at the Herbfarm



You've trained extensively at renowned places in New York, from the Rainbow Room, Le Cirque, and La C䝈te Basque, to Michelin-starred restaurants in France and Italy, before working at additional outstanding establishments. Which restaurant or chef did you learn the most from?

Quite honestly, the older I get, the more I realize that I have learned a tremendous amount from all of my chefs. The greatest lessons I learned were those of flavor, seasonality and the love and honesty in food... I learned from my family on our farm. My mother and grandfather were incredible cooks, and they had the best ingredients anyone could ever ask for; they were in our back "yard" (the farm). The lesson I learned in restaurants from my chef/mentors was technique. I'm blessed to have both.

What are a couple of the lessons learned?

First and foremost ...

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When did you realize you could cook?
When I was 7 years old. My parents came up with the rule that whoever cooked dinner didn't have to do the dishes. That was my inspiration. I hated doing the dishes!

How did your career in the culinary world unfold?
I always thought cooking was fun. I started off with simple forgiving dishes, spaghetti, chicken and rice, etc. Later I moved on to pastries and that's where fun turned into the ability to make money, thanks to my friend's parents who tried my cheesecake one day when they came over and later paid me to make them one. In high school, I would sell my creations upon request by neighbors and my parents' friends. This created the idea of becoming a chef. I went to culinary school and have been in Virginia, R.I., Georgia and the Caribbean before ...

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Executive Chef Bobby Moore of Barking Frog: Part of being a chef for so many years is that you learn a sense of style. You want to show off the integrity of the ingredients, have them speak for themselves. Since we're all artists, we approach the food that way. We create with a sense of beauty in our technique and seasoning. Think colors, lots of color. Be aware of the colors you're using and what's in season. Make sure, though, that it tastes good first and looks beautiful after. Taste is everything, while beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Chef-Owner Holly Smith of Cafe Juanita: Don't overfill the plate. Leaving an inch or two border of negative space between the food and inside rim of the plate makes food pop.

What's the last thing you should look at to ensure a plate is ...

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How long have you been cooking professionally?

I have held the title as "the chef" for 16 years.

What led you to this industry?

A buddy of mine pulled me away from lawn mowing when I was 15. He had a job in this cool place, so I followed his lead and started washing dishes and pots. I never left the kitchen after that.

How would you describe your cooking style?

Simplicity and purity are the foundations I build upon when creating my menu items. Preserving the qualities of the ingredients I use allows the true flavors of the products to shine through and stand on their own with little adulteration. Deftly presenting them with cosmopolitan flair, I create a pedestal for the freshest food I can purvey. Classic approaches and modern refinement. The level of seriousness towards the food and its execution is one of the most important details ...

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