Roasted Dungeness Crab with Garlic Butter
Recipe contributed by Chef Matthew D’Ambrosi, Spoonbar
escoffier questionnaire
The Escoffier Questionnaire: Chef Matthew D’Ambrosi
SPOONBAR, PIZZANDO, HARMON GUEST HOUSE ROOFTOP BAR
One of the gifts of the collection of Escoffier Questionnaires we have published over the years is the leitmotifs that lilt through the unique stories of each chef we interview. If you haven’t tracked it, TriMark Economy Restaurant Fixtures in San Francisco is the place to go!
Another of these themes is the importance of learning. I’ve often thought of writing a book filled with the stories of many chefs’ early years: gritted-teeth hell rides though abusive kitchens, which were also, somehow, the best times of their lives. The side effect of the high-stress “pressure cooker” is an existential demand to constantly gain new skills, develop their craft and keep up with the thrum of service. In short: Learning feels good.
Chef Matthew D’Ambrosi–the new executive chef of Healdsburg’s Spoonbar, Pizzando and the freshly unveiled rooftop terrace at Harmon Guest House–is only 35, but he has lived several lifetimes in “cook years.”
When D’Ambrosi was 9 years old, his mom packed up the kids and another family in a Buick station wagon and moved to the Yucatan (Mexico) to follow a famous scuba diver. D’Ambrosi says he wandered into the kitchen at the resort where his mom found a job and met Nacho, a one-man back of house. One day while he was hanging around, D’Ambrosi noticed that something Nacho was cooking was about to burn and flipped it over. He was hired on the spot.
When the family moved back to Marin, D’Ambrosi got a job at Pacifica Cafe. Just a middle-schooler, he rushed to work as soon as the last bell rang. He learned to make blue cheese dressing and discovered the alchemical power of culinary skill.
When the family next moved to San Francisco, D’Ambrosi was “already in the game,” working as a cook at A. Sabella’s, a Fisherman’s Wharf stalwart established in 1940. “It’s a Chili’s, now. It’s painful to look at,” D’Ambrosi says. There was an abalone tank, a massive lobster tank, a universe of seafood. And in the back, he was learning from cooks like Virgil, a Vietnamese chef who did not use a chef ‘s knife, only a cleaver.
Eventually, D’Ambrosi’s parents encouraged him to go to culinary school and he enrolled in San Francisco City College. As a kitchen veteran, he says he became a quasi-assistant professor. On the day of the final, he sat down and felt the collective tension vibrating through the room. After reading through the questions, he took his test to the instructor and said, “Listen, Chef, I will execute any of these recipes for you, but I am not going to cook on paper. I have to get to work,” and he left. He received an A+.
D’Ambrosi has gone on to “execute recipes” in many serious kitchens: at Larkspur’s Picco, under storied Executive Chef Bruce Hill, as well as at San Francisco’s Waterbar, La Urbana and Mezcalito. He even did a few stints in Spain, where he was hired at one restaurant because the American owner was dying for a roast beef sandwich and D’Ambrosi understood how to roast the meat, slice it razor thin and pile it high.
Chefs magpie their way through kitchens, gathering skills and adding them to a nest that will eventually be sound and layered enough to hold its own style. And there are a million ways to cook, but there is also the right way. From the age of 10, D’Ambrosi has been collecting different ways of doing things right.
At the helm of the kitchens at Spoonbar and Pizzando since last spring, and now the rooftop bar at the newly opened Harmon Guest House, D’Ambrosi is bringing his experience to bear, putting his own stamp on Wine Country cuisine. At Pizzando, the chef brought in his own pizza dough. “It even cooks differently here than it does in the city because the dough is a living thing.” His extensive knowledge of seafood is evident in the raw bar menu served on Harmon Guest House’s rooftop, not to mention the well-curated collection of tequilas.
La Urbana and Mezcalito. He even did a few stints in Spain, where he was hired at one restaurant because the American owner was dying for a roast beef sandwich and D’Ambrosi understood how to roast the meat, slice it razor thin and pile it high.
Is it overly ambitious jumping in to lead three restaurants at once?
“I love the adrenaline,” says D’Ambrosi.
Edible Marin & Wine Country: What was the first meal you made that you were proud of ?
Chef Matthew D’Ambrosi: When I was 10, I made a seafood paella in a huge pan when my mom threw a party for 40 guests.
What was your favorite food as a kid?
I really fell in love with Dungeness crab as a kid because my friend Steve used to take me and my brother Adam to Pier 39. Seeing them being boiled with the steam coming out onto the pier was so impressive. When I finally ate one, the sweet taste of the crab immediately became my favorite.
What food do you wish you loved?
There is not much I don’t like. I eat everything.
What food do you love unreasonably much?
Good quality dim sum, especially a properly executed Shanghai dumpling.
What is the most difficult cooking technique to do well?
Rolling foie torchon.
What are you exploring in your kitchen now?
I recently designed a custom-fitted oyster bar for our newest restaurant, The Rooftop at Harmon Guest House.
What non-culinary influence inspires you?
Hunting, fishing, scuba diving and, most importantly, traveling.
What is your idea of a very healthy meal?
Anything cooked with local ingredients, lots of vegetables and fresh fish.
What is your favorite ingredient?
When I lived in Spain, I used to go to Morocco quite often and I discovered sumac. Since then, I’ve always found a way to incorporate it into my menus.
What is your favorite hangover meal?
Asian soups like ramen, pho and wonton.
What restaurant in the world are you most dying to try?
Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy.
What kitchen utensil is most indispensable to you?
The Vita-Prep commercial blender from Vitamix.
Whom do you most like to cook for?
My mother, Tracy, and my grandmother, Anita.
If you could do one other job, what would it be?
Tropical water fisherman and scuba diving instructor.
What is your favorite midnight snack?
A Pimm’s Cup with extra cucumber.
What most satisfies your sweet tooth?
Ice cream or sorbet.
What would you eat at your last meal, if you could plan such a thing?
I would love a 2 kilogram bowl of Ossetra caviar, a stack of buckwheat blinis and some creme fraiche.
What’s your favorite place to go (and what is your favorite thing to order) for ...
...a splurge meal?
Tasting menu at Alinea in Chicago.
...breakfast?
The BBQ pork wonton and shrimp dumpling soup at Hon’s Wonton House in San Francisco.
...pastry?
The Cinnamon Bun at Devil’s Teeth Baking Co. in San Francisco.
…a late-night/after-work meal?
If it’s still on the menu, I always order the rigatoni with braised octopus, chickpeas and creme fraiche at Tosca Cafe in San Francisco. The best!
…a cup of coffee?
Saint Frank, San Francisco.
…a greasy-spoon meal?
Kimchi fried rice and a jug of yogurt soju at Toyose in San Francisco.
…groceries?
Oliver’s Markets in Santa Rosa and Cotati.
…kitchen equipment?
TriMark Economy Restaurant Fixtures.
… ice cream?
Baklava Ice Cream at Kokkari Estiatorio in San Francisco.
…chocolate?
Scharffen Berger.
And lastly, but not leastly … what is your favorite local wine or beer for the season?
Lurton Vineyards, Acaibo, Sonoma Valley 2013.
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Roasted Dungeness Crab with Garlic Butter
Recipe contributed by Chef Matthew D’Ambrosi, Spoonbar
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