Voices
Maurizio Ferrarese on working in hotels and the secrets behind upscale Italian food
MAURIZIO FERRARESE OF QUATTRO IN HOUSTON'S FOUR SEASONS HOTEL BCA: How does Italian food in the U.S. differ from Italian food in Italy? MF: I am 100 percent Italian, born and raised in Italy. The food is very different. My first chef job in the U.S. was at the San Diego Four Seasons in 2002. I came there as the Italian chef for the fine dining restaurant. One day, a guest asked me to make fettucini alfredo. I couldn’t do it, so I asked another chef to make it. ..
BCA Pays Homage to the Late Chicago Chef Homaro Cantu
It is with great awe and regret that Best Chefs America pays homage to the visionary chef Homaro Cantu of the famed Chicago restaurant Moto. Cantu passed away at age 38. He takes with him an arsenal of culinary knowledge and leaves behind an international legacy. The Cook County Medical Examiner reported the cause of his death as suicide. Cantu is featured as a Best Chef in our 2013 guide. He is highly regarded by his peers for his scientific approach to the culinary arts, which was supposedly sparked by his stint working in fast food. Cantu’s cu..
Michael Carrino of Pig & Prince Talks About Celebuchefs, Closing Restaurants and Dreams to Come
INTERVIEW BY ALISON SHER How has your life changed since getting initiated into celebuchef culture after winning the first season of Food Network’s Chopped? I really hope they don’t put that on my headstone. I have no interest in celebrity chefdom. I did Chopped because it was a new show. I was fortunate to come up on top. Celebrity chefs, in my opinion, are people you wouldn’t recognize if I told you their name or show..
Matt McCallister: Chef-Owner of FT-33, Where Pride is an Ingredient
Scallop, Mire Poix, Furikake and Candied Thyme Being a self-taught chef, when did you feel like you established your own cooking style? When working under a chef, you are cooking their food. You can’t develop a style until you are in a position where you are allowed to cook your own food. My style is still in development and evolving, definitely. I have a lot of issues with chefs who do not change. [If you are skilled in] acclimating as a chef, you will continuously be at the forefront of things. What was the first confirmed menu item for your Dallas restaurant, FT-33? It was..
Best Chef Hugh Acheson, Born in Canada but Quite at Home in a Southern Kitchen
Best Chef Hugh Acheson in the kitchen; American Red Snapper with spring vegetables. Photos by Brent Herrig and Sarah Dorio When opening a restaurant in a new location, how do you go about finding and choosing local farmers and products? It doesn’t matter if you’re a dentist or a restaurateur; you want to know what’s going on in your community. You want to figure out who is growing what in the community, what is being grown and what’s changing in the season. I think we encouraged it back when we opened Five and Ten —just the idea of opening up the back door, figuring out w..
Chef Dylan Fultineer puts Rappahannock on the map as one of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants in 2014
Chef Dylan Fultineer has known oyster farmers Travis And Ryan Croxton for years and when he heard they wanted to open a restaurant, he knew he wanted to be a part of it. Travis and Ryan were looking at a number of locations and Richmond seemed like it would work. Chef Dylan knew he wanted the restaurant to reflect the original concepts expressed at Blackbird in Chicago where he previously worked with James Beard Award winning chef Paul Kahan, “very earthy, down to the nitty gritty, bought everything from local farmers, ingredient based, focusing on the simplicity of things, having spectacular ..
Behind the Line: Best Chef Patrick Sheerin of Trenchermen
For Best Chefs America Photos by Nathan Michael Patrick Sheerin, the chef/owner of the Chicago restaurant Trenchermen in Wicker Park, knows all about the perils of being your own boss. He opened Trenchermen in 2012, in a former Russian bathhouse, with the intent to create a restaurant that would become a vibrant community center. His investment has paid off. Sheerin's modern American cuisine, executed with fine dining flair, has made Trenchermen a widely-renowned, must-eat spot in Chicago. BCA: How was the first year of business at Trenchermen? What ..
Chefs Know Best
For Best Chefs America 01-15-2013 Chefs know best. Better than food writers, or any type of Internet survey, chefs know who are the “best chefs” in their hardworking, demanding, and creative profession. With this in mind, we set out to call chefs across the United States, and conduct thousands of one-on-one confidential interviews to find out who chefs considered to be the “best” among their peers. To be considered the “best” is the highest honor any professional, including chefs, can receive and those included in this book should be very proud to have their work ackn..
Chris Siversen of Maritime Parc Speaks About the Perks of Catering
Best Chef Chris Siversen knew the location of Maritime Parc was perfect the moment he saw the buillding. He always wanted to combine a restaurant and event space under a single roof; and the former office complex in Liberty Square Park with vaulted wood ceilings, grand staircases, and wraparound terraces overlooking the Manhattan skyline was prime real estate. Siversen worked with Maritime Parc CEO Marc Haskell to transform the vacant building into a fine dining restaurant with 18,000 square feet of private event space. Maritime Parc is now beloved by regulars for ..
