My experience cooking at the James Beard House—and how plant-based EXBERRY® colors brought a classic dish to life.
By Christina Olivarez, Corporate Executive Chef at GNT USA
As a kid, I watched a lot of food TV. Saturday mornings were for PBS cooking shows—Julia Child, Jacques Pépin, Graham Kerr, and others. The folks who showed how to make a perfect omelet, roast a chicken, or whip up hollandaise inspired me to create my own “kitchen” through imagination, using things like Lincoln Logs as pretend food. Even before I realized I wanted a career in the food world, I was immersed!
Well before I was watching those Saturday morning shows, James Beard was leading the way for food television and was particularly influential in the food world. A constant educator and promoter of the classic cocktail party, Beard inspired Americans in their cooking and eating. In culinary school, one of our first classes was Gastronomy, where we devoted an entire section to pioneers who shaped the modern culinary landscape—Auguste Escoffier, Fernand Point, Paul Bocuse, Marie-Antoine Carême, and of course, James Beard. Beard was an influencer long before Instagram and TikTok.
Cooking at the James Beard House
As a lover of all things food and beverage, Beard was known for inviting chefs, bakers, and bartenders to his home to cook, learn, and host events. Today, that same house is an event space run by the James Beard Foundation, where chefs are invited to create special dining experiences. It’s truly an honor just to be present in that space—let alone cook in it.
Through a partnership with the Research Chefs Association, I’ve been fortunate to cook at the James Beard House on three occasions, and let me tell you, it never stops being an amazing and humbling honor. Each time, it’s a moment to reflect on culinary innovation at James Beard House and how it continues to shape the future of food.
The James Beard House has been converted to an event space, but it’s largely been left as it was when Beard passed. It’s a four-story Manhattan brownstone with a kitchen that far surpasses any home kitchen dream, yet it still holds the magic of a New York City property with low ceilings and tight spaces. There’s an atrium that leads to a patio just begging for a cocktail party as the spring sun warms and the flowers begin to bloom. His bedroom and other living spaces have been converted into a dining room—if you didn’t know the history, you might never guess it was once a bedroom.
When I first walked up to the house with the unobtrusive plaque on the door I had heard and read so much about, it was almost an out-of-body experience. Here I was, walking up to the front door of a home with so much history and reverence—a place I never really thought I’d have the opportunity to enter, let alone cook in. Truly mind-blowing. Cooking there is both humbling and exhilarating.
Reimagining A Classic
For the most recent dinner event, nine other chefs and I paid homage to the many works of James Beard with a dinner titled “Beard Through the Books.” With 12 courses plus a cocktail hour, I was responsible for the vegetable course.
As I read through Beard’s many recipes and books, I came across Cauliflower Mornay—in its simplest form, cauliflower with cheese sauce and breadcrumbs. It wasn’t so much a recipe in the book as a blurb about a tasty way to cook cauliflower, but it sparked the idea for my dish.
Because of seasonality, I knew I wanted to work with cauliflower. I was also inspired by a conversation about sheep’s milk yogurt and how it might complement one of my personal favorite cheeses, pecorino. Good news: sheep’s milk and cauliflower are a lovely pair. I cooked the cauliflower under pressure (sous vide) with the whey strained from the sheep’s milk yogurt, then used the thickened yogurt in a pecorino-based Mornay sauce. This method gave the cauliflower an unctuous texture with a touch of tang that let the vegetable shine.
At that point, the dish was rich and needed balance. I achieved it with a lemon and sheep’s whey vinaigrette. And let’s not forget the last crucial element to the classic—breadcrumbs! We made the bread in-house, then toasted and broke it into small pieces (not quite as fine as traditional breadcrumbs). These were tossed with butter, lemon zest, salt, and spicy micro arugula for a final flourish.
Creating with EXBERRY® Colors
The cool thing about rethinking Cauliflower Mornay was the opportunity to use EXBERRY® plant-based colors in a subtle but impactful way. With a blank white canvas, I was able to play with color to add texture and visual appeal—without the dish screaming “I’m full of added color!” I brightened the vinaigrette with a touch of EXBERRY® Shade “Bright Yellow“, but where I really had fun was with the breadcrumbs.
Initially, I experimented with muted fall colors, but they didn’t deliver the look I envisioned. Back to the drawing board, I landed on a warm yellow shade that toasted beautifully to a rich color. What took it to the next level was using the same color at different dosages. The mix of varying tones along with uncolored crumbs transformed the dish from something that looked tasty to something also visually enticing and exciting. This moment of creative experimentation perfectly captured the spirit of culinary innovation at James Beard House. It was no longer “just” cauliflower with cheese and breadcrumbs.
A Culinary Milestone
Cooking at the James Beard House remains one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. It’s a reminder of the power of food—not just to nourish, but to tell stories, evoke emotion, and spark creativity. For chefs and diners alike, culinary innovation at James Beard House continues to push boundaries and celebrate the evolution of the culinary arts.
About the author
Christina Olivarez is a Culinary Institute of America graduate and former Executive Chef at Diego, a modern Mexican restaurant in Las Vegas. Named Eater.com’s 2012 Vegas Chef of the Year and a winner on Chopped, she now serves as Corporate Executive Chef at GNT USA. Christina brings a passion for plant-focused cuisine and a love for creating memorable experiences through food.
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