Chef Benjamin Baker, Travaasa Hotel and Spa

Chef Benjamin Baker is a big-hearted, humble man and mindful chef. You can taste it in the food he prepares at Travaasa Austin. His passion for food manifested early, and it’s been a lifelong pursuit.

In His Own Words

I began to realize my passion for food at a young age. Having such a large family, and being the oldest son (second oldest child), my older sister and I were put to the task of cooking for our siblings. I learned the many benefits of cooking and sharing food with other people and it rang true to my heart.

When I toured the California Culinary Academy (CCA)  in High School I felt as though I had come home. My dreams were compounded when I met some chefs and tried the exciting foods in the restaurant.

I received some stern “talkings to” by seasoned chefs at the school–they essentially attempted to scare us out of the industry altogether.

“No Holidays… no weekends… and say good-bye to all you love!”

I remember trying to solidify my resolve even then as a young kid, wondering if I had what it would take to make those types of sacrifices.

My father passed on when I still in High School, and with  him went my dreams of attending the CCA, but I was undaunted, and sought out teachers within the field for whom I could work and from whom I could learn.

At 17, I connected up with a chef in downtown San Jose, and began to help her cater lunches for the law firms in the area. This business picked up, and shortly after, I was managing the operation whilst playing in a rock band in my free time.

This pattern and pace continued until I was 19 (those two years seemed like a decade to my young impressionable mind), afer which time I decided it was time for a change. I left San Jose and went to the coastal areas of California. First the Vortex of Santa Cruz, and then up highway 1 to Mendocino county .

In Mendocino I worked with a chef  newly relocated from the island of Maui, helping to serve at his parents-in-law’s inn in Elk California. He had worked all over the island, his last job being the Ritz in Kapalua. Seeing my work ethic and knowing that I desired to keep moving (after a year) he encouraged me to move to the islands stating that I would work “like ten men” out there.

Maui was the next stop, and I had great luck staying employed: a stint at the Paia Fish Market, and Mama’s Fish House were the first jobs I took.

I trained with Roy Yamaguchi’s top Pastry Chef, Casey Lodgson for a good amount of time, which is where I was first introduced to working with Sourdough.

Later I did private Chef work for Tableside Chef’s and cooked dinners on the beach for newly married couples, and vacationers, which was such a wonderful experience.

Finally I got my foot in the door at the world famous Longhi’s as a baker. It wasn’t very long before I had taken over management of the AM shifts, and shortly after–the entire kitchen.

I also decided that it was time to play some more Rock music and began playing shows with a little three piece project.

At Longhi’s, I stayed doing winemakers dinners, and cooking for the many celebrities that came through the restaurant all year long. Once I had taken over the kitchen I decided that I wanted to go back to school, and enrolled in the Maui Culinary Academy.

This could have continued indefinitely, except for Zina, (my wife) had a troubling pregnancy that needed attention from a hospital better equipped than anything Maui had to offer. A relocation was necessary, so we chose Texas since Zina had a family network already established there. Zina was from San Antonio, and went to school in Austin and San Antonio.

Once in Austin it took some time to find decent work, but my connections from Maui, namely Peter Longhi, led me to Travaasa.

Here I am.

Croque Madame

Chef John Besh operates seven restaurants, six of them in Louisiana, and one called Lüke in San Antonio, where you will find this sandwich on the menu.

It’s a take on the familiar grilled ham and cheese sandwich Americans love, but with a French twist.

Chef tops this delicious version with sauce Mornay and a sunny side up fried egg.

There is a “masculine” version of the sandwich called croque-monsieur, served without the sauce and egg.

Those who speculate about the names of things, suspect the croque-madame received its name because the egg adorning it resembles a woman’s hat. Oh la la.

Serve this sandwich for any meal, alone or with simple sides like fruit salad, pommes frites (that’s fried potatoes, or French fries to you and me), or a green salad.

Even kids like this sandwich that is best eaten with a knife and fork. I suppose you can theoretically eat this foodstuff by hand, but if you do be sure to have plenty of napkins at the ready.

Croque-Madame
serves 6

Here is a simple sandwich that solely relies on the use of good quality ingredients.  We use a good sturdy sourdough that can stand up to the heavy mornay that gets spread over the top of it.

Ingredients

• 12 slices of sourdough
• 2-3 pounds quality ham, thinly sliced (we use Wright Brand from northern Texas)
• 1 cup Dijon mustard
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 pound Emmenthaler Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
• 1 pound unsalted butter
• mornay for spreading, recipe follows
• 6 organic yard eggs

Preparation

1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees
2. Spread six slices of sourdough with Dijon mustard and the other six with the mayonnaise.
3. Divide the ham and Swiss amongst the sandwiches.  Melt two tablespoon of butter at a time and press the sandwiches individually in a sauté pan or in a Panini press (if you’re cool enough to have one) until golden brown.
4. Spread the mornay over the top and on the sides of the sandwich.
5. Place the sandwiches in oven until warmed throughout, about 15 minutes.
6. In a separate sauté pan melt 1 tablespoon of butter at a time and cook eggs sunny side up.

Sauce Mornay

Ingredients

• 1/2  pound whole butter
• 1/2 pound all purpose flour
• ½ an onion
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 quart milk
• 1 cup shredded emmenthaler swiss
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 Tablespoon kosher salt

Preparation

1. Begin by sticking the cloves through the bay leave on the onion.
2. Next melt the butter in a small pot and add the onions.  coat the onions with the butter, cooking slowly for 8-10 minutes.
3.  Add the flour to form a loose roux, continuing to cook while coating the onions with the hot roux for 10-12 minutes making sure not to brown the roux.
4. Next add the milk and whisk constantly to prevent from clumping.  Whisk the sauce until it begins to thicken.  Add half of the cheese and nutmeg and whisk until fully melted.
5. Remove the pot from the heat and let cool slightly.  Add the remaining cheese and season with salt.