Iam happy to report that we have had a really strong year moving away from the pandemic. 2022 has ushered in exciting developments for CW in terms of new acquisitions, such as our recent procurement of Chef Middle East (CME), a specialty food distributor with operations in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Oman. The addition of CME (along with other notable acquisitions such as Guaranteed and G.N.S.), helps to build our global presence and ignite a new international identity.
Challenges still resonate from the pandemic, such as difficulty hiring labor and supply and equipment shortages. However, I am very proud of our CW team for learning to tackle these obstacles creatively. We have become extremely facile at rolling with whatever punches come our way while still going beyond the call of duty for our customers.
One of the greatest revelations for me this year is recognizing the incredible resilience and talent of the people in our organization. Witnessing how our employees step up, overcome challenges and take on more responsibility when necessary is truly astounding. A great example of this is when we moved from our former warehouse in LA into the new warehouse while integrating a newly acquired company into the space simultaneously. Everyone from leadership to sales and operations continued to run the business as ‘normal’ and executed very efficiently through the dramatic transition without a complaint. The team just made it happen.
CW is a company that is people driven. Exemplifying this, I’d like to give a huge shout-out to our unsung heroes, our amazing CW drivers who continue to serve our customers, no matter the weather or shortages in staffing. In 2022, our drivers, the backbone of our company, made more stops, and worked a lot more hours to compensate for staffing shortages.
CW’s work environment is rooted in our collective passion for excellence. It is this common devotion that inspires me and makes me love my job. Having the same values also helps to build our company’s culture and foster a positive community. Additionally, there is nothing more exciting than promoting the trajectory of the rise of individuals within CW, which is ultimately my biggest
goal; developing our people into future leaders.
Stepping into 2023, our customers can look forward to the fruits of the harvest in terms of CW’s diverse investments in our infrastructure. Among these advancements, our customers will benefit from better service, more efficient and robust technology (with our online platform), and a rich extension of product offerings. We’ve also empowered our CW team with a plethora of dynamic and talented new employees, which will take our customer service to an even higher level and provide enhanced resources.
More than anything at this time of year especially, I want everyone in our CW family to know how much I appreciate you. We wouldn’t be here today without you. It is your talent, hard work, and dedication to excellence that makes CW the success that it is today.
I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season of enjoying great food and merriment with friends and family and celebrating the prosperity of our collective labor.
Happy New Year, everyone!
One of the greatest revelations for me this year is recognizing the incredible resilience and talent of the people in our organization.
For Eric Chan, owner/pastry chef, of the dynamic Duo Patisserie in the Toronto suburb of Markham, the concept is simple: pastries and dessert. But to his devoted clientele, it’s beautiful, edible art. CW Magazine caught up with Eric for a brief chat on his influences and industry observations.
What was your route to entrepreneurship?
I started working at 13, a very young age; cleaning, bussing, and tedious work. I knew an office job wasn’t what I wanted. I‘m more of a hands-on person. And being in the food industry for so long, decided food was what I wanted to pursue. I grew up in Markham, but never worked in any Markham shops because there just weren’t many. That’s why I decided to open a market because I wanted to open in the place where I grew up and to introduce what I’ve learned to my community. There wasn’t anything like this here, and
I was a bit unsure how the community would accept it. It’s been 8 years, and the feedback’s been very positive. The people love it and I’m very grateful for it.
What’s been your biggest challenge… and reward?
The biggest challenge post-Covid is definitely the labor. The work we do requires time and focus, and whenever we’re short-staffed it’s very difficult to run the operation. I’m sure everyone is experiencing this: it’s difficult to find a good staff with the proper skills. I’m fortunate that my staff has been loyal, and many have been working for me for over five years.
And the rewards? One obvious one: when you open a business, money plays an outsized role. Yes, we all love to do this. The pastries and desserts…It’s fun. But if you do decide to open a business, I think you should prioritize having the money come in. I’ve worked every day since I opened. I work seven days a week and I’ve never taken a day off. A lot of times we work from 3 a.m. and continue for over 12 hours. As an entrepreneur, money is quite important, and I want to be realistic about it. Another type of reward? It’s been a dream of mine to open something like Duo.
For now, just maintaining, which is another challenge. When you start, it’s easy…as long as you have proper capital. But to actually last to the end and to maintain it, is the most difficult part. So my goal at the moment is just to maintain. To do a good job and build a good team and train the next generation
so that there could be more shops like this opening in Toronto.
I close the whole month of January, for almost three weeks, and I force all my staff to take a break after Christmas. Usually, this is the time for me to go traveling. Paris or Tokyo or New York or whatever it is, to get some inspiration and take a little break. This January, if it goes well, I’ll be going to Lyon to see the Coup de Monde, which is equivalent to the World Cup of Pastry. They also have a show there. It’s called Sirha – it’s one of the largest baking trade shows in the world. I want to go and see what’s new: new technology, new ingredients, new trends. I just want to be a little bit inspired and keep up with what’s going on in the world.
Speaking of trends, what’s new, and what’s next? And what ingredients are you inspired by?
I think the trend is always going back to something simple and something classic. And I’m very inspired by just very simple things; very simple things are very hard to make. I’m sure everyone’s heard of that. But actually, if you do make it well, the customer will keep coming. People always want to eat something that they’re familiar with. And if you do a good job, you always will be successful.
BY SEAN J. PALMERIt was during a semester off from pursuing his degree in chemistry that Chef Gavin Schmidt realized he wasn’t missing ’sitting around doing differential equations.’ He was too busy dreaming up ideas about food.
HAVING STARTED IN THE KITCHEN as a dishwasher to make extra money while in high school in Bainbridge Island, Washington, Schmidt moved up the kitchen ranks effortlessly and was offered the role of sous chef during a semester off from college.
By the time Gavin truly realized his interest, passion, and talent for cooking could be a real occupation, he was already seven years deep in the game and well past the need for culinary school.
A move to San Francisco and a slew of high end jobs at Aqua, Elisabeth Daniel, Fifth Floor, Campton Place Hotel, and Corners Market, eventually led Schmidt to a position as chef de cuisine at the renowned, three Michelin star, COI, where he would meet his culinary fate, and one of his best friends, Paul Einbund, sommelier extraordinaire. Schmidt shares, ‘I was the chef de cuisine, and Paul was the managing partner and beverage director. We just really hit it off and became friends, real friends—we played tennis together and everything’. Schmidt continues, ‘One of the ways we really hit it off is that I’m very much a big wine fan, and Paul really loves
food. So, we would geek out on food and wine pairings and share an appreciation for what the other one was doing. We’d have lots of dinners together. I would make food, and he would open up some great bottles and we’d be poking our noses in each other’s business the whole time. This is where it all started. The idea that one day maybe we could…’
Life moved on, and Schmidt and Einbund left COI around the same time to pursue ‘other things.’ Chef Schmidt headed to San Diego where he became Executive Chef at Blanca, during which time the venue was named one of the top ten restaurants in San Diego and received four stars from the San Diego Reader. He was also awarded “best of the best” status by Candice Woo of San Diego Magazine.
Blanca closed in August of 2011. Schmidt, who was homesick for San Francisco anyway, found himself back in conversation with Einbund. ‘We both said, hey, we’ve talked about this. Let’s do it. The timing was right. So we started the process.’
Finding the right spot proved more challenging than Gavin and Paul had anticipated. Four years
after moving back to the Bay Area, the pair finally found their brick-and-mortar at 2501 Mariposa Street, known as Potrero Flats (Media Gulch) in San Francisco. ‘Finding the right place took much longer than we ever thought it would. It was definitely a bit of a road,’ Gavin offered.
A mere two years after opening, The Morris (named after Einbund’s late father) made the Top 100 Restaurants in the SF Chronicle in 2018. With a steadfast following of adoring fans from near and far, The Morris has made a serious name for itself as a cool and cozy, unpretentious neighborhood bistro with worldclass food and drink.
Schmidt shares his take on The Morris’s success. ‘We basically wanted to create the type of restaurant we’d want to eat at on our day off, a place that makes great food that’s seasonal and local as well as pouring some really fun stuff. We wanted to sit in a restaurant that doesn’t feel stuffy but one that feels casual and warm but where you’re not compromising quality. You’re just compromising two or three extra servers and a bunch of people with tweezers. We have cultivated a clientele that want those same things. Paul is very creative, very
forward-thinking. Together we have a very strong industry following because of that—reliability, quality and flavor, but without anyone having to mind their p’s and q’s.’
Sharing his organic source of inspiration for his menu, Gavin offers, ‘The fun and cool thing is you can cook like, ’What am I hungry for today? You’re feeding more of just a hunger rather than a thought, idea, creation. It just comes off as a lot more soulful when somebody’s cooking the food that they want to be eating.’
Having been in the industry for about 30 years, Schmidt ‘has definitely seen a thing or two’, and his vast experience in so many high-end kitchens equips him with a broad range of techniques and knowledge of flavors and ingredients that ignite his menu at The Morris in an unabashed, if not covertly elegant way.
Notorious for his butchering skills and his in-house charcuterie program at The Morris, Gavin shares his passion for the knife and making use of every single possible part of the animal. ‘I get whole pigs in every other week. And you know, we’re always just kind of finding different parts of them to use. I enjoy butchery. It’s definitely one of one of my big things. It was always important to me to do justice to every aspect of the pig. (AKA, I didn’t wanna f__k it up!)’
The perfect roasted duck is another well-known offering at The Morris. Gavin had this to say when asked if he had a preference between the duck and the pig. ‘I’m very passionate about eating and food and all the things. I remember working at COI, and Daniel (Patterson) would pose these kinds of questions, ‘If you had to pick between pork and beef……’, and it
took me like three days to answer. I’d have all these pros and cons… I was like, ‘Wow, you can’t just drop that on me!’
With health and planet conservation on the front burner these days, Gavin comments on his take on the horizon of gastronomy, ‘The future of food would be not to buy just the whole animals but to buy all the extra stuff that people don’t want. My farmers are like, yeah, if you just buy a whole pig, that’s great. There’s no waste. It’s one-for-one. But they’re like, if you want to take extra skin or extra heads or extra offal, because that’s the stuff that people don’t normally take, and you can utilize those parts—awesome! So I’ve found that especially with the charcuterie program, a lot of the time I buy a pig but I’m like, hey, can you send one with two extra heads and an extra 10 pounds of skin, or this or that?’
Pushing analysis-inclined Schmidt on the topic of territories, he gave us his preference on the taboo question of SoCal vs NorCal. ‘I loved working with all the fresh seafood down in Southern Cali, but the biodiversity up here in NorCal is so much greater. Pretty much everything we get in the restaurant comes from probably within 100-150 miles. Produce-wise you have so many different microclimates around us like the Central Valley, where I get a lot of stuff in the summertime because they’re hitting triple digits for
months on end. The flavors of the melons and the tomatoes and peppers just get so concentrated. And then you have Santa Cruz, the whole peninsula area, where it’s a more mild, temperate climate, and you get great lettuces and all the spring and fall things that are green--from the kales, to the peas, to the Brussels sprouts. You can be in the mountains one day, and then you’re on the coast and so many great, natural things in the very close vicinity.
An avid snowboarder and nature person, Chef Schmidt and The Morris Partner/Sommelier Paul Einbund have, via their vast experience in the industry, implemented ideal pairings across several mediums. Looking forward to the holiday season, one of the signature offerings (and a former Covid pivot) is the Morris Roasted Duck which guests get very excited about pre-ordering and taking home for Thanksgiving or Christmas supper; just the kind of enticing option one would dream of from your local (off the chain) bistro. We all should be so lucky.
BY KELLI COLACOLeoncini
Carozzi,
The
Today, the strictest ancient meat processing techniques are still used, following age-old Emilian recipes that are rigidly protected and handed down through the generations. Producing in Verona, Italy since 1971, Leoncini’s impeccable meats such as their Oven Roasted Ham with Herbs, Cooked Ham, Porchetta, Mortadella, and Pancetta, are renown for their high quality and authentic flavor and texture.
Speck Alto Adige IGP produced by Recla offers high-quality pork legs that are spiced, smoked, and cured according to the traditional method.
With unique flavor and texture, rectangular shaped Speck Alto Adige IGP (obtained without pressing) makes for easy to cut tender identical slices.
located in Pasturo, Italy, has been crafting cheeses for over 50 years. Their experience and respect for tradition combined with deep roots in the Lombardy region, yield some of the most popular and exciting delicacies in an area renowned for its cheese tradition.
company specializes in producing and aging cheeses that carry the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO/DOP), such as Taleggio and Gorgonzola, along with a wide variety of imaginative creations such as the Quader de Cavra.
began with Aristodemo Leoncini, a renowned master of the art of making salted meats, who started a small family business back in 1918 in the Province of Reggio Emilia.
BRIAN SMITH, A NATIVE TUCSONIAN, elevated Maynard’s menu and reputation literally from the ground up. Located in the historic train building in Tucson’s boutique-bohemian downtown area, Maynard’s is reputed to have gone from ‘decent’ to award-winning under Chef Smith’s creative eye, meticulous nature, and innate farming abilities.
Chef/Owner of Maynard’s since 2021, Smith blossomed up the venue’s ranks quickly, starting in 2016 as chef de cuisine and then jumping into the executive chef seat a mere four months later.
Known for his ability to revitalize classic dishes with a unique modern spin using local fruit and vegetables indigenous to the desert’s agricultural canvas, Chef Smith is a veritable history lesson on desert farming. Brian shared, ‘People have been farming here for hundreds of years. In the 1700s, a Jesuit priest from Segno in the Italian Alps named Father Kino helped the Pima Indians diversify their agriculture and aided them in wars with the Apaches while opposing Indian enslavement in northern Mexico. He brought over fruits and vegetables to farm and harvest. This was how everything got started.’
The historical vibrance of desert farming, as shared by Chef Brian, comes as a surprise to most (non-farming) folks due to the land’s dry and seemingly infertile terroir. Brian offers, ‘Many people don’t realize it, but there are so many awesome farmers here. Like Mission Gardens, now a living agricultural museum of Sonoran Desert-adapted heritage fruit trees, traditional local heirloom crops, and edible native plants located at the foot of Sentinel Peak at the site of the Native American village of S-cuk Son (pronounced Chuk Shon.) The land is renowned for being a place sacred to the Tohono O’odham, the Native American people of the Sonoran Desert.
Honoring farming forefathers, native people, and sacred land, unfolds authentically from Smith, who, besides being renowned for his meticulous nature (and Tucson Iron Chef 2018) is clearly one heck of a nice human.
Inspired by the bounty of his family farm and the whole-
The historical vibrance of desert farming comes as a surprise to most (non-farming) folks due to the land’s dry, and seemingly infertile terroir.
some cooking of his grandmother and mom, Smith’s energy evokes innocence and a sense of wonder. This love of nature is especially vivid when he speaks of foraging for ingredients locally, such as for hackberries and lobster mushrooms in the high desert or chiltepín (small berry-like chiles) which he also grows in his garden at Maynard’s. Smith shares: We have a black and red chiltepín; different varieties have morphed over time. We also grow Lisbon lemons and Meyer lemons that we use at Maynard’s that come from 115-year-old trees.
Commenting on how more exotic fruit and vegetables found their way to grow in the Sonoran desert, Brian adds, ‘ When thousands of Chinese men were brought over to help build the railroads ((the Southern Pacific Railroad line between Yuma, Arizona and El Paso, Texas 1879-1880) they brought to the area tatsoi, bok choi and Chinese eggplants. Obviously, none of these were native ingredients, but they adapted to drought tolerance.
A much sought-after young chef, Brian’s decision to bring his culinary talents in his hometown was steeped in his authentic love of Tucson’s land, city, and people. He shares, ‘I like the ease of Tucson. I grew up here, and all my family and friends live here. So I enjoy that. I love the weather and the desert; this tiny valley with the mountains surrounding us. We’re an hour from the high mountains, where there’s tons of foraging. The different landscapes and areas
around Tucson are unique. You can be in the really low dry arid desert, and then you drive half an hour, and you’re in a very high desert that’s got lots of junipers and different kinds of plant life. Another 1000 feet up, and you’re in the pines. Everything’s relatively close.’
With Tucson now a globally recognized city of gastronomical merit, Brian gave his perspective on why his town has officially stepped into culinary focus. ‘We have a very sincere community here; a tight-knit group of chefs that share the same philosophy. This goes deeper than just being a chef at a restaurant and serving people food. This is a dedication to serving food that is very well thought out and carefully sourced.’
On the heels of the winter and holiday season, Chef Smith is already planning to fill his seasonal menu with a myriad of game bird offerings like quail stuffed with pears, rosemary and thyme, and crispy buttermilk fried quail. Local lamb offerings will also grace Maynard’s menu along with Smith’s favorite--aged prime beef from Flannery Meats which he buys from CW.
Hearing Chef Brian Smith speak of his native land and all that grows from it, truly invigorates ones perception of the desert itself. Much like the burgeoning culinary scene of little-big town Tucson, this area of beautiful country is full of surprises and still overflowing with possibility.
Nothing adds a dash of decadence to apéritif time and winter holiday menus like award-winning charcuterie from Fabrique Délices. For more than 30 years Fabrique Délices has been preparing time-honored classics alongside innovative new products like their new Black Truffle Salami (*2022 SOFI Award New Product Winner in ‘Meat and Poultry’ Category).
Made in small batches in the artisanal and traditional way according to authentic French recipes, Fabrique Délices is known for offering the best and most versatile line of charcuterie in the United States.
Handmade post-grinding, Fabrique Délices, (a 2022 Good Food Award Finalist at Rosette De Lyon,) offers an extensive product line with Winter Holiday Season standouts your guests will savor, including Duck Confit, Truffle Mousse, Jambon de Paris, Rosemary Jambon de Paris, and the new and exceptional Halal Merguez.
The beat goes on at Grandmaster Recorders, nestled in the heart of Hollywood with Chef Blake Shailes’ eclectic menu celebrating Italian cuisine with a modern Australian influence.
STEEPED IN HISTORY, transformed from the original iconic music studios, Grandmaster Recorders (opened December 8th, 2022) offers three different experiences—an industrial-styled, ‘elevated-coastal’ restaurant, a killer rooftop bar, and a live music venue.
Originally a silent movie theatre built in the 1930s, the venue was converted to Grandmaster Recorders by legendary producer and musician Alan Dickinson in the 1970s. Known for being a recording industry hot spot for the biggest names in music, G.R. resonates with the greats who have recorded there, including David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Blondie, Kanye West, Foo Fighters, Beck, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and many more.
Chef Shailes, who grew up on a farm in Prudhoe Bay, Australia, remembers wanting to be a cook from boyhood and feels naturally in tune with Grandmaster Recorders’ music-making philosophy that ‘rules are made to be broken’, which is exemplified in his stunning, innovative menu.
CW Magazine caught up with globe-trotting Chef Shailes for what resulted in a high-stimulus conversation loaded with flavor (and a bit of controversy.)
‘Whimsey and irreverence’ are words used to describe your menu at Grand Master Recorders. What are some of your chief inspirations?
‘I’m from Australia originally, so we look through an
Australian lens growing up with many Italian immigrants around us. I started with cooking in my hometown in Prudhoe Bay, worked in Brisbane for a few years, and then moved to Sydney, where I worked with Monty Koludrovic at Copycat Restaurant and Bar. Monty is the original person that brought me to Grandmaster Recorders. However, between Grandmaster Recorders and Copycat, I moved to Singapore and worked at Marina Bay Sands Resort for five years. After that I wanted a totally different experience so I bought a sailboat and lived in Malaysia for five years with my best friend.’
Please share how living on a sailboat in Malaysia helped to form who you are as a person and a chef.
That time of my life is very vivid for me. One of the biggest experiences that affected me was being present to one of the most shocking corruption cases in history when the Malaysian Prime Minister stole the equivalent of a billion dollars from his country. (Putrajaya, Malaysia (AP) - In 2015, Malaysian ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak was subsequently charged and convicted by the High Court on abuse of power, money laundering, and criminal breach of trust, becoming the first Prime Minister of Malaysia to be convicted of corruption and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and fined RM210 million.) I watched it all happen. It was mind blowing. It was also really interesting watching an election going on when there are loads of people protesting and a police van shows up igniting this olympic battle. Then all these mystery votes come in, and Razak is back in power when it looked like he was gonna lose the election.
Coming from a country like Australia, it was really wild
to see that level of corruption taking place. It changes your perception. You question everything differently. I feel lucky to be from a country like Australia, which is relatively free and easy to live in.
How have your expansive and exotic living experiences impacted you as a chef?
One of the key through-lines of our menu that I brought with me from my experiences in Asia is our original XO Sauce. (Developed in the 1980s in Hong Kong for Cantonese cuisine, XO sauce is made of roughlychopped dried seafood, including dried scallops (conpoy) fish and shrimp, which are cooked with chili peppers, onions, and garlic.)
After spending five years in Singapore and Malaysia, I hold XO close to my heart. It’s one of the first things I developed in the restaurant over a year and a half ago. XO is typically something the Chinese will have with vegetables or with kanji. It’s a luxury dressing that is considered very royal, a kind of Emperor food in many ways. Our special XO at Grandmaster Recorders is made of shallots, fried garlic, dried chilies, dried shrimp, dried scallops, and Chinese sausage. We season with a lot of lemons, lemon oil, and lemon zest. XO is fundamentally a classic immigration story of working with what we know and crossing over with Italian food and exemplifies what we do.
I’m also really proud of our Caviar Cannoli. It’s a really fun love story. Your favorite little bite and really luxurious. Not being cheesy or using this word of fusion, but one of our strong points is incorporating ingredients from around the world for the right reasons. Like our buffalo burrata with truffle honey, and crunchy chili is also a staple on the menu right now. The sweet and
spicy umami of the honey and chili with lots of fried garlic throughout is just typically delicious. Every component is well executed, and then we compose things in the final stages to be quite contemporary.
With A-list guests like Rhianna, Robert Pattinson, and the cast of Euphoria regularly dining at Grandmaster Recorders, your venue is fast becoming the new iconic staple in Hollywood. What is this experience like for you as a chef?
There’s something magical about this space. There’s a feeling of being in a special environment, especially the studio space. You get chills every time. I’ve built my entire career up to this point to be at the helm of a restaurant like this.
I’ve never been a massive groupie, but I do respect artists deeply. I understand craft and how long it takes to refine the intricacies of what they do and what it takes to get to a level of ultimate success.
A definite highlight was having David Grohl of the Foo Fighters celebrate his daughter’s birthday here a few weeks back. That was definitely pretty cool. He was just a nice guy who wanted to talk about the food.
It was also funny when Shania Twain called the restaurant and wanted to hang out in the studio for a few hours at 4 pm on a Sunday. She just cruised around the studio space and hung out by herself. So many artists have a big history here.
IT’S BEEN 135-YEARS SINCE ANTHONY L. BAZZINI began selling his famous nuts along the storied cobblestone streets of lower Manhattan. As the oldest nut roaster in the country, we’ve leveraged our deep-rooted experience to securing key partnerships in the international nut trade –relationships that give us top-priority and first-nut crop pick positioning. We’ve become as global as the melting pot from which we were founded.
There’s a reason Bazzini is known for the biggest, freshest, tastiest nuts in the business.
TIS THE SEASON FOR ALL THINGS DECADENT like the exceptional and exquisite line of truffle and truffle products from Sabatino Tartufi! The Chefs’ Warehouse and Sabatino Tartufi have enjoyed an enduring partnership that spans several decades. This is exemplified in CW CEO Chris Pappas’ recent truffle hunting expedition with Sabatino Tartufi founder and CEO Federico Balestra this past summer in Umbria, Italy.
CW’s very own highly-rated podcast Ingredient Insiders, created and hosted by John Magazino and Andrea Parkins, shines the light on Federico Balestra to get the divine inside scoop on truffles and truffle products from the one of the best truffle companies in the world, Sabatino Tartufi. Like sacred Sabatino truffles, content this good should be savored in a variety of applications!
John Welcome Federico Balestra, one of the pioneers of truffles in the United States, whose family owns and operates Sabatino Tartufi. How many years of truffle history does your family have in Italy? I mean, you guys have been around forever.
Federico The company started in 1911 in Umbria by my grandfather. His first name is Sabatino. That’s where the name came from, along with my grandmother Giuseppina.
John How many types of truffles are there?
Federico There are 250 species total. But only four or five species that are commercially viable: two on the black side—Black Summer Truffle and Black Winter Truffle. And two on the white side: White Alba Truffles and the Bianchetto Truffle, which is a lower quality than the White Alba.
John What are the seasons for truffles?
Federico Let’s start with white. You have the White Alba truffles from October to December. In January we start the Bianchetto Truffle, with its
peak season in March. Then Black Summer Truffles are in May and finish in October. Finally, we have Black Winter Truffles that start in October and finish in March.
John What’s the price for white truffles in a normal year?
Federico White truffles can vary from the 3k to 6k per pound. The reason is that the white truffle cannot be cultivated. Everybody tried and everybody failed. It’s extremely complicated. White truffles are also extremely difficult to find because they are very deep in the ground. You need very advanced dogs with expert truffle hunters. Another big problem is that the white truffles grow very far apart from one another. When you find a black truffle, you have a good chance that you have 4-6 others around because they grow as a family. White truffles are lone truffles. You can find one here and then find another one miles down the road in the middle of the bush and difficult places to hunt. So you need a lot of space and a lot of dogs.
Andrea How did your grandfather come to the
business?
Federico Where we come from truffles are normal. Everybody hunts truffles. But our business didn’t start with truffles because no one at that time could survive selling just truffles. We used to sell olives and olive oil and other products local Italian farmers cultivated around our village. Then there became more possibility to grow truffles and then we focused on them specifically. To add to this, every family has their own truffle dog. They don’t go out and find kilos and kilos of truffles but they go out maybe ten times a year. They take it as an excuse to walk, like playing golf here. Basically their dog finds a little truffle. They bring it home, they freeze it and give it as a gift for Christmas. That’s how we grew up.
John How much does a truffle hunting dog cost in Italy?
Federico A black truffle hunting dog can go for $1,000 to $5,000 depending on the experience level of the dog. White truffle dogs can go for $5,000 to $15,000, sometimes up to $20,000 if you have a champion. They also have dogs for short and long distances.
John How many trees do plant a year for truffle cultivation?
Federico Right now in Italy we’re planting about 10 to 12,000 trees per year. The demand for truffles is going up every year. With the climate change it is more and more difficult to find black truffles. With our plantation it is still a wild natural product but
we can control the watering. Basically we want to invest in planting more and more to be sure to have truffles for our customers. Traceability is also another reason our plantation is a positive part of Sabatino. All of our truffles are USDA Organic Certified. We give our customers the safety to buy the product and know where it came from.
John At The Chefs’ Warehouse we have a great history and the partnership with you guys because we sell so many of your fresh truffles obviously, but we sell so many of these preserved products like truffle pastes, oils, purees and salt. One of the great things I think that Sabatino has done is that you guys have production going on in the United States for these products. I think that’s amazing because it really it helps you guys to be really well priced. There’s a quality control and there’s a comfort level knowing that it’s produced in America. We don’t have to worry about shipping delays and all of these other issues, the tariffs that arise. How did you guys come up with the idea to actually start production in the US?
Federico Around 2004-2005—we were bringing in many products by container like everybody else from from Italy. I said to my family in Italy, ‘Why don’t we open a place in the US instead importing everything?’ Now we import bulk twice a year, and then we repack in the US. We save on shipping because we can buy everything else in the US, but also we can plan much more and the customer can buy last minute and they don’t need to buy huge quantities.
Andrea How do your produce your Truffle Oil?
Federico We’re the first company to extract the product naturally from truffles. We do an extraction process with steam that is able to extract the flavor. We then blend that with other products. We are the only truffle product that is vertically integrated. If you guys visit our farm in Italy you will see that we have an extraction room where truffles come in fresh.
John Sabatino Truffle Zest is one of the most innovative new truffle products to come out in the last few years. Tell us about it.
Federico We added Sabatino Truffle Zest in 2017. It was the first type of ingredient in this category. It’s basically an all natural truffle seasoning. You can use it just like you use black pepper. Same thing here. It’s a spice.
Andrea It comes in like a little shaker. A little bit goes a long way. The aroma is so intense and beautiful that I think any chef would be silly not to use it in their kitchen.
John So chefs seek this out. It’s called Sabatino Truffle Zest. Sabatino is the only company in the world who make it. The Chefs’ Warehouse obviously carries this item and chefs should really be taking advantage of it.
We love Sabatino Tartufi, USA and Italy. They’ve been a great partner of The Chefs’ Ware-
house, and we look forward to some amazing stuff coming out in the future.
Federico I want to thank you for having me on Ingredient Insiders and The Chefs’ Warehouse for being a great partner. I look forward to coming back anytime!
Sabatino Truffle Zest® is the best-selling truffle seasoning in the world. This seasoning powder starts with ground black summer truffles which are aromatic and earthy. The result is a low-sodium seasoning that is loaded with real black truffle flavor and aromas. that can be added to any dish.
with New CW Corporate Chef David Walzog
Hot from his long-time Executive Chef tenure at renowned SW Steakhouse and Lakeside Restaurant at The Wynn, Las Vegas, CW is thrilled to have David Walzog on board as our new Corporate Chef. CW Magazine was excited to steal a moment with this all-star veteran to get a taste of what he’ll be bringing to the CW table.
You’re known for creating innovative, lavish menus and running some of the most impressive restaurants in the country. What was the catalyst for accepting the CW Corporate Chef position?
When you’re a young, dynamic hotshot in the business, there’s nothing like it. You’re hustling and you’re making your mark, you’re creative, you’re building your teams--you’re doing all of those things. The road of deciding whether to stay at the ops and run restaurants or hop out and do something else was a difficult one.
Being a chef, I’ve never taken more than ten days off consecutively. This hustle afforded me great positions in my life and a fantastic life for my family. However, this comes at a human price, not only for the family dynamic but for myself as well. My wife was basically a single parent. So coming out of COVID last June, after 16 years at The Wynn, Las Vegas, with one daughter starting high school and the other graduate school, I decided just to take time off for myself and reset.
Coming aboard CW as Corporate Chef really happened organically. We used to buy from CW back in the ’90s! And anytime Chris Pappas was in Las Vegas, we’d grab a cocktail and talk about what The Chefs’ Warehouse had on the shelves, because we as operators are always fishing for different things right? CW offers that broad spectrum of interesting products.
Prior to Las Vegas, you had one hell of a run in NYC as Partner/Owner of Strip House, Executive Chef of Michael Jordan’s Steak House and Arizona 206 (to name a few highlights) Please share the allure of making the jump from the Big Apple to Sin City.
The bar was so high which suited me very well, as I’m a guy who never wants to settle; who always wants to keep striving for that food-ingredient discovery. I was lucky as a chef to be able to afford killer high-end stuff at any cost. If you were running an independent restaurant you couldn’t afford that. Guests were really coming for that type of bespoke experience when it came to ingredients and we were there to deliver. That made it a lot of fun.
It’s been quite the learning curve. The Chefs’ Warehouse has its own culture, which I find really interesting. I’ve been traveling a lot and attending a lot of CW Food Shows where you meet a bunch of people from all the regions. This really helps put pipelines together for communication. But now digging in and learning from vendor talks with our partners and suppliers and being entrenched in the company is awesome. Learning by having intimate conversations with our suppliers is really great. I like to say that my part-time job is helping my chef friends with that kind of knowledge. I also like to make introductions to chefs about
what’s on the CW shelves that are chock full of all-natural products or labor and cost saving stuff that doesn’t pinch quality. I see myself as a conduit between operations (chefs) and the supplier side.
What is your objective as the main host of the exciting new CW Video Series?
You know, I really love what Andrea Parkinson and John Magazino have done with CW Ingredient Insiders. With the CW Video Series, I am wanting to do something very similar to that but more visually captivating (being that I.I. is a podcast.) So a bullet point for us is to portray different ingredients in a concise, precise, sexy, and romantic way, and to also use it as an educational tool for CW Reps and our chef customers. Historically those static product sheets chefs get end up 10 pages deep on your pile of stuff on your desk after about five minutes. The CW Video Series will be much more exciting and accessible. Like the Ingredient Insiders, we want to have killer content, awesome hosts, and guests that resonate and tell chefs what they want and need to know to engage with products. This will also include modern techniques of cookery to make things more efficient. I think chefs/ operators want to find any magic bullet that makes their lives a little bit easier.
You’re a man with a plethora of career options. Why CW Corporate Chef?
I’ve trusted CW for 30 years. CW never failed to meet my expectations in terms of products, and this helped me shine as a chef. I want to be a part of being able to tell that story.
CEO Chris Pappas’s endless curiosity to find the next best thing truly resonates throughout the company; to make sure that what’s on CW shelves is better than everybody else’s. So being inspired by this and trusting and loving CW all these years has me wanting to be a part of the company on the other side of the fence.
What are you looking forward to for the holiday season this year?
I definitely look forward to spending it with my family. In the past, it was always very difficult to carve time out. I was definitely pinned down. So at this point in my career, in life, if somebody in my family gives me an inkling of temper about my excitement to celebrate the holidays together, I’m like, ‘Come on, I missed 33 years. I want to have a good time! No complaints!
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ORTLAND HAS LONG BEEN A RICH INCUBATOR for new culinary ideas and trends. Tanaka, a flourishing Japanese comfort food concept by brainchild, CEO, and impresario Taichi Ishizuki, focuses on Japanese milk bread and Osaka-inspired “katsu sandos” – Japanese sandwiches filled with deepfried pork, chicken, Oregon rockfish, wagyu filet mignon, eggplant, and more – a foodie sandwich trend that’s fueling a flurry of Instagram and TikTok posts and taking the USA by storm. Housed in a 5,500-square-foot bakery and restaurant in downtown Portland, and brought together by a team that has previously collaborated on AFURI, a successful Portland ramen concept born in 2016, Tanaka’s curated menu marries the contemporary tastes of Portland with the traditional flavors of Japan.
The Tanaka team, including Taichi Ishizuki (CEO), Ryan McMullen (Director of Culinary Operations), Patrick Ulring (Executive Chef), and Jesse McArdle (Executive Pastry Chef) joined CW in a wide-ranging discussion on their expanding venture.
How do you define the “katsu” trend and how are you embracing it?
TAICHI Each country has different kinds of breaded cutlets done in different ways. The Italians have Milanese, which is breaded parmesan; not deepfried, but pan-fried. The Portuguese, Spanish; and not just across Europe, but globally, you can find these cutlets – loins, filets – maybe they adopt a different formula or type. We’re offering these cuts in a very classic Japanese way.
This is still new to the new food cultures in the states. But especially in Portland, it’s easier to introduce new food culture; Portland’s people are a lot more eager to discover new things. Along with katsu comes katsu sauce, which is basically Japanese barbecue sauce. Ours has apples, peaches, onions, carrots, and dates laid together with soy. A kind of sweet and savory that fits well to the palate.
RYAN We brought over a mother sauce from Japan, and wanted to introduce this style of food and way of eating to America; it’s a high, elevated sort of fast food. Portland’s an ever-evolving food scene that’s kind of like a roller coaster, you know, it’s up, up, up, up, up, and then down, down, down, and down. 30 restaurants will open up in a month, and then, 60 more will close down. And so it’s a tough restaurant scene because there is so much competition, and for us, this challenge means doing menu changes quarterly. Staying on top of our game is really, really important for us to ever be evolving.
We try to go higher and higher with each menu change that we do, we never go backward. We try to stay ahead of trends. I’m lucky enough to have some of the most amazing team below me that really does make my job a whole lot easier. I’ve worked in plenty of restaurants and other cities where that can really make or break you, so we’re lucky to have a team
within the Afuri family and the new Tanaka family to really help us keep ahead of the curve and just keep growing and making things better day by day. We’re always looking at our mistakes and trying to figure out what we can do better. And we have a genius CEO, which definitely helps things, as well. Without his guidance, a lot of us would probably be a little bit lost, but he’s very good at what he does, and he keeps us on our toes. We’re thankful for that.
So Chef, can you talk to me about your role and what you bring to the concept?
PATRICK I’ve been with Tanaka for a few years now and hopped on the team somewhere in the ideological forming process. It was a really fun thing, hearing goals and ideas; hearing what everybody was excited about… it made me also want to jump on.
As far as the day-to-day here, I’m here with the whole crew, we have multiple sides of this restaurant. We’re cutting sandwiches on one side and have the bakery on the other. Our menu is really a collaborative effort. We all get together; we all throw it down. Everybody’s ideas, we kind of just do what works.
We’re actually changing the menu here pretty soon with a November launch of our Fall and Winter menu. We’re going seasonal on quite a few things, starting with our dessert program, (which includes dessert milk bread sandwiches stuffed with cream and seasonal fruit, miso-chocolate croissants, and mochi doughnuts.) A lot of our sides will switch into more seasonal vegetables, as well; winter squashes, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts will be back on the menu to complement our Sandos (sandwiches), as well
as soups now that we’re getting into that cold season.
And Jesse, as Head Baker, I imagine your role here is crucial.
JESSE (He laughs). The foundation for any sandwich is the bread, and the foundation for a Katsu Sando is Japanese milk bread. The quintessential issue (in building the concept) was that there was no solid Japanese milk bread (a ubiquitous type of light, fluffy bread that’s eaten daily in Japan) product in town. So I was tasked with that. And that is pretty much the fundamental of a good sandwich is having solid bread. So that’s where I first and foremost fit in. And then since we decided that that is the path we wanted to choose, to make fresh bread in-house daily, you’re gonna have to have a bakery for that. So why not add other bakery items, croissants, pastries…or solid-state dishes and even cold case pastry, stuff like that. So that’s kind of where the whole thing began and we kind of evolved from there.
If it weren’t for Chefs’ Warehouse, we wouldn’t have flour. That’s kind of important for what we do. They’ve been great partners throughout this process, with their (thorough) understanding of
fine ingredients and restaurants…It’s been a partnership that’s going to go on for a while and because of that, we’re grateful, for sure.
Taichi, this is your vision. What’s next?
TAICHI Fifty stores, five years. We’re looking for partners to share this new culture in any way in the States, so for us, we always think bigger, and we update quickly to find a way…I think this is what we are good at. And that’s kind of the expertise of what we do; since day one we never actually stop. I believe there is a way. I believe we will get there. Through trial and error until we find the answers. So always, everything becomes possible. That’s who we are.
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Cinthya discovered her pastry passion while working as a teacher and seeing the joy her homemade cookies brought her students. This prompted her to enroll in culinary school.
Unfortunately, hyper-creative Romrielli discovered that the pastry ideas she put forth at the myriad venues she worked fell on deaf ears. Cinthya shared, ’When you’re an entry-level pastry chef, you get used to people telling you, ‘No.’
Feeling dejected, Cinthya took time off to travel and feed her pastry passion by studying under award-winning pastry chefs and chocolatiers such as Antonio Bachour, Norman Love and Susan Notter, as well as the U.S. Pastry Team, to name a few.
Cinthya also began to dabble in chocolate making which she soon discovered was her true pastry calling. ‘Chocolate making is truly in my heart. Used as a canvas to pair with different flavors, chocolate is a symphony in your mouth.’
With Cinthya’s parents having been born and raised in Honduras, Cinthya discovered an even deeper connection to chocolate and cacao spawned by her ancestral roots.
However, despite her newfound joy of working with chocolate, Cinthya was
increasingly disheartened with the limits of her pastry profession positions. Deciding she needed a change, she quit her job and registered for several classes in New York to pursue her goal of being a Master Pastry Chef. This experience was the catalyst Romrielli needed to feel equipped to open her own shop.‘ ’I saw the tools they were using, not just in chocolate making, but in operations. I realized running my own business was very doable.’
The final turning point that propelled Cinthya to open a business was the passing of her beloved brother in 2018 from a lifelong illness of sickle cell anemia. Cinthya shared, ‘He left me his life insurance and said, now you can open up your big shop. You don’t have to deal with people saying no to you all the time.’
Cinful Sweets opened on March 19, 2021. Romrielli, Master Pastry Chef and Certified Chocolatier, shared a full circle moment she had with her family prior to opening. ‘My parents, who played in the cacao trees as kids, would always tell me and my sister about their dream of wanting to open a chocolate shop if they had stayed. The week prior to the grand opening of Cinful Sweets, my parents and sister came to help me with production. My family looked at me and said, ‘Oh my gosh! Wow! You’re really doing this!
Valrhona is absolutely my favorite chocolate to work with. Valrhona has created a range of unique and recognizable aromatic profiles which is what makes our desserts the best stuff on earth! Valrhona is also a B Corporation. This prestigious certification identifies companies that are dedicated to better the world both socially and environmentally. which aligns with our mission in terms of integrity.
Cinthya Romrielli, Owner/Pastry Chef of Cinful Sweets in Austin Texas doesn’t like to take ‘no’ for an answer.
Created by the Cistercian monks of Chiaravalle in the 12th century, Grana Padano, made from unpasteurized, semi-skimmed cow’s milk, is still made throughout the Po River Valley in northeastern Italy. Rivaling that other King of Cheese, Grana Padano has been dazzling menus since 1996. Deck your menu with irresistible, multi-application cylindrical wheels of Grana Padano, and let the festive good times roll.
