In this Table 42 Vignette, Chef and Co-owner of Downtown Toronto’s Richmond Station Carl Heinrich describes how Toronto and Richmond Station have grown as an important part of Canada’s food scene.

Heinrich and his business partner Ryan Donovan wanted a restaurant with a tavern feel – that wasn’t called a tavern. As they sat together one day in a tavern, marveling at the subway tile that surrounded them, an idea dawned. With some word association, the subway tile led them to subway station, which blossomed into the Richmond Station – a nose-to-tail, farm-to-table restaurant.

Social media has had a drastic impact on the restaurant industry, driving chefs and restaurateurs to find their value in how many Facebook likes they have and how many people are tweeting positive reviews.

That is not the case for Brian Massie, owner and executive chef of Hearthstone Kitchen & Cellar, just 10 miles off the strip in southwestern Las Vegas.

The restaurant concept is open, based on a sushi bar (but swap out the sushi and replace it with rustic American). Guests can watch the chefs preparing the food and interact with them at the same time, which makes for an exciting concept. In addition, there are six or seven menu items that come right out of two huge wood burning stoves which sit in the middle of the dining room.

Comfort is what Hearthstone’s customers feel and it is what keeps them coming back.

Quince, with its contemporary, Californian cuisine and Chef Michael Tusk at the helm, has delighted patrons for more than a decade. Known for its high-quality experiences and equally high-quality ingredients, we visit this innovative, fine-dining restaurant to explore the idea of the shepherd-to-chef approach and whole-lamb integration into a menu in this episode of "Table 42."

The strong and personal relationship between chef and farmer is important when providing customers a consistent experience throughout the menu. At the Quince back of house, Paul Barron joins Chef Michael Tusk and local farmer Don Watson of Napa Valley Lamb to break down a whole carcass of American lamb.

Watch the full episode to learn more.

Before Tetsu Yahagi entered the culinary world, he didn’t know what to do with his future. Serendipitously, while in a bookstore one day on a family vacation, he stumbled upon Wolfgang Puck’s “Adventures in the Kitchen.”

“My dream, before I left the United States to go back to Japan, was to dine at one of Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants,” he said. “So, I asked my father if we could all dine at Spago. He made a reservation, and that’s where I first met Wolfgang. He signed the book that I bought.”

Now, Yahagi is the chef de cuisine at Spago Beverly Hills, working under Chef Lee Hefter, who Yahagi says is a great mentor.

In the five years Chicago’s GT Fish & Oyster has been open, they’ve

And while Chicago may be inland, Tentori says fish is being

Tentori went to culinary school in Milan, and, after working for

“About 16 years ago, I was invited to go to Turkey for the first

The trip ultimately led to the opening of Oleana, a

Known for its inventive cuisine, Oleana’s menu features dishes

In this “Table

In this “Table 42” vignette, we join Cory Harwell, president at Simon Hospitality Group (SHG), to explore Carson Kitchen, a Foodable Top 25 restaurant in Las Vegas. Harwell is also co-founder of the group, which he started with the late Kerry Simon.

Harwell got his start in the industry at just 13 years old, and built his way up the ladder — from dishwashing to hosting to bartending to serving, and eventually opening and operating four restaurants under the SHG umbrella. 

In this episode, John Courtney, the culinary director at Carson Kitchen, makes wild boar sloppy joe, a prime example of how Harwell intends to showcase unique ingredients in familiar ways.

Miami has become a hotbed for gastropubs. But unlike any other we have seen, Finka Table & Tap, a Miami Top 25 Restaurant, is known for its fusion of Korean, Cuban, and Peruvian cuisine. And also for its unusual location.

In this “Table 42” vignette, Andrade makes Korean fried chicken for us, which was brined for 24 hours beforehand. First, it’s tossed in cornstarch and then fried at 350-degrees. While waiting, a KFC sauce is made of sesame oil, fresh minced garlic, kimchi flakes, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, mustard and ketchup, and gochujang, a Korean red pepper paste. Once out of the fryer, douse the chicken all up in that sauce, and top with sesame seeds.

Chef Richard Hales has certainly made a name for himself. He’s at the helm of Miami-based Sakaya Kitchen as well as Midtown Chinese, also known as Blackbrick, a Foodable Top 25 restaurant that was named one of Bon Appetit’s “America’s Best New Restaurants” in 2014.

Part Italian, part Irish, and part Pacific Islander (Filipino), Hales’ background has played a huge role in his inspiration and influence in the culinary world. “My grandmother is Filipino,” he says. “So I grew up eating the flavors of Filipino food — vinegars, soy, chiles, the balanced flavor that you find typically in Asian food.”

Growing up in an American household, Hales was privy to both Asian cuisine and continental American cuisine. “Just combining those two cuisines growing up, it really shows in my food where it becomes playful, where I do American dishes that I grew up with and then I use an Asian, Korean, Chinese, Filipino pantry to create the dish.”

Secluded on Brickell Key, a man-made island connected to Miami proper, you’ll find the Mandarin Oriental, a five-star luxury hotel with a sparkling view of the cityscape. Though the venue is outfitted with roughly 300 rooms and suites, its three dining options — La Mar by Gaston Acurio, Azul, and MO Bar+Lounge — are frequented by both locals and travelers alike.

In this “Table 42” vignette, we explore Azul, a Miami Top 25 Restaurant, with Chef de Cuisine Benjamin Murray. He describes the restaurant’s cuisine style as modern American with a heavy Asian-Japanese influence.