Cary Taylor

Expert Interview: Cary Taylor

Chef, The Southern

What were your favorite foods growing up?
Fried Chicken, butter beans and my mom's country captain

When did you decide you wanted to be a chef?
After interning for Charlie Trotter

Where and when did your career in food begin?
At Trotter's To Go, in Lincoln Park

If you didn't become a chef, what would you be?
Probably a writer -- I have a B.A. in Journalism

Who/what has shaped your cooking the most over the years?
All of the chef's I have been fortunate enough to work for and with

How would you describe your cuisine?
Simple and comforting

What influenced the menu at The Southern?
Being born and raised in Georgia and the desire to bring this cuisine to Wicker Park

What influences your cooking style and particularly the menu at your restaurant?
My mom's cooking from when I was a kid and plenty of great cookbooks

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
My cooks

What is your favorite secret ingredient?
Old Bay Spice

What is the one rule or value you try to instill in all of your staff?
READ EVERYTHING

What qualities to you look for when hiring cooks for your restaurant?
Work ethic and positive attitude

If I'm trying to watch my weight and I'm eating at your restaurant, what am I ordering to eat?
Fried Chicken, Biscuits and Tasso ham gravy (!!!) I don't believe in diets.

What was the most challenging meal you had to make? Why?
Cooking for Marco Pierre White at Ambria a few years ago. Because he is a bad ass.

What was your worst restaurant disaster?
A failed quiche project on Mother's Day three years ago. Not Good.

What is your least favorite food?
Cottage Cheese...gross.

What is your favorite dish on the menu?
Smoked Pork with Cornmeal Johnny Cakes and Chow Chow

What is your beverage of choice?
Sweet Tea, Coca-Cola or Cheerwine

What are some recent dining and culinary trends you have been observing?
Tacos, Southern Food and inexpensive, good eats

When you are not eating at your own restaurant, where are you eating?
Avec -- my favorite restaurant in the whole wide world

Which foreign country inspires your style most?
Spain -- I love everything about their culture and food traditions

What was the most spectacular meal you have ever had?
Paris -- Chez Josephine Dumonet -- no Michelin stars, just my beautiful wife, cassoulet du maison, boeuf bourginon, bordeaux flowing like water and Mick Jagger two tables down.

What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
Keep it simple, buy good ingredients and don't make it harder than it should be

What do you eat when you are home?
Grits, Pasta and lots of take-out

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Expert Profile

The Southern's Executive Chef Cary Taylor already knows the way around the kitchen of the former Chaise Lounge, where he cooked for two years after holding cooking and management positions in some of Chicago's finest restaurants.

Upon graduating from college, Taylor began his culinary resume working as a prep cook at Trotter's To Go under the tutelage of Chef Graham Elliot Bowles while completing culinary classes at The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. Taylor completed his studies with a three-month stint at Charlie Trotter's eponymous restaurant in Lincoln Park. Following his internship, he traveled to San Sebastian, Spain, where he worked at three-star Michelin legends Restaurante Arzak and Restaurante Martin Beresategui.

Upon his return to Chicago, Taylor joined the line at Blackbird, studying under renowned Chef Paul Kahan. Taylor's next move was to Avenues in the Peninsula Hotel, where he rejoined with Bowles, now a Food & Wine Best New Chef.

Prior to Chaise Lounge, Taylor worked under Chef Christian Eckmann at Chicago's legendary Ambria, creating seasonal Basque-inspired food. When Ambria closed its doors after 27 years, Taylor began looking for an outlet for his own culinary vision. He found that place at Chaise Lounge in a rising culinary neighborhood on Chicago's West Side. When Chaise morphed into The Southern, Taylor's creative American fare took on a hearty Southern character, allowing him to "create the food that I always wanted to make: reminiscent of my Georgia roots, exuding comfort and tradition while still being unique," he says.