Crab Cakes | Talking With Tami

‘crab cakes’

Cooking it up with Chef Marcus Samuelsson

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Yesterday evening we were off to see a cooking demo at Macy’s at North Point Mall. Chef Marcus Samuelsson was the cook who prepared some good cuisines. You may remember him from winning Top Chef on the reality show on Bravo.

He told the audience that he was from Sweden/Ethiopia. He has traveled the world with his different recipes and combining all sorts of ethnic food together. Pia and I sat in the 2nd row back and we could smell all the different aromas.

I took a lot of good notes on how to prepare fishes and seafoods. Marcus said in his country they ate a lot of fish. He began to cook salmon and asked who didn’t cook fish that much. I raised my hand and he invited me on stage!

He also invited another lady up as well. He then prepared the fish but to me it didn’t look cooked enough and he assured me that it was done. I still wasn’t buying it and hate to eat raw foods or anything that looks weird lol.

Salmon and Corn Pancakes

Marcus said, “Tami it’s seared”, I said, “I saw you do that but it still looks mooshy” lol. The crowd was laughing at me as I hopped up and down because I was so scared to try it lol.

Crab Cakes with Corn

Fried Chicken with Collard Greens

He put it back in the pan and then gave it to me to try. It was good but I was terrified. Then he wanted us to try fish skin. I just smiled but was thinking, what did I get myself into. Once it was ready to eat he put a lil sauce on it and it was bon appetite lol. It wasn’t too bad and reminded me of pork rinds lol.

James Andrews and I

Black Tie Barbecue owners, Spencer and Allison

He prepared several meals like Fried chicken and collard greens, Crab Cakes with Corn and Pistachio Aioli, and Corn Pancakes with Chili-Covered Gavlax. All his dishes were very tasty especially his version of fried chicken,sooo good!

Our Macy’s goody bags items,cute

Chef Marcus and I

Chef Marcus converse kicks lol

Right now he is touring and has a restaurant in NYC where he also lives. He has a new book out too called, “New American Table“. He has such a great personality and I hope his career goes very well. Enjoy the pics and Happy Friday! Shout out to Macy’s for the invite!

www.marcussamuelsson.com

Tags: author, black tie barbecue, bravo reality stars, chef marcus samuelsson, corn pancakes, crab cakes, culinary arts, ethiopian chefs, food activist, foodies, fried chicken and collard greens, macy's culinary council, macys, new american table, restaurateur, sweden chefs, swedish recipes, top chef
Posted in Pink Carpet Access! | 2 Comments »

Fuse

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

You know I love good eats, and in the Castleberry Hills district of Atlanta there is a great restaurant/lounge spot that you have to try. I was invited out to a media night to try this new place called, Fuse. I loved the name, so I knew early on I was in for a treat.

My girlfriend Jayda Cabbell and I got there and they were having cocktails and appetizers. I loved the Smoked Salmon, Chicken Salad and Lobster Tails, good stuff. Even though I don’t really drink, I had a Black Strawberry Lemonade that made me feel Pinktastic throughout the rest of the night, tee hee! Jayda had a Besa Del Dia White, she said it was quite tasty!

Radio producer at V103, Nina Brown was the host for the evening, along with the owner Damien Gordon.

I asked Damien when did he open his doors and he said Sept 2009. Previously he had another bar called, the M-Bar. This time around he wanted something a lil more grown and sexy. He said his clientele has grown up so he had to change with the times and pay attention to the tone of customer base. He also told me he was one of the first black owners to have a lounge in Atlanta.

Nina Brown and Damien Gordon

Damien said he is known for his signature drinks which are the sangrias and other speciality drinks like, Kiss of Day, Heat of the Night, and Black Out. As far as food he is known for his Crab Cakes. He says she shuts it down, and nobody in town makes them like he does. He then went on to tell me he likes to cook with liquor, and one of the dishes we were going to try,had a splash of Hennesy in it.

All the guest then proceeded to enter the rear of the lounge where there was a quiet area to dine. The decor was fabulous and he told us he also is very good at interior design because he is a builder too. Nothing like a hard working man, wow! Everyone really liked the room and it was also equipped with another bar. This place would be great for private affairs or corporate events. This was a great idea in planning the layout.

As we sat down at the tables, the entrees started to come out. We got to sample different things on the menu. The spinach salad was really delicious. The Classic was chicken breast served with home made creamy mashed potatoes, and gravy. My dining partners were humanitarian Jayda Cabbell, writer Isoul Harris and publicist Satchel Jester. We loved this dish and were begging for more. Isoul asked for a piece of bread to sop up the rest of the sauce, lol! That was funny, and shows you how good it was!

Shrimp n Grits

The Shrimp and Grits were my absolute favorite. I loved how the grits taste and the shrimp was really flavorful. Not everyone can make shrimp and grits, so I was very impressed.

The Rowe Steak was tender and was falling off the bone. Alot of people in the room loved this dish. I’m not a big meat eater but if your on a date, the guys would love this. For Dessert we had GrandMama’s Apples. The crust on this dessert was so flaky and good, I didn’t share any of this, it came with vanilla ice cream, this was Pinkalicious!

Isoul and Satchel

I must say that I was very impressed with the layout of the restaurant, the decor and the food and drinks. If your in the downtown area, please stop in to try it. Your date will love you or your friends for thinking of a great place to take them.

Thanks to Camille Binder for the personal invite, we had such a great time!

www.fusedowntown.com