Akhtar, Damon, and Ed, Back Together Again.
Three OG chefs from Craft are reuniting Thursday for a special dinner under the city.
Many years ago, three young cooks worked at Craft, Tom Colicchio’s pioneering ingredient-driven restaurant, the first in NYC that turned fine dining on its head with a sense of fun and adventure. On October 24th, those three cooks will come together for an epic reunion at See No Evil pizza, a hidden restaurant slinging pizzas under the city.
Chefs Akhtar Nawab (Alta Calidad and the soon to open Wayward Kitchen) and Damon Wise (Pineapple Express Barbecue), will join Executive Chef Ed Carew of the sensational secreted subway pizza shop See No Evil Pizza for the second in a guest chef pop-up series, Kitchen Music. (The first Kitchen Music session featured other Craft friends, chefs Marco Canora owner of @hearthrestaurant and Sisha Ortúzar).It’s the first time the band will be cooking together since working at the renowned Tom Colicchio spot over a decade ago.
Fun fact: another cook was in on this trio; his name was David Chang. He was working at Mercer Kitchen and desperate to cook at Craft and kept asking Marco (then the Executive Chef) for a job in the kitchen. Marco kept saying no, but finally he relented and let Dave answer the phones as a reservationist. While answering calls, he convinced Akhtar to let him stage.
“One of the first things I remember was Akhtar asking me to do the mire poix for the braised short ribs dish,” Chang told me a few years ago when I was writing about him for Delta Sky. “It was six quarts, two quarts each of celery, onion, and carrot. You could easily do this in 20-30 minutes, but it took me eight hours because I was so nervous. I remember being heartbroken that I could not do it fast enough.”
The team at Craft was transformative for Dave’s growth as a chef. “I won the lotto working at Craft,” Chang told me. “They took me under their wing and gave me a lot of work, but I learned so much about everything because I was so willing. I showed up early, I mean really early. On prep days, it was just me and Akhtar prepping together and we would do all the mise en place. I looked forward to Saturdays because I could fabricate terrines, do butchery, work on pasta. I staged for about six months and then I finally got a job there. And it was full on. I worked with a dream team.”
Now that dream team is back together – who knows, maybe Dave will show up too? Anyway, on Thursday, you can expect a soundtrack of classic rock (lots of Rush, and maybe Akhtar will be bringing his bass?), and a fabulous menu of antipasti, pizza and fun. The chefs are planning a menu that will include dishes that they’ve created individually, along with See No Evil classics; and they’ve joined forces on a Smoked Tandoori Chicken Pizza, complete with paneer, tobacco onion rings, and cilantro.
Tickets for the event are currently available for $80 on Resy and include a fully curated dining experience complete with a wine selection by Frederick Wildman and Sons.