Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
JANET K. KEELERThe promotional book features gorgeous photos and favorite recipes.
John Pivar's first cookbook is a beautiful thing.
Each recipe in Taste the Vinoy "Without Reservations" is accompanied by a stunning color photograph that was shot in or around the five restaurants he oversees as executive chef of the Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club in St. Petersburg.
The small fruit tarts look like something from a French farmhouse kitchen. A trio of flatbreads is begging to be taken aboard a boat at the hotel's marina for a picnic on the water. And even though every restaurant does macadamia nut crusted grouper, somehow the chef has made it look different enough to seem original. (Pivar's presentation is a cylindrical stack of rice, greens, grouper and papaya salsa.)
Taste the Vinoy is the first promotional cookbook for the hotel. Espichel Enterprises, the husband-and-wife team of Susan and Charles Eanes, oversaw production of the cookbook. Charles Eanes was the book's photographer.
For a promotional book, however, it is surprisingly free of promotion. There is a brief introduction from Pivar and an occasional recognizable photograph of the hotel.
"It's all about the food," Pivar says. "And that's what sets us apart."
The 45 recipes are favorites of Pivar, executive sous chef Mark Heimann, pastry chef Bill Hallion and banquet chef James Samson. Hopefully, Pivar says, some of the recipes will be favorites of patrons, too.
The slim volume is divided into six categories: beginnings, seafood, poultry, roasted and grilled, desserts and dinner party.
Most of the recipes appear doable for the home cook, which Pivar said was one of his goals, though they are probably more suited to intermediate and experienced cooks rather than novices. The recipes were tested in the kitchen of Fred's, the hotel's private dining room for Vinoy Club members. That kitchen has home-style equipment rather than large-scale appliances.
There are a few places where the chef suspects we know more than we do. The grouper recipe calls for candied-ginger sticky rice as an accompaniment, but there is no recipe for it. To improvise, add a few pieces of crystallized ginger to rice as it cooks.
All in all, though, Taste the Vinoy is a nice souvenir for a hotel patron and for regular diners who want to replicate the dishes at home.
The Vinoy will debut the book on April 14 at the hotel, 501 Fifth Ave. NE, when Pivar will sign books from 3 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 7 p.m. For more information, call (727) 894-1000 and ask for the concierge. Books can be purchased at the hotel's Resort shop for $24.95.
Macadamia Nut Crusted Grouper
4 grouper fillets, 5 ounces each
3/4 cup macadamia nuts
1/4 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1/4 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons canola oil
Salt and pepper to taste
4 cups fresh pea shoots (or spinach)
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/4 cup cooked rice
Papaya Salsa
1/2 ripe papaya, peeled and seeded
1/2 tomato
1/4 red onion
1/2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon canola oil
Salt and pepper to taste
For papaya salsa, dice the papaya, tomato and onion and mix with the remaining ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste.
In a food processor, pulse nuts and bread crumbs together until chunky. Season to taste.
Salt and pepper fillets to taste and lightly dredge through flour. Shake off excess flour and dredge in eggs. Press the nut and bread crumb mixture onto the fillets. Over medium high heat, saute fillets in hot oil for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Meanwhile, saute the pea shoots in butter, season to taste and cool until wilted. Spoon shoots (or wilted spinach) over rice, top with a fillet and serve with salsa.
Serves 4.
Source: "Taste the Vinoy "Without Reservations' " by John Pivar (Espichel Enterprises, 2004; $24.95).
Chocolate Chip Macaroons
5 cups sweet shredded coconut
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups chocolate chips
1 tablespoon rum
13/4 cups sweetened condensed milk
Combine coconut, flour and chips in a mixing bowl. Add milk and rum, then mix on low speed until well-combined. Using a tablespoon, scoop mixture and roll into balls and place on a nonstick cookie sheet, leaving 11/2 inches of space between each cookies. Preheat oven to 300 degrees and bake for about 10 minutes or until cookies are light, golden brown.
Makes 3 dozen cookies.
Source: "Taste the Vinoy "Without Reservations' " by John Pivar (Espichel Enterprises, 2004; $24.95).