This week Joe is joined by Ben Darling, the weekend sautee cook at Gadabout in Andersonville. Ben talks about his culinary journey starting in the south suburbs of Chicago, his time in fine dining, and the techniques he enjoys implementing in his dishes professionally and at home.
This episode begins with a background on Ben's journey into professional kitchens. Joe and Ben discuss the crème brulee dish Ben created at the Dancing Marlin. They then move on to Ben's time at Band of Bohemia, his first fine-dining experience in Chicago. From Band of Bohemia, Ben moved on to Boka during the pandemic, and realizing where he wanted to take his career, left to join the staff at Gadabout last fall. Ben shares his thoughts on working in fine-dining and what lessons he learned from his time there; the guys also discuss spring produce in the midwest like ramps and asparagus. They pivot to talking about the most recent trend in the restaurant industry of pickled and fermented everything. Ben ends talking about his favorite meal to make for his wife and where he hopes to take his career in the future.