The Knife

Variety and Michel Richard, together at last

Posting may be light this week, as Variety has just launched a new blog that's a little, er, demanding: Variety is blogging the WGA strike.

But! I have yummy goodness, in the form of the menu for Variety's Women in Showbiz luncheon at Social Hollywood. At the bottom of our pink-and-black invitation, it reads:

And this is what we've been promised:

First course trio

Crab soft blinis with cucumber lime vinaigrette

Lobster shooters served with tomato beet tapioca

Virtual tomato mozzarella eggs

Entrée

Roasted salmon with paella risotto 

Dessert

Michel Richard’s Kit Kat chocolate bar with hazelnut sauce

I have no idea what a "virtual tomato mozzarella egg" might be; if I didn't know better, I'd say the computer burped. More likely some molecular cuisine is involved, in which case I can't wait to see the reactions of executives who have been lulled into a false sense of security on the rubber-chicken circuit.

BREAKING: Michel Richard will make his first Social Hollywood menu for Variety

This week, Lesley at Eater LA broke the news that Michel Richard will return to Los Angeles via Social Hollywood. Today, The Knife has found out that the first menu Michel Richard will write for Social Hollywood will be for Variety.

How'd we get it? Insider trading, of course. It's the menu for Variety's Women In Showbiz luncheon, to be held Nov. 14 at Social H.

A caveat: This will not be Richard's opening event; that comes later. And the man will not be present because we moved the event forward by a week, thereby depriving us of both himself (scheduling) and of "first!" bragging rights. (Now there's a private party one day before ours. But no menu for that one yet, if only because I'm being such a pain about it. Heh.)

Some background: Richard, who was named Outstanding Chef at this year's James Beard Awards, was one of the first chefs to treat nationwide expansion as a career strategy. He opened L.A. patisserie Michel Richard in 1977 (still in business, under other owners); a decade later, he opened Citrus (the location now held by Red Pearl Kitchen); Citronelle in Santa Barbara, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. followed.

And then he bagged all of them except for D.C.'s, where he moved in 1998. Since then he's been credited with revitalizing the D.C. restaurant scene, where he recently opened another, more casual restaurant, Central.

As Lesley pointed out, Social Hollywood could use the help. And it will be great to have him back. But more than that, it's very cool to see one of the nation's top chefs head west and not stop short in Las Vegas.

Menu for Central Michel Richard [centralmichelrichard.com]
Menu for Citronelle [citronelledc.com]