Recipe by Ricardo Heredia, executive chef, Alchemy What I make depends on how I feel that day. I love Latin food. Anything South American. My grandmother was Mexican, so I grew up with Mexican food ...

Recipe by Matt Richman, executive chef, Market Street Café. I like the colors and freshness of food. The simplicity of it. That’s really where it’s at, I think. In a perfect world, I would love ...

Recipe by Patrick Ponsaty, executive chef, Bernard’O Restaurant As a fifth-generation chef, my father didn’t give me another choice or allow me to take another direction. He owned a restaurant in Cazeres, France. I started ...

Recipe from Chris Idso, executive chef, Pacifica Del Mar One of my biggest accomplishments as a chef has been to use the local food that grows in San Diego. It was a challenge when I ...

Recipe by John Skorepa, executive chef, Pomegranate Russian-Georgian Restaurant I have a long and checkered career. After graduating from San Diego State with a BS in biology, I worked in the plumbing and mechanical business ...

It’s late October and I am looking for a turkey, which is ironic. A decade ago, when I was a SWF, all I could find were turkeys. For a while, I even dated one. But ...

Recipe by Chef Martin Woesle, executive chef, Mille Fleurs. I grew up on a dairy farm, and my mom cooked every day for our family of six. We only went out to eat for very ...

Recipe by William Bradley, executive chef, Addison Back when I started, I worked in an Italian restaurant in Bonita. I did it for the money. But, eventually, I fell in love with cooking — the ...

Recipe by Chef Bernard Guillas, executive chef, the Marine Room My grandmother was the root of this madness I would say, this passion for food. I lived with her in Brittany until I was six ...

Recipe by Jack Jaroen, executive chef, Lanna Thai I grew up in Bangkok with three siblings. My mom was always in the kitchen preparing and cooking for us. At dinnertime, we all helped out in ...

Recipe by Gerald Warner, executive sushi chef, Café Japengo Cooking is a family thing for me. We live in a cul de sac, so sometimes the neighbors come over, too. A lot of times, I ...

Recipe by David Warner, executive chef, JRDN Restaurant I always wanted to be a rock star. Cooking was the last thing on my list. As a kid, I couldn’t cook. I would burn water. But ...

Recipe by Chris Walsh, executive chef, Bite. Back in the ’80s, when I was executive chef at California Cuisine, cooking went through this really exciting time. All of a sudden there was Alice Waters and ...

Recipe by Jason Knibb, executive chef, Nine-Ten Restaurant I got into cooking because I used to surf in the day and needed a night job. One day, a friend of mine asked me to fill ...

Recipe from Kirti Srivastava Honestly, I grew up in the restaurant. We’ve had it since I was little, when my parents came to San Diego from Uttar Pradesh to help my uncle. At the time, ...

Recipe by Jay Payne, executive chef, Café Japengo. What really started me cooking was that both my parents worked, so my job was to start dinner. Many times I just ended up cooking dinner. My ...

Recipe by Paul McCabe, executive chef, Kitchen 1540. I grew up in a family where my mom didn’t work out of the home. She was a good country cook — actually, one of the last. ...

by Paul Mccabe, Executive Chef, Kitchen 1540 I grew up in a family where my mom didn’t work out of the home. She was a good country cook — actually, one of the last. I ...

Recipe by Nathan Coulon, executive chef, Quarter Kitchen. I started cooking before I can remember. My grandparents owned the Belgian Lion in Ocean Beach and my mom is a pastry chef, so it definitely runs ...

Recipe by Mark Kropczynski, executive chef, Grant Grill. My kids (aged 15 and 9) will eat whatever I put in front of them. They’ve had duck confit, lobster, chanterelles, and all kinds of fish. We ...

Recipe by Christopher Lee, consulting chef, Suite & Tender. The thing about food that people don’t realize is that we’re all involved with it — either consciously or subconsciously because you have to survive. I ...

There are times, sometimes in the midst of otherwise polite conversation, when it comes out that I make my living writing for the Reader. The follow-up to this revelation is almost never “Oh, that’s right, ...

Recipe by John Robert Kennedy, executive chef, The Better Half. I started cooking growing up. At big family gatherings, I was always in the kitchen. When you were brought into my household, into my family, ...

2 oz. orange vodka 3 oz. pomegranate juice Fresh mint leaves to garnish Pour vodka and pomegranate juice into a cocktail shaker and add ice. Shake vigorously and pour into a chilled Martini glass. Garnish ...

Recipe by Dean Thomas, executive chef, Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino. I started out as a dishwasher for an Italian chef. One day, his cook didn’t show up and he said, “Come on over ...

Recipe from Sahar Nashashibi, chef, Fairouz (story told by daughter Haya). My mom has always had a feel for cooking, even when she was young. Her mom — my grandmother — was a great cook ...

Recipe from Amy Dibiase, former executive chef, Roseville. I have been cooking since a very young age. A lot of pasta and gnocchi. Soups and stews. I grew up in a very large Italian family, ...

Recipe by Danny Bannister, executive chef, Red Marlin. I’ve been a chef my whole life. It’s always been inside me. My mom hates it, but I attribute it to her because she’s not that good ...

Recipe by Jeff Rossman, executive chef, Terra. I learned to cook on the job. My dad opened up Pam Pam Café and Grill in Hotel Circle, and I managed the floor at night. During the ...

Recipe by Gordon Smith, private chef and former owner/chef, Gordon’s Basil St. Cafe. I’ve always been a chef in San Diego for San Diego. In the ’90s, Basil St. Café was one of the first ...

Recipe by Victor Jimenez, executive chef, Cowboy Star. The idea for Cowboy Star came from my partner Jon. When he told me this idea, I was taken aback at first. Then he started to describe ...

Recipe by Benjamin Moore, executive chef, Parallel 33. I like to take everyday food and pair it in unique ways people wouldn’t think of. I taste something and think, Oh my gosh, this would go ...

Recipe by Jim Pearson, Sous Chef, Rice I love Asian food. All types, especially Thai, such as seafood and pho. I love spice. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I was always surrounded by Asian ...

Recipe by Marguerite Grifka, the Starlite. I have always been an avid home cook. I would characterize my food philosophy as using the best, freshest ingredients and highlighting the natural flavors. I try to screw ...

Recipe by Joe Magnanelli, executive chef, Laurel Restaurant. I’m a self-taught cook. I never went to culinary school, even though I worked at some very established restaurants, such as those in the Ritz-Carlton and the ...

Recipe by Brian Malarkey, Oceanaire Restaurant. I became a chef after a lot of trial and error with other professions. The culinary major came after the business, history, theater, and liberal arts majors. When I ...

Recipe by Matt Gordon, Urban Solace. I got into cooking as a way of self-defense growing up. I worked in restaurants in high school and stayed in it through college, as a sous chef. I ...

Recipe by Ryan Johnston, executive chef, Whisknladle. Basil Pesto Ingredients: Serves 4–6 10 1/2 oz blanched fresh basil2 oz mortared peeled garlic5 oz grated Parmesan cheese3 oz toasted pine nuts20 oz extra virgin olive oilLasagna ...

Recipe by Martin Gonzalez, executive chef, Acqua Al 2. I really like to cook — at home or at a friend’s house. Even when I’m invited to a barbecue, I manage to take over the ...

Recipe by Hanis Cavin, Chef de Cuisine, Kensington Grill. I work a lot, usually about 75 hours a week. During “Restaurant Week” I broke 100, so I cook very little at home. I don’t get ...

Recipe by Matt Gardner, owner of Bronx Pizza, Hillcrest. Every Sunday is pasta day, so that’s probably my favorite thing to make. I make my traditional pasta sauce with sausage. I start it in the ...

Recipe by Gilberto Villareal, Chef, Parkhouse Eatery. I like cooking meat with crazy sauces. Sometimes rib-eyes. Sometimes ribs or pork tenderloins with pomegranate balsamic vinaigrette. But I like breakfast too. The Parkhouse Benedict is a ...

Recipe by Paul Niles, executive chef, Thee Bungalow. I have appreciated cooking all of my life. When I was growing up, we sat down and had dinner together every night, so that was kind of ...

Recipe by Trey Foshee, executive chef, George’s at the Cove I cook at home just like everyone else cooks at home — I look in the fridge and see what’s in there. But I have ...

Recipe by Stéphane Voitzwinkler, executive chef, Bertrand at Mister A’s I am from Alsace-Lorraine, which is east of Paris, so I am a country boy. I am very simple and live a simple life. I ...

Recipe by Deborah Scott, executive chef at Island Prime, Kemo Sabe, and Indigo Grill. I’m from the South, so I love ribs and side dishes like spoon bread, which hardly anyone out here is familiar ...

Recipe by Christian Graves, executive chef, JSix Restaurant. I like to cook whole things — chickens, ducks, fish. Whatever the boys will eat. If my kids have some part in the whole act, they are ...

By half past nine, all of the pool tables at Bar Leucadian are taken, and fortysomething couples line the bar like birds on a wire. They are exposing an inordinate amount of cleavage and chest ...

When I was 28, and a man much too old for me had again broken my heart, I spent most of my free time in the car, as if I could outrun my sadness. Many ...