Luigi’s Pettit Is No Washout

Plate scrapers everywhere, take heart.

Matt Pettit - the Culinary Institute of America-trained chef at Luigi’s in downtown Spokane - started his cooking career as a dishwasher when he was just 14.

“The thing that impressed me about working in a kitchen was how you could lose track of time. You would look up at the clock and realize a couple of hours had gone by,” he said.

The years have flown by for Pettit, 33, who started Luigi’s nearly 10 years ago with partner Marty Hogberg.

The soft-spoken Pettit had grown up in Bozeman and Helena before heading off to college in Texas to study hotel management. From there, he decided the kitchen was where he wanted to focus his energy. So in 1984, he enrolled in the country’s most prestigious cooking school - the “CIA,” in Hyde Park, N.Y.

All that classical training didn’t prepare him for his first job, though.

“I worked in one of the oldest Italian restaurants in the country, Coppola’s in Hyde Park, and I was one of the only people who spoke English,” Pettit said.

After school, he returned to Montana and searched for a position throughout the Northwest. His interview at the innovative St. Regis Cafe in Spokane was a trial by fire.

“I came in and was told to cook a seven-course meal and then come out and explain the courses in between at the same time I was trying to cook,” he said. “I thought I had blown it, but I got the job.”

Pettit was only at the St. Regis for 10 months before the owner decided to shut down.

“Spokane just wasn’t ready for that kind of cooking at the time,” he said.

Luigi’s later opened in the St. Regis spot (113 N. Bernard, 624-5226) and Pettit has been there ever since.

As a partner, Pettit wears more than the chef’s toque blanche. He toils over the bookkeeping and helps oversee the restaurant’s line of sauces and salad dressings that are available in supermarkets in four states. But it’s being in the kitchen that he loves best.

In the beginning, Pettit had to tone down the flavors of the traditional Italian recipes he had picked up on the East Coast.

“It was just too robust,” he said.

But times have changed and diners’ tastes have gotten more sophisticated. These days, Pettit breaks away from the regular Italian menu with daily specials that hit all parts of the globe.

“I do some Oriental, some Thai, some French and I’m really into Cajun these days,” he said.

An example of the latter might include his treatment of a succulent duck breast, grilled with currant jelly and fresh lime juice and finished with a rich creme fraiche.

His method for coming up with dishes might sound familiar to many home cooks.

“Sometimes, I just take a look at what’s in the fridge and think about what’s going to work well together,” he said.

The restaurant’s highly-touted salmon lasagna, for instance, was created while he was trying to get rid of some things. The savory special went over so well, a customer requested the recipe in Gourmet magazine.

When he can find the time, Pettit is inspired by cooking magazines and cookbooks of all kinds. Soon, he plans to revive an old St. Regis tradition with “cookbook dinners,” which will feature recipes from celebrity chefs such as Dean Fearing from the revered Mansion at Turtle Creek in Dallas.

At home, Pettit loves to fire up his gas grill. But he has a hard time making one adjustment away from his commercial kitchen.

“It’s really hard to cook for just two,” he said. “I’m always handing stuff over the fence to my neighbors.”

Rosemary Lamb Chops With Wild Mushroom Ragout

8 center-cut lamb chops

1/2 cup celery oil (see note)

1 teaspoon minced shallots

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup cabernet sauvignon (or other dry red wine)

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup chicken broth

Wild mushroom ragout:

2 pounds mushrooms (preferably a mixture of button, shiitake, chantrelles and morel)

1/2 cup unsalted butter

6 tablespoons Madeira wine

1 tablespoon minced parsley

1 tablespoon fresh tarragon

1/2 cup chicken broth

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tomato, peeled, seeded and diced

Fresh rosemary, for garnish

In a stockpot, heat the celery oil. Add shallots and garlic; saute for 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients (except for ragout ingredients) and bring to a boil; remove from heat and transfer to a large pan to cool. When cool, pour over lamb chops and marinate for at least 3 hours in the refrigerator, turning once or twice.

For ragout, heat butter in a large saucepan. Add mushrooms and saute 4 to 5 minutes. Add Madeira, parsley, tarragon and chicken broth. Cook until liquid is reduced by half; season with salt and pepper to taste. Add tomato and cook 2 to 3 minutes.

To assemble, remove lamb chops from marinade and grill or broil 2 to 3 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of the meat. Place on a serving dish and arrange mushroom ragout around the chops. Garnish with fresh rosemary.

Yield: 4 servings.

Note: To prepare celery oil, blanch 1 cup packed celery leaves and 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds in boiling water for 30 seconds. Plunge in ice water to cool; drain. In a food processor, blend leaves and seeds with 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil and 2 chives for 45 seconds. Strain oil before using.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: Chef du Jour is a monthly feature of IN Food that profiles area chefs and provides one of their recipes for readers to try at home.