care in their flavoring and execution.

TR: What are your favorite restaurants off-the-beaten-path in New York? What are your favorite dishes there?
AN: Mary’s Fish Camp on Charles and West 4th. They make New England style seafood that is really well seasoned. Their salt and pepper fried shrimp is great. I also love Oriental Garden on Elizabeth and Canal and Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches on 2nd street and avenue B for, well, Vietnamese sandwiches – we just had them for family meal today.

TR: What is your philosophy on food and dining?
AN: I have a reputation for being an absolutist, but really I come from a school of very thoughtful cooking. Simple is the most misused culinary term these days. Everyone gets their ingredients from the greenmarket, everyone is committed to the products – the question is, what do you do with it?

TR: Which person in history would you most like to share a meal with?
AN: I play bass guitar, and Giddy Lee, the bass guitarist from Rush, is my hero. I’d like to share a meal with him.

TR: What about stages – where have you staged?
AN: I play bass guitar, and Giddy Lee, the bass guitarist from Rush, is my hero. I’d like to share a meal with him.

TR: If you weren’t a chef what do you think you’d be doing?
AN: I’d be a musician.

TR: What would you call your band?
AN: Violet Mustard, not that I’ve given this any thought.

TR: What do you see yourself doing in 10 years?
AN: I want to be involved in a few projects outside of the restaurant industry, but still cooking. I’d never want to be so successful in other areas that it took me away from cooking. Making food and giving people a good experience, that’s what makes me happy.

The EU
235 E 4th St.
New York, NY 10009
(212) 254-2900

Chef Akhtar Nawab
The EU | New York

Pickled Tongue Torchon with Porcinis and Marcona Almonds
Chef Akhtar Nawab of The EU – New York, NY
Adapted by StarChefs.com

Yields: 6 Servings

Ingredients:

Brine:
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
½ cup salt
5 cloves garlic
4 large shallots, thinly shaved
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1 teaspoon fennel pollen
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon star anise
1 small bunch thyme

Torchon:
1 calf tongue
1 cup water
7 sheets gelatin, bloomed in ice water

To Assemble and Serve:
2 firm cepes
10 Marcona almonds
4 sprigs mache
¼ bunch chervil, pickled
3 teaspoons Banyuls vinegar
8 Tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt
Cracked pepper
Method:
For the Brine:
Combine the sugar, water, salt, garlic, and shallots in a small sauce pot and bring to a boil. Toast the coriander, fennel pollen, fennel seed, mustard seed, and star anise until aromatic. Add to the sugar and water mixture. Bring to a boil and add the thyme.

For the Torchon:
Place the tongue in a braising pan. Pour the brine over the tongue and store in the cooler for 2 days. Take the tongue out of the brine and place in another braising pan. Dilute the brine with an additional 1 cup of water. Pour over the tongue and cover with foil. Braise in a CVap oven for 10 hours at 200?F. When tender to the touch, remove the tongue and leave to cool. Strain the braising liquid twice through a chinois and then through a chinois lined with a muslin. Melt the gelatin in the cleaned braising liquid and stir to combine. Roughly dice the cooked tongue. After the braising liquid is cool, add the diced tongue and leave to cool. When half-set, spoon half of the contents onto a sheet of plastic. Roll the plastic over itself into a log shape about 20 times. Using a cake tester, prick the torchon multiple times to remove any air pockets. Leave to set in a fridge for about 30 minutes. Remove the torchon from the fridge and roll again in plastic to secure the shape. Leave to set for 1 day, resting on a layer of kosher salt.

To Assemble and Serve:
Shave cepes on a mandoline. Roughly chop the Marcona almonds. Dress the Marcona almonds, cepes, mache, and chervil in a bowl with the Banyuls vineagr and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Slice the torchon into slices of about half-inch thickness and place in the center of the plate. Add the cepes and almond salad to the torchon. Finish with the olive oil.

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