Can the owner of an acclaimed nouvelle cuisine restaurant that often features snails, squabs and sweetbreads succeed in the kitchen of a popular Mexican restaurant where culinary favorites include tacos and Mayan chicken?
We`ll find out Sunday when Carlos Nieto, co-owner of Carlos restaurant in Highland Park, becomes guest chef-of-the-day at Hat Dance restaurant, 325 W. Huron St.
The question is even more intriguing when one considers that Nieto, along with wife, Deborah, is owner, not chef, of his classy restaurant. A successful owner is not necessarily a successful cook.
”Whatever happens, it`s going to be a lot of fun-we`ll have tequila,”
says David Schy, Hat Dance executive chef.
”You mean, the tequila will be in the kitchen?” Nieto asks.
The two men were in Hat Dance last week, doing a dry run of sorts of the upcoming Nieto menu. Nieto`s son, Adam, 13, who will assist his dad on Sunday, also was along.
”Oh, I have something for you,” Schy says to Nieto, and he brings out a white Hat Dance cook`s jacket that has Nieto`s name neatly stitched over the pocket. Nieto looks at it and starts laughing.
”That would fit my son,” he says. ”I`ve gained a little weight since you and I first met.”
”Better try some Slim Fast,” Schy says.
The Sunday convergence, with or without tequila, stems from a friendship between Nieto and Schy that started in 1978 when Nieto, then 30 and weighing 35 pounds less, was head waiter and Schy, then 20, was a line cook at Le Francais restaurant in Wheeling.
”We always had warm, good feelings toward each other, right from the beginning,” Nieto says.
”We used to always call each other `partner,”` Schy says. ”When Carlos opened his restaurant (in 1980), he asked me to be one of his chefs, but I knew I was too young. I wasn`t ready.”
Instead, Schy went to California for several years before returning to Chicago in 1986 to open Hat Dance, a Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises restaurant. He took his wife, also named Deborah, to Carlos for a wedding anniversary.
”I always knew Carlos could cook because he had invited us once to an outdoor Mexican barbecue in his back yard,” Schy says.
”We have been talking about doing this for a while.”
Actually, Nieto probably will be a natural in the Hat Dance kitchen. He`s from Mexico and grew up with Mexican cooking, so he knows his moles and salsas.
Sunday`s menu at Hat Dance will be a la carte; customers can order a mixture of Nieto and Schy, or all of one or the other. For reservations or more information, call 312-649-0066.
SCALLOP AND ASPARAGUS BROCHETTES WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATO SALSA
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Standing time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 4 to 6 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Salsa:
1 1/2 ounces sun-dried tomatoes (not oil packed), finely chopped
8 pitted green olives, chopped
1 green onion, sliced
1/2 small yellow bell pepper, finely diced
1 serrano chili pepper, seeded if desired, minced
Grated rind and juice of 1 orange
Grated rind and juice of 1 lime
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
Salt, fresly ground pepper to taste
Brochettes:
8 slender asparagus spears
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt, freshly ground pepper to taste
1 pound sea scallops
1. For the salsa, mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Let stand at least 1 hour before using. Salsa can be made in advance, covered tightly and refrigerated.
2. With a small, sharp knife, shape the end of the asparagus spears into a sharp tip. Brush asparagus spears with oil and season with salt and pepper. Thread scallops onto the 8 asparagus spears, dividing evenly.
3. Preheat broiler. Arrange skewered spears on a baking sheet. Broil, 6 inches from heat source, turning once, until scallops are cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes. Serve with salsa.
