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Executive chef Sam Hazen has the kind of culinary Pedigree that could open doors almost anywhere. But after 13 years as a professional chef most of them working at some of the world's best-known upscale restaurants, Hazen has opted to move decidedly downscale by becoming the executive chef at a newly launched microbrewery restaurant. he venture, Heartland Brewey across from Manhattan's Union Square Park, was founded by Jon Bloostein, a Wall Streeter turned restaurateur. Hazen, an unapologetic beer lover, says one of his big ambitions is to change the perception most restaurantgoers have about the quality and style of microbrewery food.
Title: Executive chef, Heartland Brewery, Union Square, Manhattan.
Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Birthdate: June 25, 1957.
Formal Education: Graduate Culinary Institute of America, 1982.
Career Highlights: Sous chef La Cote Basque, New York; sous chef former Quilted Giraffe, New York; first American to work in the Michelin three-star Le Gavroche, in London; chef-instructor, The Culinary Institute of America; three-star review from The New York Times while executive chef at The Terrace restaurant, New York.
Menu Highlights: Heartland pu pu platter for two, $14.95, with an assortment of hot and cold American-style dipping appetizers; BBQ chicken "Lolly Pops," $6.95; Kentucky whiskey burger, built on beer bread with heartland homemade garlic ketchup, pickles, Idaho potatoes, $9.20; buttermilk fried chicken with honey-glazed ham on a biscuit with country gravy, $12.95.
You left your fine-dining background for the more casual atmosphere of a microbewery restaurant. Why?
To be honest, I've always been interested in beer. I'm a big fan. When I traveled around Europe while working in...