At my club, Fiddler’s Elbow, we have several dining venues and options from casual to fine dining as well as a thriving “to go” business. My team serves people who eat out 4 or 5 times a week, including several times at our club. Many come in larger groups or as a family although we serve couples and even business people who are entertaining clients. They are diverse and they expect variety from their meals.
Michael Weisshaupt
Our members who prefer fine dining choose our Elbow Room & Bar often 2-3 times per month, while our 55th Hole Grill Room is a more casual menu and environment with many guests coming 2-3 times per week. So my challenge is how to best keep it fresh.
This time of year I love to prepare unique fish dishes and I have a passion for lamb as well. Both allow me to play around a little bit. In recent years my style is getting simpler where the products speak for themselves, and more focused on quality, fresh local ingredients. Even though we are based in Jersey, I define “local” as anywhere in the United States where artisan farmers care about the animals and how they are born, raised, fed and ultimately slaughtered. The same is true with vegetables and how they are grown and even packaged. A true artisan takes pride from A to Z. We often ship in ingredients from out of state, where they are in season, flown overnight to my club and ultimately taste best. For example we fly in ramps, fiddlehead ferns and morel mushrooms as well as wild caught king salmon from Columbia River. You don’t find them now in Jersey and it’s a totally different taste and experience when it is picked or caught from an area where they are in prime season and flown to my kitchen and on your plate in 24 hours of harvesting. Believe me, my members and guests taste the difference. Top flavors, ultimate freshness…this gets lost when it takes a week or two for food to be delivered.
Spring Has Sprung
An Executive Chef with a large operation must create a harvest calendar to map sources when planning seasonal and fresh menus. Often this is weather dependent. For example, spring is coming early this year while last year it was the opposite. In Jersey, we are known for awesome tomatoes but at this time of year I bring them in from the South. We serve a lot of tomatoes! Asparagus is also a big vegetable for us served both hot and cold. They come now from warmer climates but in early May we grow it right here in South Jersey. At that time I will focus a dish on it.
The popular dish that comes to mind for me when I think of spring is tuna or a nice white fish like a halibut from the west coast, or an east coast jumbo black bass with morel mushrooms and ramps from Oregon. Later in the season we get them from the northeast.
I also love spring lamb (baby lamb) which are tender, light and flavorful and when cooked medium rare yields a light color. Heritage pork and local buffalo are also very good. And with spring comes the first pasture raised young chickens that are harvested after the snow is gone. Great in size and tender and tasty!
Additionally, fiddlehead ferns, white asparagus from France and Germany, my home country (we eat it as main portion) cooked tender and served with steak, imported prosciutto or ham, tells us that spring has arrived. Very delicious!
Best Sellers and Trends
People today are focused on low carbohydrate diets. Protein is still big. If you go out you might as well eat right. That’s why steak nights are a huge hit. It may be a bit heavy so the next day you may follow it up with a light salad.
Even men are substituting salads for fries. It often shocks me at our larger events how many people choose the lighter meats versus the heavy steaks. But at the end of the day, variety is king and that’s why we offer Steak Night on Thursdays and Sea to Table Night on Wednesdays. I have noticed that Dover Sole is hugely popular.
Finally, people today are time strapped. Fewer folks have time to prepare their own meals at home. So we give them “to go” meals for families 4 days a week at our club. After testing through trial and error, we now offer homestyle cooked preparations from scratch just like mom used to make at home. Tuesday is chicken day (Francaise, Marsala, whole roasted chickens). Wednesday is a pork dish. Thursday is heartier…Italian sausage with peppers and onions or kielbasa with sauerkraut. Friday is lighter with fish like baked cod or vegetable lasagna.
When you keep it fresh and offer variety, even at home, your family and guests will be appreciative and hopefully beyond satisfied.
Chef Michael Weisshaupt is the highly regarded Executive Chef at Fiddler’s Elbow, a prestigious private club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He has been recognized internationally for his culinary excellence having begun his career in the Black Forest region of Germany where he attended culinary school before an apprenticeship in Switzerland.
Michael has worked at many acclaimed restaurants including in New Jersey, The Manor in West Orange, Bernards Inn in Bernardsville, and Crystal Springs Resort in Hamburg. He also has worked at The View atop the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City,
He is well known for his fresh take on traditional dishes and their impeccable presentation. He is equally skilled at a la carte dining and large upscale banquets and celebratory events.
