It’s L.A. Marathon weekend, and we’re celebrating with James Beard award-winning chef Dave Beran, who has participated in nine marathons.
Beran, who owns Pasjoli, also prepared actor Jeremy Allen White for his role in “The Bear.”
“We definitely gave him a majority of his restaurant experience,” Beran told Jessica. “He was back there cooking with us, doing his thing.”
The show’s creator, Christopher Storer, reached out to Beran about the show. The two men had bonded at the chef’s former restaurant, Dialogue, over their talks about Chicago.
White started his training on the days the restaurant was closed as it was just reopening from the pandemic. First, he worked with Beran and his sous-chef for a few weeks, then they brought him in during service hours.
“By the end he was on the line, he was cooking, he was great,” Beran explained.
With all the chaos that comes behind the scenes of a restaurant, many credit exercise to decompress.
Years ago, Beran realized hitting up the bars after long hours as a chef wasn’t helping him be his best self.
“I wasn’t doing what was important to me,” he clarified. “I realized, the best I ever was was when I was doing things for myself.”
Beran traded in those late nights for early mornings to run with his roommates to train for a half-marathon.
“Through that transition of training, I started to do better at work and feel better,” he revealed. “I went from being really in shape in college to being way out of shape when I started cooking, and it helped me re-center myself.”
From there Beran signed up for a marathon, where he noted that all that time to himself gave him a lot of clarity.
Being out in nature changed his focus on food and changed his “focal point” to his restaurant.
“I needed to be good for myself and then I was good at work.”
He’s taken on the Chicago and New York marathons, with L.A. still in the distance as he wants to complete his 10th run eventually.
Beran’s workouts seem to go hand-in-hand with his success as a chef.
In 2019 his former restaurant Dialogue was named one of the Best New Restaurants in America by GQ magazine and it also received One Michelin Star and Five Stars from Forbes Travel Guide, the only U.S. restaurant to be added to the 2019 Five Star list.
In 2019 he also opened Pasjoli, a cozy and elevated French bistro in Santa Monica.
It’s described as “California produce through the lens of Parisian cuisine.”
Jessica joined Beran in the kitchen to cook up Steak au Poivre with Syracuse Potatoes. The steak is a French dish and the potatoes are a nod to Beran’s hometown of Syracuse, New York.
When Beran completes a marathon, his go-to meal is a good steak.
Bon Appétit!
This segment aired on Episode 169 of California Cooking.
Steak au Poivre with Syracuse Potatoes
Ingredients:
- 4 (8-ounce) hanger steaks
- Kosher salt and crushed black peppercorns
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 6 button mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tablespoons Cognac
- ½ cup crème fraîche
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 lbs Fingerling Potatoes
- 2 cups salt
- 8 cups water
Instructions:
- Generously salt steaks and press at least 3 tablespoons of crushed peppercorns all over the surface.
- Boil 8 cups water with 2 cups salt and potatoes
- Remove potatoes from the water and lay them out on a tray to cool and dry.
- Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Lay in steak and sear until both sides brown, about 6 minutes total. Remove steak from pan and let rest for 5 minutes. Set the pan over medium heat. Once hot, return steaks and finish cooking, flipping often, until medium-rare, 3-5 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes.
- Pour fat out of the pan but don’t wipe it clean. Set over medium heat and add butter, thyme, mushrooms, shallots and a large pinch of crushed peppercorns.
- Sauté until shallots soften, 3 minutes. sauté until lightly caramelized, about 3 minutes.
- Add garlic. Increase heat to medium-high and deglaze with Cognac. Simmer to cook off alcohol, 1-2 minutes.
- Discard herbs and garlic.
- Season with salt.
- Off heat, stir in crème fraîche and dijon mustard.
