Finally- Tis True Nordo Is Coming to Seattle

I can hardly believe my eyes. It has actually come true. Check this out.

August 15, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Erin Brindley And Terry Podgorski of Circus Contraption have left the Circus behind in order to give Seattle what it deserves: an infamous, notoriously antisocial, part-genius, part-sociopath, questionably-sentient culinary pioneer and conveyer of dangerously delicious food, Chef Nordo Lefesczki.

Nordo Lefesczki, Carnal food movement founder and Executive Chef of the roving experimental restaurant Café Nordo, makes his Seattle debut with “The Modern American Chicken”, a five course pre-fixe culinary experience. This October, Nordo’s team will create an intimate temporary restaurant in Fremont at the warehouse of Theo Chocolate, where for only seventeen evenings diners will experience this culinary rebellion. The menu bears witness to the life and death of a chicken, from the sweetly ignorant Country Egg on a Field of Wild Greens to the Beyond-it-all, Heaven or Hell Roasted Chicken, crispy-skinned and fiery with habanero cherries.

Your dining experience will be enhanced by musical and theatrical evocations of our Chicken’s time on earth, but please, do not refer to Café Nordo as Dinner Theater. Chef has been known to shut down entire restaurants at the mere whisper of such a term. Believe us—you will want to finish your meal.

Before inquiring after a vegetarian option, please consider two things: Our chicken is a vegetable, if she is what she eats, and Chef Nordo carries a large knife. Dietary restrictions? Certainly you have a shrink who will care. Nordo Lefesczki is a man of vision, not compromise. We will promise you that the meal will rely almost exclusively on the bountiful Northwest fall, and Nordo is intensely passionate about local, sustainable, and seasonal food. Cheat on your tofu; our chicken will convert you.

With only one seating per night, and only seventeen nights, tickets will sell out quickly. Act fast to experience this completely original food event.

"The much clamored-for ticket to the pre-fixed wonderment that is Cafe Nordo administered a fierce dose of culinary comeuppance to the stuffier of Houston's foodies." - The Cypress Times-Gazette

"Like a house of mirrors, Chef Nordo Lefesczki simultaneously laughs at and outdoes his peers with the sheer audacity of his food, his wacka-doodle-drank-the-kool-aid servers, and his ability to transport his patrons out of their comfort zones and into his strange and original mind. A chicken will never again just be a chicken." - Dover Journal

"Chez Panisse meets Medieval Times. On Acid." - Black Valley Post

"A complete farce...(with) ridiculous arrogance permeating from all levels of the establishment. The fact that the food was outstanding does not make the insult worth it." - Salt Lake Intelligencer

Tickets are available, in advance, from Brown Paper Tickets and include five courses and include a wine flight.

The Modern American Chicken at Café Nordo

Produced by Ripple Productions, Pod Productions, and Theo Chocolate

October 15 – November 21 (No Seating October 31)

Thursday – Saturday

Arrive at 7:00 PM, first course served at 7:30

$85 includes five courses with a flight of wine

21+

Tickets available at www.brownpapertickets.com

For more information www.cafenordo.com

Or email ChefNordo@gmail.com

Microkitchen #2

A Guest Author is introduced for this blog. A guest from last night's Microkitchen. Welcome- Peachy.

(Conner note: One major change occurred in the menu. We redid the soup and created a liver dumpling akin to a grandmother's recipe. The dumpling will arrive dry, in a bowl, and the broth will sprinkle down from above like rain.)

Last night at Chez Erin.

There is a profound difference between a dinner party and fine dining. So, why am I experiencing the tingle of luxurious anticipation I associate with a 3 for 30 at Carmelita? Simple; Nordo is on the move.

Though it may come as a surprise to some, I once aspired to wear the white hat and apron. Upon graduating, I took a summer internship in San Francisco at Greens Restaurant under Nordo Lefeski. I quickly discovered my career passions lay outside the restaurant industry. Nevertheless, Chef Nordo's whimsical (at times demonic!) food philosophy and deft hand with the amuse bouche made a lasting impression on my senses. When he confided his plan to leave the industry for a “more ferocious” approach to dining I insisted he contact me, should he find himself in the Northwest.

Imagine my surprise to receive a facebook message from Nordo, just last Thursday, inviting me to be the guest for a dinner party he was throwing. “I'm forcing the kind people who live at 421 Harrison to let me dirty all of their dishes, and spread my word to a handful of interested parties”.

My interest lies in Nordo's latest plot: The Modern American Chicken. I can picture your reaction. Chicken? Nordo has done extensive work in regional cuisine, his recipes surrounding the “ghost chili” are testament. But Chicken? It's so...everywhere. However, since I was clearly in the presence of food genius (not to mention the intimidating bottles of wine resting nonchalantly on the windowsill of the Capitol Hill apartment) I did as Nordo always says. I went with it.

Highlights included the appearance of that famous chili in a Ranier cherry reduction, whispering arrival of “Henrietta”.When the dessert was brought out, two women at the other end of the table began laughing uncontrollably. That's something unique to dining in a person's home, a feeling that was enhanced by Nordo's decision to hang a white sheet between the kitchen area of the cozy one bedroom and the dinner table. “You must experience the intended presentation. Do feel free to ask questions.”

Though there was a master chef behind a curtain, most of our questions were answered by a laconic young man in a pastel purple shirt, who drank but did not eat, and poured the wine. Nordo is opening a limited run restaurant in October. Judge the meal, and spread the word.

From the first course to the fifth it be came abundantly clear that this was not so much a meal as a story. A poem about a chicken – that would soon be edited to perfection.

By the end of the evening my dinner companions had agreed – the only flaw was found in the third course - the soup was to be as light and fluffy as a baby chick caught in a rainstorm. Apparently fluffy canceled her reservation. I blame the worms! our chef howled from the kitchenette. The man in purple rolled his eyes mouthing the refrain of the evening.

“Just go with it.”

A Menu Our Way

The Menu for the 23^rd of July, 2009

The Modern American Chicken

We begin on a small farm, in a field of bright green grass with hints of scattered dandelions.

***

In a pine coop bathed by a ray of morning sunlight, Henrietta, our bird, stretches for the first time. She lays in a soft, ochre nest, enshrined in a speckled brown shell.

***

As Henrietta pecks at feed and chatters with the others, she discerns that some of her kind never leave the egg while others, like herself, are destined to become ripe, full birds. Friends come and go on the farm; none stay too long. Still, she has no idea of how millions of her kin live.

As a thunderstorm roars and the rain begins, laughter drifts through the farmhouse window as Henrietta scratches amongst the dirt and leaves.

***

It is a good life of feed and open spaces. There are no sawed- off beaks here or boxes of wire or chemical needles.

Still, nothing lasts forever and everything has its place. And so, one Friday morning, just before 6 am, Henrietta is removed from her coop and taken to the barn where, after a few swift maneuvers, she lays headless upon the butcher’s table. Her innards splay outward, a rich and red sauce.

***

Not wanting to waste one bit of such a lovely animal, even her giblets, are a display of beauty. They are gathered by the butcher and carefully set aside.

Thank you, Henrietta.

A Good Scolding for Our Times

Here, folks, are some wise words from the heartland of this country and author Garrison Keillor. He has been talking about this country for decades now and knows a thing or two about potato salad. Read this and remember the next time you walk into your local big box grocery store needing a quick something to fill at the potluck table just what food and family are all about.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/keillor/2009/07/01/potato_salad/index.html