Back to Basics

The big buzz in cutting-edge restaurant kitchens these days is about equipment that, quite frankly, you and I will never have. These are extremely specialized tools that cost thousands of dollars and perform one specific task very well. Take the Pacojet, which shaves frozen food into an almost microscopic dust, or a sous-vide system, which allows ingredients to be cooked at very low temperatures for a very long time.

David Myers has these items and more in his kitchen at Sona in West Hollywood, the innovative restaurant he runs with his wife, Michelle. But he insists that his most important tool is imagination.

In other words, the issue is software, not hardware. Ask him about his most valuable tool, and he reflects a minute before answering: “My cooks’ minds and their spiritual sense of the plate and the food.”

Myers, who has trained with Charlie Trotter, Gerard Boyer, Daniel Boulud and Joachim Splichal, sometimes sounds a little West Coast wacky--to illustrate a point about the importance of elegance in cuisine, he quotes Bruce Lee on the art of punching. But just watch him in action.

One afternoon when Sona’s tiny kitchen is quiet, he delivers a master’s dissertation on ravioli--not the familiar Italian ones formed with pasta sheets, but innovative twists on that idea made by using paper-thin sheets of vegetables. A Benriner, a $30 Japanese slicing machine, is the only specialized equipment required.

Myers peels a hairy knob of celery root and then reduces it to translucent sheets with the slicer. He blanches these in boiling water until the texture turns from simply crisp to al dente. Then he starts to create. He lays a celery root round on a plate, adds a dollop of celery root puree and then a spoonful of Swiss chard that has been mixed with pureed lime pickle. Another celery root round goes on top.

The next try is simpler: a spoonful of pureed winter squash topped by a beautifully browned sauteed scallop and shredded preserved ginger. Inspired, Myers grabs a tray of pumpkin-orange sea urchin roe, or uni. Then he starts to build: celery root, a mound of roe, a little salad made from slivered celery root and pungent shiso leaves sprinkled with a mix of black and white sesame seeds. It’s almost too pretty to cover, but Myers does, with another round of celery root. It is a magical dish, a complex interplay of flavors, colors and textures as simply made and delicately balanced as a Bach sonata. “This is going on the menu,” he says.

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Celery Root ‘Ravioli’ With Uni

4 appetizer servings

1 (3/4-pound) celery root

6 shiso leaves

Sea salt (preferably fleur de sel)

2 tablespoons mixed black and white sesame seeds

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

24 best quality uni

Micro celery leaves for garnish

Peel the celery root, and using a Benriner, a mandoline or a sharp knife shave it into paper-thin rounds. Reserve 16 of the best rounds; cut the rest into extremely thin chiffonade and set aside. Blanch the 16 best celery root rounds in rapidly boiling water until tender but still a little crisp, about 2 minutes. They should be translucent. Immediately transfer them to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Remove to a paper towel-lined baking sheet.

Slice the shiso leaves into extremely thin chiffonade and lightly toss with the celery root. Season with a little sea salt and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Pat the cooked celery root dry. Place in a large mixing bowl and gently toss with olive oil and lemon. Place 2 rounds on each of four plates. Gently mound 3 pieces of uni in the center of each celery root round. Arrange about 2 tablespoons of the celery root-shiso salad atop each mound of uni. Place another celery root round on top of each mound and press gently around the edges to lightly seal them. Garnish with a few sprigs of micro celery leaves or finely slivered celery leaves. Sprinkle with a little more sea salt and serve.