Julia Child’s peculiar brand of gawky kitchen confidence inspired not just home cooks, but a whole generation of chefs. Starting Tuesday, 100 restaurants around the country will pay homage to the culinary icon, who lived in New York City as a copywriter before ultimately moving to Paris and mastering the art of French cooking. Chefs participating in Julia Child Restaurant Week will serve classics that Child popularized during her long career as a chef, cookbook author and PBS star. The celebration, which includes a half-dozen NYC restaurants — and the release of “Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child,” by Bob Spitz — comes to a conclusion on Aug. 15, which marks the centenary of her birth. Here’s a look at the dishes soon to be offered around town.
PHOTOS: NYC RESTAURANTS PAY TRIBUTE TO JULIA CHILD
Comfort Classics
Much like Child, who studied at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, Jody Williams, who owns West Village eatery Buvette, cultivated her craft and persona as a chef through travel. “Julia’s books were on the shelves of my parents’ kitchen and were a great source for me to take and put into practice,” says Williams. She’ll be highlighting her coq au vin (chicken cooked in wine, $15), adjusting Child’s original recipe by using higher-quality Amish organic chickens instead of an old fryer bird. Williams will also serve a rich, hand-whipped chocolate mousse ($8) so thick, it’s served with a fork solidly anchored in it. “We plunk it down on a plate and top it off with a fluffy mound of Chantilly cream,” says Williams. “They’re not precious dishes. You can eat them standing up, licking the plate.” 42 Grove St.; 212-255-3590
Kindred Culinary Spirit
Chef Claude Godard discovered Julia Child at chef Anne Willan’s École de Cuisine la Varenne in Burgundy, where he taught. “Her books were on the shelves of the school, all around me all the time,” he says. Next week, he’ll offer a $40 prix-fixe menu at his restaurants, Jeanne & Gaston and Madison Bistro: small portobello mushrooms stuffed with Prince Edward Island mussels (à la carte, $15), coq au vin ($28) and Tahitian vanilla bean pot de creme with madeleine cookies ($12). “She was cooking like a French chef, so I don’t have to adjust my recipes too much. But I’m going to do a mix because I want to keep a little of my identity, and I want to send a little ‘hi’ to Julia Child,” says Godard. Jeanne & Gaston, 212 W. 14th St., 212-675-3773; Madison Bistro, 238 Madison Ave., 212-447-1919
Rustic Snacking
“I have a passion for terrines and charcuterie, so I immediately wanted to showcase one of her recipes,” says Aureole chef Marcus Ware. Pâté de campagne is a rustic, cold-cut terrine made from various meats like veal, chicken and pork livers, as well as pistachios and peppercorns. Ware will serve the full-flavored, savory spread with a mélange of pickled vegetables and toasted sourdough bread ($16) in the Bar Room. “It’s not traditionally a very high-end dish,” says Ware, “but it’s a very classical French dish, which is what she was most famous for — bringing French classics over and introducing them to American people.” 135 W. 42nd St.; 212-319-1660
Prix-Fixe Tribute
Union Square Cafe will offer prix-fixe menus for lunch ($55) and dinner ($65). Meals will start with country pâté with pickled market vegetables or a Nicoise salad, followed by roast duck with plum sauce and yellow peaches or lobster thermidor, Sweet 100 tomatoes and basil salad. “After the whole duck is roasted, we’ll chunk peaches up, and blaze it up under the salamander [broiler],” says chef Carmen Quagliata. “I love how the sweetness and acid from the stone fruit goes with the fatty duck.” For dessert, there is peach tarte tatin and creme brulee with local berries. 21 E. 16th St.; 212-243-4020
Continental Luxe
“I remember watching ‘Great Chefs’ . . . growing up,” says Marea chef Michael White. “Julia Child took the rigid composure out of classic French cooking. She made it possible to drop a chicken on the floor and continue like nothing happened. She made cooking seem fun.” Since Marea specializes in upscale seafood, Child’s decadent lobster thermidor ($42) — which involves sauteing the meat with butter, mushrooms and herbs, putting it back into the shell, topping it with gruyere cheese (a step White omits) and roasting — was a no-brainer. 240 Central Park South; 212-582-5100