Food Innovator to Serve Next Visiting Chef Dinner at Penn College
Friday, October 17, 2008
An innovator and leader in the science of food and flavor will visit Pennsylvania College of Technology's campus in November as part of the School of Hospitality's Visiting Chef Series.
During his stay, Chef Steven Schimoler, owner and chef of Crop Bistro & Bar in Cleveland, will mentor students as they prepare the Visiting Chef Dinner, to be served Friday, Nov. 7, to benefit scholarship funds. He'll also offer students a lecture on "culinology," or food science.
Schimoler opened his first restaurant on Long Island, The Terrace on the Plaza, at age 23. Soon, he had three additional restaurants in the New York area, establishing him as one of the city's top culinary talents.
In 1990, he sold his restaurants and moved to Vermont, where he became the vice president of product development at Cabot Creamery. There, he developed a process that incorporated liquids into butter, enabling the creamery to distribute nationally a unique line of flavored butters. This was the first of many innovations created by the chef over the last two decades. After Cabot, Schimoler started his own product-development firm called the Right Stuff, was general manager of culinary business development for Sysco Foods, and was director of innovation and development for Nestlé North America.
He is the author of a cookbook titled "The Mist Grill: Rustic Cooking from Vermont," based on a 200-year-old gristmill that he renovated and converted into a successful restaurant. He has appeared on television in "Food Nation with Bobby Flay" and the PBS "Master Chef" series, and he is a regularly featured writer for Flavor & The Menu magazine.
He has played a leadership role in the advancement of culinary science and has served as the president of the Research Chefs Association, where he remains on the board of directors. His deep knowledge of food science and the culinary process allows him to enliven the dining experience like very few other chefs. At Crop Bistro, he combines the art and science of flavor with an ounce of wit to produce a truly unique dining experience.
Tickets for the six-course Visiting Chef dinner, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in the college's Le Jeune Chef Restaurant, are $140. Net proceeds will be used for annual scholarship awards and endowed scholarship funds. To reserve seats, call the Special Events Office at Penn College at (570) 320-5229.
The menu and wines for Schimoler's Visiting Chef Dinner:
Smoked trout cakes
Dr. Konstantin Frank, Dry Riesling, 2007, Finger Lakes, N.Y.
Duck and pumpkin pie with black pepper whip
Bonterra Vineyards, Viognier, 2006, Mendocino County, Calif.
Arugula with caramelized pear vinaigrette and frico tuille
Mioneto, Prosecco, NV, Veneto, Italy
Seared lamb loin with griddled polenta, root vegetable ragout, fig gastrique
Luigi Bosca, Malbec, 2005, D.O.C., Mendoza, Argentina
Clos Mimi, "Petite Rousse" Syrah, 2005, Paso Robles, Calif.
"Cropsicles"
Gingered apple croustade
Montevina Terra D'oro, Moscato, 2006, Amador County, Calif.
To learn more about Schimoler and Crop Bistro & Bar, visit online .
To learn more about the School of Hospitality at Penn College, visit on the Web or call (570) 327-4505. For information about Penn College, visit online , e-mail or call toll-free (800) 367-9222.