Darnell “SuperChef” Ferguson has an impressive roster of accomplishments, from cooking for Team USA at the 2008 Summer Olympics, to becoming a breakout star chef contestant on Food Network, to opening three hit restaurants in the South. His restaurant Superhero Chefs, in Tuscumbia, Alabama, was named one of the “Top 12 Best Breakfasts in America”…

“Achieving harmony and balance is everything in life, definitely,” laughs chef, cookbook writer, television personality, and restaurant owner Judy Joo. Her life demonstrates her commitment to these qualities, from her career choices to the cuisine she is known for popularizing worldwide. Joo is best known for making Korean cuisine familiar and accessible to Westerners. In…

Since 1959, San Antonio-area barbecue joint Davila’s BBQ has served loyal fans a distinctive, Latino variety of the Lone Star State’s favorite food, honoring the Mexican heritage of both barbecue and cattle farming—lending a deeper layer of tradition to those two icons of Texas culture. For instance, Adrian Davila, who has succeeded his father Edward…

How does one go from a career in hospital administration to becoming an award-winning chef? Ji Hye Kim can tell you. Kim is a semifinalist for the 2022 James Beard Foundation (JBF) Award for Outstanding Chef, having previously made semifinalist in 2020 for Best Chef, Great Lakes region. But being a chef wasn’t her first…

Pat Martin is one of a rare breed: an open-pit barbecue master who uses whole hogs, a West Tennessee tradition that requires a 24-hour cooking time at 200 degrees Fahrenheit—as well as hours of prep. “The French have their cheese; we as Americans have our barbecue. You drive 50 miles and it changes,” Martin said….

Every food-loving New Orleans resident has a fond memory about dining at Commander’s Palace, a landmark since 1893 and located in the tree-lined Garden District. The restaurant has received every major industry award, but what co-proprietor Ti Adelaide Martin cherishes most is its recognition for outstanding hospitality. “We want our customers to feel wildly pampered,”…

On a good day, the tiny tortilla factory that anchors Sobre Masa in Brooklyn churns out 5,000 tortillas, in shades of red, yellow, white, perhaps blue. The colors that day—and, in turn, the distinct flavors, aromas, and textures—depend on the availability of the heirloom corn they buy from small Mexican farms. “We’re fourth in line,…

Like an artist with a favorite brush or an IT tech with a preferred screwdriver, chefs have their own must-have tools for creating culinary masterpieces. You may be surprised by their choices. A Spatula With a Heart Williams-Sonoma No Kid Hungry Tools for Change Silicone Spatulas A simple spatula is essential for every kitchen. In addition…

Florence Jaramillo pays $64 per pound for real honey. She’s been known to drive through the night to pick up a truckload of red chile, her restaurant’s most crucial ingredient. She and her staff have pulled all-night sessions in the past to make 300 dozen tamales—by hand. And, at age 90, the grande dame of…

“Never wash mushrooms. They’ll be a soggy, gelatinous mush.” So goes conventional wisdom about handling fungi in the kitchen. “Ridiculous,” Chris Czarnecki scoffed. “Of course you should wash mushrooms. “I have a picture of my grandfather in a bathtub of cold water filled with mushrooms. He washed mushrooms every day.” Lest you wonder why Czarnecki’s…