What were your favorite foods growing up?
Chicken Piccata

When did you decide you wanted to be a chef?
When I learned that Political Philosophy was not my thing.

Where and when did your career in food begin?
As a dishwasher at the Bank Street Café in Ottawa, Canada.

If you didn't become a chef, what would you be?
Who knows. A writer or journalist I guess.

Who/what has shaped your cooking the most over the years?
Rob MacDonald who I worked with at Henri Burger in Hull, Quebec and at Maplelawn in Ottawa.

How would you describe your cuisine?
Refined comfort food.

What is your favorite menu item at Five & Ten?
Chicken Bog.

What influences your cooking style and particularly the menu at your restaurant?
Reading old food texts.

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
A blender. A knife. A cutting board. I'm kind of a Luddite.

What is your favorite secret ingredient?
Aleppo chile flakes or ham hock.

What is the one rule or value you try to instill in all of your staff?
Love what you do and learn about it daily.

What qualities to you look for when hiring cooks for your restaurant?
Attention to detail, people who like being busy, and people who love food.

If I'm trying to watch my weight and I'm eating at your restaurant, what am I ordering to eat?
Frogmore Stew.

What was the most challenging meal you had to make? Why?
A dinner for Carlo Petrini for 1000 people recently. Service was difficult to say the least.

What was your worst restaurant disaster?
Salt in the brulée instead of sugar. That was twenty years ago and it wasn't me but I was in the kitchen.

What is your least favorite food?
Not into blood sausage. Too iron-y.

What is your beverage of choice?
Coffee. Great coffee.

What are some recent dining and culinary trends you have been observing?
Great coffee, artisan country hams, okra, pickles.

When you are not eating at your own restaurant, where are you eating?
Pho

Which foreign country inspires your style most?
Italy

What was the most spectacular meal you have ever had?
Dinner with friends at Seeger's in Atlanta years ago.

What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
Read through the recipe first.

What do you eat when you are home?
Fried chicken and collards.