Hailed as one of America’s best new chefs by Food and Wine magazine and by all accounts a culinary genius, Eric Ziebold brings to Washington a sense of excitement with his dazzling yet unpredictable gastronomic creations at his extraordinarily high-powered CityZen restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Perhaps you’ll sample lamb T-bones with grilled figs and baby shallots, or a dessert of peppermint marshmallows with a liquid ganache. Or maybe not, as Ziebold, the master craftsman and daring innovator, can’t leave well enough alone.
“I change the menu once a month or so,” says the boyishly charming Ziebold, an alumnus of the very exacting French Laundry restaurant kitchen and a disciple of the Laundry’s executive chef, Thomas Keller. “We’ve been here two years, and have not repeated a dish yet,” he says. This may disappoint patrons who long for his pan-roasted sweetbreads, but Ziebold admits he cooks special dishes for his regulars.
It’s his sense of adventure that sets Ziebold apart from many of his colleagues. He describes a recent trip to Japan and Thailand, where he sampled unusual fare and picked up both new cooking utensils and some cooking inspirations.
How about his truffle consommé foie gras shabu shabu? “This dish was inspired by my trip,” he says. “But I also get my inspirations from produce, conversations with staff and trinkets I pick up. I found many little items that aren’t sold here.”
And it’s the inclusion of his staff in brainstorming sessions that marks Ziebold as such an innovative chef.
“This pushes me to be one step ahead,” he says. By encouraging his staff to develop, great ideas evolve. Who knows, he asks, if in 10 years they may come up with a new variant on chocolate chip cookies? Right now, his sous chef makes a chocolate chip cookie dough soufflé that Ziebold says is “to die for,” adding, “We write recipes as we go.”
“The big thing is that people care enough,” he says. “That’s the culture you want to create, to encourage staff so they care about what they are doing all the time.”
This native Iowan, now in his mid-30s, has accumulated enough fame to make him a celebrity, but his modesty shows.
“For me, the focus is not the fame but doing something that I get excited about, though the accolades are great,” he says. But he adds that he wants the restaurant to be making an impact years from now, not only in its own right but because it is part of what’s going on in Washington.
In Ziebold’s own words
What is your comfort food? Anything with pork. A BLT is the best sandwich there is. Ripe tomatoes, bacon, mayonnaise … of course, there are many derivatives of this.
How do you define your style? I avoid overpowering flavors so that the final dish is refined with a clarity to it. A lot of people have commented on the intensity and clarity of flavors, yet that the dish is light. I do a lot of reduction sauces, and put two to three flavors on a pedestal, then accentuate them.
What are your must-have ingredients? Salt, sugar, vinegar and butter for me stylize our cooking.
What is your favorite cuisine? French, because with what I do, I understand it the best. Next is Japanese; its cuisine is so refined. In Japan, I visited a tempura bar, and that has affected my thought process.
Where do you eat out? Pho 75, Citronelle, Maestro, Bistro Bis bar. I like bistro food.
What are the elements of CityZen’s success? I think about how a guest is eating. Are they comfortable? … How does a guest leave? I want them to be emotionally satisfied and physically full. So when we make Parker House rolls and serve them with entrées … the rolls make it seem like a special occasion. They leave feeling as if they have had a treat. The beauty of freshly baked bread is a special touch.
Purée of path valley farms savoy cabbage soup with a lobster custard and fennel-lobster mushroom duxelles
Serves about 10
Cabbage Soup
2 oz. unsalted butter
8 oz. onion, sliced
2 oz. cubed potato
Salt to taste
1 3/4 lbs. cabbage leaves, cored and halved, outside leaves removed
1 qt. heavy cream
1 qt. whole milk
10 oz. green cabbage purée
Lobster Custard
8 oz. whole milk
8 oz. heavy cream
2 oz. reduced lobster stock, or other fish or shellfish stock
3 whole eggs
Salt and white pepper to taste
Duxelles
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
8 tbsp. minced fennel
8 tbsp. minced lobster mushrooms
Salt to taste
For the soup: Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat, and sweat the onion and potato; season with salt. Add the cabbage, season and cook gently until the leaves have softened. Add the cream and the milk, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 30 minutes. Strain the liquid, and reserve. In a high-speed blender, make a smooth purée from the onion, cabbage and potato. Thin the purée using the cabbage cooking liquid.
For the green cabbage purée: Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil, and add a pinch of sugar. Blanch the cabbage until tender. Shock the cabbage in an ice bath, drain well, and purée in a high speed blender until completely smooth. Pass the cabbage purée through a fine mesh strainer. Chill the purée.
For the lobster custard: Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Bring the milk, cream, and reduced Lobster Stock to a boil. Temper into the eggs. Season with salt and white pepper. Spray 2-inch-round custard molds with nonstick spray. Pour about 1/4 cup of the lobster custard appareil into each mold. Place the molds with the custard appareil into a baking dish. Pour hot water into the dish so that the water is even with the level of the custard. Wrap in plastic wrap.
Bake at 250 degrees until the custards are set, about 40 minutes. Keep warm until ready to serve.
For the duxelles: Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Sweat the fennel and lobster mushroom; season with salt.
To assemble: Bring the cabbage soup base to a simmer. Whisk in the green cabbage purée, and check the seasoning. In the bottom of a soup bowl gently unmold the lobster custard. Put a spoonful of the duxelles on top of each custard. Pour the soup around the custard. Serve hot.
