Meet the Chef: Patrick Gilbert

Patrick Gilbert

Patrick Gilbert

Age: 26

Who or what was your first cooking influence? My parent's got a divorce when I was young. Saturday mornings I'd wake up and I was hungry and the old man wanted to get a little sleep in. He showed me how to make one-eyed egg sandwiches: a piece of toast with a hole in the middle. You drop a little egg in the skillet and just fry it up.

What was your first food-related job? I worked at Hops, off Winchester. It was a little micro brewery. I was a dishwasher.

What was something important that a fellow chef taught you? Rick Farmer (Jarrett's executive chef/owner): Don't serve anything that you wouldn't eat yourself.

What is the Patrick Gilbert style? I don't know if I've necessarily defined a style yet. I like so much right now. I'm really heavily influenced, though, by the Asian cuisine.

Describe a dish you created: Stuffed polenta cakes; what I Like to call Southwestern-style polenta. It was chicken, beef, peppers, cilantro, and I'd mix it all together in polenta, roll it in egg and deep fry it.

What do you cook or bake at home, if anything? On my days off, I'm more than happy to cook a meal. Usually, my girlfriend's around and that's why I'm cooking. Or my family's getting together or my friends coming over. I tried to do a luau. I dug the pit in the back of the yard, put all the charcoal down, started the fire, had everything going. My roommate hunted some deer, so we had these venison whole leg quarters. We seasoned them, wrapped them up in banana leaves, stuck them in the ground. It was all going and it started raining. The hole filled up with water. It was not meant to be. We ordered pizza and had a good time. Had a good laugh.

What's your least favorite ingredient? Brussels sprouts, by far.

-- Michael Donahue: 529-2797

Jarrett's Restaurant is at 5689 Quince Road; 763-2264.

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