From CNN.com: “Chefs with Issues is a platform for chefs and farmers we love, fired up for causes about which they’re passionate.”

Read Chef Bond’s piece here: CNN: Serving Up Comfort Food After A Tragedy

On November 8, Chef Bond participated in an auction at the Skinner Auction House in Boston, looking for Bordeaux, Champagne, Port, and other fine wines with bottle age. He wanted to find special wines that would not ordinarily be found in restaurants and, if nothing else, things that excited him.

He plans to release a few bottles at a time; some are ready to drink right now, and some are considered young and will be held.

The addition of these wines will enhance the unique quality of the Bondir experience. For example, a white Burgundy with ten or twelve years on it will offer an experience different from that of a young Chardonnay. The wines with more bottle age and complexity will usually be served in our Zalto champagne and red wine glasses.

Here is the list of the recent aquisitions:

Chateau Figeac 1982 St. Emilion

Leroy Nuits Saint Georges 1er Cru 1962 Cote de Nuits

Trimbach Riesling Clos St. Hune Vendange Tardive 1989 (1 demi) u: 2.0cm Trimbach Gewurztraminer Selection de Grains Nobles 1989

Chateau Prieure Lichine 1977

Chateau Fonroque 1982, St. Emilionu:

JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 2005, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer

The Signatory Vintage Single Malt Scotch Whisky 1984, Islay, distilled at Caol Ila, matured in a hogshead, bottled 2009

Scott’s Selection Single Grain Scotch Whisky 1973, Lowlandsdistilled at Cameron Bridge, bottled 2010, natural cask strength 44.9%

Pascal Chevigny Vosne Romanee Les Petit Monts Reserve Vielles Vignes 1996, Cote de Nuits

Hospices de Beaune (Benjamin Leroux, eleveur) Beaune 1er Cru Cuvee Brunet 2008, Cote de Beaune

Hospices de Beaune (Benjamin Leroux, eleveur) Corton Cuvee Charlotte Dumay 2008, Cote de Beaune

Rossignol Trapet Gevrey Chambertin 2006, Cote de Nuits

Sandeman Vintage Port 1994, Oporto

Pierre Bouree Corton 1990, Cote de Beauneu

Domaine Ecard Savigny Les Beaune Les Narbontons 1999, Cote de Beaune

Faiveley Nuits St. Georges Les Porets 1997, Cote de Nuits

Louis Latour Corton Charlemagne 2001, Cote de Beaune

Paolo Scavino Barolo 1993, Piedmont

Louis Roque La Vieille Prune, Gasconyu

Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou 1973 St. Julien, 2eme Cru Classe
Bodejas Manuel Coribio Amontillado Very Fine Sherry

Lenoble Brut Blanc de Blancs 1996 Damery

Chateau De La Maltroye Chassagne Montrachet Rouge Clos de la Maltroye 1978 u: 2.0cmLouis Latour Chassagne Montrachet Rouge 1990 u: 1…

Borges Vintage Port 1994, Oporto

Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1959 Pauillac

Chateau Monbrison 1998 Margaux

Perrier Jouet Fleur de Champagne 1973 Epernay

Perrier Jouet Fleur de Champagne 1982 Epernay

Baron Patrick de Ladoucette Pouilly Fume 1997 Loire Valley

Domaine de Jouanda (Robert Poyferre) 1919 Grand Bas Armagnac

Remy Martin, 250th (1724-1974) Anniversary Grande Fine Champagne Cognac

The James Beard Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2013 Best Restaurant and Best Chef Awards.

We would be grateful for your help nominating us for the Best Chef: Northeast category.

Just click the link below and choose “Register” if you have never voted before, or choose “Log In” if you have voted before.

And Thank You!!!

Nominate Bondir

Rachel Miller has become the first Sous Chef at Bondir Restaurant, Chef Jason Bond announced last week. This October will be one year since Rachel started cooking alongside Chef Bond in his kitchen.. “I’ve known Rachel for a little over three years,” says Chef Bond, “I hired her at Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro July 4th, 2009.  She excelled at butchery and had lots of great ideas for dishes,”

Rachel’s interest in butchery and cooking in general began while she was growing up in the South. She was born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia and has lived in Louisiana and Mississippi. In Mississippi she had her first job in the food industry as a cook in her father’s donut shop. Rachel says at age 15 she was “working the graveyard shift, listening to country music, and making simple country food.”  That’s when she decided that cooking was what she wanted to do with her life. “I’m always thinking about it. I just want to cook and feed people good food.” She began reading as many culinary textbooks as she could find.

Rachel’s first job as Sous Chef was at an Italian restaurant in Virginia where she was hired as a line-cook and worked her way up. She was 18.  Two years later, having developed a strong interest in butchery, Rachel decided to move to Boston and accepted an apprenticeship at Lionettes Market, a sustainable meat shop in the South End. While developing her butchering skills by day she also spent evenings working as Sous Chef at the Alchemist Lounge.

One day Rachel saw an ad for a line cook in a farm-to-table style restaurant where the focus was local cuisine and butchery. The restaurant was Beacon Hill Bistro on Charles Street in Boston. There she first met and was hired by Chef Jason Bond. It was under Chef Bond’s guidance that cooking and butchery really came together for Rachel, and she learned how to balance  traditional foods and flavors with modern tastes and techniques.

Rachel had been at Beacon Hill Bistro for a year and a half when she decided to follow her passion to really learn about sustainable farming. She and her partner packed up and moved to a small town in Texas where they bought some land and began their own farm. The goal was to be fully sustaining and to “..really see what we were capable of,” says Rachel. “We grew our own food and raised enough chickens for ourselves and our neighbors. I had a real awakening about how much effort goes into growing your own food and raising animals.”

After almost a year the two decided to come back to Boston. Rachel got back in touch with Chef Bond, who told her that he had a place for her in his one-year-old restaurant, Bondir. “The first six months at Bondir were really challenging as well as rewarding,” says Rachel. “There are always new menus to plan, new techniques to try. It’s like coming to school every day. Working with Jason has always been like that.” Recently, with Chef Bond’s encouragement Rachel traveled down to Mosefund Farm in New Jersey to attend a three-day workshop on butchery given by the Austrian Mangalitsa Breeders’ Association. And this October she will be attending the Grrls Meat Camp in Chicago hosted by Kate Hill and Kari Underly.

Chef Bond says of Rachel, “She is the person I chose as my first Sous Chef at Bondir because she earns the title.  She knows what it means and she works for it.  Everything she does is focused on making Bondir a better place to dine and to work.  She is helping us all grow and push forward.”

“I’m very motivated,” says Rachel. “Being named Sous Chef at Bondir makes me want to work harder and keep growing, as a cook and as a person.”

Photo from Harvard Gazette

During the last two weeks, on his days off, Chef Jason Bond spent time acting as “camp counselor” of sorts, to a group of 20 school-aged children enrolled in a summer program at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The two-week summer course is an offshoot of the “Science and Cooking” program run by the SEAS. Harvard designed the course, in conjunction with the children’s cooking magazine Chop Chop, to help children learn more about science by using examples and lessons from the world of cooking.

According to an article in the Harvard Gazette, “In their 10 days on campus, students would learn from scientists, mathematicians, and rock-star chefs about pickling, emulsion, fermentation, and more. They would be responsible not only for making their own lunches, but for prepping ingredients and cleaning up after themselves in the kitchen.”

Chef Bond has been an active consultant for the Science and Cooking program since its inception and was glad to participate with this new, slightly younger, group of students. Other instructors in the two-week course were Bill Yosses, White House Executive Pastry Chef and Lourdes Fiore Smith, a cheese maker from Somerville MA and owner of Fiore Di Nonno.

Chef Bond talks about the experience.

What was your role with the students during the “Kids, Science and Cooking” program?

JB, “I backed up the scientist who gave the daily lecture by offering how the food we were cooking related to the day’s subject – fermentation, microbes, foams, etc.  I also gave them instruction and helped them cook several recipes each day.”

What did they learn from working with you?

JB, “We taught them knife skills, how to cook a few dishes, how to write a recipe and scale it up or down.”

Did you enjoy science when you were a student?

JB, “Absolutely.  And I still do.”

What is the value of the SEAS’ “Science and Cooking” program, and why do you like being involved with them?

JB, “They have found a great way to both get kids excited about the sciences and also give them an introduction to good healthful food.  They are giving exposure to these topics and laying the groundwork for forming good habits in the future.”

Read an article and see a video created about the 10-day course here: Harvard Gazette

Viktor Lugovskoy/iStockphoto.com

By Eyder Peralta, NPR

“Describing how music sounds and how food tastes, particularly for us non-professional types, is fraught with danger. We tend to fall on the same tired metaphors that turn it all to mush.

“Enter Food Opera: Four Asparagus Compositions by Composer Ben Houge, which played at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design last week. Houge, best known for his video game music, teamed up with Chef Jason Bond …”

Read Full Article Here: The Sounds Of Asparagus, As Explored Through Opera

On Monday May 14th, Chef Jason Bond attended a very special dinner event at the  Modernist Cuisine Cooking Lab in Seattle Washington. The dinner was hosted by the James Beard Award winning chef and cookbook author Nathan Myhrvold. It was an opportunity for dinner guests to experience first hand the techniques described in Myhrvold’s six-volume, 2,438-page “Modernist Cuisine. The Art and Science of Cooking.” Chef Bond was very excited and honored to be there.

In addition to attending the Modernist Cuisine Dinner, Chef Bond also took some time during his brief trip to Seattle to explore some of the city’s other culinary offerings. Here’s just some of the pictures he took along with his descriptions.

"Entryway to Canlis. One of the best restaurants I have been to for a long time."

"Aunti Batali rolling gnocchi."

"Armandino's. Worth the wait. (Ten years)"

"Food truck. Yummy pulled pork. Surprising, right?"

"At Nathan Myhrvold's 400,000 sq. ft. laboratory."

"The centrifuge. The one piece that I'd take if I could."

"Pea fat. On toast. Made in the centrifuge."

"Corn fat. Corn water maddie."

"Elote, freeze-dried corn, brown butter, cilantro blossoms."

"Whipped beef fat, super fried, ultrasonicly crispy."

"Grilled cheese cotton candy"

"Liquid nitro"

"Tea and Coffee - acid coagulation, vacuum infusion."

See all 75 photos here: “A Day in Seattle” Facebook Photo Album

Serious Eats Boston came to visit the Bondir kitchen and film Chef Bond as he prepares and talks about his Red Corn Grits With Pork Belly.

Click below to read their post and see the video!

Video: Grits With Pork Belly At Bondir

Nantucket and Wine do have to be, admittedly, two of my favorite things. Even more so, when these two meet for a long weekend in the beginning of summer, it is a chance you do not want to pass up. The 15th annual Nantucket Wine Festival took place from May 19 – May 22 this year and when I was invited back to take part in the festival, I couldn’t decline. The Nantucket Wine Festival is one of those gatherings that are about a lot more than just wine. It is a group of people who have to fly, drive, and sail to a remote island 30 miles out to sea to celebrate some really amazing people and some even more amazing wines. It is about meeting the men and women who are behind picking each grape and vintage and hearing their stories about how they got where they are, and exploring these stories with 40,000 of your closet wine-loving friends.

I had the great honor to be part of a group of amazing events. The first was a vertical tasting of Chambolle-Musigny 2003-2008 by Alex Gambal, with one of Jason’s friends Megan McClune. It was a great start to the weekend at a great home right downtown with an old friend Dorothy Hamill and her husband John MacColl. After that it was off to the races with the Grand Gala that evening, where 50 -75 wineries are paired with restaurants from around the island to showcase their parings of delicious food and wines (my favorite being Fois Gras éclairs – yes, éclairs), which served as a great headstone to the Tim Mondavi dinner the next night, who received Luminary of the Year award this year. Paired with Chef Eric Brenner from Post 390, I had the honor to Sommelier the dinner, and Tim and his Daughter Carissa could not have been nicer people. They had their new line of Continuum 2005 and 2008 on display, and went great with Chef Brenner’s minute-steak entrée.

I also did have some time to sneak away to the other side of the island to check in with my good friends at Cisco and see what new amazing things they are cooking up at the brewery. Tasted through some old favorites and some promising new arrivals, knowing that a cold beer after long wine tastings is a must do – palate cleansing purposes only of course…

The next morning, Nantucket lived up to its nickname of The Grey Lady with overcast skies and heavy fog at 8:30am. I was off to the Great Harbor Yacht Club for the coveted St. Emlion tasting. For the first time ever, historically, 12 different Bordeaux’s were being tasted side by side, with all of their wine makers present. It was an Olympic style pour session, getting through 12 glasses per person; with 140 people on the guest list – 1,728 pours later – I could not feel my arm. The afternoon proved to be an amazing one, with a quick break for lunch, then back to finish off the remainder of the tasting glasses, before I had to taxi myself to the complete opposite end of the island to meet with Robert Sinskey to taste through his Pinot Noir collection – starting with his Vin Gris and ending with his 2007 Four Vines. Let me tell you – his 2010 Vin Gris, if you can find it – buy it. This vintage sold out in 3 days, and even Robert himself, who admitted that it’s drinkability has heeded fan pictures sent to him of hot tub drinking, wedding night consuming, and morning after where-did-this-come-from tattoos, are all justification that this is one serious summer wine.

After a world-wind couple of days, I got a night to myself to catch up and reflect on all the things I learned at this year’s wine festival: Food tastes better when you eat it on the beach, Wine is, indeed, a breakfast food group, if Sean Larkin offers you Fernet – say no, White always before Red, Fois Gras can be eaten for appetizer, entrée, and dessert, beer never tasted better than after 4 days of drinking wine, and that Nantucket’s play at a wine festival has to be, and yes I am happily biased- one of the best events for the Food and Wine program in the world.

It was an honor to be part of the festival, and to be representing Bondir, and I must say – it was such hard “work”, but somebody’s got to do it, right?

Cheers,
Patrick

Friends

Saint-Émilion

Gambal flight

Tent

Cisco Bar

Nantucket from ferry

Bondir General Manager, Patrick Gaggiano, has been asked to be involved in the Nantucket Wine Festival again this year. The festival, now in it’s 15th year, will be held May 19th through the 22nd. Patrick is honored to be coming back to the island to be a part of such a wonderful event!

Patrick will be involved in a number of events this year including the Great Wines in Grand Homes series with Alex Gambal and Robert Sinksky, as well as Sommelier with Tim Mondavi who just got the coveted Luminary of the year award!

Patrick is also very excited to be taking part in the St. Emilion tasting that will be going on Saturday afternoon.

Stay tuned as Patrick will be live tweeting from the festival. Follow his “NWF” tweets here . . . .