Favorite local food find, and where do you get it? Agi: We get these beautiful eggs from a family farm in Boschertown.
Five words to describe your food? Agi: Fresh, tasty, simple, real...
Aaron: ...Phantasmagoric. Just kidding. Hopefully, addictive.
One food you dislike. Agi: Olives.
Aaron: Shrimp.
One food you can't live without. Agi: Chocolate.
Aaron: Is beer a food?
What ingredient will never be allowed in your kitchen? Agi: Corn syrup, and hydrogenated shortening.
Culinarily speaking, St. Louis needs more _______. Agi: Bakeries! Neighborhood bakeries.
Your best tip for home cooks? Agi: Always add a pinch of salt to your baked goods.
Aaron: Don't underbake! Don't be afraid to add color to your breads.
Your favorite after-work hangout? Aaron: Our home, with Alina, our baby, and Maja, our baby dog.
Favorite kitchen tool. Agi: Aaron has a little spatula he calls "my precious."
Aaron: My precious, or my bench scraper.
What's next for you? Aaron: World domination!
What inspires you? Agi: Going to the library to read old cookbooks can be such a huge inspiration.
Chefs who inspire you? Aaron: My wife.
Agi: Jacques Pepin. He makes simple, beautiful food, he doesn't jump on his cutting board. Mark Sanfiippo from Salume Beddu as well. He started out with a German literature degree and was a writer and worked his way up, taught himself. And he's super-humble.
Favorite cookbooks? Agi: Wolkemmer Chef, Baking with Julia.
Aaron: The Joy of Cooking. The recipes work. Charlie Trotter's cookbook -- man, those recipes don't work, but you know every time you cook something out of Joy, it's going to work.
Proudest professional moment? Agi: Opening the bakery.
Aaron: Opening the bakery, having our baby and doing it all, just the two of us.
Favorite music to have in the kitchen? Aaron: I like techno in the morning to get things going, and then NPR in the afternoon to chill out
What's on your pizza? Aaron: Goat cheese.
Agi: I like pineapple and ham.
What's in your omelet? Aaron: Goat cheese. Goat cheese on everything, please!
Agi: Fresh herbs.
What are you drinking? Aaron: Right now I'm drinking Oktoberfest.
What's the most surprising food you've eaten? Aaron: I've recently started liking Brussels sprouts. And that sauerkraut roll we had in Germany was yummy.
Most difficult lesson you've learned in this business? Agi: Long, long hours.
Aaron: It's a lot of work, man.
When did you know for sure that the chefs life was for you? Agi: When I was living in New York and catering.
Aaron: My first job -- cutting fruit at that Doubletree Hotel.
