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What do you look for when you’re hiring somebody to work in your kitchen?

I look for somebody with passion, really somebody who’s motivated, somebody who’s interested and somebody who’s hard working, a little bit more of an old school mentality, somebody who’s willing to work the hours and understand that getting far in any career takes a lot of work, it takes a lot of time and it takes a lot of dedication. It’s hard to find it in the first interview. You’re not going to really know it. Sometimes I’ll ask, what kind of stone do they use to sharpen their knives. If they say they don’t even sharpen their own knives, it’s probably not a good sign. Of if they don’t have a sharp knife, they’re not really taking all the finer things seriously, or what it takes to go make good food.

What was your last international trip?

My last international trip was France and Italy, on the same trip.

How long ago?

Almost a year ago, last October.

How did what you saw over there end up impacting what you’re doing at FIG?

It was my first trip to Europe, so it was incredible. It was really, from a professional standpoint, almost going back to my mother country, in a sense that you learn in California, or in Los Angeles, or in the U.S. Most of the technique you’re going to learn in culinary school is either French or European style technique, so to go back and see the roots of where this came from, to see how it’s actually done, to see how the full French style service comes out – you start with an aperitif and you kind of take your time and there’s a cheese course and everything else – it was really incredible. It gave me a much better appreciation for why we do what we do as far as chefs who are classically trained.

What were you looking for when you were over there? Was it work related, vacation?

It was vacation, but with a chef, you’re always working, whether you’re eating a snack at a food truck, or you’re at a carnival, or your mother’s house, your head’s always on food. It was definitely food heavy, I tried to see the different les halles – different markets – that they have there, and look at them in comparison, because I love the farmers market here in Santa Monica, and grew up in this city, so I wanted to see what their markets are like. The biggest thing that’s most impressive, that they have in their market, besides the vegetables, somebody’s shucking oysters, somebody’s filleting fish fresh for you, someone’s making the charcuterie, somebody’s making the breads. I just thought that was incredible.

Were there any ingredients or dishes that you ended up replicating in some form?

Yeah, I had a dish just south of Dijon. It was an incredible dish, and it was pied de cochon with escargots and it was awesome. It was a dish I had for lunch, and from what I could tell, it seemed like they bound it was some kind of rice, or wild rice. I did that here for one of our specials, and I also did it at the Beard House. It was escargots, pig’s feet, wild rice, a little bit of mustard, I loved it.

Will that re-emerge at some point?

I’m sure it will.

What was the last meal that you cooked at home?

Oh my goodness. I cooked dinner with my wife and we made an eggplant Parmesan.

How long ago?

About two weeks ago, but before that, I probably couldn’t remember the last thing I cooked that wasn’t either cereal or an omelet. That’s usually what I stop at, omelet, cereal, soup, that’s it.

What’s the key to a good eggplant Parmesan?

Getting a lot of help from your wife.

Would you say that you have any mentors?

Right now I would say a mentor of mine is Josiah Citrin. While I’ve never actually worked for him, we’ve done dinners together, I see him at the market, I talk to him about the business, I’ve been in to Melisse several times to work with his crew and really, since we’re really only 12 blocks away, to look over and see, for the dining scene in Santa Monica, where there’s not a lot of restaurants going on that not only survive but thrive to the status that he has, and to get two Michelin stars and to have the ratings that he has, he’s such an important chef and somebody I point to as a mentor.

Who’s the one person that you’ve never cooked with before that you would most like to cook with?

Ooh, that’s tough. It’s a long list of people. Daniel Boulud would be great. It’s almost like a childhood dream. There are a lot of legends, great chefs, and while there’s tons of amazing young talent, I’d love to work with somebody who really has that old school French mentality and knows fine dining and knows ingredients and knows technique and knows the front of the house and back. I think that would be amazing.

How would your restaurant be different if it was in North Dakota?

I think the ingredients would be different, but the concept would be really similar, just really celebrating what’s great in North Dakota, appreciation for the land, really trying to get a feel for the people and the food of that area, trying to make the most of it, and still staying pretty approachable, with the idea that the flavor comes first, before anything else.