Organic simplicity reigns at award-winning La Foret

Michael Uricchio doesn't have many secrets when it comes to success.

As chef and owner of the award-winning La Foret restaurant in Highland Park, Uricchio tries to keep his menu, and his ingredients, simple.

Using a limited choice of appetizers, salads and entrees, Uricchio can concentrate on finding the best and freshest ingredients for his French cuisine. That's a job in itself. Uricchio, who owns the restaurant with his brother Robert, buys organic meats and vegetables from local farms. He serves milk-fed and fig-fed chickens, apple-fed pork and milk-fed veal from the Four Story Hill Farm in Wayne County and Elysian Fields lamb from a farm in Greene County.

La Foret's aged beef comes from a business in Erie, and the seafood hails from a fishmonger in the Strip District.

"You can tell the difference — there's a big flavor difference," says Uricchio, voted best chef for 2002 by Pittsburgh magazine. (La Foret also tied with Baum Vivant for best restaurant.) "Our lamb is marbleized, and it's so sweet and succulent. The milk-fed chickens are plumper and more moist."

Although La Foret is open only Wednesday through Saturday evenings, Uricchio says his four chefs have little trouble racking up a 40-hour work week. Each chef is responsible for a particular station, and Uricchio emphasizes teamwork.

"We try to make it a good environment to work — our chefs don't get sick or call off," he says. "We take the whole staff on a three-day camping trip every year for boating, fishing and tons of food. It pulls us together."

La Foret has 30 seats upstairs and 30 seats downstairs but only serves about 50 diners at a time; reservations are suggested and usually are staggered.

Uricchio, a Squirrel Hill native who was trained in Vienna, Austria, has worked in kitchens around the world. He uses no flour in sauces and incorporates stock reductions for soups — it's normal to reduce 50 gallons of stock into 3 gallons to concentrate flavors.

He has an easygoing attitude. "We're kind of simple," he says.

One of his most popular appetizers is yellow gazpacho soup, a blend of yellow tomatoes, sweet yellow peppers, cucumbers, onions and seasonings topped with a delicate avocado mousse and grilled large shrimp. Uricchio says this is the best time of year to make gazpacho because of the availability and abundance of seasonal produce.

Yellow tomatoes have a lot less acid than red tomatoes and make for a smoother-tasting soup, the chef says. This recipe requires a blender and a food processor.

• 6 ripe yellow tomatoes
• 1 sweet white onion
• 2 sweet yellow peppers
• 1 cucumber, peeled
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• Avocado Mousse (recipe follows)
• Shrimp, for garnish (recipe follows)

Finely dice 1/4 cup each yellow tomato, onion, yellow pepper and cucumber; set aside. Roughly chop the remaining vegetables and place in a blender with the garlic; whirl until smooth.

Add the cumin, salt and white pepper; mix well. Whisk in the olive oil and vinegar. Stir in the diced vegetables. Chill. When cold, check again for flavoring.

Meanwhile, make the Avocado Mousse and chill it.

At serving time, ladle the cold gazpacho into a shallow bowl. For each serving, place a dollop of Avocado Mousse in the center of the soup and top with 2 grilled shrimp.

• 1 avocado, peeled and seeded
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of white pepper
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup heavy cream

Place the avocado in chunks in a food processor. Add the lemon juice. Break up the cilantro and place in the processor with the salt, white pepper and cayenne. Puree until thick. Use a spatula to wipe the insides of the processor bowl. Add the heavy cream and puree. Place in bowl and refrigerate.

• 2 large shrimp (per serving), tails on
• Olive oil
• Salt, to taste
• Black pepper, to taste
• Chicken stock, to taste

Coat the shrimp with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place a saute pan over high heat or heat a grill. Place the shrimp in a saute pan and sauté for about 5 minutes, until the insides are white, or grill until done. If necessary, add a little chicken stock to speed up cooking if you are sauteing.

Editor's note: La Foret is closed for vacation today through Sept. 4.