After more than two years away from the restaurant world, Andrée Robert has returned to the kitchen. She's cooking at home in Gloucester and sending out biweekly newsletters via cooking withandree.com.
The daughter of Lucien and Ann Robert, Andrée spent the better part of a decade as executive chef (and many more years as co-owner) of the legendary Maison Robert in Old City Hall. When the restaurant closed in 2004, Robert cooked for friends, volunteered, and spent her time, "doing everything that I never could do before."
She found that dinner parties, often hosted as charitable events for up to 100 people, were eye-opening experiences. People are afraid of hosting a dinner, she decided. As a seasoned chef and veteran hostess, she took it upon herself to offer recipes and guidance.
More like the entertaining pages of Bon Appétit than an interactive website, each newsletter (the cost is $4.95 per month for two newsletters) contains a themed group of five recipes, with a timeline for organizing yourself, wine pairings, a shopping list, and tips on setting the table. Based mainly on the seasons and holidays, Robert's menus eliminate the need to select recipes.
Her food is approachable, mostly dishes that the health-conscious Robert herself feels comfortable serving. You might be offered grilled peppers with feta, capers, and raisins or hearts of romaine with creamy garlic-chive dressing. Soba noodle salad with cucumbers, mangos, and mint is refreshing - sublime when topped with shrimp as suggested for an entree version. Robert doesn't do much handholding; the intended audience has apprehensions about entertaining, not about cooking itself.
Ingredients can be found at any local supermarket. Wine pairings do not read like a famous restaurant list, but offer hints for reasonably priced bottles you might find at a neighborhood wine shop.
While Robert does include a printable PDF version of the entire newsletter, she doesn't take full advantage of what the Internet can do. Shopping lists are helpful, but if you choose to deviate from the plan, the lists can't be customized. Recipe sizes are regularly for eight to 12, but they cannot be halved or doubled with the click of a mouse.
Still, subscribers do have the option of e-mailing recipes to friends. If five courses seems too daunting, share the workload with guests. The party can start before the doorbell rings.
