Food for Body, Mind & Spirit

Traditional Recipes, Modern Twists - Erik Anderson Michelin Starred Chef Interview

Tom & Gloria

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0:00 | 31:37

In the world of fine dining, few chefs blend nostalgic comfort with cutting-edge technique quite like Chef Erik Anderson. From his early days at The French Laundry and groundbreaking work at The Catbird Seat and Coi, to his current projects including the highly anticipated tasting-menu restaurant Ilora in Calistoga, CA; Anderson has built a career on honoring traditional flavors while applying precise, modern methods that elevate every bite. Gloriagoodtaste.com has added a few of her favorites too! These innovative ideas offer inspiration for bringing elevated flavors and techniques directly to your own dinner table.

Visit the Gloria Goodtaste website to view the full stories and available recipes highlighted in this podcast with pictures and additional info to further enjoy this episode.  Go to: https://www.gloriagoodtaste.com

SPEAKER_00

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Foods for Body, Mind, and Spirit.

SPEAKER_04

I'm your host, Gloria Goodet, uh joined today by Chuck Town, your co-host and resident gadget guy. So I'm glad all your folks out there are joining us today.

SPEAKER_00

Um we have such a special episode like that. Right, our website and feature and that's right. Exactly. And we've created an approachable home of recipes in firefire style. Well, everybody, get ready to search the body, follow the mice, and above all, lift that spirit.

SPEAKER_04

Let's do it. We're on the telephone with Chef Eric Anderson, who has trained and worked at multiple specialist and fine dining restaurants across the country and has won many best chef awards and such as the James Bird Award with Gloria Goodest.

SPEAKER_00

Now, welcome to our website. And I want to know if you were immersed as a young child, okay, did that kind of spark your early passion for cooking?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, absolutely. You know, growing up, uh I grew up in Downer's Grove, which is the western suburbs of Chicago. Um, my father uh was a chef, you know, he's one of the executive two chefs at the Drake Hotel in Chicago. Uh he left there right as I was born. I'm the youngest of three and became a firefighter and paramedic. And then him and my mother also owned a diner. So I kind of grew up there. My mother ran the diner day to day, and my dad would be there on his off-shift days from the firehouse. But you know, I grew up there at a very uh young age working with my mother and you know, doing dishes and learning how to line cook, like doing you know, it was breakfast, lunch, you know, done on a flat top. And you know, I just I grew up around it and I always loved it. I was really drawn to it. You know, I think I'm one of three kids, and you know, my brother and my sister, my older brother, older sister kind of had different things they were drawn to. And but I just I always loved uh you know, kind of the repetition and and and you know, being able to like step back and look at what you did after a busy service. And just there's a lot of gratification in it for me. And you know, my mother and my father were a hundred percent the reason for that, you know. Um uh so it's I I just I grew up around it, I fell in love with it, and yeah, here I am.

SPEAKER_00

All right. Well, you know, I know being born and raised in Chicago, there are some really special foods there. What are some of your favorites?

SPEAKER_01

Well, that is a good question. Uh I love, you know, one of the things I'll always remember is when we were kids, we uh would drive out to Gene and Jude's hot dogs out in, I think it's River Forest. Um when my parents were first married, they had an apartment out there and they used to go on dates out there. And you know, we when we were young kids, they bring us out there, you know, and take a little drive out there. So I always I I love Gene and Jude's, it's something that's really dear to my heart. Um Pat's Pizza, which is fantastic. Uh I love Thin Crust, Chicago Thin Crust. Um, and then uh there's a place on Down this road called Angelos, which is another thin crust pizza that you know, we grew up every Saturday ordering from there to the point where it's like, you know, none of us live in the Chicago. Myself, my siblings, my father, we don't live there anymore. It's been many years. But when my brother visits, he'll actually go back to Angelou's. And the guy who was our delivery kid when we were growing up now owns the place. And he'll like look at it and be like, hey, Anderson, 5230 Puffer Road. You know, he like remembers us, you know. So I just, you know, the pink crust pizza, the hot dogs, things like that, you kind of take for granted as a Chicagoan.

SPEAKER_02

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01

When you leave and you move somewhere, you it's those are the simple things that I really crave.

SPEAKER_00

I understand that. Okay. And now you started your professional culinary career with a five-month internship at Three Star the French Laundrie. Did you find it?

SPEAKER_01

I didn't actually have any stars back then. Um it was the summer that Michelin first came there.

SPEAKER_00

Uh-huh. And did you find it difficult though, working there with a Midwest background?

SPEAKER_01

No, I I absolutely loved it. Like, I think to me that was more of an education than going to culinary school, you know. Um I I just I'm very drawn to that environment. I like the intensity of it. I like the attention to detail. And, you know, that was what really made me view made me want to pursue fine dining.

unknown

And that was really bad.

SPEAKER_01

And I spent some time in Minneapolis uh working for a guy named Doug Flicker, who is, you know, kind of the whole reason I continued with cooking, you know, he really challenged me and uh, you know, kind of gave me the room to learn and succeed and to fail sometimes and kind of show you this, you know, it's it's not necessarily just a job, it's almost a lifestyle, you know. You have to really love it. But no, I my time at Chip, I I absolutely love it, it was an education and you know, made a lot of great friends that I'm still friends with today. So yeah, I I I absolutely enjoyed it and I love the pressure of it, everything.

SPEAKER_00

Now you had an interesting experience there with some artichokes, I understand. Can you tell the story?

SPEAKER_01

I think we a little bit about two cases of artichokes.

SPEAKER_02

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01

Uh, and there was a little discussion on whether they're supposed to be stem on or stem off. And uh, you know, we decided that they were supposed to be stem off, and as you know, if uh they're stem off, you certainly can't put the stem back on them. Turns out they were supposed to be uh stem up. So we had a I think we had to do four or five cases uh turning them, and uh yeah, it was uh it was a painful lesson to learn, you know.

unknown

But hey, you learn pay pay better attention next time.

SPEAKER_01

That's uh the takeaway from that. You know?

SPEAKER_00

Uh-huh. Now, where did you learn so much about the modern ingredients? All right, like modern ingredient kind of things. Not French.

SPEAKER_01

I think going back, I know exactly. Going back to like Doug Flicker in Minneapolis, you know, he was, I felt like this is you know 20 plus years ago. He was kind of on the forefront in Minneapolis, you know, introducing new ingredients, looking at more modern techniques, you know, it was really encouraged uh in his kitchen. So that's kind of where you know I was first exposed to it and learned about it.

SPEAKER_00

Did you go to Copenhagen too?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. We were me and Josh Hauberger were getting ready to open the cat bird seat together in Nashville, and you know, the restaurant was under construction, so I had about four or five months to kill. So I uh spent some time. Uh I worked with uh a gentleman named Milton who was in the patry department there, and I reached out to him and I'm like, hey, I'd love to see what's going on there, you know, because there's a lot of buzz around it. I have four or five months to kill, and uh detox him at Orlando, and they're just like, yeah, come on, come on out. So yeah, I stayed there for four or five months while we were building Cap Bird Seat in Nashville. And uh, Denmark's is such an incredible place.

SPEAKER_00

Now, where in creation did you ever get the idea of starting the Cap Bird Seat restaurant in Nashville?

SPEAKER_01

You know, that's a good question. You know, I think you know, me and Josh were working together at a place called Ariga, and uh, you know, we we kind of just bounced ideas back and forth. You know, we both really liked this restaurant called Schwa in Chicago. Um you know, at that time, though, like a counter-service style place. I think it was really only just Mammafuku Ko and Brooklyn Fair uh back way back then. Uh so you know, we settled in a commerce seat place, you know, cook serving. And um how it ended up at Nashville, you know, Josh had uh he had uh met a guy named Toby Maloney, who's a barman uh in New York. And Toby's actually also from Chicago, but he started the violin hour in Chicago. Uh Josh had met him, they were doing a project in Minneapolis, and Josh had met him in Minneapolis, and you know, Toby was getting ready to open a project in Nashville with uh Ben and uh Max Goldberg. They were just two great, awesome restaurant tourists really, really great gentlemen in Nashville. But uh, you know, they were opening this cocktail lounge. And so Josh actually went out there and was the GM of the cocktail lounge, and it just so happened that uh above the cocktail lounge we had a little space for a restaurant. It was actually a hair salon. And so you know, he called me and then we started talking about it, and it was like, hey, I think Ben and Max would love to do the restaurant, and you know, so uh that kind of started it from there uh a long time ago, but I think that's kind of the gist of it, you know. And I had all my family was in Nashville, obviously enough. You know, they had all moved there from Chicago years and years ago. Um so you know, my sister went there, or my sister Andrea went there to go to college, and you know, her daughter, her husband were there. My my father moved there after uh our mom passed in 2001, and then uh my brother and his family, his he has two grandkids, and uh his wife Al they left Chicago and moved to Nashville as well. And uh you know, so I it was kind of funny because I had was familiar with it, but I couldn't see Nashville necessarily being a culinary destination at that time, you know. Um, so you know, Ben actually wanted to do the restaurant, so we're like, okay, let's do it. And so I went to Denmark for a bit and then moved uh moved to Nashville after that.

SPEAKER_00

Now, people really wouldn't understand how different Catbird Seat Restaurant is from just the average restaurants. What makes you at that restaurant so different?

SPEAKER_01

I think at the time, you know, it was just really about the attention and detail and the focus and being able to interact with the guests. You know, you you they had the ability to talk to the chefs who are serving them, ask questions about the food. You know, there was no no barrier there. You know, so uh yeah, that was kind of uh lent itself to a really special experience. I mean, I think a lot of people, uh obviously a lot of people are doing that style of dining now. It's nothing new or groundbreaking anymore. But you know, I I love it just because you know, you the closeness of the guests, you know, you can really see the look of excitement on their face, or you know, if the dish is working, if it's not working, you know, if they have questions about how you made stuff, it just allows you to interact with them a lot more closely.

SPEAKER_00

Now, what did you really learn from that experience of doing that?

SPEAKER_01

Boy, that's a good question. Um, you know, uh I learned a lot what not to do. Um but you know, I you know, I think honestly, uh you know, learning just that I don't know, I I I guess I really enjoy the openness of the kitchen, you know, like that. You know, I it's not something I would have expected, you know. I I was just so used to being shut away in a separate part of the building in a kitchen and not seeing the guests. But I I really learned to enjoy watching the guests and and seeing how they enjoyed stuff and you know, interacting. That was probably my biggest takeaway from that.

SPEAKER_00

Now, were you were you really surprised when you found out that you were being honored with so many awards for being like the best new chef and and the best restaurant?

SPEAKER_01

We had no idea. I I remember one day, you know, we we were busy and we were starting to fill up and then starting to book out, and you know, uh uh again going back to being able to talk to the guests, uh, me and Josh were talking to this couple from St. Louis, and you know, we always like, oh, how'd you guys hear about the restaurant? Um they're like, oh, we saw it on Good Morning America. We're like, well, I guess Unbedonce Good Morning America had done a little segment on it. Um honestly from that point on it was just booked out. Um, you know, Al Gore used to come a lot and he was really nice. He'd tweet about it, and you know, Tony Hawk, and you know, we get a lot of people like that in there that were really supportive. Uh, and it just you know kind of grew from there. And um, so it was yeah, it was it was pretty amazing. You know, with the people comes the buzz and the press, and you know, so I mean it's it makes your job tremendously harder, you know. You're just under a microscope more, so you gotta just, you know, uh be very, very mindful, you know, of everything you're doing at that point.

SPEAKER_00

Well, now how did you end up in California then as an executive chef?

SPEAKER_01

Well, I uh had moved back to Minneapolis to end up opening a little kind of French super fun bistro with Malone. Uh and you know, it was a small, fun little place, but uh one of my uh close friends is uh a chef named Matt Kurt. Uh but he had uh L2O in Chicago and you know I'd met Matt, we had put together years previous to that, but he had taken over Quab from Daniel Patterson. Daniel had stepped out as a chef, and uh Matt took it over. He was getting ready to compete in the Bocustier in 2018 or 19, and um he reached out to me and he was gonna step down from qua to compete full time with the Bocustior, and he asked me if I'd like to take it over, and I was like, sure. And so, you know, it was uh the the space in Minneapolis is a small little restaurant, so you know it's probably too big for two chefs, so um I was more than happy to come back to Northern California. You know, I've always loved it here, even back in 03 or 04 when I was here previous. Like I just you know fell in love with uh Northern California and always wanted to come back, but I kind of jumped at the opportunity.

SPEAKER_00

That had to be very exciting to take over a restaurant like that. Did you change the menu right away when you got in, or did you do it a little at a time?

SPEAKER_01

No, I changed it all.

SPEAKER_00

You did, okay. All right. You know, I was wondering, would you recommend that young chefs kind of follow your path, you know, trying to learn different styles of cooking? Because that's kind of what you did.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, I think you know, the the beauty of this job is if you're open, you can always be learning. There's always something new. There's you know, like traveling is super important, spending time in other kitchens is super important, and just be a sponge, you know. Um the beauty, the true beauty of this job is the constant learning. You know, um that's that's that's truly what I love. And uh you know, just always keep your eyes and ears open, you know, work hard, pay attention, but you know, you're never too old to learn something new.

SPEAKER_00

Now, um what is kind of like one of the most unique menus that you put together?

SPEAKER_01

Oh boy, that's a good question. Um you know, we did years ago uh my first executive chef job, uh it was at a restaurant called Sea Change, and it was about 17 years ago, where I actually met my now wife, uh Stacey, which was great. Um I did a menu, kind of a fun event with the menu all based on the Salvador Dolly cookbook. Oh and I really I we got I got a kick out of that. It's all like you know, Dolly is when he was younger, he always wanted to be a chef, but he was an artist. And so he released this cookbook, and you know, a lot like Tour de Argent and Maxine, they all kind of did the recipes and he did the artwork to go along with it. So we did kind of this Dolly thing as if uh all the dishes from were out of the book, and it was it was a it was a really good time.

SPEAKER_00

Uh-huh. Well, you know, looking back and thinking about the home cooks and saying, Oh, let me see, what would a a great chef tell me about how I could improve my cooking? Now, I wondered how would you tell someone to improve the depth of flavor in one of a dish?

SPEAKER_01

Uh uh depth of flavor, I mean there we can get into a lot of little tricks like MSG or Koji or things like that. But quite honestly, just improve your cooking overall is be aware of your surroundings. You know, find your local farmers market. You know, cook seasonally. You can cook seasonally at home still, you know, like just be aware of what's growing around you and get to know your local farmers, you know, see where you're where you know the if you if you love pork, find a local pork farmer. You know, things like that. Like just I would say just learn about your surroundings and where you live. There's everywhere in this country is people are producing, growing, raising amazing food. And you know, you it doesn't just have to be chefs seeking that up. You know, though I think more people should start eating that way.

SPEAKER_00

Now, what about a balance in the dish? Should you look for a certain balance of flavor or something?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think you know, I I was lucky enough at a young age that you know, one of my uh friends growing up, his mother was from Vietnam, and uh I got to have be exposed, she's a fantastic cook and just be exposed to that style of cuisine where it's you know sweet, sour, salty, you know. Yeah, I think you know everything needs to be balanced, you know. If it's too salty, balance it with a little honey or sugar. If it's too, you know, you want to hit all the notes, you know, like you're conducting an orchestra.

SPEAKER_00

Well.

SPEAKER_01

Honestly, I'm kind of a burger purist. Um, but I think the one thing that to develop your flavor on a humble burger is a ripping hot pan with a really nice sear and caramelize the meat. You know, you just get that flavor that pushes it over the top, you know. A nice crutch down the beef is I think that makes an incredible burger.

SPEAKER_00

Uh-huh. Now, what about the the fillings and the spreads? Should you put a lot of fillings?

SPEAKER_01

Americ American cheese, uh, onion, lettuce, and tomato if it's in season. And I love the classic secret sauce, you know, ketchup, mustard, uh uh mayonnaise, a little bit of pickle in it, maybe. Like I'm I'm pretty straightforward with my burgers. I love a good smash burger. You know, I've recently kind of been enjoying a nice steakhouse burger like uh the Red Hook Tavern, kind of that style. Um, you know, so and you know, you talk Minneapolis, the Juicy Lucy is, I think, a fantastic burger, and it's so simple that it's just absolutely delicious.

SPEAKER_00

Uh-huh. What is your favorite ingredient, by the way, that you like to use when you cook?

SPEAKER_01

That's a good one. Salt.

unknown

Salt.

SPEAKER_01

Um, you know, I I love cooking poultry like birds. Uh that's kind of something I've been drawn to, like birds and fish. And um, you know, I don't know that I have a single most favorite ingredient, but you know, that I'm more drawn to cooking uh poultry than anything, I think.

SPEAKER_00

Uh-huh. Well, I know when we were at Trotter's, you were doing a really great job there grilling some things, right? Some beef or some type of uh duck.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, we're doing Magrette. Like so uh duck that's uh specifically been raised for the production of frog gras. You know, I always say it's kind of a stakier uh uh breast of duck, you know. You can really kind of almost in the fat, it's you can almost get that little hint of flag gras fat in the in the breast fat. And you know, it's a nice uh it's a nice thing, you know, it's a little chewier than your average, you know, dry-aged duck breast, but in a pleasant way, you know. Um yeah, we're doing a kind of a little riff on duck barange, you know, bezerat sauce, caramelized phenol, uh, a little bit of uh canal of orange marmalade and a little canal of uh duck liver mousse.

SPEAKER_00

So it it was delicious. Did you have a good time? Did you have a good time cooking there?

SPEAKER_01

Oh yeah, it was a blast. I mean it was you know, it's just so cool to be able to go in and be able to do a dinner or two there. It's just you know a legendary kitchen and yeah, we had a we had a we had a we had a really good time.

SPEAKER_00

Well, you know, do you have any kind of innovative cooking tools that you use that you would say somebody should really purchase in their kitchen to get? Something that would maybe help them, you know, improve their d dinners or desserts, you know, things like that.

SPEAKER_01

I'm a big fan of the silver. Yeah, I think that's a great tool for thinking. I think you have to do something to be I don't really do a lot of protein to be vegetable work. Um I think it's still kind of amazing. You know, you can use a place of parchment and you're not just wasting paper, you know, it's a little better for the environment.

SPEAKER_00

Well now, I need to know what your next big challenge is. What are you planning?

SPEAKER_01

That's a good one.

SPEAKER_00

Um that you can tell us about.

SPEAKER_01

So I guess my challenge for that is to try not to get uh TV app along the way. But uh you know, I think I I have a few projects I'm kind of working on here. Um I do have a project opening road.

SPEAKER_00

With all those wonderful wines and things in California, you mean?

SPEAKER_01

You know, the um restaurant in the San Diego area. It's partner too architect. It's a great group of people. I think it's gonna be a phenomenal restaurant. Um it's gonna be just a fantastic edition of the San Diego dining scene.

SPEAKER_00

Well, we can hardly wait to come and visit it. Well, I want to thank you so much for giving our listeners a little peek into your wonderful kitchen and all of your skills that you've learned and so on, and we appreciate you the time that you've given us.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, my it was absolutely my pleasure. Let me know if you guys need anything anytime. So I really appreciate the opportunity to talk.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, thank you so much. Wow, Tom, what did you think of that interview?

SPEAKER_04

Gloria, I'm speechless. You can hear how Chef Anderson respects those childhood comfort foods, but takes them to another level with technique and precision. The chicken toast and the raw scallop seem next level and can't wait to talk about those.

SPEAKER_00

They really do. I loved how he talked about blending tradition with modern methods. That's exactly our theme today.

SPEAKER_04

Absolutely. Now I can't wait to hear how we're bringing those ideas into our own kitchen.

SPEAKER_00

Let's start with two recipes. Chef Anderson shared. First, his chicken toast with bulldog sauce.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, this one really intrigues me. It takes humble chicken on toast and turns it into a refined small plate. Chef makes a silky chicken mousse with cream and shiro dashi, spreads it on soft chocoupan bread, tops it with a crunchy panko a roar crust, fries it golden, then finishes it with koopy mayo, tangy bulldog sauce, sesame, and furricaki. Home cooks like me, any tips so I don't mess it up?

SPEAKER_00

Great question. How about if you use a food processor for the mousse and chill everything really well? And it's easier, by the way, to pan fry instead of deep frying because well it's quicker and it kind of uses less oil. It's comforting and elegant. What a perfect dish.

SPEAKER_04

Love that balance. Okay, what's the second one?

SPEAKER_00

The raw scallop and dashy jelly, green onion and local citrus, ultra fresh U10 scallop sliced thin, dressed with olive oil, delicate cubes of clear dashi jelly, green onion threads, and a bright slice of variegated pink lemon.

SPEAKER_04

This sounds so light and refreshing. Exactly what the body and spirit needs in the spring of the year.

SPEAKER_00

It really does. Make the dashy jelly ahead and it keeps beautifully. Just keep the scallops well ice cold and everything comes together in minutes. This might look hard, but it really isn't. It's really quite easy. Minimalist elegance kind of at its best here.

SPEAKER_04

I'm already ready imagining plating that beautiful dish.

SPEAKER_00

Now let's bring Chef Anderson's approach home with a couple of our inspired adaptions from his early childhood recipes. First up, let's start with saffron Spanish chicken. Doesn't that sound good?

SPEAKER_04

Sure does.

SPEAKER_00

Alright, juicy brine chicken thighs, browned until golden. Mmm, I love that to begin with, and then simmered with saffron, sweet onions, black olives, and finished with cilantro, pomegranate seeds, and scallions over hot rice. You know that is so comforting and elegant. Mmm, just all at once.

SPEAKER_04

That saffron must make the whole chicken smell incredible. Sounds perfect for a weekend dinner.

SPEAKER_00

It really is. And for something quicker.

SPEAKER_04

I bet I know what this one is. The fancy tuna melts!

SPEAKER_00

Ha ha! You guessed it. Yes. You know why? They're fresh, fast, and zesty. Well, if you don't think that you can do something different with a tuna melt, wait till you see this recipe. We took Chef Mom Classic with his ventresca tuna upgrade, of course, and added Greek yogurt, fresh lemon brightness, and a final broil, and creamy flavorful and ready in 40 minutes.

SPEAKER_04

Healthy twist and still melty and delicious.

SPEAKER_00

Sign me up. I really like the idea that you stuff them right in the middle of those little hot dog buns and then you put the cute little flowers on the top. Of course, if you don't have flowers, don't use the flowers by the way from your vase. Use the ones that are edible flowers if you're going to do this. But it looks so cute to do that. Can't you just imagine a brunch that you're serving that at?

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Well, in any case. Now, and of course, to finish on a sweet note, we have two desserts. Oh, are you ready for this, everybody? Cool raspberry marzipan bars, tender base, creamy marzipan, raspberry swirls, almonds on top, baked and then served straight from the freezer. Yes, I said it correctly. The freezer for the moist, bitey, cool kind of bite.

SPEAKER_04

Serve from the freezer? That's genius, Gloria!

SPEAKER_00

I know. I thought that is so cool. Well, isn't it now of course let's look at another one. Alright, and of course, you know what this one is. Banana Dolce de Leche Pound Cake. Mmm. Banana batter with luscious caramel ribbons that swirl throughout. Optionable pecans for crunch. You know, this is just perfect for gatherings.

SPEAKER_04

My mouth is watering. These really do tie the whole thing together. Traditional roots with modern joyful twists.

SPEAKER_00

I know. Haven't you enjoyed all of these recipes? I mean, it's been such fun doing that. Well, I want to thank you so much for joining us today, everybody, on Food for Body, Mind, and Spirit. We hope that these recipes from Chef Eric Anderson and our adaptations nourish your body, calm your mind, and of course keep lifting up that spirit for this spring.

SPEAKER_04

Be sure to visit glory of goodtaste.com for all the full recipes, step-by-step tips, and more.

SPEAKER_00

A huge thank you to Chef Eric Anderson for sharing his time and beautiful dishes with us.

SPEAKER_04

And thank you for listening.

SPEAKER_00

And of course, until next time, always put a little good taste in your life.