Show 52, December 14, 2013: Celebrity Chef Scott Conant of the five Scarpetta restaurants coast-to-coast. Continues…

Scarpetta CookbookThe Scarpetta Cookbook came about as a result of a hands-on cooking demo Scott performed in Manhattan. There were 15 teams of two students preparing one of his signature recipes. The variations of the same dish as presented by the class members was incredible. Scott calls it a disaster.

Scott wants food fans to be able to successfully duplicate the Scarpetta recipes at home. No secrets or missing ingredient in the book’s recipes. That’s his goal for the book.

If you order the cookbook from his website you can obtain a personalized inscription. Good idea for the Holidays and saves the flight to New York.

Chef Scott talks about the needed ingredients for success with multiple restaurants. It’s all about service, food and ambiance. Service is the key. Food is the follow-up. Scott points out that if a guest has a bad service experience they are likely never to return.

Scott wants ever guest who visits his restaurants to leave happier than when they came in.

Show 44, October 19, 2013: Andy Ricker, chef and restaurateur, Pok Pok, Portland, Oregon and Brooklyn, New York Part Two

Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes, and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand by Andy Ricker“Pok Pok” is a Thai reference to the sound heard from a mortar and pestle when you are grinding food in it.

On to the recipes…

Chef Ricker shares his signature recipe for chicken wings which is more Vietnamese than Thai. He also talks about the famed papaya salad and provides tips on how to properly prepare it. In Thailand there are some hundred variations of this popular dish.