The Charlottesville 29

A restaurateur called a recent dinner at Fleurie the best of his life. Not the best in Charlottesville. The best anywhere. Ever. Chef Jose de Brito is indeed back in the kitchen of Charlottesville’s signature French restaurant. And he has not missed a beat.

What has always been most striking about de Brito is his passion, which drives him to spare no effort in making every dish the best he can. “I practice and practice, observe and observe, practice again,” said de Brito. “How can I improve my flavors, how can I make it more flavorful?” While de Brito welcomes efficiencies in the kitchen, he has no tolerance for those that detract from quality, no matter how slightly. For de Brito there is no cost-benefit analysis to weigh whether an improvement warrants the effort it would require. Rather, there is only one question: will this improve the dish?

Viewing cooking this way may at times seem like a curse. When one objective is elevated above all others, casualties can include sleep, rest, and work-life balance. De Brito’s refusal to compromise on quality can also bewilder those who do not share it. “Every effort possible is asked from me of our team and also of myself to make the dining experience for our guests the best possible,” said de Brito. “I ask my cooks to work hard and god forbid never to cut corners. Push further, always push.”

A current illustration is a dessert of Asperghe et Rhubarbe. The dish’s origin traces to an asparagus ice cream de Brito made last year as a complimentary taste before dessert. It received such glowing reviews from the person whose palate he trusts most – his wife Christine –  that he resolved to build a dessert out of it. Now at Fleurie, the dessert is a composition of four elements: the ice cream, rhubarb, strawberries, and a spear of asparagus.

For the ice cream, de Brito first prepares a puree of asparagus seasoned with onion, shallot, vanilla, and spices. He then drains the puree for several days to remove moisture, before blending it into a creme anglaise base, and freezing it.

Next comes rhubarb “carpaccio.” A multi-day process. First, he peels rhubarb (save the peel!), chops the flesh, and marinates it in lemon juice and sugar. After three hours, he gently cooks the mixture with steam by placing it in a bowl suspended above a pot of boiling water. The bowl must not touch the water, says de Brito, or it will damage the flavor of the rhubarb. Cooking time can vary from 45-60 minutes depending on the maturity of the rhubarb.

Next, he separates the rhubarb solid from the liquid, and combines the liquid with the rhubarb peel, which he cooks until reduced to a glossy and thick substance. Then he combines the liquid back with the solid rhubarb. Set aside.

Now comes strawberry to add to the rhubarb. For that, he combines strawberries and lemon juice, sprinkles them with sugar and pectin, and cooks it all while whisking to activate the pectin. 50 degrees Celsius, de Brito says. He folds the strawberry pulp into the rhubarb and adds two pinches of ground ginger.

To form the “carpaccio,” he places the mixture between two pieces of plastic wrap, and, with a pastry pin, rolls it into a blanket about 4 mm thick. He transfers the blanket of rhubarb and strawberry to a sheet pan, and freezes it overnight. The next day, working quickly so it doesn’t get soft, he punches the blanket with a template cutter into elliptical shapes, which he returns to the freezer until ready to use.

The third element is strawberries glazed in, well, strawberries. De Brito macerates strawberries in lemon and sugar, extracts the juice, reduces it with pectin, and uses the liquid to glaze more strawberries.

The final element is a stalk of asparagus to recall the flavor of the ice cream. To let the asparagus shine, de Brito poaches it gently in simple syrup and vanilla, with a splash of lemon for brightness.

At service, de Brito arranges the four elements on a plate, dotted with strawberry Balsamic vinegar. Voila.

Days in the making, the dish takes just seconds to devour. And there are dozens of other dishes on Fleurie’s menu like it. If devoting so much time to each one seems insane, de Brito would not deny it. “I think I am crazy,” said de Brito. “You gotta be crazy to want to be a chef.”

So, why does he do it?

Well, that goes back to passion:

I am in pursuit of tasty and more tasty. To my despair I am short of it, so I try again and again. Did you ever have a dish that left you speechless for five minutes, with tears in your eyes? After a zillion dinners, it has happened to me only a few times: L’Ambroisie in Paris, the Fat Duck in the UK, L’arpege in Paris, and Joel Robuchon in NYC. God I wish I could do that. But I cannot. I am just a mediocre cook. So I learn and try to get better day after day, and slowly improve what I do.
– Jose de Brito