Favorite local food find, and where do you get it? Wood sorrel, from my back yard. That stuff grows everywhere.
Five words to describe your food. The complexity in the simplicity.
One food you dislike. I don't like tomatoes when they are out of season. They just become mealy texture that taste fake. In season, however, they are amazing. I like most things, I guess I don't like hard pretzels or Cheez-Its.
A food you can't live without. Mayo.
An ingredient never allowed in your kitchen. A bad attitude.
Culinarily speaking, St. Louis needs more... We are moving along. We need more people to start supporting local spots and relying less on chain restaurants. Honestly, people can go out and get an amazing meal at local spots, supporting their community, for the same price they spend at chains.
The food in St. Louis is honestly awesome. I've traveled to some other big food cities, and I eat the food and drink the cocktails and I'm like, "Wow, this is good, but I can name a few places in St. Louis where it's better." We just need to keep pushing; we are on the verge of big stuff.
Best tip for home cooks? Taste your food. Don't rely on recipes. They should be a guideline based on flavors. If you understand how to balance your food -- when to add salt or acid, spices, etc. -- it will elevate it to the next level.
Favorite after-work hangout. At my house with my dog, Jake, and my wife.
Favorite kitchen tool. T-bar peeler and a bench scraper. I always keep these two things in my pockets. On top of that, a spoon.
What's next for you? Time will tell. I am confident in the fact that if you keep your head down working, good things will happen.
What inspires you? Farmers. There is so much energy put into the food before we even get it at the restaurant.
Favorite cookbooks? The Flavor Bible. It is more of a thesaurus than a cookbook, it gives you flavor profiles and what goes good with what. Besides that I really dig old cookbooks, like from the beginning of the century. I recently found this awesome website that has hundreds of them, and it is inspiring to see how simple people used to be. Also the TimeLife series from the '60s. My aunt gave me her whole collection a few years ago.
Proudest professional moment? The first time I cooked for my family after I had moved to Chicago. I felt like I had learned so much and garnered such an appreciation for food. Trying to convey my passion to my family was a big deal.
Favorite music to have in the kitchen. Lately I've been way into Girl Talk. He is just super-talented, and it's inspiring. It is throwdown music. When everyone is knee-deep in prep, put on any of his albums and magic happens. Besides that, anything that gets you moving. Early in the morning, it's usually more chill, something like Deer Tick or Phish, and then bust out the Fugazi or Rage [Against the Machine].
The five greatest kitchen albums, in no particular order: Girl Talk, Feed the Animals; Guns N' Roses, Appetite for Destruction; Sublime, Sublime; Nirvana, MTV Unplugged; A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders.
What's on your pizza? Bacon and onion. White pizza. Maybe an egg.
What's in your omelet? Screw that. Chicken-fried steak or two eggs over easy with hash browns and an English muffin.
What are you drinking? Bourbon. Coffee. Iced tea. Or water.
What's the most surprising food you've eaten? Animal tendons, pressure-cooked, then dehydrated, then fried. Pressure-cooked they taste like corned beef, once fried they taste like cracklings. Maybe sansho buttons -- they make your tongue tingle. Or real miracle berries -- they make sour things taste sweet. Besides that all kinds of offal. I love tongue. I really wanted to eat a pig spinal cord once, but I never got around to it. I've eaten a lot of random parts. I love offal.
What's the most difficult lesson you've learned in this business? The sacrifice. You work when everyone else is off. It takes a toll on your social life. It becomes your social life.
When did you know the chef's life was for you? It found me. I remember early on, I was looking for another job and I just thought to myself that I dug the lifestyle and there was nothing else that motivated me and got me excited. So I dove in headfirst.
