What were your favorite foods growing up?
Spinach cannelloni homemade by my family.

When did you decide you wanted to be a chef?
When I was at cooking school in Nice, France.

Where and when did your career in food begin?
It really started with Alain Ducasse at the Juana Hotel in Juan Les Pins.

If you didn't become a chef, what would you be?
I would love to continue working with my hands in the art or fashion realm.

Who/what has shaped your cooking the most over the years?
My personal work and traveling.

How would you describe your cuisine?
Modern seafood using ingredients from all around the world.

What influences your cooking style and particularly the menu at your restaurant?
Aside from French, Japanese aesthetic is the strongest.

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
Silicon molds and stencils to cook and plate food with, also tweezers to plate food.

What is your favorite secret ingredient?
Apricot oil that we mix with several essential oils for seasoning fish.

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

What was it like designing your own restaurant from the ground up?
It is creating an expression of yourself within a team of highly professional, skilled people. It's incredible.

What was the most challenging meal you had to make? Why?
First meal for my mother in law on Christmas Day in 2001. Am I going to pass the test?

What is your least favorite food?
Fast food.

What is your beverage of choice?
Natural fruit juices.

When you are not eating at your own restaurant, where are you eating?
Eating home most of the time.

Having worked in both, do you prefer the dining scene on the east or west coast?
The east coast, it's closer to European values.

What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
Do it simply.

What do you eat when you are home?
Protein like chicken, beef or fish and a combination of vegetables and healthy carbohydrates.