AUTISM SPEAKS CHEFS GALA 2019

This month, we headed to Cipriani Wall Street to the 13th Annual Autism Speaks Celebrity Chef Gala which is a phenomenal event that has a number of top acclaimed chefs and culinary institutions serving its 400 guests 4 courses of curated meals tableside. In addition to watching these meals that differed by table, attendees heard about a number of the successes that this organization provides for those who are on the spectrum and their family and friends who support them. Since 2007, the Chef Gala has raised more than $13 million in support of the autism community to raise money for research, advocacy, programs and services that support people with autism and their families. This year's event was hosted by Chef Andrew Zimmern along with Co-Chairs, Christina Tosi (Restaurateur and Founding Chef of Milk Bar) and Matt Higgins the Co-Founder/CEO of RSE Ventures, Vice Chairman of Miami Dolphins and Guest Shark on ABC's Shark Tank. It honored Tim Jones, CEO of Publicis Media Americas.

We wanted our readers to know more about autism, what Autism Speaks as an organization provides and to find out more on some of the acclaimed chefs that participated in this event!

ATHLEISURE MAG: What is autism and what does it means to be on the spectrum?

AUTISM SPEAKS: Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. According to the Centers for Disease Control, autism affects an estimated 1 in 59 children in the United States today.

We know that there is not one autism but many subtypes, most influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Because autism is a spectrum disorder, each person with autism has a distinct set of strengths and challenges. The ways in which people with autism learn, think and problem-solve can range from highly skilled to severely challenged.

Some people with ASD may require significant support in their daily lives, while others may need less support and, in some cases, live entirely independently.

AM: What signs should parents be aware of that indicate that their child could have autism?

AS: Indicators of autism usually appear by age 2 or 3. Some associated development delays can appear even earlier, and often, it can be diagnosed as early as 18 months. Research shows that early intervention leads to positive outcomes later in life for people with autism.

Many children with autism do not show signs, and some who do not have autism show some. That’s why professional evaluation is critical in diagnosing autism. The signs of autism depend on the age of a child and can vary widely – from avoidance of eye contact to lack of babbling or speech to repetitive behaviors.

The M-CHAT (Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers™) can help you determine if a professional should evaluate your child. This simple online autism risk screening questionnaire, available on our website, takes only a few minutes. If you have any concerns about your child's development, don't wait. Speak to your doctor about screening.

AM: How is Autism Speaks a resource to those that are affected by autism whether they have it themselves or are connected to someone that is?

AS: Autism Speaks is dedicated to promoting solutions, across the spectrum and throughout the life span, for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. We do this through advocacy and support; increasing understanding and acceptance of people with autism spectrum disorder; and advancing research into causes and better interventions for autism spectrum disorder and related conditions.

AM: We enjoyed attending the gala at Cipriani and it was amazing to see that the auction raised over $100K. Are there other events that Autism Speaks has for the remainder of the year that we should keep an eye out for?

AS: This year, thanks to the generosity of both the wonderful chefs and all who attended, Autism Speaks raised $1.3M from the Celebrity Chef Gala. There are many other ways to support Autism Speaks’ mission year-round; you can find more at AutismSpeaks.org/GetInvolved. There are also hundreds of autism-friendly events listed on AutismSpeaks.org.

We had the chance to talk with Autism Speak's President, Angela Geiger at this event to find out about the initiatives that they are focused on as well as why this event in particular is one that is so important to them in terms of their partnership with those in the culinary community. We also interviewed some of our favorite chefs who are at some of the top restaurants in the world.

ANGELA GEIGER | President of Autism Speaks

ATHLEISURE MAG: Why is Autism Speaks so important and what are those initiatives that you are trying to get out about that?

ANGELA GEIGER: We’re celebrating our 15th anniversary of Autism Speaks next year. In the world of health disorders, it’s a short time. The amount of progress that has been made because of the legacy organizations and Autism Speaks being a big tent and really welcoming everyone no matter where you are on the spectrum, and now not just for kids but as adults who have autism who needs support too.

AM: How important is this event in terms of working with the culinary community and having this kind of partnership?

AG: I think one of the really fun things about tonight, is that it allows us to celebrate big victories like things that Autism Speaks has done to help tons of people and it also shines a light on small victories like one of the things that we are going to talk about tonight is and Instagram post that was shared recently where someone tried toast for the first time and it was a really big thing for their family. So it’s important for us to really remember that all of this matters.

AM: How do you feel about your role in this organization and what are the challenges that you’re looking at and excited to take on as we close this year out and go into the next one?

AG: I think that one of the biggest challenges is that autism is a spectrum and there are people with very different challenges and very different opportunities. Making sure that we’re welcoming for everybody is one of the most important things that we can do!

IG @AutismSpeaks

CHEF MARIA LOI Owner & Chef of Loi Estiatorio,

NY, NY

ATHLEISURE MAG: What are your 3 favorite dishes at your restaurant?

CHEF MARIA LOI: Branzino that’s for sure. The Bean Soup – I love it and eat it everyday! And of course, my yogurt!

AM: What are 3 ingredients that you like to always have on hand that is used in a number of the dishes that you like to create?

CHEF ML: Yes of course, it’s easy for me. I always like to have beans, olive oil and honey!

IG @ChefMar

@LoiEstiatorio

CHEF GABRIEL KREUTHER Owner and Michelin Two Star Chef of Gabriel Kreuther, NY, NY

ATHLEISURE MAG: We had the pleasure of enjoying a meal at Eataly via their Chefs Collaborations with your Chef Adam Hill last fall around this time which was phenomenal! Can you share with us the 3 signature dishes that we should be eating at Gabriel Kreuther.

CHEF GABRIEL KREUTHER: I think one of them is the Sturgeon and Sauerkraut Tart, I’m known for the Foie Gras so the Foie Gras Terrine and Pistachio Praline and the Tarte Flambee it’s something that I grew up with that I I love as it’s a simple thing flatbread with cheese and some bacon. But then there is also the Squab and Foie Gras Crostini – it keeps changing with the seasons!

AM: What are your 3 favorite ingredients that you like to cook with?

CHEF GK: Well strangely enough, it keeps moving too – seasonality and too much of the same thing, it’s kind of like you don't want it anymore. I love simple things and also things that are more luxurious. I love caviar in general, I love foie gras in general, but I also love simple things like sauerkraut. So, I like to combine very very simple things with very luxurious things! Right now, I am looking to use the white truffle as the season has just started. Chestnuts are beautiful right now and it just depends and comes down to the mood that you’re in and what you’re looking for and some day you want something more fancy and other days you want something more homey. It all depends – it’s like do you want to drink a good beer or a nice wine? What’s your mood?

AM: We couldn’t agree more and why was it important for you to be participating within this event?

CHEF GK: Well, first of all, it’s very rare to see so many chefs together. It shows also that when an industry wants to come together to do something, and to help science out – we can actually do nice things! I’m always keen to try to help out to raise money in hopes of making a difference somewhere. It’s shown that everything that has been done over the years has made a difference and I think there is hope when people come together to make that difference. Hopefully, making peoples lives come together and to continue that hope is what it’s about!

IG @GabrielKreuther

CHEF RALPH SCAMARDELLA Chef and Partner of Tao Group

ATHLEISURE MAG: We are huge fans of the Tao Group as there are a number of restaurants and moods that you present there. What are 3 signature dishes that we should be trying whether it’s one of your favorite restaurants or various ones throughout your portfolio?

RALPH SCAMARDELLA: Thank you so much! Well at Tao – each Tao is divided up a little bit differently, so they’re unique. The original one (Tao Uptown) has the Satay Bass which is the most iconic dish and downtown (Tao Downtown) we did it a little more of a Chinese style we did some dishes from China like a whole fish – Snapper that’s deep fried and served with garlic and roasted onions. Of course at Lavo, we have our 1lb meatball which we’re world famous for!

AM: And what about the cocktails? What are 3 that we should have in mind on our next visit?

RS: Oh yeah, the Pama Sutra which is Milagro Silver Tequila mixed with Pomegranate Liqueur and Fresh Lime. The TAO-tini is another great one with Belvedere Mango Passion Vodka, Malibu Rum, Cranberry and Fresh Lime. I like a good Manhattan too! I’m more of a beer and wine guy myself!

AM: When you’re not working, what are 3 things that you like to do?

RS: Sleeping, hanging out with the kids and trying to do as many activities as I can and doing yard work and stuff like that. I like gardening, trees and plants – getting into it.

IG @TaoGroup

CHEF MATT HOYLE Chef of Nobu 57

ATHLEISURE MAG: We are huge fans of Nobu what are 3 signature dishes that our readers should enjoy on their next visit?

MATT HOYLE: Nobu Signature dishes – definitely the Black Cod, also the Yellowtail Jalapeño and maybe one of the Tempura dishes like the King Crab or the Sea Urchin.

AM: That definitely sounds good. What are 3 ingredients that you like to use when you’re making your dishes?

MH: So Wagyu Beef in Japan. You don’t need huge amounts of it, but a few bites of it is so nice. I also love some Uni and Sea Urchin from Japan and some from Santa Barbara, California tonight which will have a slightly different taste

AM: Where do you get your inspiration from when you’re creating these dishes?

MH: From the ingredients and then you have all of the things out there. You put them out for customers and you do it a few times and the response is, “yeah it’s great.” You think about that and when you’re making something else, you think back to those dishes to bring them back in a new way! It’s a process and it’s great!

IG @NobuRestaurants.us

CHEF TONY NGUYEN Executive Chef of Crustacean Beverly Hills and Da Lat Rose, Beverly Hills, CA

ATHLEISURE MAG: What are your go to foods?

CHEF TONY NGUYEN: I’m a midwestern boy from St Louis, Missouri – so we know good food, we know comfort food! My go to is fried foods! I love fried chicken, my fiancé makes the best creole food – Jambalaya, Gumbo, smothered chicken and even biscuits and gravy! These are great and when we came here to NY, of course we had to try the pizza, the bagels and more!

AM: Before we talk about your new restaurant that you’re opening, can you tell us about Crustacean Beverly Hills and 3 signature dishes that we should try?

CHEF TN: OK now, the top 3 signature dishes at Crustacean Beverly Hills, The Garlic Noodles, The Roasted Garlic Crab OVER the Garlic Noodles and then something that we brought here tonight is the Tuna Cigars. We made a fake cigar out of an eggroll wrapper if you will, stuffed it with tuna poke and avocado and putting it in a cigar box. If you open it, there might be some smoke that comes out! It’s a nice little starter!

The new restaurant is call Da Lat Rose. Da Lat is a little town in Vietnam that is very similar to San Francisco. Da Lat means the “City of Eternal Spring” and there are a lot of vegetables year around. We’re not talking about peas only being good in March, they’re good the whole year! Just like California, the avocados are good all year. Even here, let’s be real. You can get a decent tomato year around even though they are the best in the summer time. In February, I think that we can both find a good one!

AM: What are your 3 favorite ingredients to cook with?

CHEF TN: Three favorite ingredients – I love garlic, I love shallots ok! My last favorite ingredient is eggs because you can make so many things out of them!

IG @ChefTonyNguyen

@CrustaceanBH

@DaLatRoseBH

PHOTO CREDITS | Getty Images

Read the Oct Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Autism Speaks Chefs Gala 2019 in mag.

EATALY'S CHEF COLLABORATIONS WITH CHEF ADAM HILL

The month of Sept is always a hectic time of year as it's summer's last hurrah, NYFW kicks off Fashion Month, football season begins and fall is embraced with it's transitional style and food festivities! As we finished our final show of NYFW SS19, we found ourselves enjoying Eataly's Chef Series, which is a collaboration of chefs including Chef Daniel Boulud, Chef Marc Forgione just to name a few, with Manzo's Chef Adam Hill. We took some time to talk to Chef Adam to find out about how he got into the industry, his work at Eataly's open kitchen Manzo, sourcing and sustainability and of course the Chef Collaborations.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Tell us when you knew that you wanted to be a chef.

CHEF ADAM HILL: Believe it or not, probably when I was 10 years old. I started watching this show and it was before Food Network. There was a show called Great Chefs of the USA and The World. It was a very dry show and was not at all created for a 10 year old. It wasn’t like Emeril Live and didn’t have any kind of flash to it. I remember one day in particular that my dad went out for a business meeting and he came back a little over an hour later and I was still sitting in front of the TV fascinated by it! I started cooking dinner for my family at the age of 10 or 11. My mom took a job at night and even though I was the youngest in the family, I started cooking for my 2 older brothers, my mom and my dad. From there, I just fell in love with it. I started reading cookbooks at the age of 11 or 12. It got me at a young age!

AM: That’s a huge part of your culinary journey! Where else did you go and where did you train prior to coming to Eataly?

CHEF AH: I started my Lucibello’s in West Haven, CT. I started working there at the age of 16 as a dishwasher and prep cook. I worked there for about 2.5 years while I was still in high school. I ended up working my way up to prep cook full time. From there, I did some line experience also and working the hotline – starting at a young age. I also worked at a Country Club called The Stanwich Club in Greenwich, CT and I was at The Culinary Institute of America at the Rec Center – a student run restaurant called, The Courtside Café. It was simple things for students like burgers, fries, chicken fingers and cheesesteaks. It’s things that students want to eat when it’s not part of the curriculum. Even with that, after working there a couple of months, I became Student Manager – it was a good learning experience because at the CIA every 3 weeks, you have a new class. So you might be PM for 3 weeks and then in 3 weeks you might be learning Breakfast Class which starts at midnight but ends at 8am or 9am. So every 3 weeks, our staffing would change at Courtside so I got very good at teaching people because your staff may change.

Sometimes you go from having 15 available cooks to 10 and you have to figure out how to make it work with the schedule. Maybe someone has never worked a set station and you have to teach them how to do it and to pick it up as quickly as possible. That definitely helps. When I graduated from CIA, I worked at Chipotle for 6 months and I wanted to learn how they ran their business, how they did their ordering and their overall philosophy. It was also a great experience. My whole plan was to work there as that would be the job that would pay the bills and then train at other kitchens when I had free time. But once I became a manager, they said I couldn’t do that because I needed to have open availability and if I was trailing someone when I had a day off and they needed to call me in if someone couldn’t make it – it would be a problem.

Around that same time, Eataly opened and I started working at the Flatiron location when it opened 8 years ago. I started working at Il Pesce as a line cook and became a sous chef there and then I wanted to do something new, and then about a year and a half/2 years later, I came to Manzo as a line cook and worked my way through the stations. After 2 years, I became sous chef and after about 2 years I became the chef here for 3 years. So I have been at Eataly ever since it has opened and I have been able to stay here so long because there is always something new here, a new challenge to learn and everyday, everyweek there is something new and different going on. It’s great to run your own restaurant while fitting in with the Eataly structure.

AM: What’s an average day like for you at Manzo?

CHEF AH: I don’t know if there is ever an average day especially in the restaurant business and especially at Eataly.

On average, I come in and check in with the sous chef to make sure that we’re on the same page as far as running the specials, double checking with what the line cooks are doing, always walking around and talking with everyone tasting everything to make sure it tastes right before we go into lunch or dinner service. Talking with the General Manager to make sure we’re on the same page in terms of specials and changes to the menu. As we go into service making sure that we are expediting service and that food comes together at the same time. Making sure it’s right before it goes out. As we are getting through service, making sure that we are cleaning up and that everyone is taking their breaks.

The best way to explain the difference between being a cook and a chef is that a cook is a player on the team, but when you are the chef, you have to be the coach and it’s hard for some people to make that adjustment because when you’re the chef, it’s no longer about being the best player, it’s about making sure that your players are doing the best that they can and that your cooks are as well prepared as they can be. Making sure that as a chef, we’re always teaching and always having people think about the next step and training the person behind them to make sure that they are getting ready for a new station. For example, today walking kind of slow so that the person who is on salad station is learning on veg station and maybe the person on veg station learns how to grill meat and the person on meat station begins to learn on pasta. Some of the more advanced people can do the chef thing. It’s all about teaching and making sure that the cooks know that it’s not just a job to them, but that they are learning as much as they can while they are here. In this business, when people aren’t learning, they will put in a year on their resume and they will go elsewhere. The more that you can keep them invested and buying in, it keeps them engaged and hopefully you have a good succession plan so that you have a full circle of training happening.

AM: We truly enjoyed attending a recent Chef Collaborations dinner at Eataly where the menu was created by you and Chef Gabriel Kreuther. What is the purpose of the chefs series that took place there and how did it mold the menu as you partnered with different chefs through this series?

CHEF AH: We had this idea about a year ago as we had done a renovation of Manzo’s dining room. The kitchen is now in the dining room and it was an idea to help cross promote Manzo as well as the guest chefs, with some of the proceeds going to charity. It was a great opportunity for our guest chefs as well as for me to work with them to learn different styles of cooking.

The style of food and chefs definitely brings a different flavor each time. We recently changed the format because when we first did it we had the guest chef’s dish and a dish from Manzo’s menu, but as we continued through the series in the next round – we changed it to be a 4 course menu. So it was a dish of ours, either on the menu or off, a dish from the guest chef, the main course was a collaboration between the 2 chefs and then having the dessert course. This way was much better for the series to run for example at the dinner you attended, Chef Kreuther and I had a great overlap as he is from Alsace and there is some overlap with Alsace cooking and Italian cooking. One of my favorite things on the menu is Testa (it translates to Head Cheese in English, but it’s Pig Head) and I wanted to showcase this as it’s about responsible sourcing and eating sustainably and sometimes using just the pork chop or just the pork tenderloin – everytime an animal dies – the whole animal should be used. To utilize pigs head, it goes along with that ethos. If an animal is going to lose its life, no part of the animal should go to waste. That’s a big part of Alsatian cooking and Italian cooking. For the first course, I wanted to do a mix of Alsatian style and Italian style so the Testa was already Italian and Italian cooking uses a lot of sweet and sour components, which is also true for Alsatian cooking with the German influence. So I wanted to do the sweet and sour cherries and then for the main course, it was a similar idea. We wanted to a trio of pork – the braised pork is kind of Alsatian by braising it in beer which is also common in Northern Italian cooking. The polenta and green tomato sauce was a little sweet and a little sour. When you ate it, it didn’t feel forced there was enough of an overlap between the Alsatian and Italian cooking that it comes together naturally. That’s what those dishes should feel like and if you do a little digging into it – it makes sense historically and the customer finds it enjoyable, accurate and traditional.

AM: What was it like for you to create and work with these chefs throughout this series?

CHEF AH: There have been different challenges. It’s interesting to see the chef’s different styles and influences. Like, Chef Marc Forgione’s influence was a late night French Dip, but deconstructed so there was a carpaccio of dry aged rib eye and there was an au jus component – there was a horseradish sour cream component to it and it still felt natural together. But when you heard the story behind it, it was like cool that makes sense. Culinary-wise there is always a different technique, so there was a dish with Chef Daniel Boulud that was made with clams and andoulie which was very popular. We did a pork belly with kimchi that was pretty successful – so it was interesting to see the techniques and sometimes when we would get the recipes, they were more informal, where others were more precise down to the gram. Overall, it has been fun to learn about the chef’s history, their inspiration for the dish and their style of cooking. In every one, there has been a different learning experience.

AM: For you dishes that you created, how did you go about deciding what it was going to be and what ingredients that you would be using? Do most of them come from Eataly that can be purchased there?

CHEF AH: For the most part, yeah! I would say that when I do a dish, you can purchase the products here at Eataly, but it also depends on the flow of the guest menu that the chef wants to do. If they want to do an antipasta, then maybe we do a pasta. If they want to do a pasta, then it doesn’t make sense for us to do a pasta for the four course tasting, so we will try to do an antipasta. The collaboration is always the main course and it’s about finding that balance and that the flow of the menu is natural.

For this month, the whole menu had a country feel to it. Chef Kreuther’s dish had the apple cider braised rabbit with saffron butter, so we liked this idea of refined rustic cooking, and I love Testa so I thought that would work and he loved it too. So we agreed on this dish which flowed well with the rabbit and then for the main course, pork 3 ways was simple and elegant and continued the sweet sour play.

When we did the collaboration with Chef Akshay Bhardwaj from Junoon it was very natural. We tried to incorporate some thing that were very common in Indian cooking and in Italian
cooking. Naturally, you wouldn’t think that they would go together, but we did a Saffron Risotto with yellow lentils and lamb cooked two ways and this was really successful and I liked the dish a lot. It was because the lamb that we did, one part of it was Sicilian style and the other way was an Indian style where we had marsala and chili peppers and a lot of depth of flavor. We had Sicilian style lamb belly was cooked with garlic and herbs. The risotto was obviously Italian, but with the saffron in there it had the Indian approach along with the yellow lentils. When you ate it all together, it didn’t feel forced, you just loved the taste
playing well together.

AM: Although this series has come to an end, will there be another?

CHEF AH: I’m not sure. I mean, I know that the rest of the year maybe not, but perhaps next year. I know there is an Eataly launching in Las Vegas so maybe this is something that we could do there. It will be a new concept in Las Vegas so maybe getting people to be aware of this location, they can bring in other chefs that are established in Las Vegas through this series. Overall, we loved the concept and I think that going into the end of the year, we will be more focused on truffles and getting our menu ready for the winter.

AM: How many times a year does the menu change at Manzo?

CHEF AH: Constantly ha! It’s an organic thing. You change the menu based on seasonality, availability, for example we recently took off summer squash because it’s fall and even though it’s a bit early to put winter squash on the menu, we can’t call out to summer squash because it’s not summer. Tomato season is winding down so even though we love selling heirloom tomatoes and caprese, we can’t run it all year and it’s not true to the Italian cooking philosophy.

Somethings that are on the menu are mainstays and they don’t change too much like some of the steaks we have – it doesn’t go out of season. But it’s the garnishes that might change and as we go into the winter, we want to make our menu more comfort friendly, so tomato based pastas aren’t so friendly with truffles so we do more butter and cheese sauces because it goes great with truffles. Just keeping the menu flexible for things like that is key.

AM: What are your favorite dishes that you like to create at Manzo?

CHEF AH: Well that’s a tough question! I like doing something that is traditional but a little bit different. A good example of this is the lamb shank that’s on the menu right now. In the spring
time in Italy, much like we do a barbeque here in the US with a whole roasted pig on a spit, they will do lamb in the same way over an open fire. You eat it as soon as it comes off the fire.
You dig into it when it is so hot that it burns your fingers and it’s so hot, but you eat it any way because it is so delicious. The dish translates to “lamb that burns your fingers” – we do a version of that, but it’s not the whole lamb because we’re not going to sell a whole lamb. So we do lamb shanks and it’s marinated with white wine and olive oil, thyme, rosemary, lemon zest and a little anchovy. These are all traditional flavors and we slow cook the lamb for 24 hours and then we cool it down. When the customer orders it, we coat it with salt and sugar and we roast it so it gets crispy on the outside and when you cut into it, it’s crunchy and juicy
and falls off the bone. When you dig into it, it burns the roof of your mouth or your fingertips and it pays homage to the original. There's a story to it and it’s kind of modernized in a way that makes it appropriate to sell into a restaurant. You might sell 10 a day or 2, but if you cooked a whole lamb everyday, that wouldn’t be sustainable.

AM: That sounds really good – we’ll have to try it!

CHEF AH: Well you should come in soon as we’ll be taking it off of the menu soon as it is more of a spring or summer dish.

AM: Oh no!

CHEF AH: Realistically, we probably could change the garnish on it to make it feel more wintery, but the overall story of eating lamb in the spring or the summer time outside in the piazza where people gather around – is just like having a suckling pig for a barbeque – you think of it as more of a summery thing.

AM: Are you constantly thinking of different dishes and coordinating with the sommelier as well as your pastry chef?

CHEF AH: Yeah usually for pastry, there is some sort of collaboration between the party chef and myself, but I try to leave Chef Rebecca to have more creative freedom there and just make sure that it is something that we can execute consistently. As far as coming up with a new menu, we work with Central Kitchen. It’s like a group of chefs that oversee all restaurants at Eataly. I’m the Chef at Manzo, but then there are a team of 5 chefs at Central Kitchen which oversees all the restaurants as another set of eyes. If we weren’t all under one roof like Chef Wolfgang Puck who has 10 restaurants, Wolfgang isn’t in every restaurant every day, but he has a trusted team of people he meets with I’m sure that make sure things are going to plan, food costs are looked after and that the menu makes sense. The same can be applied here with our Central Kitchen, as they are not in everyday but they are making sure things are ok.

AM: How do you define your cooking style and how does that marry with the ethos of Eataly?

CHEF AH: That’s a good question. I like simple food that is well prepared. I like making something that is the best version of something that you have had before. Like, finding what it is that people don’t like about food or something that they could potentially like. A lot of people say that they don’t like mushrooms and when I was younger, I had a lot of bad mushroom – just thrown on pizzas with no seasoning and they got squishy and it’s a texture thing that grosses people out. I love mushrooms now and what changes them is when you get them a little crispy and mix them with a little garlic and butter and thyme. There are only 3 or 4 ingredients but it makes a lot of difference. Eggplant is another one if you eat it and there isn’t enough salt and you roast it – again, it’s a texture thing. If you get it a little bit crispy and roast it in a really hot oven, a good amount of garlic and oregano – people will eat it and the hugest compliment to me is when people tell me that they don’t even like eggplant but they ask me what I put in it to make it taste so good. I like to keep it simple as you don’t need to throw the kitchen sink on eggplant but if you find the right flavors to highlight it and to make sure the texture is correct – people can change their minds about it.

At home, I would say that I don’t cook strictly Italian. I cook some different things. The other day, I was kind of sick so I made some noodles with a lot of garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce – because when I’m sick I want to eat a lot of garlic which is good for your immune system. That’s not traditional anything – just ingredients that I like to cook with. My style is very simple and focuses on seasonality and it matches up with Eataly because our whole style of cooking is about paying respect to the traditions of Italian cooking.

“The best way to explain the difference between being a cook and a chef is that a cook is a player on the team, but when you are the chef, you have to be the coach and it’s hard for some people to make that adjustment because when you’re the chef, it’s no longer about being the best player it’s about making sure that your players are doing the best that they can an that your cooks are as well prepared as they can be.”

— Chef Adam Hill

AM: When you’re not cooking, how do you take time for yourself?

CHEF AH: I like watching football a lot and now that it’s football season, I’m very happy! I’m a Steelers fan. I like to go out with friends and it’s tough in the restaurant business as we don’t all have the same time off. Usually, when we get out of work at midnight, we’ve been cooking all day so we want to eat now because we haven’t all day. Sometimes we’ll go out for late night drinks and to grab a bite and since we're close to Koreatown, we go there as it’s open super late. A lot of people who don’t work in the industry are surprised that when we get out of work we don’t want to cook fancy food, we want comfort food. Like a pot of rice and bulgogi is great. Different kimchis and vegetables that are just stripped down and it’s not messed with too much. You want to be full and happy. I love Bonchon late night with their fried chicken wings. We try to go out once a week to go to the bars which turns into going to Koreatown for some Hot Pot or Korean barbeque. Late night tacos are a go to for me as I love Mexican food.

If I have a day off, I’m just doing laundry and relaxing. I’ll clean the house and if it’s on Sunday, then I am going to be a lazy couch potato and watch football!

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PHOTO COURTESY | Eataly Flatiron

Read more from the Sep Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Eataly’s Chef Collaborations with Chef Adam Hill in mag.