The Chopping Block Cooking & Wine Blog

Max

Max is a self-taught cook who has been in the restaurant industry for seven years. He got his start cooking and running kitchens in Boston, and Dartmouth, Massachusetts, before moving to Providence, Rhode Island, and ending up in Chicago. Though he has had some success in restaurants, earning a James Beard Award nomination, and winning a Starchefs Rising Star award, He is now glad to be taking a step back from the kitchen to be able to connect with the passionate home cooks that come to learn at The Chopping Block.

Where to Eat if You Happen to Find Yourself in LA

It has taken me a little over 34 years of living to visit LA. The reasons I could give for taking so long include the fact that it is thousands of miles away from most of the places I’ve lived, and ...

New Seed Day (Best Day of the Year)

I’m sorry to have kept you waiting so long for the follow up to my previous post regarding planting a delightful little garden as I know many of you were clamoring to know what seeds I had ordered ...

How to Make an Excellent Breakfast Sandwich

The breakfast sandwich is one of America’s great contributions to global gastronomy. A lot of people like to talk about the U.S. as though it has no original food traditions of its own, or if it ...

Seeds in the Dirt, Grow Grow Grow; Help Me With My Garden

It may be hard to believe, but spring is nearing. Hard to believe, not because it feels like winter just began, but because (at least where I live) it feels like it never began at all. Here in ...

Getting the Most from Your Meat: A Cookbook Guide

In fine dining circles, being very into meat has fallen a bit out of fashion. It’s much cooler at the moment to have a maniacal focus on vegetables or seafood—particularly fish[1]. I bet if you ...

One Weird Trick for Rich and Silky Ramen Broth

If you were to compare the number of times my wife asks me to make ramen versus the number of times I actually do it you would end up with a ratio of something like 60:1. That's because when she is ...

A Chef’s Year in Food

Retrospectives are in abundance this time of year, and understandably so. It's in our nature to want to look back at the year to remind ourselves of everything that happened. As I get older, I find ...

Laminated Pastry: An Endorsement

The time has come once again to start steeling ourselves for the icy embrace of winter’s dark dawn. It’s easy to let the weather get to you around this time of year, not to mention the fact that it ...

Venison: From Field to Freezer

I want to state right at the top that this post is going to have graphic images and descriptions of whole animal (deer) butchery. From right after slaughter in the field all the way through hanging, ...

The Whole Fish Trilogy: Books to Level-Up Your Seafood Game

I grew up in a small town in upstate New York that didn’t have much access to seafood in general, and I don’t think I’d be exaggerating to say virtually no access to truly good seafood at all. I ...

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Max

Recent Posts

Where to Eat if You Happen to Find Yourself in LA

New Seed Day (Best Day of the Year)

How to Make an Excellent Breakfast Sandwich

Seeds in the Dirt, Grow Grow Grow; Help Me With My Garden

Getting the Most from Your Meat: A Cookbook Guide

One Weird Trick for Rich and Silky Ramen Broth

A Chef’s Year in Food

Laminated Pastry: An Endorsement

Venison: From Field to Freezer

The Whole Fish Trilogy: Books to Level-Up Your Seafood Game

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