Guilty pleasures

Chefs ‘fess up to what’s eating them (junk food), and vice-versa

By: Pat Tanner
   Food stories and TV shows that reveal the cooking secrets of chefs are a dime a dozen. Rather than their cooking secrets, have you ever wondered, as I have, what restaurant chefs choose to eat after a long workday, when no one is looking, in the privacy of their own homes? I not only wondered but conjectured that their choices and their personal eating habits would be, well, suspect to say the least and shocking (shocking, I tell you!) at their most egregious.
   So I recently polled some of the area’s leading chefs to see if they would come clean. Initially I fretted that they would hesitate, thinking they might put their culinary credibility on the line, but these eight highly trained, highly successful professionals didn’t hold back. To the contrary, they seemed to welcome the chance to unburden themselves of the guilty pleasures that have been eating away at them, and vice versa.
   Take Eric Martin, executive chef at four-star Rat’s Restaurant in Hamilton. He freely admits to having a serious sweet tooth (nothing wrong with that), saying he "brakes for chocolate in any form." So even though it was at his establishment that I was first introduced to the delights of imported, high-end, organic chocolate (Michel Cluizel brand), what is it that Mr. Martin can’t resist? Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. And he never turns down "any of the Ben & Jerry’s chocolate concoctions."
   In fact, it seems each chef has a penchant for sugar, salt, or fat (or sometimes all three) in their most cloying, mouth-puckering, greasy forms. Jay McDonald, who works alongside Mr. Martin in his job as chef de cuisine at Rat’s, goes for anything that combines chocolate and caramel, and doesn’t turn his nose up at butter-rich popcorn either. (Hopefully, it is real, not ersatz butter.) At the end of a long day behind the stove he enjoys nothing better than to re-heat a couple of slices of pizza.
   Pizza turned out to be the hands-down favorite, cited by at least half the chefs, including both Rat’s chefs and Mark Valenza of Triumph Brewing Company in Princeton.
   Jim Weaver, who named pizza as his all-time favorite food, is not only chef/owner at Tre Piani in Forrestal Village but also heads up the local chapter of Slow Food, the organization dedicated to preserving traditional foods and supporting local producers. He was willing to, as he says, "blow my Slow Food cover" by naming pizza the one food he would take to the proverbial desert island. He’s serious, if not obsessive, about his pizza. "My favorite is John’s on Bleeker (in Greenwich Village), but they don’t deliver to East Windsor. I have been known to bring one home on the train," he admits. Mr. Weaver relishes the occasional hot dog or cheesesteak as well.
   Cheesesteak was also mentioned by Mario Mangone, owner of Chambers Walk Café & Catering in Lawrenceville. But not just any old cheesesteak. "The greasiest chicken cheesesteak I can find, with mayo and hot peppers," Mr. Mangone insists. Except for this one bit of grease heaven, this chef’s "indulgences" are really not that bad. At the end of the day he likes nothing better to make for himself than a sandwich, either one of canned tuna drizzled with extra virgin olive oil on black olive bread, or one of peanut butter and banana with honey on multi-grain bread.
   Eric Martin says that on those rare evenings away from the restaurant he finds himself "making reservations" primarily, and when he does dine out, it’s for sushi or Chinese food. "Otherwise," he says, "I eat what my wife is making for dinner. She’s a great cook and when I’m home I usually have other things to do around the house."
   Mark Valenza, Triumph’s executive chef, seconds that thought, saying he is thankful for his wife’s cooking. "I eat whatever was left over from dinner," which is usually roast chicken, pasta, hot dogs, or pizza. "I have two little ones at home," he relates, "and my wife, Barbara, does most of the cooking. She laughs when people tell her how lucky she is to have her own personal chef."
   Mr. Valenza admits, though, that before he digs into his wife’s leftovers, he indulges is some "truly ugly eating." He begins by explaining, "On a busy day in the kitchen, I don’t eat much of anything — I just taste for seasoning all day. When I get home late at night and begin to unwind, the hunger comes, unaccompanied by willpower or common sense."
   He often begins a three-course meal with any type of sausage he can lay his hands on or, failing that, indulges in an invention he says "might be the greatest appetizer the world has ever known." That would be salami with broken Wise Potato Chips rolled up inside. (Recipe notes from Mr. Valenza: mortadella is also good, and variations include Gorgonzola cheese and either ham or prosciutto di Parma wrapped around the broken chips. His final bit of advice? "I find the single serving bags of chips taste best.") After this and his wife’s dishes, he moves on to dessert.
   Some chefs, like Michelle Vaccaro Everman of Richard’s Market & Catering in Lawrenceville, don’t make sweets the finale to a meal, but the meal itself.
   "I had to laugh when I got your message," Ms. Vaccaro Everman explains, "because at the time I was finishing off an entire bag of Archway gingersnaps and some hot mulled cider."
   She describes this as her "post-baby" meal of choice. Pre-baby, she says, she would have most likely been caught wolfing down M&Ms and Oreos, but since her son, born last year, has severe food allergies, she has to lay off dairy while she is nursing. She’s given up another passion as well — McDonald’s french fries — but at least there she was in good company: Mickey D’s fries were also a favorite of James Beard, the father of American gastronomy.
   For Ms. Vaccaro Everman and her partner at Richard’s, Arlene Sadowsky, a quick dinner at home means one thing: pasta. Where Ms. Sadowsky is concerned, that is likely to be simply pasta with butter and Parmesan or even Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (an addiction, I am ashamed to admit, that I share). Ms. Vaccaro Everman sometimes concludes her meal with biscotti from Wegmans, which are butter-free.
   You would think that heading up the bakery department at Wegmans Market on Nassau Park Boulevard would offer more than enough sweet treats for Maureen Zammetti, and indeed she sings the praises of Wegmans new cookie shop program and proudly exclaims, "We have the best almond paste cookies!"
   However, at home, after a favorite (and amazingly balanced) dinner of a big salad made with spinach, mushrooms, asparagus, tomatoes, feta cheese and cucumbers drizzled with olive oil and seasoned (sushi) rice vinegar, she opens her cupboard and pulls out "an Oreo or two."
Pat Tanner can be heard each Saturday morning on "Dining Today with Pat Tanner," on MoneyTalk AM 1350 from 9 to 10 a.m.