NEW YORK — By this point in the summer, America’s annual love affair with the grill is beginning to sour and a food lover’s fancy turns to picnics requiring little or no labor.
In many parts of the country, this change of heart means a surrender to store-bought chicken, canned pork and beans and maybe some listless cole slaw. In New York, with its current love for bistro dining, it just might mean French country food.
Alain Sarbadu, a French chef who first worked his magic in Florida and on Fire Island, said the sophisticated restaurant diner has refined his taste too much to settle for anything less than carefully prepared tastes and textures — even on a late-summer picnic.
‘French cuisine can prove impractical for many home cooks,’ said Sarbadu, whose firm Les Deux Chefs provides takeout ranging from Duck Salad With Apples to Escargots Nestled in Mushroom Caps.
‘Authentic French cooking takes no shortcuts, and making everything from scratch can be terribly time-consuming. Our aim is to make fine dining — at home or outdoors — as effortless and enjoyable as a meal in an elegant restaurant.’
The emphasis at Les Deux Chefs could not be better suited to its classy international clientele, which has led the culinary movement toward recognizing regional specialties within each national cuisine.
Provencal and Breton dishes steal virtually every show, especially those light summery dishes that feature seafood as their centerpiece.
The absence of rich, heavy sauces catches the uninitiated by surprise, contrasting sharply with the French cuisine traditionally served by restaurants in the United States. As a special plus, most of the best dishes can survive a trip in the picnic basket.
Takeout and delivery from Les Deux Chefs is a moot point outside New York, of course. But the idea of elegant food-to-go is relevant just about anywhere.
For instance, a portable feast for the sailboat might include poached chicken with champagne-mustard sauce, carrot salad with raspberry vinaigrette, Salade Russe and apricot tartes. A picnic in the park might showcase sausage en croute, roast veal with vegetables, green beans in sauce vert, ryeberry salad and chocolate truffle cake.
Food for a drive to the summer home needs to be neat (so the driver won’t end up a mess), so Sarbadu suggests duck salad with apples, potato salad and miniature blueberry tartes.
Even sandwiches can get the royal treatment, with nutty French country bread finding itself filled with everything from chunky chicken salad in honey cider dressing to smoked Virginia ham.
Here are three kitchen-tested recipes from Les Deux Chefs that can be prepared fairly easily for meals on the run.
Dining and Cooking