Heyer, left, a native of Bay Head, has had the honor of cooking in the Beard kitchen three times for luminaries such as Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. In his career Heyer has worked with legendary chefs Daniel Boulud, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Tom Colicchio. For the Beard dinner he will bring several of his Bernards Inn staff, including sommelier Terri Baldwin, who will choose the wine pairings.
“I grew up fishing and playing in the ocean and Barnegat Bay," Heyer says, "and I thought this would be a really fun dinner for me to showcase the wonderful bounty that New Jersey has to offer.”
The evening begins with cocktails and five different hors d’oeuvres, including smoked bluefish with Gruyère on thyme crackers; Cape May Salt oysters with cucumber relish; clam shooters with horseradish–tomato water; blue crab–zucchini tarts; and lobster summer rolls with glass noodles, mint and yuzu mayonnaise.
Four main-course tastings center on fluke crudo, Barnegat Inlet scallops, seared skate and striped bass, coupled with home-grown produce like cantaloupe, radishes, cauliflower, summer squash and of course Jersey’s world-class sweet corn and tomatoes.
The finale is an upside down Jersey peach tarte tatin with local honey and lavender ice cream.
The James Beard Foundation was created after Beard, known as the “Dean of American Cookery,” died in 1985 at age 81. His home, a 19th century townhouse on West 12th Street in Manhattan, would have been sold had Julia Child and Peter Kump not launched a campaign to save it as a center dedicated to the culinary arts. The facility was opened in1986 and has been honoring the memory of the much beloved author, teacher and television personality ever since.
The building is sometimes referred to as the "Carnegie Hall of Cuisine” to distinguish it from the Carnegie Deli, on Seventh Avenue in midtown. (Kidding!)
Anyway, Beard’s own rather cramped kitchen, on the ground floor, just below street level, now serves as a performance space of sorts, hosting chefs from around the world about 200 times a year, as well as book discussions, luncheons and workshops for foundation members and the public.
”It really has all the necessary tools, top quality pots and pans,” Heyer says, “But only five or six people can work in the kitchen due to space limitations.
"I will do most of the butchering, portioning, smoking, sauces and vinaigrettes the day before, and everything will be cooked à la minute. All of the vegetables and starches also will be cooked in the Beard kitchen. The hors d’oeuvres will be composed there as well, and all last minute garnishes for the sauces."
Tickets to the five-course dinner include a wine pairing with each course. They can be purchased online at jamesbeard.org for $130 for members and $170 for the public.
On September 10th, semi-Jersey chef Marc Forgione–of American Cut at Revel in Atlantic City–will cook at Beard House. (Forgione, a native New Yorker, grew up working at his father, Larry’s, pioneering NY restaurant, An American Place, and owns Restaurant Marc Forgione in Manhattan.) He will prepare an extensive menu to complement author Brad Thomas Parsons’ discussion, “Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, with Cocktails, Recipes, & Formulas.”
New Jersey has been represented well and often in these Beard House dinners. As mentioned earlier, since 1991 a total of 212 dinners at Beard House have been presented by Jersey chefs (some chefs have cooked on multiple occasions).
Their names (and the names of their restaurants, which may be more familiar) form a veritable Who’s Who. Just in the last few years, the Honor Roll includes:
Chris Albrecht of Eno Terra in Kingston, Mitchell Altholz of Highlawn Pavilion in West Orange, Scott Anderson of Elements in Princeton, Andrew Araneo of Drew’s Bayshore Bistro in Keyport, John Benjamin, Michael Weisshaupt and Robby Younes of Restaurant Latour at Crystal Springs Resort in Hardyston, Humberto Campos Jr. of Lorena’s in Maplewood, Alex Capasso of Blackbird in Collingswood, Thomas Ciszak of Blue Morel in Morristown and Chakra in Paramus, Ryan and mom Cynthia DePersio of Fascino in Montclair, Bill Dorrler of Due Mari in New Brunswick, Ariane Duarte of CulinAriane in Montclair, David Felton of Ninety Acres in Peapack-Gladstone, Dominique Filoni of Avenue in Long Branch, Nicholas Harary of Nicholas in Red Bank, James Laird of Serenade in Chatham, Bruce Lefebvre of The Frog and the Peach in New Brunswick, Manuel Peez of The Peacock Inn in Princeton, Anthony Pino of The Dining Room at Anthony David’s in Hoboken, Michael Schulson of Izakaya at the Borgata in Atlantic City, Kevin Takafuji of Blue Morel in Morristown, Luis Zambrano of A Toute Heure in Cranford and Matthew Zappoli of Tre Amici in Long Branch.
SUZANNE ZIMMER LOWERY is a food writer, pastry chef and culinary instructor at a number of New Jersey cooking schools. Find out more about her at suzannelowery.com.