What were your favorite foods growing up?
I would have to say Japanese. My father used to work at Madison Square Garden, so we would come to the city a lot. I remember first having sushi and negamaki and till today I continue to love Japanese food.

What is your least favorite food?
Green peppers. I hate them.

What is your beverage of choice?
Red Burgundy

What was the most spectacular meal you have ever had?
I was in Siena with my wife for our belated honeymoon. It was porcini season, and we were at this tratorria when I ordered a whole porcini which was roasted with olive oil, garlic, and salt. It was purely amazing.

What do you eat when you are home?
We eat a lot of pasta. Lately we've been cooking broccoli with pasta and garlic. It's simple and delicious.

What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
Counter space, counter space and more counter space. Remember to heat your pan before adding oil.

Where and when did your career in food begin?
My first job was on a turkey farm. I did not work with the turkeys that much, but I did work in the orchards and planted strawberries. My next job was washing dishes on the Jersey shore working at my friend's restaurant.

When did you decide you wanted to be a chef?
I always knew. In junior high, we had to pick an elective, and I always chose Home Economics so I could cook. When I graduated junior high I won the Home Economics award.

If you didn't become a chef, what would you be?
That is a tough question, but I always wanted to fly jets.

Who/what shaped your cooking the most over the years?
There are a few people. The first was Odette Berry who I worked with in Boston. She taught me to appreciate ingredients and to cook with passion and love. David Bouley also shaped my philosophy on cooking. I worked for David for almost 7 years. He taught me a great deal.

What influences your cooking style?
The seasons for sure and going to the market and being inspired by the local ingredients. Eating out with my wife also influences my cooking style. She has a great palate. When working at Bouley, she often visited other restaurants and reported back on all the new flavors and trends appearing throughout the city.

Which foreign country inspires your style most?
Another hard question. It used to be France, then Italy and now I'd have to say Spain and Japan.

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
My favorite knife is my Japanese slicer, and I love my cooking fork, which I have had for almost 20 years.

What is your favorite secret ingredient?
Lemon juice

If I'm trying to watch my weight and I'm eating at your restaurant, what am I ordering to eat?
Mostly anything. I try not to use too much butter, cream or fat. Bouley taught me a lot about making sauces from vegetables and purees.

When you are not eating at your own restaurant...you are eating at?
I eat at Do Hwa. My wife is Korean and Jenny Kwak is a good friend. We must eat Korean food in some form at least twice a week.

What are some recent dining and culinary trends you have been observing?
Everything being local, organic, sustainable. The science of cooking is still around but is maturing, and the little gut restaurants with good simple food.

What was the most challenging meal you had to make? Why?
Toughest meal ever was when I was working with Bouley, and we cooked at the Waldorf for the Elton John concert. There were 2,000 people and despite prepping for two whole weeks, we were still running late and getting lost in the enormous hotel and kitchen.

What was your worst restaurant disaster?
The Elton John dinner at the Waldorf

What is the one rule or value you try to instill in all of your staff?
I try to instill that we are a team and that we all work together. No position is more important than another and that goes for cooking positions, dishwashers, front of the house, everything.