POP up
and Coming!
The POP up and Coming! Dinner series was created by Chef
Sessler and debuted in January of 2015. The premise of the dinner(s) is for Chef Sessler to step back and allow his
staff at Cava an opportunity to show case their skills by offering a venue for
them to create a four course meal of their design. There are a few members of the Cava staff that
have been working for multiple years as cooks. The POP up and Coming! Dinners give
these cooks the chance to be the Chef for the night.
The Pop up dinner is all about the featured chef exploring
food that intrigues them. The featured chef writes a menu as well as manages
all areas of preparation for the event. They also develop an execution strategy
for the service of the evening. By engaging the staff in this exercise the
Cava cooks are all learning how to develop and manage a dinner service. As well
as lessons in team work, organizational skills and problem solving skills these
dinners give them valuable experience that is part of their training in become
a chef.
The dinners are designed to give the young cooks a platform
in which to execute their ideas. The menus below are the design of the featured
chef. We have put together three dinners for the winter 2015 season.
Currently all events are sold out
Featured Chefs & Event
Dates
Hillary
Schmidle January 14th 2015
Qvon
Williams February 18th 2015
Storm
Addison March 4th 2015
About the chefs
About
Hillary
Hillary graduated
from UNH and is an avid adventurer, traveler and mountaineer. She has a diverse knowledge of food and a
tremendous work ethic. She started working at Cava about a year after we opened
in the summer of 2009 as a dish washer and has been working her way up through
the kitchen ever since. She is a dedicated chef who has spent endless dedicated
hours to refining her craft. Her attention to detail and relentless self
discipline gives Hillary an amazing chef quality. Along with her artistic touch
and creative mind she is poised to take over a kitchen soon and put her spin on
the culinary world. I am looking forward to seeing this young talent develop in
the years to come.
-
Gregg
Sessler
ABOUT QVON
Qvon was the
inspiration behind the “POP Up and coming!” dinners. Completely out of the blue
one day this past summer he asked me if he could buy some duck breasts and some
other supplies. He was putting on a pop up dinner out on Pierce Island. It was
his night off and he had plans to do a four course menu for anybody that would
show up. He put it out on Face book announcing the dinner. A few people showed
up and he proceeded to make a great meal on a little grill. He had basically no
equipment; he had to borrow plates for Cava and other small tools. He took
pictures of each course and showed me the menu after the dinner. I was so
impressed with his motivation, passion, and desire to just create food. It is
not often you find young chefs with such motivation that they are willing to
spend their own money and take their time outside of their work kitchen to go
and offer up such an evening and cook for people not expecting anything (money)
in return. Did I mention he wasn’t charging for his 4 course meal! He just
wanted the opportunity to cook. It was from that pop up dinner we began talking
about providing a venue for these guys to do an event of their own.
Qvon has worked here at cava for five years now.
He began his training where all great chefs start, washing dishes. He has put
in many pain staking hours of washing scrubbing and sanitizing all to get to
this point. He has earned a position in the cava kitchen where his passion for
food and a relentless work ethic shine through. Qvon is hungry for knowledge, filled with
passion and highly motivated and that make him a wonderful student. Qvon has a
real touch with food and as he develops his skills I am excited to see where it
takes him. It is a pleasure to have him as a member of our team and a real
honor to have him take over the Cava kitchen for a night. With his soon to be
world famous southern fried chicken I know I can’t wait.
-
Gregg
Sessler
About
Storm Addison
Storm started at
Cava as a dish washer five years ago and has been a valued member of our
kitchen team ever since. He quickly moved from washing dishes and secured a
place as a full time cook. His natural talents and his artistic eye give Storm
an unusual ability to plate some of the most beautiful food I have ever seen. Over
the years Storm has created many of our cold plate designs here at Cava and
probably holds an unofficial record for the most photographed plate our
Valhrona chocolate dish. He is dedicated
hard working young man with a bright future. His Art is his passion and it
shows through to his daily work. Storm’s
influences in food have come from his Hawaiian and Philippians back
ground. I look forward to experiencing
his creations and seeing artistry this young chef is capable of.
-
Gregg
Sessler
Menus
Cava
Is Proud To Present
Chef Hillary Schmidle
Wednesday January 14th
2015
Pop
Up And Coming!
To Start
Everything Bagel Pretzels
Fig & Date Mustard
First
Country Salad with Boston Bibb
Poached Quail Egg, Red Blush Potatoes,
Bacon Lardons
Dijon Champagne Vinaigrette
Main
Braised Chicken Thigh And Dumpling
Celery Root Broth, Roasted Mire poix
And Foraged Mushrooms
To Finish
Champlain Valley’s Triple Cream
Baked in pastry with walnuts,
Cranberry & Orange
. . .
Cava
Is Proud To Present
Chef Qvon Williams
Wednesday February 18th
2015
Pop
Up And Coming!
To Start
Hush puppies
Pickles & Dip
First
Shrimp Gumbo
Jalapeno corn bread
Main
Chef William’s
World Famous Southern Fried Chicken
Waffles & Gravey
To Finish
Sweet Potato Cheese cake pie
Candied pecans
. . .
CAVA
Is proud to present
STORM ADDISON
MARCH 4TH 2015
POP up and Coming!
To Start
Crispy
Wonton
Hon
Shimeji Mushroom Dip
Soy.
Fermented Black Garlic. Fish Sauce
…
Roasted
Shishito Peppers
First
Yellow
Fin Tuna Poke
Cured
Egg Yolk. Squid Ink Avocado Puree.
Lotus
Root Chip. Fresh Wasabi Root
Main
Brasied
Ox Tail
Salsify
Root. Fermented Bok Choy & Hearts Of Palm.
Roasted
King Trumpets. Fish Sauce Demi Glace
Something Sweet
Blood
Orange Sorbet Pineapple & Pomello
Pistachio
Citrus Tuile. Yuzu-Lychee Gelee.
Pomegranate,
Purple Shiso.
