Growing up, I was fortunate to have a New Orleans-born father who loved to eat, and an Oklahoma-raised mother who loved to cook. Theirs was a curious combination, but one that helped me learn how to both appreciate a good meal and to find the joy in learning how to prepare it myself. That and how to make a good roux. Have to be able to make a good roux. My mom’s very basic kitchen philosophy of “fresh ingredients, simply prepared” is one that I have tried to emulate in my own cooking, and, along with my beautiful wife, pass on to our three daughters. I’m often told how difficult it must be raising kids in NYC… away from rolling fields and nature and megasupermarkets and SUVs and so on and so forth… and I smile politely, thinking to myself about the wondrous bounty that is waiting for me at the Greenmarket this weekend… fresh morels, fiddlehead ferns, rhubarb, butternut squash, a dozen types of apples, Flying Pigs Farm slab bacon… and I assure the concerned well-wisher that we’re managing just fine, thank you very much.
What is the strangest food you have ever eaten?
I guess I haven't eating anything all that strange or exotic, but I did try my first crawfish at three, which must have seemed a little odd at the time.
What do you cook when home alone?
I'm rarely home alone, but if I was... hard to beat a perfect omelette.
Your most treasured kitchen possession:
I have three young and enthusiastic assistants. Is that too corny? I also have some of my mom's great old wooden spoons. I'm convinced that they add extra flavor into everything I cook.
The ideal number of guests for a dinner party is:
8 – I did a party for sixteen and plating the courses nearly killed me.
