I love six.one.six Blog Started

Check out our newest blog for six.one.six! This blog is devoted to exposing the views on food, new dishes and inside scoop as to what is happening behind the scenes from the chefs at six.one.six. See post's from Executive Chef Andrew Voss, Chef de Cuisine Joel Wabeke and Chef Lindsey Vandentoorn!

With the goal of promoting our vision of what real food is all about, we want to give our diners an opportunity to see some behind the scenes action that they might otherwise not see!

Check us out for weekly updates, new dishes, new farms and just some generally pretty cool stuff! Please follow our ilovesix.one.six blog by clicking this link!

See you there!

Michigan Culinary Tourism Alliance

I will be sitting on the board for the new Michigan Culinary Tourism Alliance as the Grand Rapids representative. Michigan Culinary Tourism Alliance will focus on bringing local farms, breweries, wineries and locally focused restaurants together for the common goal of stimulating the economy through the purchase of local products and support of small local business. Here are some articles from MLive and Detroit Business Journal that helps describe this amazing new focus on Michigan, support LOCAL!

Liquid Nitrogen Parsnip Ice Cream

Here it is, the show stopper of the March of Dimes Chefs auction gala. Joel and I decided to live a little dangerous and make parsnip ice cream with liquid nitrogen to order. We served it with a sugar cone dipped in chocolate and smoked bacon with black Hawaiian sea salt! It rocked and the danger involved made it all the more cool!

This is a picture of me trying not to become cryogenically frozen as the liquid nitrogen is -320 degrees Fahrenheit! The recipe is one part ice cream base to four parts liquid nitrogen. The LN2 when poured into the base freezes the ice cream so fast there is no chance to form ice crystals and the end result is the smoothest and creamiest ice cream you have ever eaten.

Nothing like flirting with death to make amazing food . . .

Romanesca Cauliflower

Romanesca cauliflower is an Italian heirloom variety of cauliflower that is hard to find. Trillium haven farms frozen Jenison MI is our supplier while romanesca is in season. The flavor is very similar to the standard white cauliflower except at a young age were it is lighter and sweeter in flavor.

It makes a great presentation on the plate, but it makes and even nicer puree! Farmer Mike hates when we do that, sorry buddy!

36oz. Long Bone Ribeye!!! Wow

Here it is, the ultimate cut of meat! For you meat lovers out there this is the piece de resistance, for you vegetarians the devil . . . This 36oz. Snake River Farms Tomahawk Chop (Long Bone Rib eye) is the show stopper, the one and only, the single most reason meat eaters generally have high blood pressure.

Matt Sutton, our master grill man is standing here with the grin of desire before he opens up a can on this beautiful master piece.

six.one.six - the place to be!

Heirloom Tomato Harvest!

Here is a picture of our heirloom tomato harvest that took place in the JW's Chef Garden on our JDek. We started growing our own heirloom's this year to see if we could not only cook great food, but grow it too! Green Zebras, Brandy Wines, Great White Beefsteak, German Galena Cherry's, Aunt Ruby's Cherry's.



We also grew arugula, sorrel, french breakfast radishes, two varieties of heirloom pole beans and two varieties of heirloom cucumbers.



We are revamping the garden for the 2010 growing season and have some great things planned!


Check back for updates about our 2010 growing season. If anyone has any requests or suggestions please send them . . .

See you at six.one.six soon!

Top 5 most influential chefs in America

Top 5 most influential chefs in America. I choose this list based on the culinary influences these chefs have brought to the states as well as creating culinary trends based on their cooking styles. Not to mention they are all bad asses!

1.Thomas Keller: Chef / Owner; French Laundry, Per Se and Bouchon

Thomas Keller is responsible for bringing the American culinary scene to the world wide forefront. He established the true American market cuisine that became so refined it was able to put French Laundry and Per Se in the top 50 restaurants in the world. Thomas Keller has a passion for true perfection on the plate, as well as in his ingredients used. Many have tried to replicate, few come close . . .

2.Masaharu Morimoto: Chef Owner; Morimoto and Morimoto XEX

Masaharu Morimoto is the chef that brings true passion for detail to the      American culinary scene. After working as chef for some of the most influential Japanese restaurants in America, Morimoto started working on the hit show "Iron Chef". Not being a fan of the clique "Celebrity Chef", Morimoto breaks the mold with his amazing, cutting edge Japanese fusion cuisine that has influenced many chefs to push the bar of perfection! And he is by far the baddest ass chef on the list! Who else can wear a kimono and look so hard?!

3.Wylie Dufresne: Chef / Owner; wd-50 

Wylie Dufresne is responsible for bringing molecular gastronomy to light in the states. After working for legend chef Jean Georges Vongerichten in various Michelin starred restaurants, Wylie has created a cuisine all of his own. Using various chemical reactions and non-typical cooking techniques, Wylie's food is something of a culinary wonderment. He might be the smartest or nerdiest chef on the list, but his food is amazing in it's own right!

4.Paul Kahan: Chef / Partner; Blackbird, Avec and Publican

Paul Kahan may be the least familiar chef on this list. He flies under the radar for a few reasons, the first being his food is SIMPLE! Without recreating the wheel, Paul creates food that is approachable to the common palate, yet will blow the most discerning tongues out of the kitchen. Blackbird is his place to create simple yet extremely refined food; Avec is a little less refined yet still detail driven; Publican focuses on his "Holy Trinity", Pork, oysters and beer! His work with charcuterie is outstanding considering sausage making is almost a lost art. Paul brings simplicity to the list while still producing food that makes him a national contender.

5. Eric Ripert: Executive Chef; Le Bernadine

Eric Ripert is a French born chef that now oversees the kitchen at restaurant Le Bernadine. Eric brings an intense, eclectic and almost over the top vision of what french food should be. His specialty is using various seafood offerings to create dishes that give Le Bernadine a Michelin three star rating; one of four restaurants in NYC to hold that rating. Eric brings the attention to detail, traditional french influence and use for ingredients that are almost unobtainable for your average run of the mill chef.

Honorable Mention:

Dan Barber - Blue Hill at Stone Barns, New York

Charlie Trotter - Charlie Trotter - Chicago

Paul Bertolli - Former Chef Chez Panisse and Cookbook Author

Rick Tramato - Tru, Chicago

Bradley Ogden - Lark Creek Restaurant Group

Cooking "Raw"

I guess the the phrase "cooking raw" is an oxymoron, considering anything that is true raw food is never brought abouve 116F. The reasoning behind this food movement is to preserve the "life-force" or energy of the food product used to nourish our bodies to the fullest extenet. By bringing vegetables, grains and legumes for instance above this cooking temp is believed to cook all of the natural enzymes out, leaving nothing to fill our tanks if you will . . .

We have a few guests that join us in six.one.six every once in a while looking for new and interesting raw dishes. To be a true skilled chef I believe you must be able to cook all styles of food with some sort of grace and fluidity. Raw food is some of the more difficult to do well.

Here are a couple of examples of raw dishes we have done, with a good amount of positive feedback from the deserning tounges of our raw foodists!

-Raw Sushi persimmon roll with blood plum gastrique! Sushi rice made with finely chopped parsnips and pine nuts, seasoned well with a bit of water and vinegar.

Pear Hazelnut "bisque" with raw honey cashew "creme" and macerated pear relish!

Jicama and corn "succotash" with jalepeno lime powder and avocado crudo salad!

If your interested in eating raw or just talking food, please stop and see us at six.one.six located in the lobby of the JW Marriott Grand Rapids.

Looking forward to seeing you in six.one.six, indulging in our "real food" movement!

-Andrew Voss, Executive Chef, JW Marriott Grand Rapids

Dancing Goat Creamery

Sustainability in general is the ability for an ecosystem to maintain a constant state of function, and ecological processes while remaining productive throughout it's life span. That in a nutshell is what Wikipedia has to say anyway. . .

The way this effects my life as a chef is simple, source farms that believe in producing products for quality, not for quantity. For most farmers this is a very hard thing to do . . .

This belief is what makes Dancing Goat Creamery so special for me.

Dogwood Farms L.L.C is our source for amazing organic, artisanal style fresh goat cheese that is made about twenty minutes from our door step. Dogwood Farms is home to “Dancing Goat Creamery” and “Udderly Wonderful Soup”, both of which encompass the artwork performed by farmer and artisan cheese maker Barbara Jenness and her heard of Alpine goats.

Dogwood Farms is dedicated to organic, sustainable farming practices and believes the way your treat your livestock has a direct reflection on the outcome of the end product. Barbara names every goat and gives each one individual attention based on their varying personalities. Dancing Goat Creamery produces organic farmstead cheese’s that range from fresh goat’s milk chevre and ash ripened St. Maurve all the way to her new addition, a Spanish style raw goats milk Mahone! Barbara makes cheese from only what her goats can milk, and no more. Between the months of November and April she does not milk, and such does not produce cheese. The practice of letting her herd rest for the off season produces a stress free lifestyle for the goats and the result when it’s “cheese” season is a much higher quality cheese!

If you have never had the opportunity to try this cheesy masterpiece I strongly suggest you do so, you will not be disappointed. We are featuring DGC in many different areas on our menu currently; goat cheese agnoloti’s with ramps and green garlic, chevré cheese cake with candied macadamia nuts and it’s also on our cheese menu!

Look forward to seeing you in six.one.six, indulging in our “real food” movement!

-Andrew Voss, Executive Chef, JW Marriott Grand Rapids

Restaurant six.one.six. Have you heard of us?

six.one.six of the JW Marriott Grand Rapids, is the signature restaurant off the lobby of the hotel. We offer new American farmers market cuisine with many different ethnic influences. My focus as a chef is to secure the freshest, local ingredients we can find to ensure our guests are consuming only what is in its peak season. We strive to find new and interesting ingredients grown within our area code by local, sustainable farms. Obviously when you’re located in Michigan it makes it difficult to obtain really high quality product year around, here is where it becomes interesting. When the season runs bitter cold and the ground is frozen, we as chefs have to start looking towards our farmers to see what can be done. Some of our farms have chosen to start farming year round in “hot houses” in order to provide us with some great winter crops of rustic root vegetables, hearty lettuces and different varieties of greens. There are many other choices of dried grains and legumes that are also available year around. Other times we must source great ingredients outside of Michigan, but always, and I mean always domestic!

I would like to recognize a few farms and suppliers that we feature within six.one.six:

Trillium Haven Farms: Jenison, MI Farmers: Michael Vanderbrug / Anja Mast
Blissfield Farms: Ada, MI Farmers: Natalie Bauss
Dogwood Farms: Byron Center, MI Farmers: Barbara Jenness
S&S Lamb: McBain, MI Farmers: Pierre Schierbeek
Sobie Meats: Walker, MI Butcher: Tim Sobie

There are more farms to come. We are always visiting the Fulton St. farmers market from May through December looking for the next sustainable farm that would like to participate in helping us execute our vision of what “real food” should be!

Look forward to seeing you in six.one.six, indulging in our “real food” movement!

Contact six.one.six at 1-616-242-1448 to make your reservation now!

-Andrew Voss, Executive Chef, JW Marriott Grand Rapids