Talk about a hot ticket! Team Betty covers the SOLD OUT second annual Food & Wine Festival Palm Desert and grabs interviews with chefs Bradley Ogden, Deborah Scott and Roy Yamaguchi. Watch the Food & Wine Festival Palm Desert Video to find out who Bradley Ogden would let cook for him, why Deborah Scott doesn’t think running a restaurant is hard work and Roy Yamaguchi’s challenge to me!
BRADLEY OGDEN
With a warm smile and jovial laugh, Chef Bradley Ogden and I talk everything from wind farming to midnight snacking.
Ogden’s great sense of humor is matched by his genuine concern for farmers, “I’m really glad we have these farmers and it’s really important that we as chefs maintain this friendship with farmers because they’re so enthralled with how their ingredients are used in our kitchens… Green is what I was doing 30 years ago. You know, I cooked on a farm. I picked. We did our own mulching, so I understand the whole process. Never once would I want to be a farmer. Trust me. They work way too hard. Even harder than a chef.”
Bradley Ogden’s much anticipated second cookbook, Holiday Dinners, is due out in late September 2011.
GET BRADLEY OGDEN’S RECIPE
Get the recipe for Bradley Ogden’s Maytag Blue Cheese Souffle here.
DEBORAH SCOTT
Talking with Deborah Scott is like bumping in to a close friend you haven’t seen in years. With new restaurants opening all over Southern California and a fleet of food trucks rolling the streets, it will probably come as no surprise that Scott’s inspiration comes from within, “Every time I’ve tried to create a dish by emulating someone else, it never works out. There has to be something that hits a spark with me or that comes to me one way or another.”
Chef Deborah also says she “blames her love of spicy food on her creative mind,” so I had to know what else she blames on her creative mind. “Ooo. I guess some of the trouble I get into in the restaurants. I’m a bit of a jokester and I like to create my own fun and sometimes it is at the expense of my coworkers… But I think they get my humor and you know, when you’re in a kitchen it can’t be all seriousness, it has to be fun, too. So I try to create that fun for myself.”
Although she’s busier than ever, Deborah Scott could never be described as ‘all work and no play.’
ROY YAMAGUCHI
This is Roy Yamaguchi’s second appearance at the Food & Wine Festival Palm Desert, also in it’s second year. Proceeds for the event benefit both the Culinary Institute of America and James Beard Foundation. Yamaguchi explains, “It’s all for a good cause, too. The Culinary Institute of America is a world class school, which if I may say, I am a graduate and also on the Board of Trustees. It’s a great school, with a lot of great graduates, and we’re fighting hard to make sure that the quality of education keeps on rising. And the James Beard Foundation, of course, there are a lot of chefs who participate in their yearly events so [the Food & Wine Festival Palm Desert] is great for everybody.”
Roy Yamaguchi’s new restaurant The Tavern, on the North Shore of Kauai in Princeville, is a bit of a departure from Roy’s trademark Asian Fusion cuisine, “Instead of having another Roy’s, what I really wanted to do is showcase some farming. I have some land right behind the restaurant where we grow about 53 different items for our menu. We go there and harvest our veggies and herbs and then we create a menu which is more of a comforting take to what I do. I love fried chicken and swiss chard with some mashed potatoes.”
Chef Yamaguchi’s Pork Belly is the best I have ever tasted. I can only imagine what he does with fried chicken. Follow @RoysRoy on Twitter and help Team Betty get to the Hawaii Food & Wine Festival! Watch the video to see Chef Yamaguchi issue the challenge.
GET THE RECIPE!
Get the recipe for Roy Yamaguchi’s Sous Vide Pork Belly with Ravioli in Paprika Sauce here.
SNAPSHOTS
Hungry for more? Check out all of the delicious photos from the second annual Food & Wine Festival Palm Desert here.
Sara – I enjoyed watching your video of the Palm Desert Food and Wine Festival, as much as I enjoyed talking and meeting you at Camp Blogaway. Hope to see you again soon.
Fantastic video! Great food, great chefs and great production value. I can’t wait to see more.
Thanks for your restaurant suggestions. I’ll be in LA this Thursday and Friday and look forward to trying them out. You’re welcome on the watermelon… I hope you win the contest!
Thank you, Patricia! It was wonderful meeting you!
Thank you, Sandy! Please get in touch if you need any more restaurant recs! Safe travels :)