Photo by Michael Donahue, Michael Donahue/The Commercial Appeal // Buy this photo
Joshua Laban Perkins, executive chef at The Grove Grill.
Title: Executive chef, The Grove Grill
Age: 36
Hometown: Memphis
Who or what was your first cooking influence? Probably Paul Prudhomme. My parents took me during the 1984 World's Fair to K-Paul's (Louisiana Kitchen) when it first opened. My parents were always big into New Orleans. It was a restaurant for adults and I was a kid. ... I ended up doing his jambalaya for a fourth-grade geography project.
Photo by Michael Donahue, Michael Donahue/The Commercial Appeal
Joshua Laban Perkins, executive chef at The Grove Grill.
What was the first thing you ever cooked or baked? Probably nachos. I was making coffee at 5.
What made you decide to become a chef and when was that? I never really went into what I went to school for. I just loved this business. It was literature. ... I was so in love with the business by then 'cause I'd been through Grisanti's (Ronnie Grisanti & Sons) and Jarrett's. Then Rick (Farmer, Jarrett's owner/chef) sent me here and I opened up (The Grove) Grill with Jeff (Dunham, owner) and loved this restaurant. I was the original sous chef here. ... Left here and went to Europe and just stuck with it.
Where did you study cooking? The Italian Culinary Institute in Piemonte.
What was something important that a fellow chef taught you? They've all taught me a lot -- even the ones I didn't get along with. Each one affected my career differently. I learned a lot about life balance from some of them. I've learned a lot of techniques from other ones.
What is the Joshua Perkins style? What it's always been: simple, fresh. ... Mediterranean is very influential in my food. ... I take the simplest feel of that cuisine and I try to bring it to the table.
Describe a dish you created. A cassoulet of white beans. It's a white truffle cassoulet, but (I) left the meat out 'cause it's a salmon dish.
What do you cook or bake at home, if anything? I'm real big into Israeli food. ... If you were to take Lebanese food and take the meat and dairy combinations out of it, you would have Israeli food.
What's your least favorite ingredient? Cannot stand kidneys. I've tried them at 50 restaurants thinking this is gonna be the time, but I just never understood the love of that particular meat.
The Grove Grill is at 4550 Poplar; 818-9951.
Contact Michael Donahue at 529-2797 or e-mail donahue@commercialappeal.com.
- |
Comments » 0
Be the first to post a comment!
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.