When elegant desserts meet Italian cuisine, the result is meals at Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca, one of the city’s busiest Italian eateries. And for the sweet conclusions, you can thank the restaurant’s new pastry chef, Jemil Gadea.
Young and enthusiastic, this Miami native grew up in Michigan, where he launched his eventual culinary career by working in a local restaurant, first as a dishwasher, then a line cook, and finally to the pastry side of the kitchen. Still somewhat undecided about his future, Gadea enrolled in a local community college for its culinary arts program. “I worked during culinary school,” said Gadea. “It was in a local bakery. I liked the work, but did not really love it.”
Gadea went on to extern one summer in the kitchens of Disney World and in its management program. While there, he worked in the kitchens of the Contemporary Resort. “It was very fast-paced,” he explained, adding that he started on the savory side of the kitchen, but eventually went over to the bakery. “As a beginner there,” he said, “I baked cookies, like Rice Krispies treats. I did thousands of trays of them.” Later, he worked as a pastry chef for Wolfgang Puck in his Epcot Center restaurant, Cafe.
| If you go |
| Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca |
| » Where: 1100 New York Ave. NW |
| » Info: 202-216-9550; bibianadc.com |
| » Hours: Lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to Friday; all-day menu, 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday; dinner, 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday to Wednesday, 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday to Saturday; late-night menu, 11 p.m. to midnight Friday to Saturday; closed Sunday |
After working in Florida for a year, Gadea had irrevocably decided to become a pastry chef, and had intended to return to Michigan for work. Instead, he moved to Las Vegas, where he worked for the next 14 years at places such as Spago and at Napa Restaurant in the Rio Hotel and Casino. “Paladin needed a pastry chef,” he said, “and it blew my mind away … He opened my world to flavors I never knew existed, such as kumquats, huckleberries, kalamansi.”
Gadea’s next Las Vegas job took him to the pastry kitchens of Picasso at the Bellagio Resort Hotel. During his time, the restaurant received an extraordinary total of 11 AAA Five Diamond Awards.
Now baking at Bibiana, Gadea finds this new job in an Italian restaurant very different. “All other chefs I worked for had had French training,” he said. While the pace surely differs, maybe Gadea is tapping into his inner child, remembering how he once cooked for his family. “My mom worked,” he said, “so at dinner time I got to cook … and once I was making something, I liked seeing their [family’s] reaction. It makes you feel really good to see someone happy.”
Indeed, one of his primo desserts is reminiscent of a dessert he used to make when a youngster: a carrot cake. “Now I make a beet gelato, which is sweet like a carrot cake,” he explained. “Then I make a carrot tuile with a ricotta custard topped with a pineapple sauce, because pineapples are always in a carrot cake.” Ah, the memories of childhood.
Q&A
What is your comfort food?
Mac and cheese, spinach pie (spanikopita — my mom made this when I was a kid), and good Mexican food.
What is your favorite cuisine?
I love these, and if I could eat these everyday, it would be Greek, Indian, Mexican and Italian. For fine dining, French. Casual dining, it would be Asia. I love ramen noodles.
What’s in your fridge?
I am never home, so only beer and orange juice.
What is your basic, essential ingredient?
Chocolate, flat out. I love chocolate, Then vanilla, teas, coffees, herbs and wine. Also hibiscus is one of my favorites.
Which is your favorite cookbook?
Alain Ducasse’s “Grand Livre de Cuisin;” Michel Bras’ “Essential Cuisine;” Michel Roux’s “Desserts,” because he is a great chef, and the books helps for brushing up on classic techniques.
Recipe
Ricotta Gelato
Makes 1 pint
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsps ricotta
6 Tbsps plain yogurt
4 Tbsps cream
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsps heavy cream
seeds from 1 vanilla bean
Pinch salt
Combine all ingredients in the container of a blender, and process on high for 1 minute. Strain out any of the vanilla fibers that may remain. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.
