What were your favorite foods growing up?
Gooseberry Fool. My mom would make it piled with sweet rich cream on top and then when your spoon got to the sour fruit on the bottom--Oh fooled again! (At least that's the way my folks explained the dish to me.)

When did you decide you wanted to be a chef?
Junior year of college at Ohio University. We moved out to a beautiful farmhouse outside of the main campus town of Athens, in southeast Ohio. We were right on the foothills of Appalachia, amongst this beautifully lilting landscape. By this year in college, my classes were mainly read and write an essay without much mandatory attendance of lectures, etc. So, I found myself staying at home and cooking up these monster feasts for my roommates and all of our friends. I started spending all my time at this, reading cookbooks and herbals with voracity and somewhat letting the schoolwork slide. We had a little grape arbor outback and there was a small somewhat unsuccessful garden that I toiled in, but I got involved with making wild yeast starters for breads, and growing all sorts of odd and forgotten botanicals to play with, until one day I had the epiphany of "Hey, I should do this for a living, seems like great fun."

Where and when did your career in food begin?
My first job in a kitchen was when I was 15 or 16 in a crappy hotel in Rockville, MD. I was a brunch cook and the place was a total chaos. I showed up for work at 4:30 am. The guy who was supposed to train me was a no-show and I was given a mise-en-place list that included something like 20 gallons of waffle batter and 30 gallons of cracked eggs for omelettes. I was so lost and needless to say, on the third weekend after I accidentally discharged a whip cream canister into the blueberry sauce on a patron's plate causing it to fantastically splatter her Sunday whites, I left and swore never to cook in a kitchen again.

If you didn't become a chef, what would you be?
A poet

Who or what has shaped your cooking the most over the years?
I have the voice of all of my mentors constantly in my head — they help give me guidance when I am at the stoves. But for inspiration, the natural world and the realization that I do my job best when I muss up my ingredients the least.

How would you describe your cuisine?
Artisanal, Heritage Cuisine — which is a fancy way to say, I like to make everything myself that I put on the plate, while trying to honor the traditions and cultures that the dishes were founded upon.

What influences your cooking style and particularly the menu at your restaurant?
Maximum utilization is first and foremost. When we fabricate and trim our vegetables and animals, I am constantly asking myself, "How can this be used, or do we really need to pare this down like this.? For example, we make our own farmer's cheese at the restaurant for our salad, and after we separate the curds, I have gallons of whey leftover. The solution? We use it as a braising liquid. It has awesome flavor capturing capacity (like cream without the fat), and it's Free!

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
My Hands.

What is your favorite secret ingredient?
Herbs, and plenty of them. We add them in various stages as we cook. I love the heady perfume and complexity of all the myriad esters. We even burn the stems to make ash as a seasoning, and we make wands out of the sprigs to baste our roasts as they cook.

What is the one rule or value you try to instill in all of your staff?
I tell everyone that we are all born with the gift of recognizing beauty when we see it. A lot of my plates have an organic flow to them and are not meant to be copied over and over as much as they are meant to inspire the same feeling over and over. So I ask my cooks "Does this look beautiful to you? Are you inspired by it? How does it taste to you?" I want all my cooks to be as passionate about their work as I am.

What qualities do you look for when hiring cooks for your restaurant?
Eagerness, positive energy, and the ability to self-criticize

What was your worst restaurant disaster?
When I was a stagiare, the chef asked me to season some cast iron pans to use for dinner service. So rather than just rubbing them with a little oil and putting them in a low oven, I thought if I poured in a lot of oil and put them in a hot oven they would be ready faster and even better. Nonetheless, I completely forgot they were in there, and when we were half through our lunch service and the sous chef asked, "What's burning?" I still did not even remember! A minute later, black smoke is pouring out the back of the ovens and when I finally went to open the door, whoosh! about ten feet of flames shoot out taking my eyebrows with them. I slammed back the door and just stood there stunned. But, (and this I will never forget) the chef grabbed 6 quarts of milk in each hand (he was a big guy), launched down the line and had the fire out in like 10 seconds.

What is your least favorite food?
Brains. It's a texture thing.

What is your beverage of choice?
At work, I drink warm tea, any kind, but never mint. When it is just below "sipping hot" I can drink a quart at a time out of a wonton container and feel it rehydrating me immediately. After work, I enjoy any kind of bourbon and rocks.

How would you describe "locavorism?" Do you find it difficult to live under the guidelines of "locavorism?"
It is extremely difficult, and like any label it is often abused or manipulated. I hear Frito Lays now makes local chips? Basically, I try to always ask and learn as much about a product as I can, and than I can make my own informed decisions according to my conscience and the parameters we all live amongst. However, local, fresh food always tastes the best. Look for it wherever you can!

When you are not eating at your own restaurant, where are you eating?
At home with my wife and daughter, or at a low key place with a relaxed atmosphere and good food. Radegast Beer Hall in Williamsburg is a favorite of mine on a mellow Sunday afternoon.

Which foreign country inspires your style most?
Slovak and Czech Republic — It is my wife's homeland and when we go home for the summer I am always amazed at the riches that abound from the simplest of ingredients. Her mom has the most amazing preserve and pickle cellar.

What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
Keep it simple. Find a seasonal ingredient that excites you, and don't be afraid to make substitutions.

What do you eat when you are home?
Good Bread, Good Sausage, Good Cheese -- basically anything I can eat with my hands.

What about "whole animal cooking" appeals to you the most?
Challenging myself to the fullest, and participating completely, in my part of the food cycle web. It gives me great satisfaction, knowing that after I make my purchase, the farmer turns his profit at 100 percent. They raised the whole animal, I should be able to cook the whole thing. Plus, I really like a good sausage.