Matthew Petersen

Talk about great timing! I'm heading here this Friday for a date night with my fiance and I'm 99% sure one of those sundaes will end up being split

You're gonna want to order your own...

I wanted to let you all know about my new dessert menu at Sou'Wester.

I am very excited about it because it brings back things I grew up with; who doesn't love a great sundae???

So come on down and sit outside on our patio, have some oysters and cocktails then finish it off with a stellar sundae.

Yes we have a patio and it is GORGEOUS.

I have posted the menu for you below.

Best,

Matthew

Fried Apple Pie Caramel, Vanilla Ice Cream

Rhubarb Clafoutis Toasted Meringue, Rhubarb Sorbet

Chocolate Ganache Tart Mint Sugar, Sweet Whipped Cream

Banana Pudding Nilla Wafer, Peanut Caramel, Vanilla Ice Cream

Strawberry Shortcake Strawberry Compote, Yellow Cake Ice Cream, Strawberry Ice Cream

Lemon-Berry Ginger Cookie, Lemon Frozen Yogurt, Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream

Rocky Road Walnuts, Marshmallows, Chocolate Ice Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream

Ice Cream Vanilla, Strawberry, Raspberry Swirl, Sweet Coffee, Chocolate

Sorbet Rhubarb, Lemon Frozen Yogurt

It was a wonderful evening - Ditto on all the earlier comments! Lots of fun to watch Chef Ziebold and crew working the grills and carefully plating each course.

Chef, Can you give a little detail about the 'graham cracker' portion of the dessert? It was really good!

I'm definitely looking forward to the next one

Thanks!

It was based on a traditional Dacquoise cake, but we used homemade graham cracker crumb instead of almond flour. We also put in some heavy cream to add richness to the cake. I was happy with the way it came out, tasting just like a graham cracker but spongey and light like a cake.

Most likely this will be our signature BBQ dessert, with another, seasonal fruit offering.

Hey!

Thanks to everyone who came out for a perfect evening.

Amazing weather, good food, good wine, great people.

I know I'm looking forward to the next one...

How about you?

P.S. next time we'll take temps on your marshmallows, would you like that burnt or toasted?

It will never be what it was but I am looking forward to what Fanucci and co. can turn it into. Such a beautiful space with a killer kitchen to boot, not to mention one of the nicest pastry kitchens in the city.

Bon voyage Le Bec Fin, Bon chance chef Perrier.

Good Morning donrockwell land,

I wanted to let you all know about a promotion we are running with the Savored Group. It will be a five course dessert tasting menu, with drink pairings, for $150 pp, all inclusive. We will be holding a table every Thursday in February for 10 guests to enjoy a night of fun and sweets. Please go to savored.com to check out the deal and all the details . I have posted the link below, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. Please join us at CityZen for something special.

Warm Regards,

Matthew

http://savored.com/dc/signatures/cityzen/

Having lunch there on Friday. What should I not miss? Are Johnny Iuzzuni's desserts special or is he all hype?

Thanks!

Hey bookluvingbabe thought I'd chime in here...

Johnny's desserts are not to miss, especially since he's recently resigned his post as pastry chef at Jean-Georges. Go and indulge, he's only there for another month. You won't be disappointed, hopefully ;-)

MP

Chef Peterson,

Will you be at the restaurant Thursday (tomorrow) for the dessert tasting? I was thinking of trying it out.

I am sorry that I replied to this late...

I didn't get my email notification of a comment on this thread!

I met a couple last night that had our dessert tasting... was that you???

If not I would love to invite you to come in next week, let me know and I will make sure I am at the restaurant to say hello.

Cheers.

My first impressions on things like this are right 99% of the time, and my first impression of this is that it's a *great* idea - are you serving dessert in the entire lounge area and not just the bar itself?

Please say yes.

I almost forgot to say thank you!

Thank you!

My first impressions on things like this are right 99% of the time, and my first impression of this is that it's a *great* idea - are you serving dessert in the entire lounge area and not just the bar itself?

Please say yes.

Yes!

Whilst a work in progress, we want our guests to be comfortable and enjoy themselves, so if you would like to eat your dessert in the lounge then so be it. We even have beautiful new furniture in there to boot!

My and I took advantage of this wonderful offer last night and truly enjoyed the experience. For dinenr we went to Estadio, I need to digrees for a moment and mention that I didn't know brussel sprouts could be that good. Anyway, for dessert we thought it would be fun to try the CityZen dessert tasting menu that Matthew mentioned the other day. The four course dessert tasting menu (talk about a dream come true) started with a wonderful jelly sorbet topped peanuts -- each bite was an explosion of jelly flavor. This was followed by an apple experience, with apple sorbet, apple cake, dried apple. Any fears that this was going to be too much were quickly dispelled as everything completmented and built on each other. The third course, our favorite, was the peacon experience - just wonderful. The menu finished with a nice chocloate bread pudding and vanilla ice cream. We enjoyed how thoughtful and seasonal the desserts were. The staff, as always, was great and I can't end the post without mentioning how wonderful and friendly Sal at the bar was. We look forward to enjoying this again and highly recommend.

Mikew1 - thank you for the very nice comments, I am sorry that I was not in the restaurant to say hello, apparently I had just missed you. Next Time!

On that note, I am really excited and happy because this dessert tasting menu seems to be taking off as we have had guests enjoying every night this week. Keep em coming!

This leads me to an idea that Eric and I had. We are hoping to do something with the hotel and shows at arena stage. The idea is to have you come back after the show for dessert in our lounge. The hotel would provide a town car that could shuttle you back and forth. Sounds like a pretty sweet idea right?!! Still an idea at this point but food for thought......

Ciao,

MTP

should have been watching this thread... so sorry...

I just wanted to thank everyone who supported me during the show and who also voted for me to win FAN FAVORITE!

As squidsdc mentions in the post above, I am doing a dessert tasting menu at the bar in CityZen Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. 25$ for four courses!!

Seriously though, I am so honored and humbled to have been a part of Top Chef. The support from fans, colleagues and family was overwhelming and emotional. All that said, I am super happy with the outcome of the show and how they portrayed me, and I am really excited for the future and to be a part of the great culinary community here in Washington DC.

Thanks and cheers.

Matthew

Hey Everybody!

I just wanted to let everyone know about a new promotion I've been working on at CityZen. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I will be offering a 4 course dessert tasting, for 25$ per person at our bar. The menu will be thoughtful, inspired daily and will showcase what we love about dessert. There isn't a printed menu, it's just whatever I want to make that day. But please, if you prefer chocolate over fruit or vice versa, let me know and I will do my best to accommodate you.

I have always wanted to do something like this and CityZen affords me that opportunity. I hope to have some loyal Don Rockwell contributors at our bar soon. Cheers.

Matthew

Thank you Don! Hey next time you're in Sou'Wester ask for me!

I am looking forward to the upcoming season and all of the fun that will come with it!

Season two will air on Bravo at 10pmEST on August 24.

wow I just noticed that I have not posted in a while!

I guess you could say that I've been pretty busy...

Congratulations to Matthew Petersen of CityZen and Sou'Wester who will be a contestant during the upcoming season of Just Desserts.

Thank you Don! Hey next time you're in Sou'Wester ask for me!

I am looking forward to the upcoming season and all of the fun that will come with it!

Season two will air on Bravo at 10pmEST on August 24.

Had dinner tonight at CityZen and can testify that Matthew is a fantastic chef.

The entire meal was fantastic (the coffee ice cream with dessert was amazing), and service was as excellent as ever.

The risotto and the venison were favorites, for me. And the quail. And the matsutake. Oh, and the lobster. And the.... well, everything, honestly.

Thank you Carol / DinerGirl!

We look forward to seeing you again soon.

MP

Excellent. Having worked under Haazs (and Kaysen), you've surely got a lot of great things to share with the dining public at CityZen. I look forward to seeing your menus, and hopefully tasting your desserts.

Thank you Ulterior. Just to clarify, I was the pastry chef at Cafe Boulud in Palm Beach for 2 years with Zach Bell and prior to that I was in nyc at Daniel and db Bistro Moderne. I have done quite a few events though with Raphael and Gavin, great chefs and I always had fun working with them.

So this will be my first post as I would like to introduce myself to the community.

I have replaced the irreplaceable Amanda Cook as pastry chef at CityZen and Sou'Wester. She left me some big shoes to fill but I am more than up to the task.

Coming to DC from Cafe Boulud, I am humbled and honored to work for such a great chef in Eric. My goal is to elevate his cuisine and the dining experience at CityZen by staying true to the wonderful ingredients, myself and the restaurant. CityZen is one of those restaurants, to me, that sets the standard and then goes above and beyond.

Everything on the dessert menu at this moment is inspired by the season. We have some caramelized fairytale pumpkin bread with ginger ice cream, also a nice dish of red wine poached mission figs with mascarpone semifreddo and tellicherry pepper. There are a few others that I will leave to you to come in and see. The menu changes often so there is always something different happening at CityZen.

Hope to see you soon.

MP