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with a slotted spoon, and set aside in a small bowl. Quickly sauté sunflower and sesame seeds in remaining oil, stirring frequently, and remove to another small bowl.
    2. In a large bowl, toss broccoli, bow ties, raisins, and mayonnaise, combining thoroughly. Just before serving, toss with sunflower and sesame seeds.

    Bow Tie Salad with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
    SERVES 6
    This salad comes from our catering menu, but people like it so much, we often offer it for take-out at the counter. It tastes best if you prepare it a day in advance and allow it to marinate overnight.
    1 pound bow tie noodles
    1½ cups sun-dried tomatoes, chopped into ½-inch pieces (if not moist, soak in boiling water for 10 minutes. Then drain, chill, and chop)
    Â¼ cup very finely chopped red onion
    2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions
    Â½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
    1½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
    1½ tablespoons balsamic vinegar
    1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
    1 teaspoon very finely chopped or crushed fresh garlic
    3 tablespoons very finely chopped fresh parsley
    1½ teaspoons sugar
    Â½ teaspoon paprika
    1 teaspoon salt
    Â¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
    1. Cook bow tie noodles, rinse in cold water, and drain. Set aside.
    2. Place all ingredients in a large bowl, and toss thoroughly. Serve chilled.
    Note: To render onions, scallions, garlic, and parsley sufficiently fine, it’s best to chop them first by hand, then pulse a few times in a food processor.
    P ATRICK C LARK began his culinary career at age nine, visiting the kitchens of famous New York restaurants (such as The Four Seasons) with his father, also a chef. After formal training in the United States and Great Britain, and a stint in France with Michel Guérard, creator of
cuisine minceur,
he developed his own culinary style of French-nuanced contemporary-American cooking. Having garnered critical raves at New York celebrity haunts like The Odeon and Café Luxembourg, he went on to launch his own restaurant, the highly acclaimed Metro, in 1988. He was later lured to the plush and prestigious Hay-Adams Hotel in the nation’s capital, where he attracted the notice of the Clintons, who asked him to move across the street and serve as White House chef. But the bright lights of Central Park’s Tavern on the Green beckoned. Clark became the Tavern’s executive chef in May 1995. *
    I grew up in Brooklyn, in a Jewish neighborhood, where I regularly ate corned beef, pastrami, noodle kugel, kasha knishes, and, of course, countless Hebrew National franks. I even had a Jewish girlfriend whose mom made great matzo ball soup and invited me to Seders. But my passion was cheesecake. While other boys squandered their allowances on baseball cards, I saved mine to buy cream cheese, and I spent many hours in the kitchen trying to create a cheesecake beyond compare. By the time I was seventeen, I had perfected my recipe; it’s one I still use today.
    I’ve always loved the Second Avenue Deli, which is the only place I go when I crave pastrami on rye with mustard and sour pickles. (I might find plausible mustard and pickles elsewhere, but never the same quality of pastrami!) Years ago, Abe Lebewohl came to my restaurant, Metro, and introduced himself. After that, we frequently saw each other at the Deli and at food events and became friendly. He always took a lively interest in my career and showed a lot of enthusiasm about my coming to Tavern on the Green, stopping by often to sample my new menus.
    Patrick Clark’s Tomato and Black Olive Couscous
    SERVES 10 AS A SIDE DISH
    Extra-virgin olive oil
    1 medium onion, finely diced
    Salt
    Freshly ground pepper
    2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
    2¼ cups tomato juice
    1 10-ounce box Near East couscous
    Sherry wine vinegar
    Â¼ cup chopped kalamata olives
    2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
    1. Heat ¼ cup olive oil in a large stockpot. Add onion, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook until onion is