Alvin Cailan did not serve omelettes at his wildly popular LA food truck-turned-restaurant Eggslut. "I was coming off of an extensive French restaurant background. Omelettes were a big pain in my butt," he says. French-style eggs were too "finicky," and American diner-style omelettes always over-cooked, so he swore coddled was the most complicated egg he would put on his menu. But three years later, after upgrading from a kitchen-on-wheels to a brick-and-mortar structure—and cooking with other great chefs in the process—Cailan is allowing classic omelettes onto the menu of Paper Planes, his soon-to-open New York joint.
Cailan's omelette recipe looks deceptively easy, with its three ingredients and few steps. Not entirely so: Nailing the wrist flip and the right wetness takes confidence at the stove top. Cailan himself recently went on an "omelette binge" to get it right. It's worth the effort, though. "Once you have a nice, soft omelette," he says, "There's no other way of eating an omelette."
*Any high-powered mixer or a whisk and some elbow grease will work. Vitamix: £289.99, amazon.co.uk
**For the topping sauce, mix two parts sour cream, one part cream cheese, and ¼ part mayo until thoroughly blended. "It's almost like a fancy Ranch dressing without the herbs," Cailan says.
