I think if you want to have a caring staff you need to care for them. In many ways, I’ve tried to run this restaurant in similar ways [to Chanterelle]. I used to make staff meal once or twice a week; I love making staff meal, but I don’t have time for it anymore. She would come home from a very long day at work—she was a doctor—and she would cook for us. KeepRecipes is one spot for all your recipes and kitchen memories. It was just really delicious. People come in for the soup dumplings, people come in for the chicken, and people come in for the sable. Chef Anita Lo is a New York City legend, as was her West Village restaurant Annisa, which closed after holding court on Barrow Street for 17 years. https://www.seriouseats.com/2019/01/special-sauce-anita-lo-1-2.html The problem was that they didn’t really know exactly what they wanted. After two years at Mirezi, Lo left to travel the world. And then I made a little tapenade sauce, with black olives. Scale down recipes with care. Turns out that what she lacks in off-the-cuff inventiveness, she makes up for with a steel-trap memory and a mastery of dissecting dishes to their component parts, as well as repurposing ideas over and over in endless combinations. I think it was a vanity project, on some level. I put all sorts of kinds of meat broths in there just to give it extra punch. It was owned by a Korean company and they wanted to have a strong Korean influence, but they also wanted it to be Pan-Asian—this was the mid-'90s. Here, Lo reveals some of the dishes that have stuck with her over the years and reflects on how they fuel her today, from her mother’s home cooking to a tribute to her “restaurant parents” at New York City icon Chanterelle. Lo, a second generation Chinese-American, earned a degree in French language at Columbia University and studied at Reid Hall and Ecole Ritz-Escoffier in Paris. Today, her motto is more “No New Friends” than Manifest Destiny. And the broth was basically something that my mother taught me how to make, a red-cooked broth we used to make with chicken, duck, pork. You can celebrate the Year of the Ox on the Asian lunar calendar on the day it starts, Feb. 12, by making dumplings with the chef Anita Lo. One of my interns came in and made doughnuts one day—just plain doughnuts—and I thought. That's not to say it can't be done, at least for some recipes. https://www.ediblemanhattan.com/eat/a-weekend-with-anita-lo Transfer the slices to a large, straight-sided skillet and add enough cold water to come halfway up … About Us; Blog; Restaurant Recipes; Copyright Guidelines; Privacy; Terms We had all different kinds of nannies, but the nanny that stayed with us the longest grew up in Hungary, so she would make us chicken paprikash. Skim and add the remaining ingredients and simmer, skimming every so often, until pig... We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. I made a bread pudding, and I just winged it. David [Waltuck] and Karen were like my restaurant parents: my partner who helped me open this restaurant, Jennifer, worked there to learn how to run the front of the house; they helped me when I was writing my business plan; etcetera. This is something that we’ve also had on the menu forever, and people come in just for that. “Soup” Place the pig feet in a pot with the stocks and bring to a boil. Lo, a second generation Chinese-American, earned a degree in French language at Columbia University and studied at Reid Hall and Ecole Ritz-Escoffier in Paris. While earning a degree in French language at Columbia University, she studied at Reid Hall—Columbia's French language institute in Paris. I sit and think, I sit and work things out and then try it,” she says. It lasted two years. While I love to cook, I don't like spending hours in the kitchen so you will find that most of these recipes are easy and quick to make. Our editorial content is not influenced by any commissions we receive. It was a really special thing that made you and everybody appreciate food more, instead of just having this staff meal where cooks shoved whatever they could in their faces while they were standing, and it was all stuff that was going bad. She fell in love with the food culture and vowed to return. She would make this steamed fish on occasion, and it was one of the first things I learned how to make – it’s one of the things that I go to all the time. Add the shrimp and pork and season with 1/4 cup soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt and pepper. Set that claim against her successes on pretty much all of the quick-fire cooking shows (she was the first challenger to win on Iron Chef America and came in fourth on the first season of Top Chef Masters) and something doesn’t add up. Semifinalist, Best Chefs in America 2013 SEARED FOIE GRAS WITH FOIE GRAS SOUP DUMPLINGS, Best 25 Brazilian Desserts (With Pictures! Anita Lo is the chef and owner of Annisa and one of the most respected chefs in the country having earned numerous accolades for her inventive Contemporary American cuisine. https://cookwarerecipes.pro/special-sauce-chef-anita-lo-on-cooking-for-yourse https://firstwefeast.com/eat/2013/07/anita-lo-annisa-10-gamechanging-dishes Korean food was a hard sell, and it was a big restaurant—it had two floors, which was really a problem. It was just a sautéed piece of cod, and then we took all the cod parts and salted them, and made a potato gratin with the salt cod in it—kind of like a brandade that wasn’t puréed. This was back when cod wasn’t a no-no. It was kind of obvious to put foie gras in it instead of crab and/or pork. He would have these parties at his loft-like apartment in Paris, where a whole bunch of people would come over—all ex-pats—and he would make these big pasta dinners. In almost all cases, I have modified the original recipes in an attempt to make them healthier by reducing the fat while still preserving the flavor. Semifinalist, Best Chefs in America 2012. I worked at Chanterelle for two, two and a half years. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/543958/solo-by-anita-lo Nominee, Best Chefs in America 2016. Keep Recipes. ), Chef of the Month: Kay Baumgardt, Switzerland’s Patissier of the Year in 2020. And as the child of a Malaysian-Chinese-Southern-New England household in suburban Michigan, she lived fusion before the word existed outside the world of nuclear physics. https://www.seriouseats.com/2019/02/special-sauce-anita-lo-2-2.html Stories Recipes Press Room #JBFWomenLead. 2020 © Chef's Pencil   Privacy Policy & Terms of Service  Advertise with us  Contact us. Lo opened Annisa in 2000, an intimate restaurant in Greenwich Village, which has held a Michelin star consistently since 2009. "It's a lot easier to multiply than to divide," Lo says. 2021 Complex Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. “Even then I saw the parallels between Indonesian and Malaysian [food], Chinese and Malaysian, even some of the ingredients in Southern cuisine and Asian cuisines.”. I had a friend in cooking school who had worked at Union Square Café and he was very interested in Italian cuisine. Nominee, Best Chefs in America 2017. In April 2010, after a complete renovation, Annisa was reopened and then in October 2011, Lo released her first cookbook, Cooking Without Borders, which highlights her passion for bringing multicultural flavors to her American kitchen. Can Restaurant was my first chef job, in the early '90s. My mother was from Malaysia and also spent some time in Tennessee, so we had that as well. Recipes available for personal use and not for re-sale or posting online. Lo and Miller generally favour seeking out recipes already designed for one rather than trying to scale down recipes with more servings. Anita Lo. Her first experience opening a restaurant was a Korean behemoth in the mid-’90s, that tidy time when ring-molded food skyscrapers were the rage and fermentation was a health inspector’s nightmare, not the hipster holy grail. Mix together by hand If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Chef / Anita Lo. I thought something similar to that could be really good in a chicken, because. There she has built herself the space to relax, to write (her first cookbook, Cooking Without Borders, was published in 2011), to spend time at a summer house on Long Island and work on potential new dishes. When just smoking, add the mushrooms in one layer and allow to brown. In June 2009, a fire destroyed the restaurant entirely and while plans for rebuilding Annisa got underway, Lo appeared on Top Chef Masters and finished fourth out of 24 chefs. You know, a lot of people hate the things that they can’t ever take off [the menu], but…my cooks get really good at it, because they have to do it over and over and over again. Anita Lo, born in Michigan, is a second-generation Chinese American and while she studied French at Columbia University, has never worked in any field other than the restaurant business. And it’s why Lo has settled for the term “Contemporary American” to describe her cuisine, which can mean nothing and anything all at once. It’s just a classic Japanese miso marinade for rich fish. And then it’s served with seared foie on top and a black vinegar reduction—you know, normally Shanghai soup dumplings are served with a black vinegar dipping sauce with ginger in it, so I just did a plate reduction. It turned out really, really well, so I was like. So this sauce was based on something that he had made. We’d have a family meal, like a staff meal, where we'd all sit down and eat, and I thought that was great, really team-building. She received her degree, graduating first in her class with honors, while interning under Guy Savoy and Michel Rostang. www.findeatdrink.com/Index/Etc/Entries/2010/9/30_anita_lo_recipes.html Get Started - 100% free to try - join in 30 seconds. Chef's Pencil is part of the Amazon Associate Program and earns from qualifying purchases. https://www.amazon.com/Solo-Modern-Cookbook-Party-One/dp/0451493605 Before I opened Mirezi, [the owners] sent me to Korea and I went through a week of cooking school there, and they took me to eat at, like, seven restaurants a day—it was really kind of vile. The 10 Dishes That Made My Career: Anita Lo, Anita Lo spent years cooking ahead of the curve, often heartbreakingly so. Anita Lo, a first generation Chinese-American, grew up with her family in Birmingham, Michigan, and fostered an interest in food at a young age. There may not be many professional chefs who have quite the pedigree as Chef Capture memories. News & Recipes. In a day and age when great neighborhood restaurants are few and far between, Annisa was an unpretentious Michelin-starred refuge that turned first-timers into regulars and regulars into Lo loyalists. She’s slashed her commitments down to one: Annisa, the restaurant she has owned for 13 years, that she pulled from the ashes of a devastating electrical fire, that she held on to through a breakup with her business partner and nursed through the period when fine dining was the first line slashed from everyone’s budget. It was one of my favorite dishes growing up, and I loved to watch her make it. Preheat an oven to 375° F (190° C) Heat a large sauté pan on high. 2001 BNC alum Anita Lo’s 2018 cookbook SOLO celebrates the joy of cooking for one, just like this weeknight-friendly chicken recipe with a twist. That’s why Annisa’s menu reads like a schizophrenic flight itinerary, somehow making sense of dishes like squid with Thai basil and peanuts, and eggplant with Turkish chilies. We opened with this dish, and it’s stayed on. When hot, add the olive oil. “I’m not that prolific. We would eat it over rice. Jan 1, 2014 - Chef Anita Lo of Annisa, Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, and Bar Q in New York City demonstrates how to fill and pleat Chinese dumplings using homemade wrappers. Nominee, Best Chefs in America 2015. At Chanterelle, David once made this one thing that I loved: it was braised pigs' feet that had been chopped up and formed into a cake—I think it had leeks in it—and we pan-fried it so it was crispy on the outside. The idea came about because my father was from Shanghai, and we grew up eating soup dumplings. Then again, most new restaurants are trying to find their own way to define the intersection of cuisines these days—the curve may have finally caught up with her. “We traveled a lot, ever since I was tiny,” she says. Inside is some foie gras mousse and some jicama, which is just crunchy, it kind of tastes like a water chestnut a little bit. And then I served it on just an anchovy tomato sauce; really simple. That didn’t make sense to anybody in New York at the time, so. Page My mother's Steamed Fish with Scallions and Ginger. One single plate can contain a dozen different narratives, from a vestige of her classic French training to a friend’s go-to party recipe from 30 years ago. Sometimes she would make it with rice, which I didn’t like—I mean, I liked it, but I didn’t love it. The Annisa chef reflects on the influences that made her one of NYC's most distinct culinary voices. Recipes by Chef Anita Lo Anita Lo is the chef and owner of Annisa and one of the most respected chefs in the country having earned numerous accolades for her inventive Contemporary American cuisine. FIRST WE FEAST participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means FIRST WE FEAST gets paid commissions on purchases made through our links to retailer sites. Annisa, NYC) ) Awards. A Chinese American, she has appeared on Top Chef All Stars. Newsletter Signup. They also freeze well making them good for leftovers. If I’m ever alone and I want to make something simple for myself, I go directly to that. You know. Be inspired. My mom was a very good cook, and she made a lot of different styles of cuisine. A soup dumpling is gelled, so I made it with pigs’ feet so it gels on its own. She ventured into Asian-tinged BBQ two years before Zak Pelaccio hit with Fatty ‘Cue—her Bar Q closed after ten months, pushed over the brink by the 2009 recession. 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