3.4.25 | Every Woman Should Have a Blowtorch

In honor of Women's History Month, we wanted to talk about Chicks that Rock.

Since the beginning of ZUNZUN, Becca and I knew we wanted this business to be personal and representative of who we are, so we decided to make our dining room playlist exclusively chicks that rock.

Anyone from The 5,6,7,8's, Beach House, Santigold, Chrissy Hind, or Blondie. Becca and I both came up listening to the strong female vocalists that our mothers played in the house. For me it was was a lot of Joan Jett from my mom and Bikini Kill from my older sister, and for Becca it was a lot of Janis Joplin, Nina Simon and Edith Piaf. (I think you can see how we both turned out.)

This month we’re celebrating another amazing woman who is no doubt part of all our lives, Julia Child. Chef Child seems to have always been in the background of my childhood. But it wasn't until I read a quote by her one day, something to the effect of “If you see a beautiful plate, somebody’s fingers have been all over it.”

I interpret this quote as a positive message about all the work that goes into one plate. Not just the person plating it, but all the people that had a hand in prepping the food, making the sauces, cooking the vegetables and bringing it all together. The more I started to pay attention to her, the more I really fell in love with her demeanor. The way in which she approaches food and her general attitude towards cooking seems to come from such a joyful place with a little touch of reckless abandon.

I have been cooking for a long time now and hope to one day approach my food and cooking with a modicum of the zeal and presence that Julia brings. I remember watching her make a potato dish, a galette I think, and as she goes to flip it in the pan (no easy task) she totally biffs it. The galette lands half way on the pan, the other half explodes onto the counter and she just has this “these things happen” attitude. So she scoops up the pieces of potato and kind of smooshes them back together on a plate with her hands and decides to create a whole new dish. She added butter, cream and cheese and put it in the oven to roast. She goes on to remind the viewers that sometimes things don't go as planned and you just have to roll with it. She had her hands all over that dish of food and made lemonade out of lemons. Potatoes au gratin out of potatoes galette.

Lastly, today I want to talk about some other chicks that rock: the hens we ordered for our upcoming Julia Child Wine Dinner. Specifically, the hens for her coq au vin recipe. We knew we wanted some pasture-raised local chickens for this dish. Traditionally coq au vin was a dish that used an older bird. The long braising process tenderizes the tougher meat, and accentuates the heartier flavor of the chicken. In this case we wanted local, we wanted pasture-raised for the flavor and we wanted to connect with a new farmer. So I reached out to some farming buddies of mine who pointed me towards Shadowland Farms in Highland County. Next thing I know, Wes, the owner of the farm, was in the restaurant with some chickens.

Becca and I had some roast chicken for lunch last week and we think these birds will do great in Chef Child's recipe. Keep an eye out for more Shadowlands items on the menu in the future.

So, happy Women's History Month. Rock on!

—Matt