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5.24 Discovering the Dish...

I get asked a lot of times, how do I come up with ideas for my food? Well it seems natural to me, because that is what I have been doing since I was 14 years old, that is my art. But I know some people don't understand that, so I will say that most of the time, I am just tasting different ingredients and flavors and I may taste an herb that is really really fresh or some bread that is still warm and crusty from a REAL baker like The Bread Lounge in downtown LA, and the idea just pops into my head.

I also like to use really fresh vegetables because they are light and delicious, I don't eat a lot of heavy meats, so i've been using fresh peas or kohlrabi root or black rice puree instead of heavy starch like mashed potatoes - they don't overwhelm the other ingredients as much and when that happens you don't need as much seasonings or salt to really make the ingredients shine the way they should.  Mostly, i am always just trying new flavors, tasting herbs, sauces, and experimenting with combination ideas, when you are always learning, you cannot run out of ideas! My favorite thing lately has been nasturtium flowers from my garden, they are really peppery and delicious and have a bright color so they look good on a plate. You can even eat the leaves!

 

5.23 What You Can't Get at the Farmers Market...

I recently took an illicit trip to Tijuana to source an ingredient - Escamoles - which we used as the amuse bouche at the LQ @ SK opening. Accompanying me were a very nice reporter from the New Yorker and a friend of mine who drove us all together on Sunday morning down to a restaurant on the border. Escamoles are Ant Eggs - a delicious and peppery protein that I have been exploring more and more, with the idea that they could be a sustainable protein around the world if people could just get used to eating them and tasting how good they can be. On the way down, we talked a lot about how chef's source products they cannot order from a supplier, grow themselves or find at the local market. READ MORE We had a little extra time so we stopped at a farmers market near downtown San Diego and tried some great Ghost Chili salt and fresh herbs as well as oysters from Carlsbad and a FRESH sea urchin that they opened and cleaned right in front of us - we ate it out of a shell with a spoon and some lemon! Our trip was a great success, we headed home with my bag of $75 Ant Eggs and tested them out in the kitchen that week, presenting them sauteed in miniature tortillas to a group of eager and adventurous diners at the LQ @SK opening...they all ate them!