A delicious deal: Local chefs are kings of these cards
By Mark Benson / Daily News Correspondent
MetroWest Daily News, MA
Wednesday, April 6, 2005
Waltham’s Il Capriccio chef Richard Barron batters right-handed, sautees
right and dreams of becoming the general manager of the Boston Red Sox.
One city over, in Chestnut Hill, is another all-star chef, Jeffrey
Fournier with the Metropolitan Club, who specializes in making distinctive
and mouthwatering dishes with grape leaves and chipolte.
You can enjoy these fun food facts and more when you plunk down $4.95
to purchase a pack of Chef Cards, a new venture that combines culinary
excitement, charitable giving and America’s love of trading cards.
“It is an honor to be on a Chef Card with so many great chefs in the
MetroWest area,” said Steve Uliss, an Ashland resident who runs Firefly’s
Bar-B-Que restaurant in Framingham. “We’ve sold a bunch of them. About once
a week, a customer will ask me to sign a card.
“With the card, our customers get 10 percent off their purchase. The
fact that (some of the) proceeds from the sale of Chef Cards go to charity
is important to us at Firefly’s,” Uliss continued. “We want to show how much
we care about our customers and the community. We give out about 25 gift
certificates every week, to the Ashland Girl Scouts, to the Framingham
Soccer League.”
Uliss is one of 26 chefs featured in the Boston-area edition of Chef
Cards, invented a couple of years ago during a photo shoot for a cooking
event with Western Connecticut chefs.
“While taking the chef’s individual photos we joked how the shots, the
different poses, looked like photos you see on baseball cards,” said Linda
Pernice Kavanagh, collaborating with Ron Dubin of SR Media Group, the
company selling Chef Cards. “That’s when the lightening bolt struck —
baseball cards plus chefs equals Chef Cards!”
Like real baseball cards, the back of every Chef Card includes
biographical information and chef stats. Take Barron’s card for example.
Hometown: Natick.
Education: George Washington University and the Culinary Institute of
America.
Professional: 25 years.
Dream Job: General Manager of the Boston Red Sox.
Since Barron’s rookie year as a chef, he has delighted diners with his
mushroom appetizer, souffle di porcini and other Northern Italian cuisine
like his signature dish, osso busco and fettuccine.
As Fournier understands from his time in the big leagues and working
with other all-star chefs like Hans Rockenwagner in Los Angeles and Boston’s
Lydia Shire, chefs can combine old traditions of food and give them a modern
and sophisticated look.
“Growing up in a part-Armenian, part-French Canadian household, we had
great traditions. On Sundays in the summer, my grandmother and I would make
stuffed grape leaves with ground beef, rice and a tomato sauce,” Fournier
recalled.
“As a chef, my goal is to make things people want to eat,” said
Fournier, who is also an accomplished painter. “Creative food that you can
make a living on.”
At The Metropolitan Club, that includes a special grilled romaine salad
with a head split at the center, grilled with herb vinaigrette and served
with croutons made to order in a pan, white anchovies, chipolte peppers and
a Caesar dressing spicier than usual.
Uliss also speaks highly of chipolte, and the urge to create memorable
flavors for his customers.
“In Massachusetts you have some of the most educated diners you’ll find
anywhere in the world,” said Uliss, whose customers rave about his version
of St. Louis ribs in Memphis sauce, which can be the basis for a catered
meal.
“The Chef Cards help us, as chefs, become more human, more accessible
to people,” Fournier said. “Before, chefs didn’t get that kind of
recognition. We were like mad scientists behind the kitchen door.”
Fournier has found another way to connect with his diners and make them
happy. If you present your server at The Metropolitan Club your Jeffrey
Fournier Chef Card, you are entitled to a free Met Club dessert, like a
chocolate molten cake with a caramel center and a scoop of Met Club ice
cream dripping with caramel and brown sugar.
“Chef Cards are simply a fun marketing tool for the chefs and a great
product for ‘foodies,'” Kavanagh said. “You could say that the cards are
collectible, tradable, edible and soon to be valuable one day. Can you
imagine if you had a Chef Card of Julia Child from 30 years ago?!”
According to Kavanagh, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Chef
Cards will be donated to Boston-based food banks and hunger relief
organizations.
( For more information about Chef Cards, please contact participating
restaurants or consult the Web site )