Seningen is managing cooking operations at Elizabeth’s Gone Raw and the Catering Company of Washington, both owned by Elizabeth Petty. His most recent stint was at Sax , but he has cooked locally at Hook and had a run as a catering chef in the Virgin Islands for Marriott. The chef, who is awaiting the imminent arrival of his first child, was attracted to the position not only because of its more family-friendly hours, but also because of the chance to expand his repertoire with the raw food dinners. In fact, one of the first assignments given to him by Petty was a month of study at the Oklahoma headquarters of raw food guru Matthew Kenny. The transition to heat-less cooking, according to Seningen, has been fairly natural. “The most difficult thing about it,” he said, “has been accepting the flavors of food in the raw state. You learn to use different raw ingredients that help to bring out or lay down some of the qualities you may or may not care for in the raw ingredient. And once you set up that system it really allows you to be as creative as you want.”
DC’s Raw Food Motion
I’ll demonstrate a dish beet & apple ravioli with macadamia apple ricotta and fennel vinaigrette. Afterwards if there’s time i’ll also demonstrate a beet carpaccio with vanilla beet reduction, pistachio, goats cheese, and pickled watermelon. I’ll start by slicing the beets then the apples, then juicing the apple scraps and blending them with the macadamia to make the ricotta. I’ll then season the ricotta and lay out the beets and apples. Next i’ll juice the fennel and turn it into a vinaigrette adding a little lecithin and foaming it at the last moment. I’ll then punch out the beets and apples, stuff and seal, plate, season, and finish with the fennel vinaigrette. After if there’s enough time i’ll demonstrate another dish or two depending on time and ambition. After the demo I’ll pass out past menus and talk about some of the dishes, ideas, and techniques used to make the raw dinners take any questions and that should do it.
