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Meet the Chef —
Kristen Essig
Restaurant:
MeauxBar, New Orleans, LA
I KNEW FROM AN EARLY AGE
that I wanted to do something I
truly loved, and I didn’t want to wear pantyhose everyday. My mother
and grandmother were great cooks and I grew up watching Martha
Stewart and Jacques Pépin and Julia Child on TV.
MY FIRST JOB WAS AT A CATERING COMPANY
in Florida. I
was 15. Anything that needed peeling, I peeled.
WORKING IN A PROFESSIONAL KITCHEN IS NOT AS
GLAMOROUS AS IT LOOKS ON TV
but I love it. Truth is, it’s
hot. It’s hard on your body. And restaurant people work when other
people don’t have to. If you’re thinking about culinary school (I went to
Johnson & Wales) get some experience first so you get into the reality
of working in a restaurant.
I FREEZE
my leftover coffee in ice trays and use it in my iced coffee.
I DON’T HAVE ANY TATTOOS.
I don’t even have pierced ears.
Meet the Chef —
Michael Gullota
Restaurant:
MoPho, New Orleans, LA
MY FAMILY LIFE HAS ALWAYS CENTERED AROUND FOOD.
My stepfather is a fire chief and his friends are all fishermen. I learned
how to clean a soft-shell crab when I was 7. It’s still all about family
and food. I’m the chef at MoPho; my brother, Jeff, runs our bar team.
I WORKED AT PLANET HOLLYWOOD
in high school. I was a
senior at Brother Martin and I wrecked my car. My parents made me
pay for the repairs so I got a job at Planet Hollywood, where my brother
was a waiter and bouncer. After high school I went to the John Folse
Culinary School at Nicholls State, and then worked for Chef Folse at
Bittersweet Plantation.
VIETNAMESE FOOD
used to be a West Bank thing or New Orleans
East thing, but the Vietnamese influence on our local food culture is
finely getting its due.
Meet the Chef —
will avelar
Restaurant:
Emeril’s Delmonico, Executive Sous Chef
I WANTED TO BE AN ARCHITECT
and took drafting and
wood shop classes in high school. I was planning to go to college for
architecture, but then I got a job in a restaurant. I was a busboy, and one
day when the kitchen was short a fry cook, I jumped at the opportunity
to fill in. After service that night I said to myself, “Man, that was fun!”
Since then, I’ve been in the kitchen. And I changed my career of choice
and went to culinary school.
IN THE KITCHEN WE’RE ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT FOOD
and a lot of ideas get bounced around. That sort of back-and-forth
inspires new dishes. I’m also inspired by things I eat and really enjoy,
magazines, cookbooks, even things I see on social media.
ATHOME I COOKTHE FOOD I GREWUPWITH
like carne asada
with gallo pinto (black beans and rice cooked together), sweet plantains
and Salvadorian crema.
culinary school
photo by
Frank Aymami
photo by
Cheryl Gerber
photo courtesy
Emeril’s Homebase
