A Brief History of New Canaan & Fairfield County's Table
New Canaan was carved from the Norwalk and Stamford parishes in 1731 and has quietly become one of America's most culturally layered small towns — a place where Colonial-era stone walls still trace the edges of properties that now host Sunday salons of novelists, designers, and Wall Street principals. The Harlem Line made commuting possible in 1868, but it was the Harvard Five architects of the mid-century who reframed New Canaan as a living museum of American Modernism, Philip Johnson's Glass House among them.
The county that surrounds it — Greenwich, Darien, Westport, Wilton, Fairfield, Ridgefield — has always eaten well, and eaten locally. Long Island Sound gives up littleneck clams, Blue Point oysters, fluke, and striped bass that Fairfield County cooks have prized since the 18th century. Inland, dairies in Ridgefield and orchards along the Norwalk River supplied a table tradition of seasonal cream, stone fruit, and heritage apples. That heritage now threads through the farmers' markets of New Canaan, the oyster shacks of Norwalk, and the specialty grocers along Elm Street.
Today's Fairfield County palate is discerning but unshowy — knowledgeable about Burgundy, serious about olive oil, curious about heirloom tomatoes, and quietly expectant that a host will set a beautiful table. Private Chef Robert cooks squarely inside that tradition: ingredient-driven, regionally aware, and paced for the way New Canaan actually entertains.
Recipes and Menus
Tamarind and Soy-Marinated Beef SkewersTiming Vegetable Wellington with Wild Mushroom Duxelles, Spinach & Red Wine Vegetable Demi-Glace
Veal Meatballs in a Tomato-Basil Brodo
Seared Scallops with Blood Orange Gastrique & Crispy Pancetta
Smoked Brisket Ravioli with Wild Porcini Brodo & Shaved White Truffles
Spot Prawns on a Himalayan Salt Block with Calamansi & Chives
Harissa-Marinated Chicken Breast with Preserved Lemon & Olive Sauce
What Are the Benefits of Hiring a Private Chef in New Canaan, CT?
Benefit #1 & #2 — Your Home Becomes a Five-Star Dining Room, Tailored Entirely to You
In New Canaan, the most memorable dinners no longer happen at restaurants — they happen at home, at your own table, with a chef cooking the meal you actually want to eat. That is what a private chef delivers, and it is fundamentally different from catering. A caterer arrives with a fixed menu, chafing dishes, and pre-portioned trays; Chef Robert arrives with a plan built around your family, your dietary preferences, the wines you already own, and the way your kitchen is laid out. Courses come out of your oven, not a warming box.
That tailoring begins days before service. Chef Robert shops the menu personally — prepared items and specialty ingredients from Aux Délices on Elm Street, just-off-the-boat cod and Long Island Sound oysters from Fjord Fish Market, heritage beef from Pat LaFrieda, seasonal produce from Stew Leonard's in Norwalk, and Italian imports — aged Parmigiano, first-press oils, '00' flour — from DeCicco & Sons. He handles every step: menu design, sourcing, prep, plating, wine-pairing notes, and the full cleanup. You host; you don't work.
The emotional payoff is the part people remember. Your home smells like short ribs braising in Barolo when guests arrive. You pour the welcome wine instead of checking the oven. You sit through every course. The table lingers. The night feels like the best restaurant you've ever been to — and it's happening in your own dining room. That is where this recipe comes in.
Seared Prime New York Steak with Courvoisier Cognac Cream Sauce
3a. Mise en Place — Three Stations
Organize the kitchen the way a professional line would: three distinct stations, every item measured and ready before you turn on a single burner. This is the single most important step for serving ten people at once with restaurant polish.
Station 1 — Cold Prep (Vegetables, Herbs, Citrus)
- 4 large shallots, brunoise (very fine dice)
- 6 garlic cloves, minced to a paste
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves pulled (stems reserved for sauce)
- 3 tablespoons fresh chives, finely sliced — for garnish
- 1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley, chiffonade — for garnish
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced (1 tablespoon juice reserved)
- 2 oz mixed microgreens, rinsed and spun dry — for garnish
- 2 teaspoons green peppercorns in brine, drained
Station 2 — Cheese, Dairy & Pantry (Oils, Spirits, Stocks)
- 3 cups heavy cream (36% fat), tempered to room temperature
- 2 cups veal or beef demi-glace
- 6 tablespoons unsalted European-style butter, cubed and very cold
- 4 tablespoons clarified butter (for the sear)
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
- 1 cup Courvoisier VSOP cognac, measured into a metal ramekin
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons coarsely cracked Tellicherry pepper
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt — for finishing
- ¼ cup finely grated Pecorino Romano (optional, for finishing)
Station 3 — Cooking (Vessels, Heat, Timing)
- 10 prime New York strip steaks, 12 oz each, 1½ inches thick, tempered 45 minutes
- Two heavy 12-inch cast-iron or carbon-steel skillets
- One 3-quart heavy saucepan (for the sauce)
- Sheet pan fitted with a wire rack (for resting)
- Instant-read thermometer (targeting 128°F for medium-rare)
- Kitchen timer and tongs
- Warmed dinner plates (200°F oven, 10 minutes before plating)
3b. Ingredients List — Full Recipe, Serves 10
- 10 prime New York strip steaks, 12 oz each
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons cracked black pepper
- 4 tablespoons clarified butter
- 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold
- 4 large shallots, finely minced
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 cup Courvoisier VSOP cognac
- 2 cups veal or beef demi-glace
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons green peppercorns, drained
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon flaky sea salt (finishing)
- ¼ cup Pecorino Romano, grated (optional)
- Garnish: 3 tablespoons chives, sliced
- Garnish: 1 tablespoon parsley, chiffonade
- Garnish: 2 oz mixed microgreens
3c. Method & Instructions
- Temper the steaks. Remove the ten New York strips from the refrigerator 45 minutes before service. Pat each steak completely dry with paper towels — a dry surface is the single most important factor in a deep, mahogany crust. Season generously on both sides with kosher salt and cracked pepper, pressing the seasoning into the meat.
- Warm plates, preheat skillets. Slide dinner plates into a 200°F oven. Set two heavy skillets over high heat and let them preheat dry for 3 full minutes, until you see a whisper of smoke rising. This is non-negotiable for the crust you want.
- Sear the steaks in batches. Add 2 tablespoons clarified butter and 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil to each skillet. When the fat shimmers and ripples, lay in the steaks — three per pan, never crowded. Sear undisturbed for 3 minutes until a deep russet crust forms. Flip once, add a knob of butter and two thyme sprigs to each pan, and baste continuously for 3 more minutes. Target 128°F internal for medium-rare.
- Rest, then repeat. Transfer seared steaks to the wire rack, tent loosely with foil, and let them rest a minimum of 8 minutes. Wipe the skillets, return to heat, and sear the remaining batch the same way. Reserve all pan drippings for the sauce.
- Build the sauce base. In the 3-quart saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the shallots with a pinch of salt and sweat — not brown — until glassy and translucent, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and remaining thyme leaves; cook 60 seconds until fragrant and just blonde at the edges.
- Deglaze with cognac — carefully. Pull the pan completely off the heat. Pour in the Courvoisier, then return to the flame. The alcohol will ignite; let the flames burn down naturally for 20–30 seconds. Scrape up the fond with a wooden spoon. Reduce the cognac by two-thirds — it should look syrupy and smell sweet and toasted.
- Reduce the demi-glace. Pour in the 2 cups of demi-glace. Bring to a gentle simmer and reduce by about a third, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon and pulls a clean line when you draw a finger through it. Roughly 6–8 minutes.
- Enrich with cream. Add the heavy cream in a steady stream, whisking constantly. Bring back to a bare simmer — never a hard boil, which will break the emulsion — and reduce another 5–7 minutes until the sauce is glossy and velvet-thick. It should nap the back of a spoon and hold a clean line.
- Finish the sauce. Off heat, whisk in the Dijon mustard, drained green peppercorns, and lemon juice. Taste and adjust salt. Mount with the cold cubed butter, piece by piece, swirling the pan — this is what gives the sauce its restaurant sheen. Strain through a fine-mesh chinois if you prefer a silken texture; leave rustic for a more textured plate. Keep warm; do not re-boil.
- Slice and plate. After resting, slice each strip against the grain into four or five broad bias slices — this exposes the rosy interior beautifully. Fan the slices across a warmed plate at a slight angle. Spoon the cognac cream sauce generously over the top third, letting it pool onto the plate. Finish each plate with a pinch of flaky sea salt across the exposed meat, a scatter of sliced chives and parsley chiffonade, and a small tuft of microgreens placed off-center for height and color contrast. Serve immediately, on warm plates, while the sauce is still glossy.
3d. Time on Task
| Phase | Duration |
|---|---|
| Mise en Place / Prep Time (all three stations) | 45 minutes |
| Steak Temper (passive) | 45 minutes |
| Active Cook Time (sear + sauce build) | 35 minutes |
| Rest & Plating Time | 12 minutes |
| Total Time — Fridge to Table | 1 hour 30 minutes |
Plating Idea: White bone-china coupe plates. Fan the sliced strip toward 10 o'clock on the plate, sauce pooled at 4 o'clock, microgreens placed just off the meat at 2 o'clock. A single thyme flower or edible nasturtium adds a final note of color without competing with the sauce. Serve with a simple potato purée and charred broccolini.
Grocery Shopping List — Organized by Category
This list assumes a party of ten and includes a modest buffer for pan losses and tasting. Chef Robert shops these categories in this order — proteins first, produce last — so cold items spend the minimum time in the car on the way back from Fairfield County's best sources.
Meats
- 10 prime New York strip steaks, 12 oz each, 1½" thick
- ¼ lb bacon or beef trim (optional, for rendering into sauce)
Seafood
- Not required for this entrée — see note below for pairing course
- Optional first course: 30 Long Island Sound oysters for a half-shell starter
Produce
- 4 large shallots
- 1 head garlic (for 6 cloves)
- 1 bunch fresh thyme (8 sprigs)
- 1 bunch fresh chives
- 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley
- 2 oz mixed microgreens
- 1 lemon
- Potatoes & broccolini (for recommended sides)
Dairy & Cheese
- 1 quart heavy cream, 36% fat
- ½ lb European-style unsalted butter (Plugrá or Kerrygold)
- 4 oz clarified butter (or ghee)
- 2 oz Pecorino Romano, in block form
Pantry & Dry Goods
- Kosher salt (Diamond Crystal preferred)
- Tellicherry black peppercorns
- Flaky sea salt (Maldon)
- Grapeseed oil, 4 oz
- Dijon mustard (Maille or Edmond Fallot)
- Green peppercorns in brine, small jar
- Veal or beef demi-glace, 2 cups (D'Artagnan or house-made)
Specialty / Italian Imports
- Courvoisier VSOP cognac, 750ml bottle
- First-press extra-virgin olive oil (for finishing sides)
- Aged Pecorino Romano DOP
- Source note: Prime New York strips, dry-aged options, and heritage cuts from Pat LaFrieda Meats. Fresh and smoked fish for a pairing starter from Fulton Fish Market. Italian imports — oils, salts, DOP cheeses — at DeCicco & Sons in CT, or sourced from Eataly NYC on a dedicated buying run.
Fresh Herbs
- Fresh thyme — 1 bunch
- Fresh chives — 1 bunch
- Flat-leaf parsley — 1 small bunch
- Optional: edible flowers (nasturtium, thyme blossom) from Terrain Garden Centre in Westport
Equipment & Utensils
- Two 12" cast-iron or carbon-steel skillets
- One 3-qt heavy-bottomed saucepan
- Sheet pan with wire resting rack
- Instant-read thermometer (Thermapen or equivalent)
- Fine-mesh chinois or strainer
- Microplane for lemon zest
- Warmed dinner plates (held in 200°F oven)
Reserve Your Date — Contact Chef Robert Today
Picture it: the house smells like something extraordinary. Your guests are holding wine, not worrying about canapés. You are seated at your own table, present for every course, and the cleanup is already being quietly handled in the kitchen. That is what Chef Robert brings to a Fairfield County home — weekly meal prep that makes Tuesday feel like Saturday, dinner parties that become the story of the season, and holiday service for the gatherings that matter most. Anniversaries, birthdays, corporate entertaining, and family weekends, all cooked to the standard you would expect at the best restaurant you know — in your own kitchen, on your own terms.
Reserve Your DateFrequently Asked Questions About Private Chef Services in New Canaan, CT
What does a private chef in New Canaan, CT actually do?
How much does it cost to hire a personal chef in New Canaan, CT?
What is the difference between a private chef and a caterer?
Can a private chef accommodate dietary restrictions and allergies in New Canaan?
How do I hire Private Chef Robert for a dinner party in New Canaan, CT?
About Private Chef Robert
Chef Robert Gorman trained in the Pacific Northwest at the Rusty Pelican on Seattle's waterfront, where Puget Sound salmon, Dungeness crab, and Pike Place Market sourcing shaped an ingredient-first philosophy. He went on to serve as Private Chef for the Doswell Foundation in Dallas, Texas, cooking in an estate environment where precision and hospitality mattered equally. Now based in New Canaan, Chef Robert brings that same attention to Fairfield County homes — seasonal, local, and deeply personal cooking, built around the people at your table. Reserve your date: Robert@RobertLGorman.com, 602-370-5255, www.NewCanaanChef.com.
Styles of Service for Private Chef Events
The way a meal is served shapes the entire tone of the evening. Chef Robert offers four core service styles, matched to the occasion, the room, and the rhythm you want the night to have.
Plated · À la Russe
Each course plated in the kitchen and presented to each guest — the most formal style and the standard for fine-dining dinner parties of six to twelve. Ideal for multi-course tasting menus where each plate is a composed picture.
Family Style · Passed Platters
Beautifully arranged platters set on the table for guests to serve themselves. Warm, generous, and conversational — best for Sunday suppers, rehearsal dinners, and multigenerational gatherings where the table talks a lot.
Buffet · Stationed
A single curated buffet or several themed stations — raw bar, carving, pasta — that let guests circulate. The right choice for cocktail receptions, open houses, and corporate events of twenty or more.
Chef's Counter · Live Cooking
Chef Robert cooks directly in front of your guests at the island or a dedicated counter — searing, finishing, plating to order. Theatrical and intimate, perfect for smaller parties of six to ten who want the show as much as the meal.
Tableware, Dishware, Silverware & Servingware
A plate is a picture frame. For the Seared New York Strip with Courvoisier Cream, Chef Robert recommends warm white bone china — a coupe plate of roughly 11 inches gives the sauce room to pool without crowding the meat. Rimmed soup plates work beautifully for any paired starter. Avoid high-contrast patterns; they fight the food.
Silverware should be weighted, polished, and appropriate to the course count. A proper ten-guest dinner calls for steak knives with a fine cutting edge (Laguiole, Wüsthof, or similar), dinner forks, salad forks, soup spoons, bread-and-butter knives, and dessert forks or spoons set above the plate. Polish every piece the afternoon of service and lay each setting with a one-inch margin from the table edge.
Stemware: two wine glasses per guest — a larger Bordeaux bowl for the red course and a white wine glass for the starter or pairing — plus water glasses and flutes if Champagne is served on arrival. Linen napkins, never paper, folded simply at each place. For servingware, keep it quietly substantial: white porcelain platters, a warmed sauceboat for any offered tableside, wooden or marble boards for the cheese course, and a pair of polished tongs and sauce spoons held at Chef Robert's cooking station for service. The table should feel considered — never fussy — so the food leads the evening.