Chef Michael Kornick is a successful restaurateur, active in supporting the community.

His culinary journey has taken him into some of the greatest kitchens in the world. He is a nationally recognized leader in the culinary arts. His inspiration began at home, cooking with his grandmother and mother. Chef Kornick recalls, “They took a lot of pride and passion in bringing family occasions to the table with joy and love, so I started cooking at a very young age.”

At 15 he took a job at a restaurant busing tables and washing dishes. He came of age at a time when American culinary arts and American chefs were just beginning to find a voice in a bigger culinary world. He was “fixed on honing his skills in restaurants that were really actively pursuing something special, something that people believed was going to be important.”

As we know, charity begins in the kitchen. On today's Kitchen Chat, we are featuring Chef Didier Durand, Executive Chef of Marchesa and Chef James De Marte, Chef/owner of Pisolino along with his business partner, Rachel De Marte. These two chefs joined Chef Jaime Laurita and me in the Middleby Residential Showroom for cooking demos. Their restaurants are participating in CHILL on November 14, 2019, an annual event at the Merchandise Mart to benefit three Chicago charities: Saturday Place, The Lynn Sage Foundation and Respiratory Health Association Over 70 restaurants are featured this year and each showroom will have delicious food and wine. As Blair Loftspring, Managing Director of Leasing and Marketing at the Merchandise Mart says, "It's a great reminder that the showrooms are open to the public Monday through Saturday."

On November 8, Chef Jaime Laurita and I will emcee the Celebrity Chef Ball for Meals on Wheels Chicago. It's extra special this year as the organization will be honoring the legendary Ina Pinkney. Ina is a dear friend and mentor. Her experience as a restaurateur, cookbook author, brand ambassador, a polio survivor and a woman entrepreneur is impactful. Ina's passion to share her knowledge with others is her hallmark.

On a personal note, Ina has been a constant source of encouragement during my recovery process post broken knee - all while she is recovering from a broken leg!

Chef Thai Dang will be one of the celebrity chefs featured at the event. He is the Executive Chef of Haisous, a highly acclaimed Vietnamese restaurant in Chicago. Ina has been a mentor and friend to Chef Dang during his culinary journey. And how fascinating to learn about banana blossoms!

Do you want to be a hero in your kitchen? Marge Perry and David Bonom share the tips and recipes for one pan meals that will expand the palates with even more flavor for your family. Recently, I stopped by Read it and Eat in Chicago where this dynamic duo was preparing Ooey Gooey Mac and Cheese from their new cookbook Hero Dinners: One-pan Meals that will Save the Day. Their recipes will make you rethink everything you thought about meal preparation.

My friendship with Dave and Marge began at IACP, a wonderful organization you should check out. They have been mentors and encouragers along my culinary journey.

What are your favorite ways to introduce new flavors to your friends and family?

“If you preserve the food, you preserve who your family is.” This poignant quote by Joan Nathan, an award winning author of eleven cookbooks including her latest King Solomon’s Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from  Around the World, truly captures the essence of why recipes matter.

It was an honor to meet Joan Nathan at Les Dames d’Escoffier conference in Washington, D.C. and discuss the importance of preserving foodways. Not until Nathan was married did she fully appreciate the influence Jewish foodways had on her family.Her mother-in-law was a Holocaust survivor from Poland who remembered all the food and recipes from this country in such a beautiful way.  “It made me realize that I wanted to preserve them,” Nathan explains. After meeting a Yiddish folklore professor who also wanted to share his recipes and stories, Nathan embarked on her own ethnic foodways journey to discover  and preserve beloved Jewish recipes.

Joan Nathan shares her firsthand  experience of the power of how food brings people to the table and breaks down barriers.  While working for Teddy Kollek, the former mayor of Jerusalem, they visited an Arab village for a meeting, and everyone connected over Joan’s favorite chicken dish called  Musakhan (Palestinian Sumac chicken with sautéed onions).

Whole Foods is teaming with Joan Nathan to offer prepared dishes and recipes for customers during the Jewish High Holidays.  The five recipes all featured in her latest cookbook Solomon’s Table: Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking form Around the World include: Cod with Tomatoes, Plumbs, Apples, Onions and Pine Nuts; Slightly Sweet and Sour Cabbage; Seven Sacred Species Salad with Wheat Berries, Barley, Olives, Figs, Dates, Grapes and Pomegranate; Sweet and Crunchy Noodle Kugel; and Tahina Cookies.

Chef Dave Choi has a passion for a plant based lifestyle. He encourages us to consider a three day challenge of eating meals without sugar, yeast, dairy and animal protein which he explains are the sources of inflammation. He says, “After three days ask yourself, do I feel better?”

His message to eat what is grounded to the earth is truly his life choice. Chef Choi opened the first vegan restaurant in Chicago, Amitabul. He explains that in a plant based lifestyle, one only eats what grows from the ground. He also stresses that vegetables should be steamed since eating them raw requires a larger amount of probiotics for digestion.

Chef Choi also shares some insightful sources of natural probiotics including spices such as ginger, garlic, tueric kale, oregano and basil. In addition to advocating nutrition for the body, Chef Choi also encourages nourishment for the soul with his Just Bee Meditation.

His son continues Chef Choi’s traditions of healthy eating through his company Healthful Habits, Inc. His son works with corporations to help curate and create a healthier lifestyle for employees. As Chef Choi says, “Take one meal at a time to be more conscious about what you eat.”

With over 30 books, Anne Willan is truly one of the world’s preeminent authorities on French cooking and she is one of the nicest and most gracious people you will ever meet. I first met Anne at the International Association of Culinary Professionals conference in Chicago during 2014 at a book signing for her outstanding memoir One Souffle at a Time. In February 2015, Chef Jaime Laurita and I enjoyed an afternoon tea in Anne’s kitchen.

Chef Jim Dodge has deep culinary and hospitality roots.  Chef Dodge's family has been in the hospitality business in the White Mountains of New Hampshire since 1794.  He worked in every department of his family's New Hampshire resorts.  Although he didn't stay in the family business, Chef Dodge continues the art of hospitality with his impressive pastry chef career.  

I first met Chef Dodge at the very first Julia Child Foundation Awards honoring Chef Jacques Pepin.  What a delight to at last have a Kitchen Chat with him during the IACP conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  We sat at a table outside.  You will even hear the birds singing in the background.

Chef Jim Dodge has a true passion for baking and for teaching others the art of baking.  He has won several James Beard awards and is the Director of Specialty Culinary Programs at Bon Appetit Management Company.  He has baked with and baked for the top culinary talent from around the world.  You will enjoy hearing his special stories about Julia Child.

Over 16 million children in the United States experience hunger.  Common Threads is helping lead the way to empower and educate children across the country.  Recently, Linda Novick O'Keefe, the founding CEO of Common Threads joined Chef Jaime Laurita and me for a Kitchen Chat in the Middleby Residential Showroom in Chicago's Merchandise Mart. Linda shared with us her passion for educating school age children on how to prepare healthy affordable meals.  She also discussed how Chef Art Smith (Oprah's award-winning personal chef) experienced the power of bringing people to the table while cooking for families impacted after 9/11 in New York City. They felt the power of using food for change and education. Common Threads was born as a result of the experiences with these families in need.

Do you want more confidence at the grill? Today's guest, Chef Matthew Eads shares recipes and tips from his cookbook Grill Seeker: Basic Training for Everyday Grilling As a U.S. Marine for thirteen years, Chef Matt knows firsthand about basic training. He recently joined Chef Jaime Laurita and me in the Middleby Residential showroom at the Merchandise Mart for a Kitchen Chat.