What were your favorite foods growing up?
Bread and gravy and my grandmother's pasta dishes

What is your least favorite food?
Hard boiled eggs

What is your beverage of choice?
Orangina
What was the most spectacular meal you have ever had?
It was lunch that my wife's mother made at her house in Spain. She is a better cook than me.

What do you eat when you are home?
I don't eat at home often. Mostly ham and cheese or ham and mustard on white bread, or jamón and salad

What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
Make dishes that don't involve too many pots and pans. Make one pot dishes.

When did you decide you wanted to be a chef?
When I was about 16. I wanted to be the president of my own company. I tried being an architect, but it was too intense. So now, I build restaurants and let the architects do it while I get to cook and combine both my passions.

What is more important for a chef- technique or ingredients?
Ingredients first and then technique. They are equally important. You can use the same technique on different ingredients; the better ingredient will yield the better product. But, you can use the same product with two different techniques, and they are both great.

What/who influences your cooking style?
The season

Which foreign country inspires your style most?
Italy, France, and Spain

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
The hand sinks because I use my hands for everything; I have to wash my hands a lot.

What inspired you to open The Little Owl?
My wife Paula. She loves small restaurants. She is from Spain, and she has a very European mentality.

What is the advantage of owning the restaurant where you cook?
It doesn't change the philosophy of cooking or food, but now I can hang out with guests, run the wine program, and run the service. I run everything.

When you are not eating at your own
restaurant...you are eating at?
Barbuto

What are some recent dining and culinary trends you have been observing?
Using certain words on the menu that don't make sense, like the word "young" for "young garlic" or "1 minute egg". Is that supposed to make the dish more appetizing? Why is it on the menu?

If I'm trying to watch my weight at your restaurant, what should I order to eat?
The halibut

What was the most challenging meal you had to make? Why?
The first time I was in Italy, I was an exchange student and I didn't have much experience, but I made a pasta dish. I had 18 people waiting an hour for it. I put it in a huge bowl but then hit my fingers on the narrow doorway as I was walking out of the kitchen to bring it to them. I dropped the pasta on the floor and had to find a way to feed everyone, so I went out and got pizza.

What was your worst restaurant disaster?
In 1993, a chef told me to make a red wine sauce for a steak dish, but I accidentally used lobster stock. I was making 60 gallons, so I used up all the lobster stock for the night, and the entire restaurant smelled like lobster. It was for a party, so we had to start over. It was a nightmare.

What is the one rule or value you try to instill in all of your staff?
I expect my staff to say hello and goodbye to everybody.