By Chanda Temple | Special to the Birmingham Times
Hassan Gooden takes one bite of his three-layer seafood lasagna and jumps up and down like he’s struck gold.
In a way, he has. As the executive chef of Velvet & Vine BHM, a new restaurant slated to open in downtown Birmingham in March, he’s been testing recipes to get them just right before opening day.
On a recent Tuesday morning, he’s already cooked one lasagna full of shrimp, crawfish, fish stock, and a blend of Gouda, aged cheddar and Parmigiano Reggiano, placed in between his homemade lasagna pasta sheets. Fresh out the oven, the lasagna continues to bubble. Hassan takes a spoon and cracks the slight crust of cheese topping dotted with fresh parsley, thyme and rosemary.
He scoops out a serving, tries it and smiles. It’s good.
But in his mind, Hassan wonders if it can be better. He whips up another version and leaves it in the oven just a little while longer. The extra cooking time makes all the difference.
The flavor is even more deep and robust.
“This is it!” he exclaims while wearing an apron dusted in his rolling pin flour power. “This one was better than the first.”
As a youth, Hassan Gooden wanted to be an OB/GYN. But after growing his talents in restaurant kitchens, he found a different kind of delivery to make people happy. “For me, cooking is the only thing that matters,” he said.
Perfection Is Key
Perfection is key for the 31-year-old Hassan, a father of three who is counting down to the opening day of the restaurant, which will be located in the former Roots & Revelry on the second floor of the Thomas Jefferson Tower at 1623 Second Ave. North. They will serve to-go lunches and seated dinners.
The menu will feature Sunday dinner-themed entrees such as Grits & Grillades, which are sticky, spicy braised oxtails served over stone ground grits with horseradish garlic dust and butterfly tea pickled onion; fried red snapper with the vegetable of the day, chimichurri and a pork belly “haystack”; ribeye; a pub style burger; soups and salad; sweet potato noodles with onion, red pepper, carrot, harissa , confit chicken and crispy turnip greens; a three-day honey marinated pork chop; and of course, the three-layer seafood lasagna with garlic toast points. There will also be light bites such as crispy fried whole wings; charred broccolini; chips and dip; and more.
He calls his food “elevated Southern dining” that tastes like it was a cooked by a grandmother who’s gone to culinary school.
When Hassan cooks, he thinks about how he used to watch his late maternal grandmother cook Sunday dinners at home. Today, he recreates some of her dishes but with a twist. Fried chicken with greens was popular for them, but Hassan plans to offer “chicken fried” quail with a cast iron cornbread pudding and slow-cooked pork belly and pepper turnip greens.
“Long-Forgotten Desserts”
He’s also working with friend and pastry chef Addison Porter to bring back some long-forgotten desserts.
“A lot of the desserts we want to do will be throwbacks to desserts that were made out of necessity,” Addison said. “We are working on … a vinegar pie, which was made when African Americans didn’t have access to fresh citrus. So, they used apple cider vinegar and other ingredients. It’s like a custard pie. It’s actually quite good.”
They are also planning desserts such as a sweet potato pie cheesecake, a burnt sugar cake and homemade cookies.
Not too far from Addison are huge chocolate chip cookies with a crackly top, a soft center and touches of Maldon sea salt on a cooling rack. Addison has been testing cookie recipes while also thinking of ways to serve them. Cookie flights with a praline topping and ice cream sandwiches have come to mind.
“One thing Hassan and I agreed on is that we want to do (fine dining) cookies. We want to do different types of cookies,” Addison said.
“We have been messaging each other at seven in the morning, talking about cookies and cheesecakes and pies.”
Ramsay High Grad
Early morning convos and afternoon strategy sessions have become the norm for Hassan, who was born at Birmingham’s Cooper Green Hospital, but grew up in Alexander City, AL. He moved back to Birmingham around the age of 10 and graduated from Ramsay High School in 2012.
Over the years, he worked in several restaurants across Birmingham, serving in various roles. His first job was as a host at Red Lobster, where he worked his way up to the kitchen. Shortly after that, he applied for a cooking job at the now-closed Sky Castle in Birmingham’s Lakeview neighborhood.
But his lack of knowledge about cooking was exposed at Sky Castle when he was asked to get parsley from the fridge and he brought back cilantro. He got a few other things wrong, but management saw his interest and kept him on, telling him they’d teach him.
He worked at Sky Castle for a while and later landed a job as an oyster chef at another Birmingham restaurant, where he worked his way up to sous chef. People noticed his skills and gave him more chances. And each time, he took the chance and got stronger and stronger in his cooking skills.
“I’ve never stepped foot in a culinary school before, but I have been blessed … to have so many teach me things along the way,” he said.
He worked at several other restaurants and venues before starting his own catering and private chef services in Birmingham. Now, he’s ready to take on the role of executive chef for Velvet and Vine.
“I’m originally a kitchen chef, and that’s what gives me that drive every day,” said Hassan, who has been a private chef for the last six years. “I love being in the fire. I love the whole shebang.”
“You can’t make it in this business without loving it.”
Chanda Temple is an award-winning writer living in Birmingham, Ala. She blogs at http://www.chandatemplewrites.com. If you have a food story idea, email her at chandatemple@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram at @chandatemple.
