It's not snootiness, really; he has to be tough. A professional chef may be talented and given to uninhibited abandon with his recipes, but if he doesn't approach his craft with precision, he likely won't be in business very long.
Case in point: the recently reopened Razz's Restaurant in Scottsdale. While Razz's itself isn't anything new (it has a long-standing history as one of the Valley's best eateries for its creative Mediterranean-inspired dishes), what is new is that customers now can be part of the gracefully frenzied kitchen scene. With Razz's recent relocation to a new space across the parking lot from its former digs, the tiny, galley-style kitchen has been brought to the forefront. Guests can watch Razz Kamnitzer and crew prepare their meals, either from one of the 20 or so tables or, for the best view, seated at the bar directly overlooking the chef's space. It's a good move: The excitement of being so close to the kitchen action is almost as interesting as Razz's meals.
The view is also an education as to just how much work being a career chef can be. It's early on a busy Friday evening, a without-reservations-don't-even-think-about-it kind of night. We're studying Kamnitzer performing his ballet in the exhibition kitchen, his neatly tied signature ponytail spinning as he creates our dinners. He's busy working on perhaps half a dozen orders, but at first, he makes it all look so easy.
A splash of oil, and a skillet of clams bursts into flames, the orange inferno leaping several feet into the air. Kamnitzer tosses the clams in an arc, the mollusks dancing over themselves and back into the pan -- once, twice, until they're sautéed to perfection. At the same time, he gauges a boiling cauldron of fettuccine, plucking out the noodles at just the stage of al dente. With a flip of the wrist, the pasta is mounded atop the clams, squirted with a plastic bottle containing a secret-recipe tomato sauce, dressed with a few handfuls of julienne vegetables and voilà -- Portuguese-style pasta is served.
The whole episode takes perhaps 10 minutes and dirties only two pans. We joke that we could do the same thing at home. Twenty minutes later, though, every seat in the restaurant is taken, and it's a different story.
Now, Kamnitzer is scanning order tickets and distributing assignments as the requests start flooding in. He grabs a rack of lamb, a pristine piece of beef, and sets them sizzling. He checks a finished plate and hands it into the pass-through for a purple-polo-topped server to receive. It hardly seems to concern him that he's at the epicenter of a swirling team of assistants -- bustling bakers sliding large trays of bread in and out of an oven a few feet away, cooks garnishing plates from tubs within elbow-knocking distance, grillers flipping steaks and frying fish virtually under his nose.
I dig into my dining companion's pasta, seeking out a piece of the sausage she's raving about. Even with all burners roaring behind him, Kamnitzer notices and is on me in a flash, asking if everything is all right with our meals.
Through dinner visits that last several hours, the pace never subsides. Yet the high-energy activity is tempered by Razz's new, soothing decor. Calming hues of tan tablecloths blend with spunky purple napkins and comfortably padded tan chairs. Golden-tan walls breathe with eclectic, colorful art (some painted by Kamnitzer) against the shining stainless steel of the kitchen. When a car pulls into a space in front of the restaurant, its headlights glisten off mirrored columns, reflecting over a softly babbling fountain in back and cutting through the dimly lit interior like a torch.
Razz's portions are huge, particularly for their modest (in this neighborhood) pricing. Wine offerings are well thought out and well priced, with a delightful light Le Muse Pinot Grigio available for $7 a glass. Service is silky smooth, polished, friendly, but unobtrusive.
In an interesting change to accommodate bar diners, Razz's offers a casual dining menu with streamlined choices like chicken salad with honey chile dressing, grilled fish and vegetables, and steak and vegetables. But full dinners are offered at bar service, too.
Appetizers aren't any wimpy lead-in. Duck and vegetable spring rolls put even the best Chinese restaurant versions to shame. Four giant half-rolls are encased in a shell so thin, so crispy, so barely greasy they're reminiscent of nicely fried duck skin. Lots of sharply flavored poultry nests with julienne carrot and chile over a bed of diced Peruvian potato in a creamy onion sauce. Think deep-fried foods can't be light? Razz's will show you otherwise.
Crispy calamari, on the other hand, aren't exactly crispy, but still highly appealing. An ample ration of tender squid is coated in a gossamer, floury batter over a cream sauce dotted with spicy red chile pepper, plus a thimble toss of vegetable risotto. And folks unfamiliar with escargots will do well to test the waters with Razz's superb snails. A half-dozen de-shelled critters come searing hot in a traditional crock, properly just this side of chewy and steaming under a rich garlic, shallot, parsley and butter liquor.
I'm several bites into another starter, baked cheese in phyllo, and still can't identify the cheese. No wonder -- it's an unusual but entirely sultry blend of mozzarella, smoked mozzarella, Brie and Emmentaler, a Swiss variety known for its distinctively nutty-sweet, mellow flavor. The little bundle is delightful, with phyllo shredded so fine it's like a crunchy floss glistening with butter. A side of diced, spiced apple and fresh cranberries brings a tart, snappy contrast.
Baked pasta isn't normally appetizer fare, but Kamnitzer's creation is impressive, and nudging an entree-size plate. Called crespelles, the Italian crepes are bubbling, feather-thin pockets stuffed with finely chopped spinach, chicken and mozzarella, all drenched in zesty tomato basil sauce. The crepes have baked to golden brown on their edges, offering pleasant chewiness against their soft insides.
Kamnitzer is credited in the Zagat restaurant guide as "cooking with pizzazz," and virtually everything he does has that little extra touch. Consider a basic tomato vegetable salad. Fresh tomato chunks are tumbled with thick-sliced cucumber, green and red bell pepper and purple onion. One taste of the salad's lime dressing sends the dish into orbit, however. Can a dressing conduct electricity? Scientists may argue otherwise, but there's no denying the powerful zing.
One of the disadvantages of dining at Razz's bar is entree envy. Watching Kamnitzer and Company prepare their many compelling dishes is torture for the truly hungry. My dining companion, in fact, is so restless under the assault of beautiful foods and aromas spinning by, she's literally kicking her black wooden bar stool. "Patience," smiles one of Kamnitzer's assistants. "It's almost ready."
We've been tracking our meals like hawks, so we know he's correct. Soon, a huge, cobalt blue bowl passes from chef to bar captain. He places the Portuguese-style pasta in front of my dinner partner, returning seconds later with my salmon.
For how simple it looked to prepare, there's a whole symphony of flavors performing in Kamnitzer's pasta. This is a true winner, studded with fresh, mild-flavored clams, smoky chorizo sausage, carrot, red pepper, onion and tomato. We have to ask for a second basket of bread -- fresh-baked and crusty, smeared with butter -- and decadent when sopped in the spicy, creamy tomato sauce.
Salmon is equally impressive, cooked medium-rare so the fish remains intriguingly soft and silky in the middle. The wetter-than-usual fish is excellent against the crunch of finely chopped cashew crust, flecked with rosemary and a hint of tomato. More lime sauce puddles under mashed potatoes and a vegetable bouquet, but this time its tartness has been subdued with a pale mauve hibiscus broth.
Careful diners will note another secret to successful chefdom here -- repeat ingredients when possible. Kamnitzer's crew has prepped an enormous amount of vegetable bouquets, we see from our ringside seats, and the garnish goes virtually everywhere. It's a tasty touch of crisp steamed broccoli, zucchini, carrot, snow peas and scallions tied with scallion skin. Many dishes are decorated with the same thin tortilla frizzles pulled from a tub above the range, too, and mashed potatoes appear with many entrees, skin-on and noted with nutmeg. Little fuss for the kitchen, big satisfaction for diners.
Trout à la sanfaina rests on a mound of mashed potatoes, two tender fillets jacketed in eggy batter under an energetic, spicy tomato, garlic and chopped yellow, green and red pepper sauce. Mashed potatoes prop up a splayed serving of Pacific sand dabs; the mellow fish is the only disappointment we find, due to a batter that tastes like flour. More potatoes keep eight grilled, frenched lamb chops company, too, the meat flavored with tamarind and garlic marinade.
Not everything is uniform, of course: Rice pilaf plays a supporting role to steak paillard. The smoky grains are nice complements to the hunter-style beef tenderloin, sliced and cooked to ruby red with red wine, mushrooms, tomatoes and fresh herbs.
We're dining at a table the evening we order bouillabaisse, which is unfortunate. We don't get to see how Kamnitzer's signature dish comes about. Yet, perhaps it's better not to know -- some secrets are better kept and savored, like what we'll be getting for Christmas. Described mundanely on the menu as mixed seafood stew, the terra cotta bowl actually contains a cornucopia of ocean delights, including meaty shrimp, clams, mussels, fish chunks, scallops and a crown of fiery red langostine in tomato broth.
Desserts end the cartwheel of flavors with true impact. A medley of sorbets boasts three scoops of robust raspberry and mango ices, while raspberry puts so much zing in a chocolate torte that we're satisfied after just a few bites.
Do you like to cook? Think it would be a kick to open a restaurant? Here's an opportunity for wanna-be chefs to see just how challenging the career is. Pull up a bar stool at Razz's. Sit back. Watch for a few hours. Enjoy a terrific dinner, and think very, very carefully.
