You walk in and it opens up into this beautiful urban oasis and you’re sitting with fairy lights and olive trees and really beautiful sort of antique furniture everywhere just really really beautifully designed. And then the menu is not fine dining, it’s definitely more casual. We encourage people to share. But really high end ingredients. Information sourcing ingredients is one of the most important things for being a chef. My biggest thing: I’m just so done with all the ego in the kitchen. You know I put up with so much. I do not want that to be a part of what I do in the future. So I honestly think that you really have to listen to the demographic and say what do these people want to come here and eat. You know it’s a very social place.

Chef Brad Miller – Inn of the Seventh Ray

For people cooking at home simplicity is just absolutely right. When we’re talking about pasta in summer which is obviously sort of a heavier carb driven scenario, it’s really about keeping it simple. Go to the farmer’s market and try and eat meat less. So get these amazing tomatoes and some garlic. The biggest thing if you’re gonna do pasta in summer is to pair it with a salad. But you’re not doing some big heavy oxtail ragu. You’re doing something light. A bit of a white wine base so you have that nice acidity and even though it’s sort of carb driven it’s still acidic and balanced. And I think that’s the biggest thing for people cooking at home is to not overthinking it. You know you have friends coming over you do a nice Bucatini with a really simple beurre blanc and black pepper and then paired it with a really lightly dressed mixed green salad. Is sort of enough you know.

And definitely all the herbs. I mean I’m fortunate enough to have a garden so whenever I cook I will do something really simple like a maybe penne with a butter and lemon sauce and then just go out into the yard and grab some fresh oregano, some fresh parsley, some interesting different basils, some pineapple basil,  fine French herbs aspect where you really get this whole basis right and then finish it all with a ton of lemon juice so you don’t feel like you’re eating this heavy meal.

Sustainability for me is extremely important. I want to see this profession moving forward and evolving in a way that is sustainable and using waste in an appropriate way.

The best possible thing you can do as a consumer is to go to your farmer’s market. Support local farmers who, honestly work harder than chefs.

You have to be competitive. But working alongside other artists and people that are like minded is extremely important. And I honestly think that collaboration is the future of the industry.

When I first started out in the industry I was obsessed with cookbooks and got myself a nice sort of inventory of them. Now I gotta be honest I don’t even pick them up.

Chef Alison Trent

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