Most wives tell their husbands not to bring home their work. But not Donna Jung.
Jung is wife of James Beard Award-winning chef George Mavrothalassitis, owner of Chef Mavro restaurant, who spends every night working in his restaurant kitchen alongside his staff.
"I’m on the line, I’m a cook," he said.
So when he gets home, you’d think he’d want to put up his tired feet. Instead, Mavrothalassitis heads for … the kitchen.
"There’s two categories of chefs," he philosophizes: "the chef that never cooks at home — they hate it, and 90 percent, 9 out of 10, never cook at home — and the crazy people like me who cook at home. I love cooking in general — cooking at home, cooking at the restaurant."
But cooking professionally and cooking for oneself are different animals, he says. Chef Mavro charges top dollar for contemporary regional cuisine showcasing the unique bounty of Hawaii influenced by the chef’s native Provence, France. These meals are created from the freshest, finest ingredients, and no expense is spared to access them. As such, the restaurant’s food must be consistently executed to perfection.
"It’s impossible to have a fish overcooked; it’s very upsetting if there are mistakes. People pay a lot for what we do," said the chef.
In contrast, Mavrothalassitis calls cooking at his Makiki home "meditative."
"I come home after all that, even on a Saturday night, and it’s almost like relaxation. I have no plan. I ask Donna, ‘What do you feel like?’"
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CHEF MAVRO’S COOKING TIPS
ON FISH
>> Fish is perfectly cooked when its spine is pink and flesh is easily removed from the bone. A white spine indicates the fish is overcooked; undercooked fish is difficult to separate from the spine.
>> White eyes that pop up also indicate that fish is cooked.
ON SEASONING
>> Don’t use pepper on vegetables or fish. It’s too strong.
>> Avoid cheese on seafood pasta or risotto. The flavors conflict.
>> Never cook ogo (seaweed) “or you lose it,” says the chef of its crunchy, umami qualities. The same goes for caviar and uni (sea urchin).
ON HERBS
>> Have a small herb garden at hand so you always have fresh herbs to pick.
>> Green leafy herbs are best used fresh and uncooked; dried versions have less flavor.
>> For maximum flavor, “roll and slice” herb leaves: Stack leaves and roll into a cylinder, then slice finely crosswise.
>> Herbs that are good dried include thyme, rosemary and oregano.
OTHER TIPS
>> When baking chicken, cook white meat at a high temperature, such as 450 degrees, for a shorter time than dark meat. This minimizes loss of moisture. Dark meat — along with red meat and lamb — can be cooked at a lower temperature for a longer period of time.
>> When sauteeing onion and garlic, always start with onion first because it takes longer to cook. Stir constantly to prevent browning.
>> Salt suggestion: For everyday use, try La Baleine sea salt (from Mediterranean salt marshes), sold at Safeway and Whole Foods Kahala.
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Jung is charged with keeping the refrigerator stocked with fresh food. She shops almost daily because except for storing items such as bread, pita and ice cream, "I don’t believe in the freezer, at the restaurant or at home," he said. The operative word is "fresh" in every case.
Mavrothalassitis is also extremely scrupulous about keeping the inventories of his work and home refrigerators separate, "even down to one tomato," says Jung.
"My rule is, home is home, restaurant is restaurant," he said. "So the supermarket products aren’t as beautiful as what I get for the restaurant — that’s life."
Jung shops at a rotation of stores that she visits for particular products. There’s Foodland for an array of R. Field products, Safeway for the pharmacy and cheese, Times for produce and local hamburger, Costco for feta, Tamura’s for wine and Tamashiro Market for fish. Though she says she’d love to shop at farmers markets, a lot of her shopping is done at night, as the couple’s schedules are tied to the restaurant’s hours.
Wherever she goes, she decides what to bring home. And that’s just fine with her husband.
"Everything’s spontaneous," said the chef of his subsequent meal making.
Mavrothalassitis, one of the founding chefs of Hawaii Regional Cuisine, was born in Marseilles, France, to a Greek engineer father and a French artist mother. His mother wasn’t interested in cooking, so he found a role model in his father.
"As soon as I was tall enough to see what was going on on top of the table, I cooked with my father," he said.
Mavrothalassitis realized he wanted to become a chef when he was 16 years old and presented a dish he prepared at a family reunion.
"When I brought my dish to the table, I got my first standing ovation," he said. "I realized cooking was fun and it made people happy, so I told my dad that this was what I wanted to do."
But his father told him to get serious and become an engineer — so he did. In fact, during the Vietnam War era, Mavrothalassitis owned a thriving firm that specialized in helicopter parts.
Finally, at 28, he surrendered to his passion for cooking and sold his portion of the business to his partner. He opened his own restaurant, La Presqu’ile (The Peninsula), in 1978 in the Provencal fishing village of Cassis, France. Today his son runs the restaurant.
In 1988, Mavrothalassitis moved to Hawaii to be executive chef at Halekulani’s La Mer and soon after became executive chef of the hotel. Ironically, he met Jung, a public relations executive in the isles, several years later in Paris, where the two were promoting Hawaii seafood.
After serving as executive chef at the Four Seasons Resort on Maui from 1995 to 1998, he opened Chef Mavro in December 1998.
The restaurant changes its menu seasonally, which means the chef and his crew create a new lineup of dishes four times a year. It’s rigorous for sure, but Mavrothalassitis revels in the creative process — and the nightly demands of the restaurant kitchen.
"If it’s no fun I won’t do it. It’s masochistic fun — I suffer but I love it. And I see smiles on my staff’s faces. They enjoy the pressure, too," he said.
Mavrothalassitis explains that to keep the standard of his cuisine at a level of excellence, the kitchen must be efficient and organized, with stations for each task and every tool within reach. He’s got it down to such a science that "there’s not a single spot on my uniform."
At home, however, "I make a mess. I put on an apron to protect myself. There’s a total absence of pressure," he said. "If I have to go to the refrigerator a million times, I go. I don’t think. I forget the world exists."
Jung’s only lament about her meal arrangement is that no matter how much she loves a dish, she’ll likely never get to experience it again — spontaneity does not invite repetition. And though she’s the one person for whom being fed by this renowned chef could be old hat, she doesn’t take it for granted.
"After all these years, I’ve sort of gotten used to it. But on the other hand, I always say, ‘Thank you for cooking.’ I look at the food and it’s beautiful, and I know it will be wonderful."
| OVEN DOES PARROTFISH RIGHT
Chef George Mavrothalassitis’ favorite fish to cook is uhu (parrotfish). He purchases uhu whole and gutted but not scaled and cooks it simply, with sea salt and olive oil, in an oven. The scales-on skin allows the fish to steam rather than bake. Fish is perfectly cooked when its spine is pink and flesh is easily removed from the bone. The end result is a flaky, moist flesh.
The recipe that follows the Baked Uhu is for a quick marinara sauce made of fresh tomatoes that takes less than 20 minutes. The kicker is fresh ogo that gives the sauce a unique umami flavor.
BAKED UHU
3-pound whole uhu, gutted but not scaled (can substitute with other reef fish)
Sea salt
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 lemon
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove fins from fish.
Pour water into a pan. Place cooking rack in pan and place fish on rack. Rub sea salt and 2 tablespoons olive oil inside the cavity of the fish.
Bake 20 minutes. With scales on, fish is actually steaming rather than baking.
Place fish on platter and remove skin, which is more like a shell because of the scales. Remove spine and large bones, and plate flesh.
Sprinkle with remaining olive oil, lemon juice and more sea salt, if desired. Serves 4.
Approximate nutritional information, per serving (assumes 6-ounce edible portion fish and not including salt): 270 calories, 15 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 75 mg cholesterol, 150 mg sodium, 1 g carbohydrate, 35 g protein, no fiber or sugar
OGO SAUCE
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 shallot, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced; peeling optional
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons ogo (Hawaiian seaweed), finely chopped
2 sprigs fresh sweet basil, julienne sliced
In saucepan on medium, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil and saute shallots several minutes (do not color the shallots); add garlic and simmer 10 minutes.
Add tomatoes; smash with potato masher. Cook on high, simmering 12 minutes. Season to taste.
Remove from heat; add ogo, basil and remaining olive oil; and toss. Serve immediately. Serves 2.
Approximate nutritional information, per serving (not including salt to taste): 410 calories, 41 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 30 mg cholesterol, 12 mg sodium, 3 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 6 g sugar, 2 g protein ———
Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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Chef Mavro, at 1969 S. King St. (at the corner of South King and McCully streets), is open 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays to Sundays. Call 944-4714 or visit chefmavro.com.
