Danny Bowien. Chef. Rad dude. SF.

Danny Bowien is the chief chef at SF's Mission Chinese Food, an original project started by partner Anthony Myint (Mission Street Food) in 2010. Operating out of Lung Shan Restaurant, a rando Chinese joint on Mission St., Danny's food has received national acclaim and the resto will soon open a 2nd location in New York's L.E.S. "The idea behind mission chinese food is quite simple." says Danny. "Alot of people think of chinese food as sweet and sour pork and walnut prawns. And no matter what they say on the menu, it's usually not 'spicy'...And although we enjoy sweet and sour as much as the next guy, there are so many different types of chinese food that we are excited about and feel challenged to make. Islamic chinese. Sichuan. Taiwanese. (no stinky tofu, sorry can't get behind that one.) So there. We want to make delicious, frequently spicy chinese food, besides what everyone already gets delivered, without m.s.g., with responsibly sourced proteins and vegetables." Even more impressive than the menu, is their charity involvement: the resto donates .75 cents from each dish to the SF Food Bank (the NY resto will work the same-with a local charity yet to be determined). Danny says, "Donating to charity is our biggest goal. We have no fine-dining aspirations.” Awesome.
Check out the VBS MUNCHIES feature on Danny here
missionchinesefood.com

Mathias Dahlgren. Restaurant. Chef. Stockholm.

tour of the epic restaurant located at the beautiful Grand Hôtel.
"Natural produce and natural taste are essential for the natural cuisine." -Mathias Dahlgran
Mathias Dahlgren - Creative Leader. Martin Berg - Executive Chef. Daniella Illerbrand - Service & Beverage Manager.
mathiasdahlgren.com

David Kinch. Chef. California.

Food Forward Trailer.

Q. What do you think is the most under-rated vegetable?
A. I really like root vegetables because they’re lowly. They’re not regal items like foie gras, caviar, or truffles.
Things like rutabagas, turnips, kohlrabi and cabbage, they’re incredibly versatile. They develop really deep, deep flavors and touch all the sensors on the tongue, because of their sugar and salt. They have this really nice bitterness.
Bitterness is really important, I think bitterness is misunderstood a lot in cooking. So, that is what I like about root vegetables.

Q. What is essential with vegetables?
A. Seasonality. It’s a cliche, but it can’t be over emphasized. There are two things for the home cook:
1) you get the product at its peak
2) you also get it at its cheapest.
You’re not importing it in, it’s not some big footprint to getting it. So, it’s a win-win situation. I think a lot of lip service is paid to seasonality. You can go to a lot of famous chefs extolling the virtues of seasonality, but then you get a hamburger with a tomato on top in January and February. That, to me, is wrong. The artistic part of our craft is making that burger work without the tomato in January.

Chicago Reader: Key Ingredient. Julia Thiel.

Chicago-based chefs get handed an ingredient from their fellow chefs to create a dish with... an exercise in artful creativity. Watch all KEY INGREDIENT episodes HERE.

April Bloomfield. Farm to Table. Levis Ready To Work.

Shojin Cuisine: Chef Masato Nishihara + Elizabeth Andoh

Shojin cuisine is an ancient Japanese culinary practice developed in Zen Buddhist monasteries. Chef Masato Nishihara is an inspiration of Shojin cuisine, he's the master behind New York's Kajitsu restaurant. Kajitsu means "fine day", or "day of celebration" in Japanese. Even though it does not use meat or fish, shojin is seen as the foundation of all Japanese cuisine, especially kaiseki, the Japanese version of haute cuisine. Kaiseki is a multi-course meal in which fresh, seasonal ingredients are prepared to enhance the flavor of each component, with the finished dishes beautifully plated. All of these characteristics come from shojin cuisine, which is still prepared in Buddhist temples throughout Japan. Before moving to NY, Chef Nishihara worked for ten years at Kitcho, one of Kyotos most famous kaiseki restaurants. He developed a deep respect for the seasonal qualities of ingredients and the importance of antique Japanese dishware in presentation. He also trained in the Japanese arts of tea ceremony and flower arrangement, both of which are integral parts of kaiseki cuisine. Chef Nishihara then worked as the executive chef at Tohma, a soba kaiseki restaurant in Japan, before heading Kajitsu.
Another Shojin inspiration is found in the latest book from culinary educator Elizabeth Andoh titled, Kansha: Celebrating Japan’s Vegan and Vegetarian Traditions (2010). The word Kansha means appreciation, and the book discusses the ancient Buddhist philosophy of 'using every part of your ingredients in the cooking process' (ichi motsu zen shoku: one food, used entirely) meaning to leave no waste. Described by Elizabeth, "applying kansha to daily meal preparation requires mindfulness-planning menus that avoid unnecessary time and energy or superfluous foodstuffs." Born and raised in NY, Elizabeth Andoh first went to Japan over 40 years ago, eventually settled in Tokyo. Elizabeth studied Anthropology in the early 1960's and was captivated by the world of culinary endeavor. She attended the Yanagihara School of Traditional Japanese Cuisine in Tokyo, and began her own culinary arts program, A Taste of Culture in 1972. As an author and journalist, Elizabeth has written numerous cookbooks, magazine and newspaper articles.

Kamal Mouzawak. Chef. Writer. Culinary activist. Beirut.

The Brownbook Urban Series.

Kamal on (my fave) Anthony Bourdain's No Resevations - Back To Beirut episode.

Kamal Mouzawak created the first farmers’ market in Beirut, called Souk el-Tayeb (tayeb means ”tasting good” in Lebanese), helping to preserve the food traditions/culture of sustainable agriculture in Lebanon. Kamal works to protect the interests of small, local farmers and producers, enabling them to sell their products directly at the market, thus ensuring a fair price for their goods. "In a country as divided as Lebanon, nothing can bring people together as much as the land and food”, said Mouzawak. Souk el-Tayeb has evolved into a network of 100 members serving over 350 farmers, at three different farmers markets, and has collaborated with similar agricultural initiatives in neighboring countries. Souk el-Tayeb has expanded its operations to include educational programs in local schools and food festivals across the country to celebrate Lebanon’s culinary heritage. Kamal comes from a family of farmers, which is why he has such a deep appreciation for his country's rich diversity of naturally grown foods. His restaurant, Tawlet (“table” in Arabic), located in Beirut, offers Lebanon’s artisan food producers/cooks from different regions, the opportunity to showcase their traditional dishes on a rotating basis. Radness.

Watch MONOCLE's feature on Kamal here.

Andy Ricker. Chef. Rad dude. Vermonter. Portland.

my beloved papaya salad-served at all locations-true Thai staple.




Ping interior.

(sorry for the brutality of the Today Show-but love the recipe)

Andy Ricker visited Thailand the first time as a backpacker in 1987 and has since spent several months each year traveling, eating, cooking and studying food culture in Thailand and neighboring countries. Andy worked in restaurants all over the world before settling in Portland in 1990. He is now the owner and executive cook of the award-winning Pok Pok Restaurant (1995), Whiskey Soda Lounge-a bar lounge featuring authentic Thai 'drinking food', Ping restaurant located in Portland's Chinatown, and most recently Pok Pok Noi (little PokPok). Most of the food at Pok Pok comes direct from Thailand, and the dishes served are the same ones found in the restaurants, homes and streets of SE Asia. Andy is a member of the collaborative Chef Stable Group. Established in 2008, ChefStable offers established chefs the opportunity to build and open their concept in partnership with the group of resto pro's. Ricker won the 2011 James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef in the Northwest, shining international spotlight on him as a champion of true Thai food.
Check out his wicked website HERE.
chefstablegroup.com

Yotam Ottolenghi. Chef. Writer. Activist. Israeli. London.

Ottolenghi: The Cookbook by Sami Tamimi + Yotam Ottolenghi.


Yotam Ottolenghi discusses growing up in Jerusalem and explains the initiatives that he was involved in, which aimed to discourage prejudice between Jewish and Arab children. Ottolenghi, explains the micro levels of macro projects - how, for example, a national project for reconciliation can be played out during meal times at family tables. This is an example of how politics and food are inextricably linked.

Moving to London in 1997 to begin his culinary career, Ottolenghi saw how the relationship between food and politics was universal. From French chauvinism at London's Cordon Bleu to battles over organic, food everywhere has a political persona. Ottolenghi ends with an anecdote of how he discovered that even the location of an Ottolenghi branch in Notting Hill, according to some, is political. Despite the recognition that the Ottolenghi chain is the result of an (admirable) Israeli-Palestinian partnership, some have suggested that Ottolenghi should be ashamed of his assumed Conservative affiliations on account of branch locations. Ottolenghi feels that the politics of food in London is a long way from the politics of food in Jerusalem.



After serving in the Israel Defense Forces, he studied philosophy at Tel-Aviv University. In 1997, he moved to the UK and trained at the Cordon Bleu in London. Ottolenghi worked as a pastry chef at The Capital restaurant in Knightsbridge. From there, he moved to the Kensington Place restaurants and eventually became head pastry chef at Baker and Spice in Chelsea, London. In 2002 he established the Ottolenghi deli with Sami Tamimi [1] and Noam Bar.
As of 2010, Ottolenghi has four outlets in London: Notting Hill, Kensington, Belgravia and Islington. The Islington branch is the only branch which is a full-blown restaurant, while the other branches are take-away delis/ cafes.
In February 2011 his company opened NOPI, a restaurant on Warwick Street in Soho, London.[2]
Ottolenghi writes a weekly food column in the Guardian weekend Saturday magazine[3]. For four years the column was titled The New Vegetarian, and in 2011 it was expanded to include other recipes. Ottolenghi published two best-selling cookery books, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, written with Sami Tamimi, and Plenty, winner of a Galaxy National Book Award 2010.[4]. In 2011 Plenty was also published in the US, Germany and Holland.