What were your favorite foods growing up?
Cattail muffins, homemade bread, plum crepes, gramma's fried chicken and mashed potatoes, walleye cooked in bacon drippings and any kind of pie.

When did you decide you wanted to be a chef?
I was always cooking. Everyone in my family was. Mom baked, Dad grilled, my brother and I fished and hunted for duck eggs in the summer. We all loved food and it kinda stuck.

If you didn't become a chef, what would you be?
I'd be doing something in the arts I guess. Even as a chef I'm doing my own photography for my cookbooks and doing all the writing myself. I'm also planning an NPR radio show to be out in early 2009 and working on finalizing FARMtv, our TV show.

Who/what has shaped your cooking the most over the years?
The French chefs I worked for when I spent my three years in Europe have shaped my cooking the most. I guess it is really just Europe and the history and passion that everyone has there for the culinary arts.

How would you describe your cuisine?
The food I'm doing now is refined in that the ingredients are well sourced and looked after for carefully, but rustic in that the presentation is simple and allows the products to speak for themselves. I call it Real Food. It is accessible to all and priced to please folks on many different budgets.

Where did you draw inspiration for your book Real Food?
I wanted to share the global flavors I had discovered through my travels and studies, but combine them with ingredients that people found comfortable using. I wanted to introduce the fun of my adventures globetrotting through the world's kitchens.

What inspires your cooking style/ingredients you use and particularly the menu at FARM-Bloomington?
I want everyone from the professor to the professional to the tourist to the college student to be jazzed by the menu; find something they can connect with that they have to come back for. It is fun food in a fun setting. That is what people are looking for right now.

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
My Woodstone oven, a Vitamix Blender, a food processor and a good set of knives.

How did you come up with your special spice blends?
I wanted to create paints for your palette. They are flavors you can perfume your dishes with. World flavors. They make everyday cooking extraordinary. One can use a different blend every day on standard meat, fish or vegetables and be carried away on a wonderful voyage.

What is your favorite secret ingredient?
I guess they are my 5 friends: lemon zest, ginger, garlic, chilis and sorghum.

What is the one rule or value you try to instill in all of your staff?
Taste everything every time. Be consistent. Have fun.

What qualities to you look for when hiring cooks for your restaurant?
A thirst for knowledge.

If I'm trying to watch my weight and I'm eating at your restaurant, what should I order to eat?
Almost all of our dishes can be modified to dietary restrictions. We have a great front of house staff that communicates guests' issues extremely well. Our seared tuna with sweet pea and wasabi coulis and glass noodle salad would be a good choice.

Out of all the food shopping tips you have to offer, which one is the most significant?
Buy what is fresh, local and in season.

What are some recent dining and culinary trends you have been observing?
Field to Table movement, comfort foods, economy-buster type dishes that offer value.

When you are not eating at your own restaurant, where are you eating?
Home cooking. Making wine in my parents' basement, "putting up" our homegrown produce, cooking something over a fire with friends.

Which foreign country inspires your style most?
France, Brazil, The Caribbean, My friend Satish's Indian foods and Mihoko's Japanese cooking. Returning to my roots and cooking down home Hoosier.

What was the most spectacular meal you have ever had?
It was at Joel Robichon's Jamin in Paris in the early 90's. I had a 4 hour dinner by myself. Spectacular. When I left someone pulled me aside and said "we really enjoyed watching you eat!" That was a first.

What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
Taste everything just before serving. Ask yourself: What's missing? Go through the 5 flavors: Does it need some additional Salty flavor (salt, soy, fermented Asian black beans, fish sauce, capers, olives, cured meat or fish, etc) Spicy (pepper, chilis, hot sauce, wasabi, horseradish, etc) Sour (citrus, vinegar, sour fruit, etc) Sweet (fruit, sugar, honey, sorghum, etc) or Rich (butter, cream, yogurt, olive oil, fat, tofu, etc.)
The final additional flavor is umami, or savory.

What's the most valuable life lesson you've learned, be it in or out of the kitchen?
Learn what you love, then teach it to someone else.