Dos Brisas

We don't do very many 2nd party posts but we thought this was notable. A friend of mine, Mike Hizney, ate at Dos Brisas and shot these pictures. Thanks Mike.


Here's a little backround on Dos Brisas:
Jason Robinson, executive chef at The Inn at Dos Brisas, was raised in Southern California, where he was exposed to a style of cooking that fused unique Asian culture and traditional American influences to create a flavorful masterpiece.

From early on, Robinson knew he enjoyed creating food to please his friends and family. Taking advice from his father, Robinson decided to make sure he would like working in a professional kitchen and applied for the job as a prep cook at Fog City Diner, Las Vegas, where his sister was a hostess. Robinson didn't just like it, he loved it and his professional career was born.

After two years in Las Vegas, Robinson moved to Chicago to assist with the opening of Fog City Diner in the Windy City. Four years later, Robinson began a serious culinary study under the tutelage of star chef, Rick Tramanto at Tru in Chicago.

After 5 years of working at Tru, to which he eventually became the chef de cuisine, Robinson's cooking evolved to the point that he became chef at Goodfellows in Minneapolis in the summer of 2004. He stayed at this world-class restaurant until it closed its doors after nearly two decades of service.


Dos Brisas Herbs & Truffle Sunburst Garden Tomato, Mascarpone


Ahi Tuna Sashimi, Garden Cucumber, Ginger Tobiko Housemade Chile Oil, Ponzu Drizzle


Grilled Fresh Sardines, Tiny Tomato & Watercress Salad, Parmesan, Olive Dressing


Seared Cage Free Hudson Valley Foie Gras, Organic Peaches, Berry Gastrique


DOS Brisas Organic White Tomato Soup


Roasted Scallop, Organic Spinach Puree & Fried Ipswich Clam, Lemon Essence


Texas Wagyu Beef Filet, Garden Bush Beans, Caramelized DOS Brisas Onions, Beef Jus


Dos Brisas Housemade Pyramid Aged Goat Cheese, Garden Figs, Vanilla Syrup


Dos Brisas Organic Carrot Cake, Roasted Carrot Ice Cream, Carrot Reduction


Chocolates


Coffee Service

Comfort Texas, 1976

First Annual Comfort Texas Chili Extravaganza



I’ve worked with a cast of characters throughout my career and the list just keeps growing. There’s no shortage of characters in the kitchen. Everyone has a very unique story and path that led them to cook for a living.

I could write a whole book on the interesting, talented, passionate and sometimes crazy people I’ve had the pleasure of working with, but one person really sticks out, and that would be Chef Larry Bowen.

Larry and I worked together for several years in the 1980’s. He was trained in the disciplines of classic French cuisine and had adapted it into his own style of cooking. It was early in my career and I was a sponge, just soaking up information. He provided me with some of the greatest learning opportunities I’ve ever had.

When you work side by side with someone you really get to know their background. Most people in the kitchen are tremendous storytellers. I mean, when you have 10 hours of prep work to do in a blazing hot kitchen it helps take your mind off the physical part of the job, you find ways to block it out.

I could tell you some crazy stories we shared, such as how he bought a live suckling pig on St. Patrick’s Day and then proceeded to dye it green so he could take it bar hopping with him….Hint - everyone buys you drinks if you have a green pig on St. Pat’s Day.

Of course, there’s the story about the 100 year old stuffed cat that he bought in an antique store for $500.00. It was formerly part of some sort of religious shrine. This cat truly had nine lives….no time to dive into this story, maybe later.

The list goes on, cooks falling out of second story windows, practical techniques on how to make a car fly, how we discovered you could cool yourself down by funneling clam juice through a box fan, etc. These are the times of self discovery.

Creative people have some pretty crazy ideas and some of those ideas actually get executed, like this cooking escapade in Comfort Texas, 1976.

My buddy decides to hold the First Annual Comfort Texas Chili Extravaganza. It starts with making the world’s largest pot of chili, but it didn’t end there, from great minds come great ideas on what to do with that much chili. Larry set up a 150 foot long “Chili Slip-n-Slide” and then arranged for parachutists to attempt to land in wash tubs of chili.

Here’s a Q&A session with Larry about this historic and inaugural event:

Q – “Larry, is that your car in the background of the picture?”

A – “No that was not my car. I had a brand new beat up 1975 orange Dodge pickup truck with no tailgate, and more whiskey dents than I care to remember. I also had a CB radio in order to impersonate rednecks while on the road, for amusement purposes. My handle was the crawdad king. "This here is the crawdad king good buddy, what's your 10-20?"

Q – “How in the world do you cook that much chili and where did the heat come from?”

A – “Wood fire my friend and we stirred it with garden hoes. Chili hoers, if you will. I stayed up all night and made sure we had enough to spread all the way down the 150 ft slip and slide the next day. The pot was a 2,000 gallon trough rented from San Antonio Iron Works; I broke the Guinness record for about 3 months”

Q – “Why would anyone slide through 150 ft. of chili?”

A – “The prize for fastest time going down the slip 'n slide was a case of Pearl beer if I recall. Those were the days Danno. Yes sireee. Good times. They are still having that annual cookoff in Comfort. Mine was #1”.

Q – “Tell me about the picture, and who is the lady standing next to you?”

A – “That is me on my 11 acre ranch cooking the World's Largest Pot of Chili. Ya think I might have had a few beers coming up with this activity... That was my mom helping me stir for the photo op who flew in from California to see me; she broke down in tears after a time as I think the Mariachis, the Parachutists trying to land in a #3 washtub of chili from 7,500 feet, the 150 ft Chili Slip and Slide, the World record Cow chip throwers, Hondo Crouch of Luckenbach fame and about 5,000 drunk revelers took her over the edge. What has become of this child of mine I am sure she thought. And that is the way it was. A legend in my own mind.”

BLT Steak

The sensory thrills of fine cuisine have long compelled Executive Chef Laurent Tourondel. After graduating from the four year program at Saint Vincent Ecole de Cuisine, where he earned a “d’Aptitude Professionnelle de Cuisinier,” the talented French cooked his way through some of the world’s most esteemed kitchens.

At Cello, the elegant townhouse on the Upper East Side, he amassed a series of stellar accolades, which propelled him into the public eye. When the restaurant closed its doors, Tourondel continued to create – penning a cookbook, Go Fish, and opening BLT Steak in 2004. The modern American Steakhouse garnered so much praise that he was bound to expand. Expand he did, creating BLT Fish, BLT Prime, BLT Burger, BLT Steak in Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, and the nascent BLT Market at The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park.

With the passion of a French-trained chef and the style of a cosmopolitan restaurateur, Tourondel’s BLT restaurants continue to make their mark on the restaurant scene.

Amuse bouche – Liver terrine


Amuse bouche – “cheese bread”


Amuse bouche – “charcuterie”


Bread service – gruyere cheese popovers with homemade butter and sea salt



Crab cake with celery mayonnaise


Wagyu beef carpaccio


Grilled double cut bacon


Jumbo lump crab cocktail


Tuna tartar, avocado, soy-lime dressing



Roasted beets, gorgonzola and apples


Braised Short Ribs


Lemon-Rosemary Chicken


Prime Bone-In Rib Eye 22 oz


Potato gratin


Leek Hash Brown


Creamed spinach


Mac-n-cheese


Roasted tomatoes


Hen of the woods mushrooms


Mashed potatoes


Onion rings


Peanut Butter Chocolate Mousse, Banana Ice Cream


Crepe soufflé, passion fruit sauce


Chocolate cookies


Strawberry sundae layered with baked meringue

Stephan Pyles

Stephan Pyles, a fifth generation Texan and a pioneer of New American Cuisine, has created 14 restaurants over the past 24 years. A founding father of Southwestern Cuisine, he was the first Texan inducted into The James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America and Bon Appétit has credited him with "almost single-handedly changing the cooking scene in Texas". The New York Times has called Pyles "an absolute genius in the kitchen". In 2006, Esquire named Pyles "Chef of the Year" and included his newest restaurant, Stephan Pyles, in their list of "Best New Restaurants". Texas Monthly named Pyles one of the "twenty most impressive, intriguing, and influential Texans for 1998" and in their February 2007 issue named his restaurant, Stephan Pyles, "Best New Restaurant of 2006".

Iced Gazpachos
* Amarillo with Golden Tomatoes and Saffron
* Blanco with Almond and Frozen Grapes
* Rojo with Smoked Tomatoes and Beets
* Verde with Tomatillos and Honeydews


Ceviches
* Honduran Tuna with Coconut and Ginger.
* Sea Scallops Amarillo with Golden Tomatoes and Aji Mirasol.
* Bronzini with Fennel and Vanilla.


Fried Calamari with Broad Bean Tacu Tacu with Blood Orange Aioli


Banana Empanada with Cardamom Scented Spit Roasted Suckling Pig


Tamale Tart with Roast Garlic Custard, Peekytoe Crab and Smoked Tomato Sauce.

A tamale-like tart shell made from masa harina, ancho chiles, shortening and red bell pepper puree is steamed with a custard made from roast garlic, cream and eggs. The tart is topped with sautéed gulf coast crabmeat, red and yellow bell peppers, cilantro and basil.


Stephan's Original Southwestern Caesar Salad with Jalapeno Croutons and Parmigiano Reggiano "Chicharron"

Traditional Caesar salad dressing (invented by Caesar Cardini, an Italian in Mexico in the 1920s) of olive oil, lemon, vinegar, mustard, anchovies and eggs is expanded to include tamarind, chile powder and chipotles puree. The salad is served with fried jalapeno polenta croutons and a crisp parmesan cup.


Barbecued Beef Short Rib with Tamal Criollo and Dried Cherry Salsita


Beef Tenderloin with Sweet Potato Chilaquiles and Pineapple Mole



Sea Bass with Fingerling-Goat Cheese Tart and Smoked Tomato-Saffron Broth


"Coffee and Doughnuts"



Stephan's Heaven and Hell Cake™