Lava Noshery in the News, Voted Tulsa's Best New Restaurant of 2007

Teaching Moments
By Joy Jenkins

Lava Noshery chef Geoffrey van Glabbeek showed off his expertly refined cooking skills while pleasing old fans and attracting new ones.

Booker T. Washington Teacher Bill Bland remembers Geoffrey van Glabbeek as a shy, almost introverted eighth-grader. He wasn't the top student in Bland's speech and debate classes, but he does recall that there was something special about van Glabbeek. He has "an abundance of inspiration," as Bland puts it, and "he always had that drive." As a result, Bland knew van Glabbeek would find a career that suited this special quality.

He did. And on June 21, Bland got a taste - quite literally - of just how successful his former student has become.

Van Glabbeek, now the chef at Brookside's Lava Noshery, was the guest chef for the sixth Cooking for a Cause cooking demonstration benefiting the Iron Gate Feeding Ministry at Trinity Episcopal Church. At the event, held next door to Lava Noshery at Metro Builders Supply's Appliance Gallery, van Glabbeek provided tips to observers as he prepared a meal representative of his innovative approach to cooking.

Of course, Bland had a stove-side seat. He says he had already become a fan of van Glabbeek's culinary skills at Lava Noshery. So much so, in fact, that he visits the new Center One restaurant about three times a week to taste the food he called "a breath of fresh air to Tulsa."

With many talented Tulsa high school graduates moving on to other cities, bland says he's happy van Glabbeek decided to return to his hometown.

"I'm very proud of the fact that I've seen him come from the eighth grade," he says. "I kind of forced him into the speech and debate program at Booker T., and to be able to see him grow into the person he is today, it's just incredible."

Looking back, van Glabbeek admits that he preferred to skip class time - at least varsity tennis - to work in a restaurant. He says he always enjoyed cooking, but he didn't realize it could be a career. After his junior year of high school, he took a summer job cooking at the Adam's Mark hotel. He continued to work at restaurants throughout his senior year, including Biga, and eventually headed to the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York.

From the institute, he likely could have had his pick of most any restaurant in the country, but he chose to return to Tulsa.

And it's a good thing he did. Van Glabbeek, who spent time at Palace Café, Montereau and Privé before landing at Table Ten as its chef, already has fans.

Cooking for a Cause attendee Vicky George says that before the event, she had eaten at Lava Noshery and Table Ten, so she was excited to sit up close at the cooking demonstration and watch the chef at work.

"It's great food and a little bit of an education and it's a wonderful cause, so what's not to life?" she says of the event.

George's husband, Richard, says he appreciated how laid-back the chef was and that his demonstration wasn't merely a show. He was matter-of-fact and gave practical cooking advice.

Van Glabbeek began the meal with an arugula salad tossed with hazelnut vinaigrette with fresh raspberries and goat cheese. He showed guests which knife to use to cut the nuts and even gave some tips on technique, all the while inviting questions from surrounding diners.

Next was the halibut en papillote with fennel farro, spring vegetable has and gremolata, presented in a unique white paper box.

The main course was a distinctive version of surf and turf with an herbed tenderloin served over lobster mashed potatoes with morel demi-glace.

During this portion of the demonstration, van Glabbeek pulled out a live lobster and, after paying some last respects, showed diners the correct way to boil the seafood delicacy.

The meal ended with a flourless chocolate "cathedral" cake with berry-vanilla sauce - a rich, and fitting, end to a memorable meal. Each entrée was expertly paired with wines from Parkhill's Wines and Liquor.

As the meal progressed, van Glabbeek had obviously won even more devotees, with many asking for seconds of the mashed potatoes and exclaiming over the colored sugar stained-glass window that accompanied each piece of chocolate cake.

Van Glabbeek says he, too, appreciated the chance to share some cooking tips and support a worthy cause. And it all has further convinced him that Tulsa is a place he'd like to be.

"I planned on coming back to Tulsa for a while, but I didn't plan on staying." he says. "I wanted to go out and get some more experience. But I've had such great opportunities in Tulsa that it's made me want to stick around."

Originally Published by Tulsa People.

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