The Whole Cow “Day with the Chef: Carlo Lamagna”
A small group of folks will get to spend Saturday with Chef Carlo Lamagna to get a close up view and hands-on experience of putting The Whole Cow meal together. Buy your tickets now for “Day With the Chef”. Limit of 12 spots will be available for this extra special opportunity to get to know the people behind this event.
Chef Carlo Lamagna will spent at least two days roasting the organic, grass-fed, grass-finished steer provided by Scott River Ranch over an open fire before the actual day of the event. You can join him starting Saturday morning to sit in on the final elements of roasting the steer, the preparation of accompanying dishes and watch the unfolding of preparing this the meal. You can jump in to lend a hand if you’d like. Vegetables will be fire roasted and dishes will be prepared by Carlo’s staff in the outdoor ranch kitchen. This is an opportunity to let your inner chef out! Learn the process and get to hang out with Chef Carlo and the crew.
The roasting of the whole cow inspired this year’s summer solstice dinner event. In the golden light of last fall, rancher Gareth Plank said, “What I really want to do is roast a whole cow.” Since then a team has pulled together to take on this unique culinary adventure. Gareth and Carlo have spent time imagining and fabricating the equipment necessary to hoist a nearly 700-pound aged beef over a wood fire. Oak wood from the uplands of the ranch will be used to slow roast the meat.
Day with the Chef – $65
Limit to 12 guests
What you’ll do throughout the day:
• Arrive at 10 am
• Watch Carlo and his team prep for the evening and put the finishing touches on roasting the beef. Lend a hand if you so desire.
• Chat with Carlo throughout the day
• Enjoy a box lunch
• Watch all of the elements of the meal come together for buffet-style serving
• Be the first in line to dish up your dinner
Carlo Lamagna – Clyde Common
Carlo Lamagna is the Executive Chef at Clyde Common and Twisted Filipino Dinner Series where he leads the kitchens in preparing simple yet exquisitely executed food from a menu that has no boundaries or borders. Lamagna was born in the Philippines, and lived in Canada and Michigan until he was a teenager when he returned the Philippines. Starting out as a psychology major in college, it wasn’t long until he discovered his passion for cooking and moved back to Michigan at 20 to begin his culinary career.
Lamagna cooked at several restaurants in Detroit before attending culinary school at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. After graduating, he moved to Chicago and worked with Bruce Sherman at North Pond where he learned the importance of seasonality and supporting local farmers and purveyors. From here, Lamagna went to Europe, traveling to Germany, France and Spain to gather more culinary perspective. From the anchovy and Serrano ham pinxtos in San Sebastian, to a classic duck casserole in Lyon, France, to liver cheese and bologna in a bread pan with mustard and rustic bread in the Black Forest in Germany, each destination has helped shape his cooking style today.
Returning to Chicago, Lamagna started working with Paul Virant, whose vast knowledge of preserving and pickling opened Lamagna’s eyes to a different way of cooking. At the core of Lamagna’s cooking is his family and his Filipino heritage, both of which played significant roles in his career. The food he ate while growing up, from his mom’s potatoes and beef on rice, his brother’s chili, his dad’s pork adobo, and his sister’s baking, all hold a special place in his heart and have been large influences in his cooking today. At Clyde Common and his Twisted Filipino Dinners, Lamagna’s dishes are a glimpse into his life: where he’s come from and where he’s been, coming together to make something new. He uses classic techniques with modern, beautiful plating, and his food is old school flavor, with new school style.
