THE CHOPPING BLOCK – CHEF PROFILES
Ed "Sarge" Gardner
Favorite class to teach:
Indian Vegetarian and Sushi
Training/education:
Culinary School of Washington, D.C., various restaurants, clubs and resorts
Cooking since:
1987
Favorite childhood food experience:
Picking peas out of our garden
What made you want to become a chef?
Just realized it one day that it would be a good way to make a living.
What is your signature dish?
Don't really have one, but I do enjoy making jambalaya and etoufée.
What are the 5 ingredients you can't live without?
Salt, cheese, olive oil, wine, bread
What do you love about cooking?
Taking raw ingredients and making a dish whose sum is greater than its parts.
When you're creating a new recipe, what influences and inspires you?
Time of the year.
What advice would you give a new cook?
Focus, don't put foam on anything and be creative without being wacky.
What are you doing when you're not cooking?
Working around the house and cleaning up after my daughters.
Describe your perfect evening.
Good conversation, good food, good drink
If you had friends in from out of town, where would you take them to eat?
Lula Café, Avec, Frontera Grill
Where are you from?
Suburban Detroit
What was your favorite vacation?
France with my wife, pre-children
What are your hobbies?
Reading
What is your favorite band?
Motörhead, Tool, Ramones, The Stones
What is your favorite sports team?
Cubs
If you could have dinner with one person, who would it be?
My wife
What are your guilty pleasures?
I like fast food, and junk food, like Doritos
Who is your favorite celebrity chef?
Judy Rogers, Zuni Café, San Francisco
What 5 tools should every new cook have in the kitchen?
Good knife, good board, good peeler, a juicer and silicon spatulas.
What resources would you suggest for Chopping Block clients?
Costco, Paulina market, Wine Discount, the Fish Guy, Harrison's Poultry, Super H Mart, Chicago Food Corp. (Kimball and the Kennedy)
List/describe three of your favorite tips or techniques you use in the kitchen.
Work cleanly and efficiently, season pork and chicken the day before, let recipes, unless baking, be a guideline, not an absolute.