SPRING INTO SEASON: FOOD RECIPES FROM TOP CHEFS ACROSS THE U.S. TO ENJOY THIS SPRING

SPRING INTO SEASON: FOOD RECIPES FROM TOP CHEFS ACROSS THE U.S. TO ENJOY THIS SPRING

Fireman Derek’s Bake Store, Miami, FL

Photos & Recipes: Critical Lime Pie | Guavaberry Pie

Chef: Fireman Derek Kaplan

Descriptions:

  • Vital Lime Pie, a smooth balance of sweet and tart on a graham cracker crust designed from new, hand-squeezed Essential limes
  • Guavaberry Pie built with Miami’s preferred tropical fruit guava, contemporary mixed berries and do-it-yourself streusel

Internet site: www.firemandereks.com

 

TUR Kitchen, Miami, FL

Photos & Recipes: Seasonal Roots

Chef: Christian Chirino

Description: A attractive dish manufactured with Farm To Table Roots, clementine and labneh, employing seasonally refreshing substances

Web page: www.turkitchen.com

 

Platea Miami – Miami, Florida

Illustrations or photos & Recipes: Lamb Chops

Chef: Fernando Salazar

Description: “A la Brasa” 28 oz full rack with artisanal beer, ginger miso aioli and aji de polleria

Web-site: www.plateamiami.com

 

Toro Toro – Miami, FL

Illustrations or photos & Recipes: Viva Abejas – Toro Toro

Chef: Richard Sandoval

Description:

  • Charred Avocado Pear Salad with Greek yogurt foam, candied walnuts, bibb lettuce and honey-chipotle vinaigrette
  • Enchiladas Doradas that includes Mexican calabacitas stew, honey bell peppers, queso fresco and crema

Site: www.torotoromiami.com

 

 

Wild Fork

Photos & Recipe: Berkshire Ham with Kumquat and Enthusiasm Fruit Glaze Recipe

Chef: Jacqueline Kleis

Title & Description: Boneless Berkshire Smoked Ham with a kumquat and passion fruit glaze

Web-site: www.wildforkfoods.com

 

La Boulangerie Boul’Mich

Pictures & Recipes: Norwegian Eggs Benedict

Chef: Chef Pierre

Description: Norwegian Smoked Salmon more than Toasted Muffins with Roasted Tomato and Asparagus, topped with Do-it-yourself Hollandaise Sauce.

Website: www.laboulangerieusa.com

 

Moxies

Pictures & Recipes: Moxies Fort Lauderdale

Chef: Brandon Thordarson

Description:

  • Cucumber Cobbler – Double cross vodka, midori, lime, cucumber sake, Liber & co. fiery ginger and mint
  • Roasted Tomato Bruschetta – Deconstructed with creamy feta cheese, garlic with refreshing herbs and garlic crostini

Web site: https://moxies.com/dining establishments/fort-lauderdale/menu

 

Osteria Lupo, New Orlean, LA

Graphic and Recipe: Mushroom Campanelle

Description: Campanelle Porcini, Shiitake, and Oyster Mushroom Ragu

Website: https://www.osterialupo.com/

 

The Bower, New Orleans, LA 

Graphic and Recipe: Whipped Feta

Chef: Marcus Woodham

Description: Whipped feta with clean thyme, crushed purple pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice

Web site: https://www.thebowernola.com/

 

Mister Mao, New Orleans, LA

Graphic and Recipe: Ginger Salad

Description: Refreshing salad with red lentils, chickpeas, sunflower seed, tamarind chutney, crimson onion, and a lot more

Web-site: https://www.mistermaonola.com/

 

Toups Meatery, New Orleans, LA

Graphic & Recipe: Jambalaya

Chef: Isaac Toups

Description: Hearty and savory jambalaya with boneless hen thighs, smoked andouille sausage, celery, bell pepper, massive onion medium dice, garlic minced, all-reason flour, amber beer, chicken inventory “low sodium”, raw rice, unsalted butter, and green onions

Web site: http://toupsmeatery.com/

 

Compere Lapin, New Orleans, LA

Graphic and Recipe:  Curried Goat

Description: Curried Little one Goat with sweet potato gnocchi with little one goat leg or shoulder, onions, ginger, turmeric, garlic, garam marsala, and brown rooster stock

Site: http://comperelapin.com/

 

Tujague’s, New Orleans, LA

Image and Recipe: Mushroom Crepe

Description: Savory crepe with goat cheese, cream cheese, shallots, garlic, mushrooms, truffle and extra

Internet site: https://tujaguesrestaurant.com/

Top 10 kitchen appliances designed for quick, easy and efficient meal prep

Top 10 kitchen appliances designed for quick, easy and efficient meal prep

If you’re a passionate lover of cooking, or you’ve recently kickstarted your cooking journey, and want to accelerate it even further in 2023, then you’ve reached the right place. Having an efficient and streamlined cooking process is the key to preparing dishes that simply taste excellent! And the number one aid you need in having an effortless process is an arsenal of great kitchen appliances.  With the right kitchen tools and appliances, cooking can be an increasingly fun and simplified process. The right products can reduce your prep time in half, make the little cooking tasks much easier, and help you with tedious and complicated techniques. From ‘The Tesla of Ovens’ to a compact induction cooker that fits every conceivable cooking method in its modular stackable design – these innovative and exceptional appliances are all you need in your kitchen.

1. Brava

Meet Brava, an oven that harnesses the power of pure light to cook food to perfection. Unlike radiant heat, which heats the entire oven chamber, light can be precisely delivered to specific zones within the oven chamber, allowing you to cook with precise control and no energy wastage.

Why is it noteworthy?

With three dedicated zones on the cooking tray, and lights above and below it to match, Brava can cook three-part meals at three different temperatures at the same time, on the same tray, and in minutes as opposed to hours on a grill or oven

What we like

  • The three light zones help focus the heat into three distinct categories, letting you cook meats and veggies on one tray, but at different temperatures
  • A camera built into the smart oven gives you a literal window into the oven’s interiors, letting you see your lasagna bake and your meat sear in real-time

What we dislike

  • Some people may prefer ovens with transparent displays

2. The BlendQuik

Designed to be used on the kitchen countertop as well as on a mountaintop, the BlendQuik is the world’s first mason jar-style portable blender that can do everything from making smoothies at home and protein shakes at the gym to churning up quick guacamole at a picnic or even a frappe in your car.

Why is it noteworthy?

The BlendQuik is a nifty blender with a vessel big enough to hold your daily smoothie, and a 10-blade design powerful enough to cut right through dense ingredients like carrots, nuts, ice cubes, etc. The blender’s motor and blades are built right into its leak-proof cap. Chuck your ingredients into the mason jar, lock the cap in place, and hit the power button before flipping it over.

What we like

  • Makes everything from shakes to dips, cocktails, slushies, batters, emulsions, purees, and everything else you’d otherwise need a large blender for
  • Features a portable design, so it’s  not restricted to the kitchen

What we dislike

  • We don’t know how durable it is, so it could get damaged when you travel

3. Pronto

Rather aptly named the Pronto, this relatively compact gadget handles every part of the cooking process, from weighing to sautéing, slow-cooking, simmering, reheating, and even air-frying thanks to its modular companion, the Alto.

Why is it noteworthy?

With its small footprint and multipurpose design, the dynamic duo of Pronto and Alto occupy a fraction of the countertop space and let you prep elaborate meals without all the messy dishes and dread-inducing clean-up. Pronto and Alto were designed to take the effort out of cooking, so you can focus on the most important part… eating!

What we like

  • Multipurpose design
  • Make meal prep easier, faster, and smarter

What we dislike

  • There is a learning curve involved in getting used to the design

4. The Affinitea Brewing System

Designed as an elegant tabletop device, the Affinitea Brewing System expertly makes you a fresh cup of luxury loose-leaf tea in just 90 seconds. The Clearview re-usable chamber takes care of every aspect from agitating, pressurizing, and steeping the tea brew, before straining and dispensing it directly into your cup.

Why is it noteworthy?

The patented chamber uses pressure and agitation to handle the steeping cycle perfectly, creating a brew that has fewer tannins (the chemical that creates that bitter aftertaste) while extracting the maximum flavour.

What we like

  • An LCD screen right above the control panel lets you view and confirm your choices
  • Has a subscription service allowing you to try different teas

What we dislike

  • Space-consuming and bulky design

5. Makit’s Portable Microwave

This cordless microwave uses the cordless XTGT system to help you heat your meals and snacks when you’re on the go. It has 40-volt rechargeable batteries and can use up to 500 watts for eight minutes and then 350 watts after that to save energy.

Why is it noteworthy?

When the batteries are fully charged, it will be able to warm up 11 meals or 20 drinks. It also has a USB port so you can also juice up your smartphone or a gadget, but of course, you’ll probably have to choose between your meal or your device. The microwave also comes with a handle and a strap so you can carry it around with you.

What we like

  • If you’re worried about safety, the design has safety measures in place for user’s convenience
  • It also deactivates when it’s tilted or when the door is opened

What we dislike

  • If you’re warming up frozen meals, it might take up more energy so you’ll be able to reheat fewer meals

6. The Slide Toaster

The toasting process begins in the Slide toaster with an LED ring indicating the toasting level and completion. The slide-up tray has a translucent design element to it so that you can keep an eye on the toast turning perfectly brown to your delight Level of the toast crispness can be set with an adjustment dial like all other toasters we’ve seen countless times. This is ably aided by audio indications to keep the user well-informed.

Why is it noteworthy?

Harry Rigler wants to reinvent the trusted image of the toaster with a detour to the soft form design of this household kitchen appliance. That too keeps in mind the requirements of modern users, and the present as well as future design progression of kitchen interiors. Rather than being a pop-up toaster like most out there, this is the Slide toaster which rolls the toasting grill to the side like a rollable smartphone. The tray slides out – you put in the bread and slide it back in.

What we like

  • Audio indications to update the user on their toast
  • Unique slide-out tray

What we dislike

  • The radically changed design may not be easily accepted in households

7. The CookMate

Designed for this new, ‘smaller than life’ home, the Cookmate is an all-in-one kitchen appliance that goes from prep to cooking to serving, in one device. Its modular design has stackable pieces that turn the cooktop into a pan, crock pot, and even a steamer. The induction coil on the inside works on electricity, saving the need to place a gas cylinder under the hob.

Why is it noteworthy?

The Cookmate looks at the cooking process as something that goes from idea to ingredient to table. Rather than focusing on just the cooking, this induction cooktop (although it seems highly reductive to call it just that) considers every aspect of the cooking process. This isn’t just clever, holistic design thinking, it also helps the Cookmate be more universally applicable so you save effort, energy, and space with other utensils.

What we like

  • Features an integrated weighing scale
  • Can be split into 6 parts

What we dislike

  • As we can either use one at a time or them all together, the cooking time has to be finely balanced for each layer

8. The SüpKüp

The SüpKüp is a travel mug that is not really a mug in itself but serves more as an alternative to the disposable paper coffee sleeves. It is able to hold the paper cups (medium and large at least) that most coffee shops provide, including the still pretty popular Starbucks.

Why is it noteworthy?

It is made from durable polycarbonate and has a pretty elegant and minimalist design that can still display whatever cup is snugly placed inside. This holder doesn’t need any liquid transfer or constant cleaning that’s why it’s more convenient.

What we like

  • Your hot drink can remain hot for longer, 50{d2b09b03d44633acb673e8080360919f91e60962656af8ade0305d5d8b7e4889} longer, than when you just hold your paper cup
  • Has a double helix screw ejector that lets you eject the cup when you’ve finished just by twisting the rotating base

What we dislike

  • It helps retain your coffee drinkability rather than an alternative to disposable cups, leaving scope for future plastic-free design

9. The 4T7 Smart Chopping Board

The 4T7 Smart Chopping Board is meant to help simplify every stage of meal prep and go beyond it as well. Made up of different parts, all the components of the chopping board come together to create a rather innovative, united, and creative product.

Why is it noteworthy?

The 4T7 breaks meal prep into its different components, adding good design and tech wherever necessary. The board comes with 4 distinct parts, a main bamboo chopping board, a secondary silver-ion anti-bacterial board for veggies to prevent cross-contamination, a third heat-conducting defrosting tray that helps rapidly thaw frozen foods, and lastly, the 4T7’s base, which has its own built-in weighing scale. The only part of the 4T7 experience to exist outside the actual board is its smartphone app, which counts calories as you weigh your ingredients. Once your prep work is done, the digital display on the 4T7 can also function as a kitchen timer, while the board itself becomes a magnetic knife holder.

What we like

  • All of 4T7’s components are designed to be wonderfully functional as independent items
  • The board works equally well for fruits/veggies as well as for meats

What we dislike

  • It precisely counts calories for you, which isn’t always the best route to healthy eating, since many users can get unhealthily hooked on counting calories

10. Roll

Roll is an attempt to preserve not only the flavors of food but also their presentation. It eschews the traditional square or rectangular shape of food containers in favor of something round.

Why is it noteworthy?

What makes Roll different from bowl food containers (which do exist, of course) is that it wholeheartedly embraces the culture of using the lid or dish cap as a plate. That’s why the cap itself was made to look presentable, using soft and clean tones like ivory, sky blue, and terracotta. The idea is that you set the freshly cooked food on the lid itself and then later just cover it with the glass bowl when it’s time to put it away.

What we like

  • The next time you want to eat the food, you don’t have to rearrange the food again to make it presentable
  • Roll takes the food container concept upside-down, literally, by making it usable, whether as a bowl with a round lid or a plate with a bowl cover

What we dislike

  • Not the most shape-efficient design/shape for storage in a refridgerator

Executive Chef’s Top Tips For Cooking With Tofu [Video]

Executive Chef’s Top Tips For Cooking With Tofu [Video]


@stemandglory

Leading tips for cooking with tofu… from an Govt Chef of London’s leading vegan restaurant #tofu #cookingwithtofu #tofutips #headchef #stemandglory #foodtok #veganfoodtok #veganrestaurantlondon

♬ Caalm Dooown – EL Locco

Executive Chef of Stem & Glory, a best vegan restaurant in London, shared his major strategies for cooking with tofu that will transform your tofu recipes and have you cooking like a pro in no time!

Initially, chef stresses the significance of finding the suitable firmness of tofu to use relying on the recipe. Tender tofu is most effective for building desserts and sauces for the reason that of its smooth, creamy texture. Agency tofu on the other hand retains its shape greater and is less complicated to perform with. It is best for dishes like tofu “steak” for the reason that it won’t crack aside as conveniently as gentle tofu.

Second, chef indicates urgent the tofu to take out excess dampness prior to cooking. The h2o will reduce the tofu from absorbing the flavors of the other substances, and it will also protect against it from cooking correctly and acquiring crispy.

If you come to a decision to use a marinade or dry spice rub, usually pan fry the tofu with a touch of oil or bake in the oven for very best final results. These methods of cooking let the tofu to get nice advert crispy and take in all that delectable taste.

Last of all, chef endorses serving tofu with a gentle, flavorful sauce so that it can soak up all the wonderful flavors and spices!

To further more excellent your tofu cooking skills, check out these 15 Plant-Dependent Crispy Tofu Recipes!

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Top 12 Tips for Cooking with Mushrooms

Top 12 Tips for Cooking with Mushrooms

It is been two months because I got again from mushroom camp, and I continue to can’t prevent pondering about the wild forged of characters I fulfilled there. A former professor made available me a bump of pine pollen and suggested listening to fermenting organic syrups as a rest aid. A further dude walked all around with two jars of mushrooms—one pickled, just one psilocybin (he only made available to share the psychedelics). And, of study course, there ended up dozens of other everyday mycophiles like me who simply appreciate a superior fungus fair. 

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SOMA Wild Mushroom Camp is held on a yearly basis by the Sonoma County Mycological Affiliation in the redwood forests of Northern California. A blend of foraging excursions, botany courses, tastings, and other fungus-centric functions, the accumulating raises money for mushroom scholarship. I had signed up for a operate exchange place, hoping to glean the know-how and connections to comfortably forage my have mushrooms, anything I’d wished to do for a long time. 

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Now, you may possibly surprise: Why vacation all the way to mushroom camp when there are so many discipline guides and YouTube video clips and how-to article content out there? In shorter, you can’t truly research fungi in isolation. You have to find out about weather conditions styles, tree species, federal guidelines and area regulations, and even the ecology of the land you’re on. Consider hedgehog mushrooms, for occasion. Even if you can identify them, they are challenging to find—unless you know they grow around huckleberry bushes. Textbooks will tell you that morels prosper in woodlands—but most are unsuccessful to mention that those people harvested in wildfire-scorched spots are tastier than usual kinds. For that variety of knowledge, I realized, it pays to go to mushroom camp.  

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Soon after a weekend spent foraging, attending lectures, and cooking by day (and bunking up with mycology geeks by night time), I arrived away with even a lot more mushroom cooking ideas than I bargained for. Here are my 12 leading takeaways. 

Mushrooms aren’t usually interchangeable.

There are about 350 edible mushroom species. Of these, some get perfectly to grilling and roasting, even though some others style greatest in soup, indicating your mushroom cooking strategies should transform relying on what variety you’re doing the job with. Chef and recipe developer Kate Ray instructed me she likes boiling tiny enoki mushrooms in hotpot and other water-primarily based preparations, even though lion’s mane mushrooms make a knockout vegetarian “steak,” considering the fact that “the larger and meatier the mushroom, the a lot more it helps make sense to sear or roast a major chunk.”

Truffles are mushrooms also!

It turns out “mushroom” is a catch-all phrase, like “vegetable.” Although it is typically defined as the fruiting human body of a fungus with a stem and a gill-lined cap, loads of fungi diverge from this product, these types of as hedgehog, porcini, and subterranean stem-and-cap-free of charge truffles. Stephanie Jarvis of Pacific Truffle Growers shared more specifics about truffles: They expand properly in hazelnut orchards, but because of their interactions with tree roots, a truffle orchard won’t make awesome nuts—you can have hazelnuts or truffles, but not equally! I was stunned to study that the U.S. has its possess indigenous truffle species (I’m envious of Oregonians with their annual truffle doggy contest). A single matter that isn’t a mushroom? Truffle oil, which is usually truffle-cost-free and manufactured as an alternative with a lab-manufactured compound named 2,4-dithiapentane.

Finding out to keep away from poisonous mushrooms isn’t so challenging.

In accordance to UC Berkeley postdoctoral researcher Cat Adams, who studies dying cap mushrooms, only 28 mushroom species are acknowledged to be fatal, though there are hundreds of edible sorts and tens of hundreds of described species. You don’t will need comprehensive information of every mushroom to properly forage—but it’s crucial to be ready to recognize community toxic types. Most mushroom-linked fatalities in the U.S. are foragers from foreign international locations who did not do their due diligence. As the old mushroomers’ maxim goes: when in doubt, throw it out. 

At camp I tried witches’ butter syrup, matsutake fig jam, and the most pleasant profiterole I have eaten—filled with ganache, whipped cream, and candy cap mushroom ice product. Candy caps, which have a charming maple flavor, are an easy entry into mushroom desserts, but Ray (the aforementioned chef) is pushing boundaries with treats like shiitake chip cookies and mushroom pavlova. A person caveat: “Mushroom desserts are an acquired style and tend to strike far more with people who previously like mushrooms,” she explained. Mushroom sweets, predominantly that includes psychedelic or medicinal types, are an additional frontier to check out, nevertheless they are not new: The Aztecs combined psilocybin mushrooms with cacao.

Mould is not a four-letter word.

Funguses in culinary contexts are typically restricted to yeasts and mushrooms, but molds, much too, are intriguing. Tempeh is produced by inoculating soybeans with Rhizopus microsporus while tempeh is preferred and pleasant, this mould in its undomesticated sort can also bring about a exceptional but deadly sickness known as mucormycosis. Regardless of the feasible hazards of molds, Oregon Condition College botany and plant pathology student Brandon Stairs, who presented analysis on Rhizopus species, claimed, of consuming a piece of bread with a little bit of mildew on it, “It depends on how hungry I am.”

Mushroom tea is prevalent in Asian standard drugs and a prevalent way to ingest psychedelic mushrooms, but there is no will need to stop there. At camp I attempted cordyceps tea, matsutake sake, and guava and hibiscus-berry kombucha fermented with stinkhorns (I skipped the cannabis reishi limoncello). The kombucha was an creation by Michelle Harris, a designer who was impressed by viewing dried stinkhorns, which she hadn’t understood were being edible, for sale in San Francisco Chinatown. 1 of her pet peeves is “an edible mushroom considered as non-palatable by a single and then in a activity of telephone documented as becoming inedible and toxic in an additional source,” so she established out to do some investigation and make something with stinkhorns, yielding a tart and refreshing result.

You never want a extravagant package to mature your very own mushrooms.

You can purchase inoculated grain, which has mycelium expanding on it, and increase it to a plastic bagful of sterile natural and organic materials like straw or sawdust to make your personal increase bags. Or you can make a mushroom log for your lawn, drilling holes and inserting inoculated wooden dowels. Some kinds, like oyster mushrooms, mature conveniently and wildly quick, while some others, like chanterelles and truffles, are additional resistant to cultivation and are nonetheless generally foraged.

There is extra to miso than the white, yellow, and pink.

Miso is another fungus-centered meals. To make it, soy beans are fermented with salt and kōji mold. However, at a SOMA workshop led by Eleana Hsu of ferment organization Shared Cultures, we designed miso from chickpeas, black trumpet mushrooms, salt, and kōji, all mashed alongside one another by hand (with considerable effort and hard work). Shared Cultures tends to make a range of “modern misos” out of all the things from morels to Awesome Ranch Doritos that have received around the Bay Location foodstuff scene. 

Quit and odor the mushrooms.

In her guide The Mushroom at the Conclusion of the Environment, anthropologist Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing writes that the smell of matsutake “evokes unhappiness in the loss of summer’s easy riches, but it also phone calls up the sharp depth and heightened sensibilities of autumn.” Mushrooms, then, can talk to the year just like a late-summer season tomato—if you sluggish down and recognize. Classic Japanese preparations like matsutake rice and suimono use basic, nearly bland ingredients to permit the cinnamon-scented mushroom acquire centre phase. 

Go forward, clean your mushrooms.

“Don’t be fearful to get your mushrooms damp!” claimed chef Rebecca Peizer during a demo at camp, noting that several increase in soaked environments. Soaking is a no-no, even so, given that many mushrooms—especially those people with uncovered gills like portobellos or enamel like hedgehog mushrooms—readily absorb drinking water, which can switch them soggy. If your mushrooms are currently fairly clean, as most cultivated kinds are, you probably don’t require to wash them—a small dust won’t hurt you.

Mushrooms and crabs have a strange point in popular.

Mushroom cell partitions are produced of chitin—and so are the exoskeletons of insects and crustaceans. There is a misperception that mainly because individuals just cannot digest chitin, we really should constantly prepare dinner mushrooms in buy to crack it down. Dr. George C. Fahey Jr., emeritus professor of dietary science at the College of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has researched the nutritional benefit of mushrooms and disagrees. “Chitin is a sort of fiber,” he said. “If the mushroom is edible and you like it uncooked, then eat it.” Chitin has other added benefits too—it’s the rationale it’s quite a great deal extremely hard to overcook a mushroom, short of burning it to a crisp.

There is nonetheless a lot to master.

Herbalist and teacher Autumn Summers begun off a person introductory session indicating, “I’ve been foraging for mushrooms for a lengthy time, but we’re all nonetheless newbies.” Fungi stay understudied and misunderstood. There’s investigate funded by teams trying to sell you stinkhorn aphrodisiacs. There are cultural biases in opposition to ingesting selected mushrooms, some with superior motives for caution. And the awareness we have is constantly altering: Just past thirty day period, researchers published new analysis pinpointing a toxin that lets oyster mushrooms, seemingly carnivorous, to destroy and take in worms.

11 top Milwaukee chefs share their favorite kitchen hacks

11 top Milwaukee chefs share their favorite kitchen hacks

‘Top Chef’ Byron Gomez on cuisine, culture and bringing Costa Rica to Colorado with Pollo Tico

‘Top Chef’ Byron Gomez on cuisine, culture and bringing Costa Rica to Colorado with Pollo Tico

Byron Gomez has prepared haute cuisine in some of this country’s finest restaurants. But on a recent day, in his food-hall stall on Pearl Street in Boulder, he is savoring something less high-brow, but oh-so-delicious. 

He calls it the “chicken oyster.” It’s a moist bit of meat hidden in a crevice behind the backbone of a rotisserie chicken that has rested overnight in Costa Rican spices before being slathered in a taste-bud-shaking secret sauce called Salsa Lizano.

That bit of food that brings him such joy serves as a symbol for a wildly unusual culinary career that has taken Gomez on a full-circle foodie journey in his 34 years.

It began in a modest family kitchen in Costa Rica where, as a toddler, he savored his native country’s foods so much that he would sneak out of his bed to sleep on the kitchen floor. 

Hop from there to a Burger King in Long Island where his family had immigrated when he was nine. Gomez was too shy to be good at the counter, but he was moved into food prep because he was an excellent tomato slicer. 

Move on to constructing delicate dishes at Michelin-starred fine-dining restaurants owned by a world-famous chef in New York City. Throw in a stint on the culinary competition Top Chef.

 All that winds finally to Pollo Tico, Gomez’s fast-casual, self-described “chicken joint” in the Avanti Boulder food hall.

“This introduces my culture and who I am,” Gomez told Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner during a visit to Gomez’s tiny Lizano-bottle-lined kitchen. 

The chicken is served up with Costa Rica’s most recognizable dishes — arroz con pollo (chicken and rice), gallo pinto (beans and rice), maduros (fried green plantains), and chayote escabeche (pickled squash). Salsa Lizano goes on everything.

Chef Byron Gomez Pollo TicoRyan Warner/CPR News
Salsa Lizano is an ingredient staple at Pollo Tico in Boulder.

Gomez’s time on Top Chef

These were not the foods that Gomez toiled over when he was a finalist on Season 18 of Top Chef, a brutal competition where the chefs spent 18 hours a day sweating over food challenges and the rest of the time totally closed away from a world in the thick of a pandemic. 

As a Top Chef finalist, Gomez showed off his culinary chops learned in top-culinary-world restaurants, including Cafe Boulad and Eleven Madison Park. He prepared a crab dish, a surf and turf entre, a pasta dish seasoned with coffee. 

The closest he got to his native cuisine was a Peruvian chicken dish. He is still kicking himself for those choices.

“I was watching the show at home with my bowl of ice cream and yelling at the TV, asking ‘Why did you do that?’”

It was that anger about not highlighting his ethnicity that led him back to his roots.

“I had the most Michelin stars of anyone in the cast,” he said. “But I realized I was cooking other people’s cuisines. Everyone else was rooted in ethnicity, but I was left asking, ‘Well, what am I?’”

Chef Byron Gomez Pollo TicoRyan Warner/CPR News
Byron Gomez owns Pollo Tico in Boulder, featuring Costa Rican-styled rotisserie chicken.

Sunday dinners with family

That answer lay in his memories of the big Sunday dinners his family would have in Costa Rica. His mother was well-known for her cooking skills, and friends and relatives would gather at the Gomez home for meals. 

The women would be cooking up a feast in the kitchen. The men would be watching soccer as they waited for the meal. And Gomez would be gravitating to the kitchen.

When his family migrated to Long Island, the Sunday feasts continued in an altered form. His family couldn’t get all their native foods, and what they could get didn’t taste the same. Still, other Costa Ricans would gravitate to the Gomez house and pack in for Sunday gatherings.

Gomez’s eventual mentor, Daniel Boulad, the Michelin-starred chef he still calls “papa,” helped him to realize those gatherings were where his culinary dreams might lay. He had instilled in him the idea that he should always continue to test the limits of his skill and creativity.

Gomez landed a job at Café Boulad by highlighting his work ethic and desire to learn. He had no formal culinary training, unless prepping burgers and cooking ethnic dishes at a mom-and-pop café counted. But he had the drive and talent and, after stewing over submitting an application for a month, he was rewarded.

He spent five years working under Boulad. He describes it as a pressure-cooker existence similar to the Hulu culinary drama “The Bear,” or to the late Anthony Bourdain’s portrayal of sometimes hellish working conditions in the book “Kitchen Confidential.”

Chef Byron Gomez Pollo TicoRyan Warner/CPR News
Chef Byron Gomez working on food prep in Pollo Tico.

The next Shake Shack?

As his own boss now, Gomez still works hard, but can take time to hit the gym every day and to appear on the circuit of food festivals. 

He will be at Food & Wine festivals in Aspen and Charleston, South Carolina, this summer. He hopes to secure another slot on Top Chef.

Also on tap in Gomez’ journey is a fine-dining mobile dining room concept that he brainstormed about during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. It’s a concept that he said will “flip the rood truck thing on its head.”

He also has plans to open more Pollo Ticos. In fact, he is thinking big about that, too. He believes Pollo Tico could become the next Shake Shack — as soon as patrons figure out that his restaurant is not Pollo Taco, and that Costa Rican food is quite different from omnipresent Mexican cuisine.

“My duty is to bring the beauty of who we are to this country,” he said.


Gallo Pinto