By the time you read this I will have been at my new job for almost 5 hours. I will be furiously working away to get my new menu going. The restaurant is closed on Tuesday, my menu will be up on Wednesday. I'm fast. And I don't fuck around. Not interested in plating someone else's food.
After 3 years I am heading back into a kitchen that has been my home before. It's strange and wonderful
and scary and exciting. Just like love. The next stop is Aziza.
I made some great dishes between 2003 & 2004. Bright, seasonal, odd, familiar, svelte, spicy, crunchy, salty, sour, chocolatey, frozen. I am hoping to bring a seasonal dessert menu back to Aziza. Sweet thangs that complement and finish a great sentence. Mourad's food is a little different than when I left. He's more alive, inspired, and the kitchen has had a physical and personel make-over. Although it is familiar, it will also be completely new.
These are some flavor ideas I'll be playing around with:
chestnut-pear
apples-coriander
coconut-citrus
chocolate-cardamon
persimmons-pomegranates
buckwheat-brown butter
Although I hope to have some surprises up my sleeve... Inspired by Heidi I had some fun at Rainbow last night. I found some really nifty new things to try!
I won't lie-- I'm going to be busy. Busier than you've known me. So if I don't answer a question right away, please give me some time. These first weeks will be brutal.
* * * *
And remember, Menu for Hope III still needs your bids! Have you seen all the added new prizes? $10 is a very small bid to start out with when most of these prizes are worth well over $100! Show the UN, and all the people for whom food is merely sustenance, that we have an incredible community here, on the www. Final bids will be taken on December 22: that's only 4 days away!!!
Look at all the prizes by geographical area by clicking through the host blog's links:
US West Coast: Becks and Posh
US East Coast: The Amateur Gourmet
US (the rest): Kalyn's Kitchen
Canada: Cardamom Addict
Europe and UK: Davidlebovitz.com
Latin America: The Cooking Diva
Asia Pacific/Australia/New Zealand: Grab Your Fork
at last, the perfect excuse I needed to return to Aziza.
Posted by: sam | 18 December 2006 at 02:37 PM
congratulations shuna - i am so so excited for you - and thanks for the excellent pastry class yesterday too, I learnt so much.
Posted by: sam | 18 December 2006 at 02:40 PM
Many, many congratulations to you Shuna!! I think this is the perfect move for you right now. I can't wait to go and sample all your desserts. Those flavor combinations sound out of this world delicious :D You've given us all an extra special reason to bid on your Dinner at Aziza prize.
Posted by: Brett | 18 December 2006 at 03:01 PM
I am very glad that you are back in the fold as both you and the community will benefit.
I had the inclination it would be Aziza. I will be dining there soon, though sadly not as soon as I would like since I will not be back in the Bay Area until mid January. I eagerly anticipate your plated creations for when I return.
Posted by: Sergio | 18 December 2006 at 03:12 PM
WOW! Congrats! We celebrated one of our many anniversaries there on Friday night, and the desserts were the only disappointment of an otherwise incredible evening. I'm glad to hear that won't be the case when we return! :D
Posted by: Anita | 18 December 2006 at 03:41 PM
great spot-i had my birthday party there a while ago...and who doesn't love desserts.
Posted by: elle | 18 December 2006 at 05:54 PM
Cool, I've been there before, its tops (of course I'm sure it will be better now!) I only wish I lived up there to try it again! Good luck.
Posted by: jenny | 18 December 2006 at 06:56 PM
Congratulations, Shuna!
Posted by: Tana | 18 December 2006 at 07:06 PM
Congratulations!
Now I really have to get my butt over to Aziza already.
Posted by: Lori S. | 18 December 2006 at 08:33 PM
Shuna, I'm so excited for you -- and so excited for US! We have a new dining destination for our next Bay Area trip...
Posted by: Julie | 19 December 2006 at 06:41 AM
Congrats on your new "old" job. I need to get back to SF to try out Aziza. The thought of persimmons and pomegranates makes my mouth water. How about pear and anise?
Posted by: Alto2 | 19 December 2006 at 10:44 AM
I hope your pastry heart is happy to be back in a home it knows. And now I get to come visit and taste your creations! I'm happy too. Just don't stop writing completely, okay?:-)
Posted by: Tea | 19 December 2006 at 06:13 PM
Shuna, Best wishes with the new job and from all of us here at Outpost-Earth.com we hope your 2007 is full of happiness and good times.
JT Chandler
Posted by: JT Chandler | 19 December 2006 at 07:25 PM
What great news - way to go!!
Posted by: Laurie | 19 December 2006 at 07:52 PM
Excellent! This will give me the final push to get to Aziza.
Oh, you were mentioned in the Chron's The Inside Scoop column today.
BTW, I told Food Notebook readers (www.foodnotebook.com/blog/2006/12/newspaper_food_section_roundup_26.html) that everybody needed to drop by Aziza but only have one appetizer in order to save room for TWO desserts.
Should we all swarm to Aziza now or give you a couple of weeks to settle in?
Posted by: Carter | 20 December 2006 at 10:05 AM
Fabulous. That is so exciting. I'm incredibly happy that you will have another outlet for the creative energy that spills out of you.
I'm also happy because I will finally get to Aziza. It's always been a spot I've passed up for other SF destinations. Not anymore. That's the first SF meal I'm having upon my return...better run to make a reservation, as I hear you're highly in demand.
Posted by: Aaron | 20 December 2006 at 11:38 AM
Like other comment-leavers above, this is enough reason for me to gather a group and make the trek from San Jose. What a perfect place for a dinner to reward us for a semester of hard studying. I've already told my friends that when we go, they should fast for a day so there's plenty of room for dessert. :)
Posted by: JM | 20 December 2006 at 07:49 PM