one pot + marco pierre white = may 15

this rare opportunity started with a phone call – a phone call from kim ricketts (kim is the closest thing we have to gertrude stein in this northerly town) who let me know that marco pierre white was coming to town. I think I pissed myself. marco pierre white might be the most important chef (we need a bigger word than chef here) of the last 50 years – yet he remains virtually unknown in this country – devil, saint, genius, animal, child, crudebrashviolent, unparalleled – but more than just cook, marco created a mythology, he gave us chef as icon, chef as public poet, he gave us “chefwithpower” – yes – but - sadly his disciples have little of the complexity and depth as mpw, but I guess they never do.

so the phone conversation went that marco was coming – and so we hung a carrot – a please stay an extra day in seattle and we will cook a one pot for you in some f*cked up hovel, some back alley, something dirty and beautiful – and damn it – the man said yes. so what ensued was a couple of mad days with mpw – drinking flaming sambuca until we saw unicorns, some destruction of property, and most memorably a night of the gods deeply hidden in the georgetown maze of industrial shmeg – there is a place that will remain unspoken of – but it is a turn of the century villa and two of seattle’s most adored are turning it into a kind of culinary eden – replete with honey bees and chickens and gardens and airplanes and freight trains, a place that you will all know about soon enough – and this place presently looks like little big horn happened there yesterday – and in this snarl of destruction and construction matt dillon, and justin niedermeyer, and morgan brownlow cooked there asses off for mr. white

and he/we ate porcinis and beef tongue and tender agnolotti filled with buffalo ricotta and he/we ate an entire milk fed lamb, grilled over hot flames, sweetbreads, onglet, testicles, shoulder, everything – and it was so f*cking splendid – and he is no animal – he was gracious and almost tearful in his appreciation. thank you marco, thank you for giving us the stage. - MH

some gorgeous photos by curt doughty...