Private Chef James O'neill

I am Propietor/Licensed Lead Forager and Chef of Deep Forest Wild Edible. Specializing in wild edible plants and mushrooms, I lead foraging workshops and foraging/cooking experiences where we forage the food and create and indulge in a five course menu, with dishes focusing primarily on the wild foraged ingredients we procure during the workshop. With 26 years experience in kitchens, working under Michelin star and food culture influencing Chefs such as Terrance Brennan of Manhattan's Picholine and Micheal Smith of The Inn at Bay Fortune in PEI, Canada, I have developed and apply creative techniques instilled in me from these and other mentors of mine, utilizing them while rediscovering, developing and reintroducing our natural world and wild plants and fungi into regional Hudson Valley cuisine. Working closely with up and coming chefs, whom with I share the ethos of responsibly and sustainably showcasing our wild edibles and rich agriculture, I am proud and humbled to be a part of this developing movement. As a Hudson Valley native who has traveled and worked the Americas, I have seen regions thrive around thier unique cuisines. The pride I take in the Hudson Valley and what make it a culinary gem is something that I and the people I choose to work with have a long term vision of putting on the map as one of the most visited and important cuisines in the world. This is something that by leading by example through honest and transparent crafting of local ingredients prepared and served by a staff paid a true living wage, I hope to help see this movement mature. Through bringing all of this to be shared at home at the table with friends and family either via private dinners, teaching cooking classes, or menu consultation I hope to introduce wild foraged ingredients to the public.

For me, cooking is...

A way of appreciating and connecting people to one another as well as their natural environment. We are all interconnected. It is as simple as that.

I learned to cook at...

I learned to cook first by my mother and grandmother, and the strong and loving women in my family. This lead me to the field where I learned hands on

A cooking secret...

My secret in the kitchen is No Secrets! If we all share what we love and know with one another, we will have an inexhaustable source of inspiration.

My menus

Yultide and New Year's Table

STARTER

Choose 3 dishes

Carottes râpées. Grated carrot salad, golden raisins, lemon vinaigrette, parsley and wild carrot greens

Baby artichoke, cured egg yolk and caper aioli

Aranccini. Deep fried risotto balls, with local procuitto, parmesean cheese and fresh milled stewed tomato

Baked Old Chatham Nancy's Camembert, fingerling potato, Cornichons

FIRST COURSE

Choose 3 dishes

Black Dirt Region French Onion Soup, Sprout Creek Semi-hard Barat

Cured and Smoked Mackerel, Charred Lemon

Cured Meats, Labna w Basil, Grilled Bread, Fire Roasted Red Pepper

Eggplant Caponata. Fire roasted eggplant, red peppers, capers on grilled pane rustico, aged apple balsamic reduction

Fire roasted winter squash soup, nasturtium, spruce oil

MAIN COURSE

Choose 3 dishes

Chef's Hand Papperdelle bolognese wild mint whipped Hudson Valley whole milk whipped ricotta

Fire roasted pumpkin and lobster ravioli with ricotta cheese, pine nuts and sage brown butter, grilled meyer lemon

Line Caught Stuffed Fluke, Stewed Bean and Escarlole, Grilled Blood Orange Redux

Pan Roasted Filet mignon, potatos au robuchón, asparagus, bernaise sauce

Chicken l'orange, roasted leg of chicken, fingerling potatoes, haricot vert, honey apple orange sauce

DESSERT

Choose 3 dishes

Churchtown Dairy Wendel (Raw Milk Semi-firm Tomme), local honeycrisp apple, spices almonds,Hudson Valley Honeycomb

Croissant bread pudding with dark chocolate, whiskey brittle shatter, orange liqueur whipped cream

Edgewick Goat Cheese Panna Cotta, Hudson Valley Honey, Rosemary Maldon

Lemoncurd and spiced merengue, puffed corn sugar crisp

Black currant composta, Anise Pizzelle, elderflower whipped Ronnybrooke Farms heavy cream, shaved dark chocolate

Chocolate mousse, vanilla bean creme anglaise

French Countryside Table

STARTER

Choose 2 dishes

Nicoise Salad w fingerling potato, black olive oil massaged kale, quince confit

Local Grass Fed Steak TarTar, Wild foraged cress, capers, lemon vinaigrette Grilled Peasant Bread

Carottes râpées. Grated carrot salad, golden raisins, lemon vinaigrette, parsley

Flatbread with anchovies, olives and carmelized onion

FIRST COURSE

Choose 2 dishes

Plateau à Fromage. Cheese plate with 4 different styles of local cheese, bagette, foraged pickled wood ear mushroom, spices almonds, and local honeycomb

Black Dirt Region French Onion Soup, Sprout Creek Semi-hard Barat

Baked Old Chatham Nancy's Camembert, fingerling potato, Cornichons

Roast pumpkin and melted leek gallette w local whipped farmers cheese and Tarregon oil

Foie et Oignons. Calves liver, roasted fingerling potatoes, Wood charcoal carmelized onion, chous rouge

MAIN COURSE

Choose 2 dishes

Pan Roasted Filet mignon, potatos au robuchón, asparagus, bernaise sauce

Skate wing and diver scallop Boullabaissìe. Pan seared skate wing and diver scallops in tomato, fennel fish broth, lemon garlic rouille

Foie et Oignons. Calves liver, roasted fingerling potatoes, Wood charcoal carmelized onion, red wine demi glace

Toulouse Style Cassoulet, stewed White Beans, Locally Raised Smoked Ham Hock

DESSERT

Choose 2 dishes

Red Wine Poached Pear, Casis and Star Anise, raspberry creme anglaise Toulouse Style Cassoulet, stewed White Beans, Locally Raised Smoked Ham Hock

Croissant bread pudding with dark chocolate, whiskey brittle shatter, orange liqueur whipped cream

Warm Hudson Valley Apple Galette, melted Sprout Creek Barat (semi-hard cheese) and vanilla bean creme anglaise

Regionally Sourced Mediterranean Muses

STARTER

Choose 2 dishes

Cured and Smoked Mackerel, Charred Lemon

Puffed Qinoa, Kalamata Olive, Quince Emulsion, Parsley Oil

Nicoise Olives, Smashed and Fried Fingerling Potato, Parsley and Caper Salad

FIRST COURSE

Choose 1 dish

Cured Meats, Labna w Basil, Grilled Bread, Fire Roasted Red Pepper

Fried Baby Artichoke, Cured Egg Yolk Aioli, Lemon Confit

Roast Pumpkin, Massaged Kale, Black Olive Oil, Feta Cheese

Mint and Rosemary Grilled Lamb Kabob, Preserved Lemon Tziki, Grilled Pita

MAIN COURSE

Choose 1 dish

Wild Hive Polenta, Merguez, Poached Egg, Salsa Verde

Rhode Island Braised Squid, Melted Tomato, Capers, Pickled Lemon, Crushed Red Pepper

Line Caught Stuffed Fluke, Stewed Bean and Escarlole, Grilled Blood Orange Redux

DESSERT

Choose 1 dish

Portokalapita (Greek Orange Cake with Syrup)

Compote of Black Currant and Gooseberry, Honey Whipped Farmer's Cheese, Rose Hip and Mint

Edgewick Goat Cheese Panna Cotta, Hudson Valley Honey, Rosemary Maldon

Dim Sum

STARTER

All inclusive

Tempura Vegetables, and Condiments

Pork Wonton Soup, Red Chili Chive Oil

FIRST COURSE

All inclusive

Scallion Pancake, Ginger Soy Dipping Sauce

Shanghai Shrimp Roll, Duck Sauce

MAIN COURSE

All inclusive

Pork Steam Buns, Shrimp Har Gao, Pork Siu Mai

Shitake Mushroom Steam Buns, Char Sui Spare Ribs, Fried Crab Rangoon

DESSERT

All inclusive

Red Bean Paste Sticky Buns

Amond Jelly, Mandarin Orange, Lemongrass Syrup

Steamed Pear, Rock Sugar, Rice Wine Cherries

Nan Gua Bing (Pumpkin Sesame Cakes)

Italian Inspired Hudson Valley Table

STARTER

All inclusive

Autumn Smoked Potato Gnocchi, Parmesean Brodo,Hickory Smoked Bacon, Mustard Seed Oil

Caprese. Hothouse tomato, warm buratta, Amagansett Sea Salt, Apple Balsamic, EVOO

Eggplant Caponata. Fire roasted eggplant, red peppers, capers on grilled pane rustico, aged apple balsamic reduction

Aranccini. Deep fried risotto balls, with local procuitto, parmesean cheese and fresh milled stewed tomato

Clams Casino. LI littleneck clams, garlic parsley and roasted red pepper compound butter, Hudson Valley cured hickory smoked bacon

FIRST COURSE

All inclusive

Polenta, hot Italian sausage, Salsa Verde, Poached Egg

Manicotti. Local ricotta, mozzarella and parmesean cheeses rolled in hand made pasta and baked in tomato ragu

Eggplant Rollatini. Spinach and ricotta cheese filling rolled in eggplant and broiled with tomato garlic ragu

Insalata di Calamari. Grilled squid, roasted red peppers, Sicilian green olives, sassafrass vinaigrette, crushed red pepper

MAIN COURSE

All inclusive

Wild Foraged Mushroom Risotto, Roasted Winter Squash, Apple Balsamic

Hudson Valley Raised Osso Buco. Braised veal shank topped with a Wintercress and wild carrot green gremolata, stewed tomatoes, with broccoli rabe, Wild Hive course ground polenta, parmesean cheese

Fire roasted pumpkin and lobster ravioli with ricotta cheese, pine nuts and sage brown butter, grilled meyer lemon

Zuppa di Pesce. Pan seared shrimp, scallops, calamari and seabass, in tomato and fish brodo w fennel, wild wintercress, capers and preserved lemon. Served with grilled peasant bread

DESSERT

All inclusive

Wildcraft Sweet Birch Gelato, Spruce, Forgotten Apple, Orchard Balsamic

Wild Herb Zepoli, Clementine Glaze

Edgewick Goat Cheese Panna Cotta, Hudson Valley Honey, Rosemary Maldon

Tiramisu

Black currant composta, Anise Pizzelle, elderflower whipped Ronnybrooke Farms heavy cream, shaved dark chocolate

Rosehip and lemon glazed yeast donut