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Questions for Chef Rucker:

1)      Why Miller High Life?

2)      Why the love of foie gras?  Don’t get me wrong, I love fat and in foie format (dear lord, that rhymed!), but why foie? For NYC-based foie loving try to check out:

a)      David Burke & Donatella’s PB&J: which a grilled brioche sandwich filled with seared foie gras, macadamia nut spread and strawberry vanilla jam—served with a little salad, making Chef Burke a man after this fat & veggie lover’s heart.

b)      WD-50 Chef Wylie Dufresne’s version with mole lentils and quince yogurt, that damn lentil/caviar/bubble making machine used to make the faux lentils is just so darn cool.

c)      WD-50 offspring, Sam Mason’s Tailor, makes an intriguing foie gras dish with peanut butter, cocoa and pear, albeit a little less tasty than Chef Dufresne’s version.

d)      For a less glamorous and less foie, more pâté de foie gras, try Nicky’s Classic Vietnamese Sandwich, which comes in sandwich format on a toasted mini-baguette and along with the pâté comes marbled Vietnamese ham, ground pork, sweet and sour pickled shredded carrots, cucumber, cilantro and mayonnaise.  (An aside: this little bit prompted me to finally do some research on the differences between foie gras, pâté and terrines.  I *think* I get it.)

e)      Per Se.  Whether it’s in the manipulated terrine format or simply sautéed, Thomas Keller’s (*sigh* his food is dreamy) foie gras is fantastic.  The price tag is not so wallet friendly, so unfriendly I feel fortunate to have tasted it’s wonder once.

f)        For a less costly indulgence, both Bouchon and Bouchon Bakery on the third floor of the Time Warner Center carry Thomas Keller’s Terrine de Foie Gras de Canard, served with a toasted baguette.

g)      Finally, Masa.  I have not eaten at Masa and I’m not entirely sure it’s on my list of must-eat meals, but the shabu-shabu foie gras Chef Masa Takayama gently dips in kombu-dashi sounds pretty amazing…seaweed stock and foie, yum.

3)      This question should be called 2b, because it builds off of the foie gras question, but I think it deserves it’s own number.

a)      What inspired the foie gras ice cream filled profiteroles (AKA: cream puffs, filled choux pastries)?

b)      Why foie gras based/flavored ice cream? (I’m drooling thinking about the delightfully tasty creation.)

c)      I have no right to add my thoughts on an adaptation to the already amazing dessert, but I’m going to share my fantasy St. Honoré cake (a traditional French cake made with cream puffs). My mouth dreams of a St. Honoré Cake made with Le Pigeon’s foie gras ice cream filled profiteroles, the same sea salt and caramel-but maybe a nutty caramel and instead of the traditional pâte brisée crust, using a dense, not too sweet, but flavorful chocolate crust. Sorry, I’ll stop now, besides I should wipe up the pool of drool on my keyboard.

4)      Another dessert question. The cornbread dessert reminds my tastebuds of breakfast, but I wonder what inspired the combination of these flavors and how it all came together into one dessert.

a)      When testing the cornbread recipe was there originally dried apricots in it? If not, then how did the addition of the dried apricots come about? Again, I’m no expert and everyone’s pallete is different, but I think the apricots are wonderful, the tartness balances out the sweetness of the maple ice cream.

b)      The ice cream flavor is called maple, so I’ll admit my ignorace and ask: does that mean the ice cream is flavored with maple syrup? Also, the descrition says there is honey in the dessert, but is there any maple syrup in the dish? Maybe cooked with the bacon? Mmm, I’m getting a hankering for cornbread just thinking about it.

c)      Is the cornbread dessert the most popular dessert? If not, what is? Maybe the cream puffs, er…sorry, the profiteroles. Sorry, I have to tease a restaurant that offers both Miller High Life and profiteroles, it’s charmingly honest.

5)      What started the use of unconventional ingredients to create accessible dishes?

a)       Le Pigeon’s Bone Marrow Gnocchi is a great example of the acessibility of the flavors, despite an unusual ingredient. Everyone loves gnocchi, but the addition of bone marrow adds intrigue-not an, “eww,” factor. So, I’m curious how the use of an ingredient like marrow came about. My guess is that most diners would shy away from dishes including those ingredients, but this doesn’t seem to be the case at Le Pigeon. When creating a new dish, does is the adventerousness of diners factor into the ingredients used?

b)      How did you come up with the idea to incorporate bone marrow into a gnocchi dish? Is marrow used for it’s flavor?

c)      Even though I want to, I won’t bring up foie again. Instead I will continue to ask about the use of marrow and blood in dishes. I hope I’m not stepping on Sarah’s toes by talking about her experience… One Saturday in September (the 29th, but who’s keeping track?) Sarah made her way to the William-Sonoma store at Washington Square Mall in Tigard, Oregon where Chef Rucker was doing a cooking demonstration and created Blood Noodles and Squash Sausage. I was not there, but from what Sarah texted me before, during and after the demonstration, I got the impression the dish was very good. How did you first come to use blood and marrow in your food? The two examples I’ve seen of your creations are in pasta format, is that because it is the best way to incorporate them? (An aside: I’m suddenly reminded of a Korean dish called soondae *순대* or pig’s blood sausage. I loved it as a kid, until at age six I discovered it was made of blood and was turned off the idea of eating blood. I’ve evidently gotten over that. Ooh, I found an interesting blog in the process of looking for a photo of soondae.)

d)      Has there ever been a flavor combination that just didn’t work? Would you mind sharing an example?

3)   My last question, well at least for this dinner at Le Pigeon. Wow, look at me getting demanding! I saw the people seated next to Sarah and I enjoying the Strawberry Mountain Farms Burger.

a)   The menu seems to always include the burger as an entree, which makes me think there must be a reason to include a burger on Le Pigeon’s small, constantly changing menu. What inspired you to put a burger on the menu? If the burger is always on the menu, I’m plesantly surprised to see a standard entree being offered and am truly tempted to order it next time I eat at Le Pigeon, but the trouble with sticking to a decision like that is the changing menu will never allow me to run out of new things to try.

b)   I feel a little silly asking questions that could easily be answered by simply ordering the burger, but I will: What is on the burger? Do the toppings ever change? Do the preparation of the potatoes and salad change? Do you let diners select the way they’d like the beef cooked? If yes, then how well done do you like the meat? Are there any options diners have when ordering the burger? Is it a brioche bun or something else?  Is the bun made in-house?

If my mind had been a little clearer, these are the questions I would have asked. However, with or without talking to Gabriel Rucker, it was a great meal and Le Pigeon delivers interesting and tasty food.

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