For the last six weeks, Chef Pascal Gimenez has been getting up at the crack of dawn to hit the Wednesday Santa Monica Farmers Market. His purpose: Craft a weekly selection sourced from the season’s finest ingredients using classic cooking techniques. Lasting only two or three days at a time, preliminary planning is done the week before and finalized after his market trek.
We reached out to Pascal to learn about his inspiration, “I give a piece of me each time I put something on a plate. I just want to cook. Cooking makes me happy and excites me.” The organic selections at Fashion Island’s Cafe Beau Soleil this week include the following:
Blistered shishito peppers – $8
Yuzu marinated peppers, served with a trio of sauces- Sriracha goat cream, lemon basil yogurt and almond hazelnut.
Farmers market salad (pictured) – $12
Asparagus, baby beets chioggia, chive-infused Chenel goat cheese, marjoram, sai sai pods and flowers, opal basil pesto, lemon vinegar gastrique.
John Dory – $32
Cherokee heirloom concasse, yellow cauliflower florets and puree, escarole jus, sai sai flowers.
Organic pork tenderloin – $24
Fava beans, smashed purple majestic potatoes, pickled spring onion, Madeira sauce.
Pannacotta & sorbet – $8
Budhha’s hand citron pannacotta, yuzu sorbet, white shahtoot mulberries, elderberry flower.
Limited quantities of each dish are available. New selections introduced every Wednesday (until Chef Gimenez oversleeps— kidding!).
