When asked about her restaurant Otway, she describes it as a neighbourhood bistro, but in the most modest sense of the term. It is a contemporary neo-bistro that mixes amazing natural wines with technique-driven food, but it is kept casual. “Informed, but informal,” she explains.
Claire tells me that her favourite food is classic French mixed with contemporary. One of her favourite ingredients, she says, is pine, and then she goes on to describe it as “amazing”. She says she likes ingredients that might not be classified as exotic, but when done well you look at them in a completely different way. It is clear to me that Claire is passionate about food, ingredients and flavours.
When we get to the reason I’m there, namely brunost, she surprises me by telling me that she grew up on “geitost”. Her grandfather was Norwegian and she grew up eating Norwegian brunost. She tells me she took geitost for her school lunches, when everyone else had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Although Otway is not Scandinavian, Claire still draws inspiration from her childhood in her cooking. For her, she says, Norwegian food represents memories, technique and, in particular, preservation.
So brunost was not anything new to her, but she had never tried the “Gudbrandsdalost” variety before, which was the one I had brought with me. Her description of the cheese is that it taste just as she remembers it being. It is creamy, but has depth and tastes like her childhood. She argues that brunost can work for both savoury and sweet, which is something I agree with her on.
I want to thank chef Claire Welle for letting me come to her restaurant on my visit to New York and I hope I inspired her to use brunost in more of her cooking.
To have a look at their menu or to make a reservation, visit www.otwaynyc.com/
