Closet Chefs Head for the Hills

by Mark Miner

This is the second in a series about executives living in Seminole County for whom cooking is a private passion and a wonderful change of pace from their exacting business careers.

Once a year, usually in the dead of winter, Todd Persons and a hungry band of pals pack a four-wheel SUV with provisions for an annual pilgrimage from sunny Central Florida to the cold and snowy North Carolina mountains, twisting their way up 5,000 feet to the Persons family’s condo atop Beech Mountain. Is it for the skiing? Winter hiking? Hunting? Hunting comes closest—if you consider tracking down an elusive rack of lamb at the local supermarket “hunting.”

This cooks’ tour is only a long weekend, but the Closet Chefs spend months preparing for it, discussing menus, wines, and who will command the relatively small kitchen for which particular meal. Anticipation is part of the adventure, and (truth be told) much of the planning happens over wine or martinis at watering holes around Maitland and Winter Park.

Over the years, the group has endured such rigors as grilling steaks in a howling blizzard; tumbling into snow-filled ditches; and driving to Fred’s Mercantile, a country store straight out of Central Casting, through an icy pea-soup fog on an emergency olive-oil run.

This year’s crew included Rob Sharpstein, a consultant for Northwestern Mutual Financial Network; Bob Mervine, hospitality and restaurant writer for Orlando Business Journal and author of the book, Orlando Chow: Restaurants for the Rest of Us; Andreas Afxendiou, owner of Mediterranean Wines in Longwood, a distributor of Greek wines and olive oils; Persons, a PR executive with MPB Communications, Inc.; and Persons’ brother-in-law Tom “Skip” Swanson, a Charlotte contractor.

At the end of the 11-hour drive Thursday (including a traditional stop at Maurice’s, a Columbia, SC, barbecue joint), Mervine popped a four-pound “turducken” into the oven. Before you scramble for a dictionary, a turducken is a de-boned chicken tucked inside a boneless duck wrapped in a boneless turkey. Each layer of meat usually has a layer of stuffing separating them. This four-pound mini version still took three hours and a couple of bottles of wine to cook.

Friday was a shopping day for Afxendiou, who was preparing a traditional braised lamb and potatoes dish (recipe below). After that, they had lunch at a Texas/Cajun joint in Banner Elk—brisket and gumbo do complement each other—before heading to a local trout farm where they caught three nice fish. They smoked one for an appetizer, and Sharpstein filleted, breaded and pan-fried the other two for Saturday’s lunch.

Friday dinner included the smoked trout, cheeses, the lamb, and a berry cobbler, courtesy of Persons. On the wine list: bottles of exceptionally refined Greek reds Afxendiou supplied, some refreshing Spanish reds, and a California Syrah. The evening ended on the deck, with stars above and the town’s lights below, the chilly night warmed by talk of politics, and good Port and cigars.

Saturday was fogged in, so the chefs stayed in and read, watched basketball, checked in with families and, oh yes, cooked and ate some more. Swanson prepared a late breakfast of stuffed French toast and bacon, followed almost too quickly by lunch: the pan-fried trout, salad, and leftovers.

For the weekend’s last evening, tradition of calls for dinner at one of the surprisingly sophisticated area restaurants. This time, however, the overstuffed crew agreed that restaurant food came in second to what they had already cooked and consumed.

On Sunday morning, the five friends drove down the mountain, not to return until next year’s pilgrimage. The fare on the return trip? Coffee, seltzer, antacids—and more than one resolution to get back in the gym.

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