The first time I saw an ingredient served in multiple services (outside a whole roast duck normally presented in two) was at the now closed Cello in Manhattan. Laurent Tourondel presented a lobster in three services as one option at this mostly seafood restaurant. Truly, I cannot tell you how much inspiration and excitement I gained from dining there and after spending a day in the kitchen. That was many years ago and still, a number of the approaches to food that I experienced there continue to influence our cuisine today.
The concept of an ingredient in three services is exciting. It forces you to look at an ingredient and find a
number of applications from the whole. Similarly, we get to use small and obscure parts of a base ingredient within the three services.
We have approached rib-eye in three services on several occasions and we will be using the rib-eye tomorrow as the core for an improvisational cooking class. Yet, we also have some guests who do not eat beef. We needed to come up with another ingredient which we could present in three services. While we have taken apart and reassembled chickens before, we have yet to present them as a menu on their own, served in three services. So, we figured this was as good a time as any to serve a chicken in three services. Of course, right now all we have is parts. The class tomorrow will dictate the final dishes.
