Bob Kinkead: Kinkead's Cookbook

By JULIETTE ROSSANT On a chilly East Coast day, even on the brink of Thanksgiving, we are all in the mood for warming food that sparkles with the taste of summer and the sea. Open Kinkead's Cookbook: Recipes from Washington DC's Premier Seafood Restaurant (Ten Speed Press 2004) to New Bedford Portuguese Fisherman Stew with Chorizo and Romesco Sauce (pp. 99-100). The photo by Tim Turner of a bowl brimming with shrimp, mussels, clams, and chorizo with slices of baguette smothered in romesco sauce. The recipe has over three dozen ingredients, but none is hard to get, while the aroma of a bowl of seafood stew is worth any trouble -– unless you can get yourself to author and chef Bob Kinkead's own restaurant in Washington. R.W. Apple, Jr. says in the introduction to this sumptuous cookbook, "The main reason people go to any restaurant –- sensible people, anyway -– is the food, and it is Bob Kinkead's food above all, that has made me a steady customer" (p. ix). Bob's classics are here, like Fried Ipswich Clams with Fried Lemon (p. 32) and Shad Roe with Pan Roasted Shallots and Parley Salad (p. 46-47). Many of his dishes capture the taste of Chesapeake sea food traditions, or those of New England where he grew up. Bob has two other restaurants, a newly opened Colvin Run Tavern in Fairfax, VA, and another in Boston, Sibling Rivalry, which he shares with chef and brother David Kinkead (who worked for Super Chef Todd English). That great affinity to New England is evident in recipes like Broiled Nantucket Bay Scalops with Sherry, Braised Endive and Bayonne Ham (pp. 175-7). The headnote reads: At the risk of bragging, I'll state that Nantucket Bays are simply the finest scallop in the world. How am I so sure? Because even the French chefs who now work in America, and those who come to visit, all agree they are the best. God knows it kills the French to admit that anything is any good if it does not come from France. Who would dare make this recipe substituting another kind of scallop? A bit daunting, perhaps -- unless you have access to the real thing, such as the last Thursday of a November in Nantucket. Bob includes a chapter on Meat, Poultry and Game (p. 187) and others on Vegetables and Side Dishes (p. 207) and Desserts (p. 227), but this is a book that celebrates seafood and a great seafood restaurant. If the leftover turkey starts to wear you down, then Kinkead's Cookbook is the perfect antidote. (Readers may be interested to note that Bob Kinkead is also DC chapter president and co-founder of the national group the Council of Independent Restaurants of America[CIRA], which made great efforts at finding jobs for foodservice workers after Hurricane Katrina -- see previous article.) Previous articles: CIRA: Restaurant Job Bank for Katrina [complete Cookbook Reviews] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, cookbooks --> subscribe to superchefblog --> back to superchefblog