Foodie Chap: Fifth Floor Restaurant, San Francisco
KCBS radio 'Foodie Chap' and CBS 5 television 'Eye On The Bay' host Liam Mayclem introduces us to the culinary stars behind the food and wine loved by so many in the Bay Area.
By Liam Mayclem, the KCBS Foodie Chap
From his very beginnings as a teenage dishwasher in his hometown of Newburyport, MA, David Bazirgan showed promise. His culinary star started shining when, at age 20, he enrolled at Cambridge School of the Culinary Arts in Boston. There, as Bazirgan quickly picked up French technique, his path transformed: He was still using elbow grease, but it was to skillfully combine flavors that, years ahead, would garner him three-star reviews.
At culinary school, Bazirgan's pastry instructor connected him with Chef Barbara Lynch, winner of "Top 10 Best New Chefs" in Boston Magazine. Lynch noticed his talent and drive, plucked him from the ranks, and gave him his first job out of school at the prestigious Galleria Italiana, where she then worked. Their mentorship and friendship bloomed, even as Bazirgan moved on to be a line cook with Chef Todd English at Olives Restaurant in Charlestown.
"Being a chef to me is the good, the bad and the ugly."
- Chef David Bazirgan, Executive Chef
Bazirgan boomeranged back to Lynch in 1998, when she opened No. 9 Park in Boston's historic Beacon Hill. As chef de cuisine, he helped her win the James Beard Award in 2003 for "Best Chef Northeast." Naturally, he was catapulted to the title of Chef de Cuisine and, over several years, launched meticulously crafted seven- to nine-course seasonal tasting menus.
It was time for Bazirgan to explore new horizons, namely the warmer coast of San Francisco. In the fall of 2003, the ambitious chef worked at Elisabeth Daniel at Jackson Square before being drawn by restaurateur Jocelyn Bulow at his acclaimed Baraka in Potrero Hill.
At Baraka, Bazirgan successfully married his French sensibilities to the restaurant's Moroccan and Spanish flavors. He was named one of the Top 5 "Rising Star Chefs" by the San Francisco Chronicle in 2005 and received a three-star rating from the publication. Adding to his rapidly growing list of accolades, StarChefs.com also named him a "Rising Star."
In 2008, Bazirgan migrated to Chez Papa Resto at Mint Plaza as Executive Chef. There I enjoyed many meals. Here he developed distinguished Provençal menus and was again awarded three stars by the San Francisco Chronicle.
In his latest starring role as Executive Chef at Fifth Floor Restaurant, Bazirgan has finessed New American cuisine with a Mediterranean influence, and elevated the Fifth Floor Restaurant to a 3.5 star review from the San Francisco Chronicle. Chef David is a rising star who has risen to to the occasion and is maintaining his position as of one of San Francisco's most talented and celebrated chefs.
Chef David and I met in the Fifth Floor Restaurant urban garden where he grows edible flowers and herbs for the first part of our Foodie Chap chat. We then moved to the kitchen where he worked like a mad artist prepping his delectable Foie Gras Burratta. Yes indeed, may the culinary trumpets sound as that mind blowing, palette pleasing dish exists and can be found often on the Fifth Floor Restaurant menu.
5 Tasty Questions with Chef David Bazirgan
1. What are your words to live by in the kitchen?
No shortcuts.
2. It's midnight and you want a snack, you go to the fridge; what is always there?
Spicy chorizo.
3. If you were to come back around in a second life and become something other than a Chef, what would you be?
A millionaire rockstar!
4. With music in mind, the soundtrack to your life, pick one song or one artist.
Motorhead.
5. At your last supper, you can have a couple of guests, dead or alive, who would they be and what would you eat?
I would cook for Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. We would start out with tripe and finish off with squab and peas.
Liam: I'm gate crashing! Chef, tasty answers! Cheers!
Foie Gras Burrata
Makes 8 Burratas
2 oz foie gras terrine
6 oz half and half
2 sheets gelatin bloomed
16 oz fresh mozzarella curds
Hot water
Ice water
Steep half and half, blend with foie gras and gelatin, season with salt, chill. Fill ISI canister, add 2 chargers. Set aside.
Take 2 oz of curd, pour hot water over, wait 5 minutes, dip hands in ice water, pull curds and stretch until thin, fill with foie filling, seal end and form a ball, repeat with other curds until there are 8 in total.
Serve with fried bread, a good olive oil and sea salt.
ENJOY!
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