Anyone who meets Hubert Keller becomes a fan.
“He is talented,” says Tony Nguyen, executive chef of AnQi at South Coast Plaza and Crustacean Beverly Hills. “He is also so cool. You know he DJs?”
Two years ago, at the inaugural Fire It Up event held at the Grand Wailea in Maui, Keller took stage. He stunned attendees as he began spinning at an impromptu afterparty.
“He was great,” recalls charcuterie expert Justin Brunson. “It really made the evening memorable!”
Keller’s set was one of the event’s highlights. The other was the barbecue. That night, surrounded by renowned pitmasters Sam Jones, Chris Lilly and Wayne Mueller, a passion ignited inside him.
“I watched all these talented guys and I saw how they did things,” recalls Keller. “I learned and I did research and now I have something that I think is really spectacular.”
This past July, Keller returned to Maui and presented a jaw-dropping display: two whole lambs roasting on spits perched above a hot bed of coals. For hours, the chef and his team raised and lowered the spits to evenly roast the meat. They took turns, standing for hours; basting the lambs and fanning the coals. As the festival crowd sauntered onto the grounds, pineapples were placed on the perimeter of the pit. The ambient heat charred the tough exterior and cooked the sweet fruity flesh inside. The pineapple slaw garnish perfectly accompanied Keller’s succulent slow-cooked lamb. It was apparent: the “Top Chef” alum had mastered it.
On Oct. 5, Keller brings his newfound knowledge to Newport Beach. At Orange County’s first Fire It Up food event, Balboa Bay Resort will set the stage for Newport Beach Wine & Food Festival’s barbecue-focused afternoon. Before the event, we caught up with Keller and learned about what dish he’s serving – (Answer: The decadent Fleur Burger Rossini. Think: Wagyu beef, Foie Gras, and black truffles.) – and one place he loves but refuses to share with the world.
COAST: People ask you all the time, “Where are the best places to eat?”
HUBERT KELLER: For my show on PBS this season we will go to under-the-radar places in Las Vegas because that’s where Fleur [Keller’s restaurant] is located.
COAST: Are there any places that you refuse to share with the public because you fear that the publicity might ruin the place?
HK: There is one place I can think of … I tried it on the islands. There was no sign. It was a tiny shack near the ocean. There was one woman and she took your order and cooked everything in the back on a hot coal stove. [Keller gets visibly giddy when he remembers how the woman’s hands deftly turned large behemoth lobsters plucked straight from the ocean.] Without a high-tech stove or tools, she would turn each shell over a metal grate. So simple. The lobster meat inside was perfect though.
COAST: Your eyes sparkle when you talk about this woman. You were obviously impressed.
HK: They were large lobsters. The kind, if you overcook them, they get tough and chewy – not good at all. But, this woman, she knew what she was doing. I thought maybe it was a fluke. Maybe it would be good only that one time. So, I went back and there she was cooking, all by herself. The lobster again was great. People think it’s easy to cook over fire like that but it’s much harder. You can’t turn down the heat. You have to understand where the hot spots are, when things must move, when to leave them. It takes time.
Newport Beach Wine & Food Festival takes place Oct. 4-7. :: ewportwineandfood.com
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TIDBIT:
On Oct. 18, food-centric locals will flock to the Festival of Arts grounds for Taste of Laguna. The tasting event will bring together longstanding neighborhood favorites such as Las Brisas and Royal Hawaiian with culinary standouts, Broadway by Amar Santana and Azmin Ghahreman’s Sapphire to present an array of flavors representing the community. For tickets and more information, visit the website.
:: tasteoflagunabeach.com