Greg Hardesty Sets Sail
With culinary travel on the rise, celebrated chefs, cookbook authors, and TV personalities like spiky-haired Guy Fieri and Iron Chef America’s Cat Cora are setting sail to lure food lovers and cooking channel addicts onboard. Indianapolis Monthly was tickled to discover that Greg Hardesty of Recess and Room Four (4907 N. College Ave; 317-925-7529) was chosen by Holland America Line to participate in the 2012 Culinary Arts Center Program, presented by Food & Wine Magazine.
From March 9 to March 19, Hardesty joined the all-star line-up of more than 60 celebrated chefs, cookbook authors, and television personalities from the culinary world, including The Next Food Network Star personality Serena Palumba, Top Chef: Just Desserts participant Zac Young and chef Tony Maws, winner of the 2011 James Beard Award for “Best Chef: Northeast.”
Hardesty and his wife left the Ft. Lauderdale port-of-call and boarded a 936-foot Zuiderdam luxury ship for a 10-day cruise to Half Moon Bay, Aruba, Curacao, Panama, and Costa Rica. He conducted a few demonstrations and hands-on cooking classes in a state-of-the-art stadium-style demonstration kitchen. Hardesty taught a group of 70 foodies how to whip up fun and easy summer apps and soups, including Idaho Potato Nachos and a chilled crab and soba noodle salad with ginger garlic shoyu broth. For the hands-on demonstration, Hardesty and the class prepared Truffle Asparagus Egg Salad with shaved prosciutto and peppery greens, a grilled beef tenderloin with wilted escarole, red peppers, bacon, balsamic scallion vinaigrette, and a sour cream panna cotta with orange macerated strawberries and almonds.
