When the president of the Escoffier Society, an international culinary organization, wanted to throw a toast-and-roast going-away celebration for one of his prominent members, he turned to New York's Marriott Marquis and, in particular, the property's executive chef, Kevin Prendergast. Prendergast was told that 135 foodies were expected to attend, and that the guest of honor was an Austrian chef who, after an illustrious 20-year career in New York, was retiring and returning to his native country.
"When we have events, especially when it's a first-time client, the catering director and I will get together with the client to get some ideas, and then we'll work with the other chefs to talk through the menu," Prendergast says. For this event, Prendergast and his team created a six-course meal that would combine elements from the guest of honor's Austrian background and also his two decades in America.
"We talked a lot about creating a mainstream presentation with hints of Austria," Prendergast explains, noting that the majority of the attendees would be American, not Austrian. "We needed something that the audience would enjoy, but to which we could successfully add Austrian flavors." So for the fish course, Prendergast and his team selected monkfish. "We wanted something denser and meaty but that still had the light capabilities of a fish." Then, "I brushed the fish with a little wholegrain mustard before encrusting it with caraway and a medium grind of white, black, and pink pepper," Prendergast says. "Caraway and mustard are prominent components of Austrian cuisine." He finished the dish with an oven-roasted tomato broth rather than a heavier, cream-based broth "to keep the dish on the lighter side, since we're entering the spring season."
When it came to selecting a complementing wine for this course, Prendergast selected a Hunt Country 2002 Riesling from the Finger Lakes region of New York State. "We used Austrian wines in some courses and American wines in others. Because [the guest of honor] has lived in America so long, we thought it would be best to represent both countries," Prendergast says. He chose this particular Riesling because "it's a semi-dry wine with a fresh, crisp finish, and I was thinking about the monkfish being a little dense, and wanted the wine to be a lighter accompaniment to it."