Chef Ken Frank has built a career around seasonally driven fine dining, particularly California Cuisine, yet anyone who has eaten at his La Toque in Napa Valley will recognize how firmly his menu rests on French foundations.
When he was sixteen, living and studying in France, Ken Frank realized he might starve upon returning to the United States. “I had become addicted to French food,” he recalls. “The prospect of returning to hamburgers had me grief-stricken, so I had to learn to cook French food.”
One of the most memorable dishes from his time in France appears as an appetizer on his Christmas Day menu: Rosti Potatoes with Caviar, a Savoyard peasant dish that whets the palate for a roasted rack of veal and a simple, flawless fruit tart.
“Christmas is always the same core group, plus a couple of ringers every year, so I do like to mix it up,” says Frank, who adds that no matter the dish there will inevitably be very buttery mashed potatoes to accompany a large slab of meat. “When serving a big group I like to do a roast. There is something special about everyone sharing from a big piece, and no one in our family wants turkey again so soon after Thanksgiving.”
This year, he is making a rack of veal, since his wife’s favorite entree is a veal chop, and he notes that the rack is “essentially a really big chop that serves 10 to 12 people,” plus “something practically no one makes so it is a real treat.”
Chef Frank recommends a lighter red wine to complement the tender meat, such as a Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir or a Red Burgundy. If you have been cellaring a Napa Cabernet for more than a decade, its maturity would also shine during this meal, he says.
