From Hush to home

Ronnie Arnold, executive chef at Hush restaurant, will give a cooking demonstration at the Bloomingdale’s Home Store at South Coast Plaza on Wednesday as part of the Cooking with the Experts series for Orange County Restaurant Week.

The series, which will feature 12 chefs over two weeks, will be an avenue for Orange County chefs to demonstrate their skills and answer questions from guests. Arnold’s cooking demo will feature a recipe that he feels perfectly reflects the season “” provençal sea bass.

“It’s a pretty light dish,” he said. “It’s simple, light, a lot of flavor though.”

Making dinner at home has “almost become a lost art,” Arnold said. It was one of the main reasons he decided to demonstrate a dish the average cook could easily prepare at home.

“I want people to go home and use a couple of really basic skills to be able to make a really nice dinner for people,” he said. “I got a big family at home and I know when I’m home it’s tough because you want to do something that’s quick and easy, but that’s good.”

Quick, fresh and seasonal flavors are also running themes at his restaurant. The changing seasons are a driving force in his menu planning.

“Summertime I like to have stuff that’s more light. There’s a lot of tomatoes on the menu right now, whereas fall we’ll go into the more warming kind of stuff like mushrooms and polentas,” Arnold said. “Usually summertime I’m looking more like Mediterranean food, that kind of style. And then as it goes into fall, I’m looking more into French, Italian ... stuff that’s comforting to eat, like it’s going to warm you up and make you feel good.”

Although Arnold never attended formal culinary school, he credits much of what he knows today to past job experience at places like the Ritz Carlton and St. Regis Hotel and wise mentors who have guided him along the way.

He says the best advice he could pass on to the home cook would be to read cookbooks as much as you can and to just have a good time.

“Don’t be afraid to play. [Cooking] should be an enjoyment. It shouldn’t be a thing to stress about and to worry. You should be back there having fun,” he said.

After the success of the first O.C. Restaurant Week earlier this year in February, Arnold was eager to participate again. And when asked to be a part of the cooking demonstrations, he gladly agreed.

“I’d done cooking classes for Bloomingdale’s before. They’re always fun. It’s a good way to get out there and see your crowd because I don’t get a lot of times where I can take people in the back and show them actually what we’re doing,” he said.

And although he has worked at some of Orange County’s finest dining establishments and has developed a refined palate, when asked what he would choose for his final meal, Arnold would turn to his childhood.

“This potato and cheese soup [my mom] used to make,” he said. “I really didn’t like it,” he adds laughing. “It just has this memory for me.”

Arnold’s cooking demonstration will take place at 6 p.m. at the Bloomingdale’s Home Store at South Coast Plaza. For more information visit www.ocrestaurantweek.com.