Oui, Chef

The Chef's Table - Richard Garcia of Tastings Wine Bar and Bistro

I had the pleasure of making Chef Richard Garcia's acquaintance through a friend of mine at the Chef's Collaborative, and I am so glad that she recommend I give him a call.  Not only is Richard a terrific chef, but he is very engaged in the food world outside of his restaurant, with a particular interest in making sure our kids have access to high quality, healthy food at school, and that they all learn about cooking and making good food choices from an early age.  He's my kind of guy.

We met a couple of Fridays ago on a snowy (can you believe it?) morning at Patriot Place in Foxboro, where his restaurant is located.  It was early and he was working alone, putting time into the dish that he would be serving at the Chef's Collaborative fund raiser that we attended that Sunday.  He is a very approachable guy, and immediately made me feel at home as we sat at a table nestled among his restaurant's outstanding wine collection.

The Chef's Table - Peter McCarthy of EVOO Restaurant

I am excited to be writing today's post, because it marks the first installment of a new feature that I am calling “The Chef’s Table”.  In it, I will profile a real honest to goodness chef (not just someone who plays one on TV, like me) who is also a parent.  I’ll ask my guest to not only opine on their food philosophy, but also on how they bring that thinking home, and what important food lessons they hope to pass on to their kids. 

I recently had a chance to chat with Peter McCarthy, the award winning chef/owner of EVOO Restaurant in Somerville, MA..  EVOO, an acronym for Extra Virgin Olive Oil, serves eclectic, New American cuisine, and was named best Eclectic restaurant in Boston in the 2007/2008 Zagat Guide!

Peter graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in November, 1987 where he was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by his graduating class. Just out of CIA, Peter began working at the Bostonian Hotel, where he worked his way through the ranks and was promoted to Executive Chef in 1993, a post once held at various times by Jasper White, Lydia Shire, and Tony Ambrose....talk about big shoes to fill.  During his tenure, the restaurant received numerous awards and much acclaim, including a 1995 vote by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine as one of the Top Fifty Restaurants in America. In 1997, the James Beard Awards selected Peter as one of "America's Great Hotel Chefs." In 1997, he left the Bostonian to pursue his dream of opening his own restaurant. Peter and his wife Colleen opened EVOO ten months later.  In September, 2004, they opened their second restaurant, the very popular, Arlington-based Za, which offers an EVOO spin on pizza and salad.