Conversation with Chef Matt Bolus in Nashville

Covid-19: 3 Chefs respond with Chef Ian Boden

Episode with Chef Edward Lee

A recipe from Chef McLeod. “That’s a really easy kind of one pot deal or one pan deal that I like to do sometimes is either farfalle or macaroni or whatever, kind of dry noodle that you have laying around to cook that. While you’re doing that, render some sausage, some breakfast sausage, like hot and spicy Jake’s breakfast sausage, or something like that in a pan. Toss in some kale or torn up collard greens or turnip greens, or whatever you have around and glaze that in the sausage fat. Drain off some of the fat, add a little bit of cream to the pan and toss your pasta with it and crush it with some Parmesan cheese and fine herbs and lemon juice. That’s a really good, if you got twenty minutes for a quick dinner or a lunch meal.”

During the pandemic, people are more into comfort food, and the old classics that are on the menu resonate with them.

I don’t view a dish as something that I created or that we created as a team, or that comes inherently from a creative place. I really feel that cooking is an exercise in practicality.

My understanding of a chef is that you’ve sourced the best product that you can from the best place that you can. That’s your responsibility to figure out how to translate that into something that somebody wants to eat.

Most people that are serious about cooking have had periods where they really had an inflated sense of themselves. I was certainly one of those people that was really trying to do things that were far beyond my skill set and trying to be in places that I didn’t belong to.

Chef Sean Brock always had the PIE theory – Product, Ideas, and Execution. That’s something that was really important in our development as chefs and managers working with him.

You can’t properly express anything creatively without proper technique and fundamentals.

I’m a really open-source guy. I don’t believe in secrets in the kitchen.

Filled pasta is always my favorite kind to make by hand. That’s where I feel like I just have the most satisfaction of working with my hands.

Chef Sean Brock is the biggest influence that I’ll ever have. He’s the first person that allowed me to come in and see a real kitchen. I was never the same after that day. It just sparked me in the direction that I currently am still in.

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Chef Andrew McLeod

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Ben’s Friends Hope