Photo by Michael Donahue // Buy this photo
Ben Adams, chef at Napa Cafe, studied at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in New Hampshire.
Title: Chef, Napa Cafe
Age: 25
Hometown: Memphis
Who or what was your first cooking influence? My grandmother. She always made this one thing on special holidays. It was potatoes in white sauce and cornbread. It was Southern and was so good.
Photo by Michael Donahue
Ben Adams, chef at Napa Cafe, studied at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in New Hampshire.
What was the first thing you ever cooked or baked? You remember those pre-made pizza things? We'd get a pack of those and me and brother would make those. They have the crust and sauce and everything and we would add stuff to the sauce.
What made you decide to become a chef and when was that? I was working at East End Grill. That was my first kitchen job. I ran food. I was 15. When the owners left I would go back in the kitchen and cook with all the cooks after my shift. I (said), 'What's next? Culinary school.' Le Cordon Bleu in New Hampshire.
What was something important that a fellow chef taught you? Always try to remember you're cooking for the customer (and) not my personal taste. I would like to do something that's off the wall and maybe no-one's ever heard of. But everybody might not like that.
What is the Ben Adams style? I worked for Cullen Kent (executive chef at Cafe Society) so I have a very solid French background. Napa Cafe is definitely California. So, it's probably melding the two of those. We also use organic and the Farmer's Market. It's a collective accumulation.
Describe a dish you created. I ran a special that really turned out well last Friday. It was a pan-seared halibut with a julienne of fall vegetables and a lemon grass sake broth. So, that was a keeper. That's actually gonna go on the menu in a couple of weeks.
What do you cook or bake at home, if anything? My girlfriend, Jessie, she's been on a hummus kick, so we're trying to do the healthy thing. I've been making a lot of hummus at the house.
What's your least favorite ingredient? I'm not a big fan of anise, that licorice (taste). It has its place, but it's always kind of turned me off a little bit. It takes over everything. The whole Pernod and Sambuca-type thing. I've never really cared for it too much. It dominates the entire dish.
Napa Cafe is at 5101 Sanderlin; 683-0441.
Contact Michael Donahue at 529-2797 or e-mail donahue@commercialappeal.com
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