What were your favorite foods growing up?
Olives, bacon, donuts, chili, flounder, lamb, peaches and lots more.

When did you decide you wanted to be a chef?
When I was 20 years old.

Where and when did your career in food begin?
Cape May County N.J. At age 13.

If you didn't become a chef, what would you be?
Hopefully a baseball player! More realistically a farmer or a writer.

Who/what has shaped your cooking the most over the years?
Who was my mentor Corbin Evans, and what; has just been doing it. The food has shaped my path and inspired me. Dealing with beautiful ingredients daily actually dictates how I'm going to cook. And also reading and observing chefs that are older than myself.

How would you describe your cuisine (e.g. New American with Indian influences)?
Currently at Meme (my restaurant) rustic New American.

What influences your cooking style and particularly the menu at your restaurant?
Simple flavors that work well are my biggest influences. I try and cook with a simple approach while using good solid technique. That in itself is influence because it's harder than it might seem to cook really good simple food. And again the raw ingredients are a huge influence. Especially things that can be cooked in animal fat and can take a lot of salt!

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
Pasta machine, fish spatula, immersion circulator, Valentine (dish guy)

What is your favorite secret ingredient?
Tabasco sauce

What is the one rule or value you try to instill in all of your staff?
Respect. On all levels. The food, each other, traditions, customers quirks, the cause.

What qualities do you look for when hiring cooks for your restaurant?
Passion mostly. Other important factors are work ethic, toughness, respect, sense of humor, reliability. Almost none of which can be achieved without passion.

If I'm trying to watch my weight and I'm eating at your restaurant, what should I order to eat?
Something from the place next door! Or our grilled octopus, the local greens salad, catch of the day (when theres no bacon involved) maybe the sizzling mussels.

What was the most challenging meal you had to make? Why?
Any time a "vegan" comes in really, because I don't like to cook without butter!

What was your worst restaurant disaster?
Running out of lamb chops while there were 8 orders of lamb chops on board during my first chef job. That was pretty bad having to tell all those people there were none after they ordered them. Other than that, nothing too crazy actually...knock on wood.

What is your least favorite food?
Fiddle head ferns, trendy and stupid. The flavor sucks. And nettles. Why? I don't see why people use those things.

What is your beverage of choice?
Tough one...wine over beer by the slimmest margin.

What are some recent dining and culinary trends you have been observing?
People are in to eating smaller plates and restaurants are in to serving smaller plates more and more. I think it's great to see people moving away from wanting just one appetizer and then a huge plate of food as an entree. It shows that people are even more interested in tasting as many things as they can while at a certain restaurant. With so many great restaurants out there now it's a great idea. Plus, it's a much better way to eat food in my opinion. Huge plates of food no matter how good gets boring.

When you are not eating at your own restaurant, where are you eating?
I eat at a place called, Yakitori Boy, a lot anymore, it serves food late and is awesome. Also, Vietnam, Tacconelli's Pizza, Pub & Kitchen, and Momofuku Noodle Bar in New York about once a month.

Which foreign country inspires your style most?
Italy and France almost exclusively.

What was the most spectacular meal you have ever had?
A dinner at Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal. My favorite restaurant currently.

What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
Develop knife skills. It's easy, but can be intimidating. There is nothing to be scared of because you have 10 fingers, you don't need em' all! But basic knife skills are the key to cooking in any setting, everything else from there becomes a lot easier.

What do you eat when you are home?
Whatever my wife cooked for dinner 5 hours earlier. Or fruit, ice cream, peanut butter and jelly, and frozen burritos. 80% of the time my wife cooks though, so that mostly.