{"id":4152,"date":"2012-12-06T16:01:11","date_gmt":"2012-12-06T22:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=4152"},"modified":"2012-12-07T08:26:30","modified_gmt":"2012-12-07T14:26:30","slug":"alon-shaya-of-domenica-wins-chef-of-the-year-honor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/alon-shaya-of-domenica-wins-chef-of-the-year-honor\/","title":{"rendered":"Alon Shaya of Domenica wins Chef of the Year honor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(<em>Editor&#8217;s note: <a title=\"New Orleans Magazine\" href=\"http:\/\/www.myneworleans.com\/New-Orleans-Magazine\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>New Orleans Magazine<\/strong><\/a> has elevated Israeli-born chef Alon Shaya to its highest title of &#8220;Chef of the Year&#8221; in its most recent publication. The Crescent City Jewish News is proud to reprint this article through the courtesy of the magazine.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Chef of the Year | Alon Shaya<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Food as happiness<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>By JAY FORMAN<\/p>\n<p>When Alon Shaya was 7 years old, his grandparents came over from Israel to spend the summer with him in Philadelphia. \u201cThe whole time, my grandmother was in the kitchen, cooking up a storm,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI\u2019d open the front door and this aroma would hit me in the face. And I remember not so much being excited about the food, as I was excited that she was there. Ever since, I\u2019ve associated food with togetherness and just being happy.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4153\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Alon_Shaya.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4153\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4153 lazyload\" title=\"Alon_Shaya\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Alon_Shaya-300x286.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"286\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Alon_Shaya-300x286.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Alon_Shaya.jpg 486w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/286;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4153\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4153\" title=\"Alon_Shaya\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Alon_Shaya-300x286.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Alon_Shaya-300x286.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Alon_Shaya.jpg 486w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-4153\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">New Orleans Magazine&#39;s &quot;Chef of the Year&quot; Alon Shaya (Photo by Greg Miles)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Shaya began working in restaurants when he was 14. As chance would have it, his first employers were Italian. He felt innately comfortable around that food, as it shared some similarities with the Israeli food he grew up with, ingredients like olives, goat cheese and roasted eggplant. And while he didn\u2019t consciously set out to cook Italian, this confluence of family and serendipity laid the groundwork for what would later become Domenica.<\/p>\n<p>Domenica has enjoyed praise from the get-go, but it has leveled up in the past year. Early press brought John Besh\u2019s name to the fore, but now it is all about Shaya \u2013 and with good reason. A combination of practical business sense \u2013 Shaya has leveraged the popularity of his Neapolitan-style pizzas to include a delivery service and a broader array of offerings \u2013 is one reason. But a bigger reason is that his technical ability and his personal expressiveness have come into harmony with his dishes, which are turned out by a focused and highly attenuated staff. \u201cWe all really know each other well \u2013 a lot of them have been here since day one,\u201d Shaya says of his crew. \u201cThings just flow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Domenica\u2019s genesis and more recent evolution is the product of two significant journeys. The first, the cornerstone, was Shaya\u2019s extended stint in Italy in 2007 leading up to the opening, where he absorbed Italian cuisine from both technical and cultural perspectives. The second was a trip to Israel a year and a half ago as a guest of the Jewish Federation of New Orleans, where he cooked for a number of charity events as well as a Shabbat dinner, culminating with a meal for Israeli troops in the Golan Heights. \u201cThat trip just really moved me and just gave me a flashback to my childhood,\u201d he says. Shaya came back inspired, and influences began to appear on the menu at Domenica shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n<p>The cavernous room is carved out of the Old World opulence of the Roosevelt Hotel. It contrasts with the rustic feel of paper placemat menus and glasses made from recycled wine bottles. It is clearly a sophisticated place, but it makes an effort to keep itself grounded. Light dishes, such as Shaya\u2019s tender Octopus Carpaccio, exist alongside showier set pieces, such as a whole roasted cauliflower dressed with sea-salt and whipped goat cheese. An earthy tagliatelle with rabbit and porcini mushrooms warms like a hug. But despite the assortment of choices, a diner here could be utterly satisfied without getting past the charcuterie plate.<\/p>\n<p>Among the house-cured meats is a garnet-hued bresaola, and for spreads there\u2019s a particularly silky duck liver p\u00e2t\u00e9 enhanced with Moscato. The prosciutto moves so fast that they import it from Italy, but all other items are made in-house. It isn\u2019t just the meats, though \u2013 cheeses add another dimension, like a surprisingly mild blue from Sardegna and a sharp pecorino. The accompaniments include, lately, a pickled fennel along with warmed olives and Shaya\u2019s addictive mostarda made with candied fruits underscored with sharp mustard. \u201cThat\u2019s the way I like to eat,\u201d Shaya says. \u201cMix and match like 30 different flavors all off the same platter.\u201d A tip from Shaya \u2013 drape a ribbon of shaved lardo over his torta fritta. The heat from the savory beignet causes the lard to meld into the pastry, doubling-down the goodness.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli influences can be seen in a new pizza featuring pur\u00e9ed eggplant first roasted under the cherry-red coals of his wood-burning oven. Topped with extra-virgin olive oil, goat cheese and tomatoes, it gets finished with tahini. \u201cNow there is nothing Italian about tahini, but the flavors on the pizza really come together,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Most notably though, these influences aren\u2019t fusion; they\u2019re expression. Domenica is and always will be Italian. But Domenica now speaks more pointedly with Shaya\u2019s voice. \u201cOf course I have to balance it because we are an Italian restaurant, and people are expecting Italian,\u201d he points out. \u201cSouthern cuisine plays just as much of a role in that as well. So you\u2019ll see the menu now as compared when we opened three years ago as still holding onto this Italian backbone but with these hints of Israeli and Southern low-country coming through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It has been a big year both professionally and personally for Shaya, who got married in March. When not busy at Domenica, he enjoys entertaining at home. While on honeymoon in Barcelona, he bought a paella pan, which figures in his home cooking along with a Big Green Egg smoker. He likes shopping at Hong Kong Market on the West Bank, and is also a fan of Ideal Market on Broad and Banks streets in Mid-City, where he goes for tortillas and fresh salsas. \u201cI hit the farmers markets\u2019 for proteins. I get Bayou Farm\u2019s chicken for the smoker and goat from Bill Ryals. I cook Italian all day long at Domenica, so I like to mix it up at home.\u201d In this way, Shaya remains connected to the boy in the kitchen at summertime. \u201cI roast bell peppers over the open flame on my gas stove just like my grandmother did,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd now whenever I roast a bell pepper like that, I think of her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>(<em>The online link to this story can be found <a title=\"New Orleans Magazine Restaurants Guide 2012\" href=\" http:\/\/www.myneworleans.com\/New-Orleans-Magazine\/December-2012\/New-Orleans-Best-of-Dining-2012\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>. Copies of the latest edition of New Orleans Magazine can be purchased at newstands across the city or by subscription.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Alon%20Shaya%20of%20Domenica%20wins%20Chef%20of%20the%20Year%20honor\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1399,1394,1395,1398,1396,8790,8795,8788,1397],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4152"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4152"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4181,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4152\/revisions\/4181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}