With so many new chefs on board

[cakerookie]

Come on Pan. What yadda mean off? Off as in no brain, or off has in my choices? Guess I am just not up with the times don't get much news about famous chefs where I am....

[panini]

I mean off ,by putting my name in the same post as those chef's. If I hadn't wasted all that time on the hot side I might have given it a run.
You do realize by now that I speak to everyone on an even plane, eye to eye? If I thought you were off, as in no brain, you wouldn't need a ? There would be no misunderstanding That's why I like you

[Mikeb]

Not technically a 'chef' (depending on definitions anyway), but I'll chime in here. The chefs who inspire me most are without a doubt Alain Ducasse and Pierre Gagnaire. Hervé This is also of great inspiration (although not a chef). Gagnaire and This are doing some really neat things applying science to grand cuisine, reading their books has actually changed the way I think about cooking and my entire approach when making dishes.

I can't say I'm into the whole El Bulli way of presenting food, I like my food to look like food. Applying science is a great thing, but to me it seems some chefs get carried away...(Cantu, Blumenthal, Achatz, Dufresne, etc...)

[cape chef]

Originally Posted by Mikeb

Not technically a 'chef' (depending on definitions anyway), but I'll chime in here. The chefs who inspire me most are without a doubt Alain Ducasse and Pierre Gagnaire. Hervé This is also of great inspiration (although not a chef). Gagnaire and This are doing some really neat things applying science to grand cuisine, reading their books has actually changed the way I think about cooking and my entire approach when making dishes.

I can't say I'm into the whole El Bulli way of presenting food, I like my food to look like food. Applying science is a great thing, but to me it seems some chefs get carried away...(Cantu, Blumenthal, Achatz, Dufresne, etc...)

Mike,

WD-50 can be a challenge, Dufresne. Maybe less ingredient driven & more technique driven, but thought provoking in a cutting edge kind of way.

Remember we can always retreat to blue hill and Craft

[shroomgirl]

My inspirations come seem currently to come from 100 years ago....local Steve Komerick (Trattatoria Marcella) is making old world Italian salames, lardo, boned out and stuffed piggies, Ed Neil (SLU and Cafe Provencal) has been making French charcuterie for years and I still enjoy hanging around watching him break down whole critters. Andy White is making pickles, sour kraut, preserving peppers at Harvest the combinations he puts together are fun. I'm still hunting down leaf lard preservers.....best I can come up with are grandmothers in their 90's who made pies with it and just stored it in the basement/root cellar....or premade shells and kept them in the "piesafe".
Farmers that come in with interesting fruits/vegetables are inspiring....to play with black radishes, black raspberries, white donut peaches, garlic scapes, fraise du bois, fun peppers, great tomatoes, duck eggs (now there's something I really want to get my hands on....just think about what you could do with greater viscosity!!!), the cheese makers that make it seem so simple...oh yeah until you try it.
The food scientist guys are doing interesting experiments that may influence the way we cook....if nothing else their techniques are fun to follow and open up doors not normally there....use of jelling agents (agar agar) comes to mind immediately.
Steingarten is an inspiration, Peter Kaminsky also, they follow their passions.
Inspiration, where does the muse come from.....good question. Were we born with curiosity or was it breed into us....I tend to think a combination.

[thetincook]

Lately, I've been inspired by Judy Rodgers of the Zuni Cafe via her cookbook. I love the delicous simplicity and lack of artsy fartsy concepts. Now, I just have to drag my butt to San Francisco and eat there.

Charlie Trotter is a big inspiration to me for his views on service and for his background. Of course, his volumes of food porn are nice too.

My other big inspiration is my mentor from school Chef Giovanni Del Rossario. He taught me what it means to be a chef, just like my dad taught me how to be a man.

As far as who is hot, I think Joachim Spiechal is doing some really cool things with the Patina Group. It's remarkable how his team can provide high level of quality across so many different operations. I think he and Mario Batalli are the closest to pulling a Alain Ducasse style feat of excellence.

(In interest of full disclosure, I did work for the Patina Group once for several months at Patinette in the Musuem of Comtempary Art. I also did my chef profile on him for school (he has a very cool chef "family tree"). I did meet him once, though Iam ashamed to admit that I wussed out and couldn't stop mumbling.)

[IrishChef]

Jacques Pepin...because, above all, he posesses the quality that is most lacking in almost every Chef I've met (me included)...humility.

Bake bread. Make soup. Give it to someone who needs it. Teach them to do it themselves.
Our motivation should not be to advance ourselves, to exhalt the food we make, but rather to feed the spirit and souls of those around us.


....or not. Just my $.02 worth. have a nice day !

[shroomgirl]

does not need to be exclusive.....they can co-exist
Bake bread. Make soup. Give it to someone who needs it. Teach them to do it themselves.
Our motivation should not be to advance ourselves, to exhalt the food we make, but rather to feed the spirit and souls of those around us.

[ricib]

Personal experience, my main inspiration will always be my Grandfather H. I just wish I'd have paid more attention to his recipes, when cooking with him, and certainly eating them. As a young boy I just took it for granted.

Professionally, I'm heavilly influenced by Rick Bayless mostly for his ties to Latin-American food, as they are quite the same as mine are. The fact that he (as do I) actually travels to the place he is influenced by, is something that sticks with me no matter what I am cooking at the time.

As for the Food Network, I am influenced by them in the way that it re-ignited the flame that once was there in me, for the food industry. It's probably on 75% of the day and night at my house.

[LogghiB]

I've been to Trotter's place in Lincoln Park - I wouldn't take the experience back, but I wouldn't go there again either. His cuisine is lacking soul, in my mind - and anyone can throw enough money at food to make it good. Charlie Trotter's talent is in getting people to actually pay for it.

Moto is a gimmick factory. I'm glad it's there, but I'm glad that I am not there.

Scott Bryan's food arouses me.

I've been keeping an eye on Geno Bahena - probably a more worthwhile watch than Rick Bayless. Has apparently migrated to LA now to rock out some more upscale Mexican fare.

Patrick O'Connell seems incapable of not looking like a major tool in every press photograph he's in, but dang if the guy doesn't make delicious food.

I expect awesome stuff from Michael Carlson, who is like the stoner of haute cuisine. And unlike other places in Chicago, I can make a reservation at Schwa sometime in this century.

[cultalktx]

Hello everyone I am new to the group and wanted to share some helpful links with everyone

30mindishes.com
30minrecipes.com

[Andrew563]

My inspirations? All the people I have worked with. From the chefs to the line cooks, ****, even the dishwashers. I have learned something from each and everyone.

[travisbickle]

I'm going to take the first part of Capechef's question and go with that. My inspirations include every chef that I have worked for, the names won't sound familiar, but I feel I owe it to the those who have "raised" me in the wild. Patrick Brooks- Michangelo in Conyers, GA; Mike Bell- Columbus Brewing Company in Columbus, OH; John Beck- R J Snappers, Columbus, OH. I have not only met these chefs in person, but actually worked under thier close supervision and I have learned many things that no formal education is capable of providing. Thanks to my teachers for sculpting me!