Coffee with the Chef: Christine Nunn of Picnic on the Square

Christine Nunn wasn’t always on course to work in the kitchen — the 50-year-old chef and co-owner of Picnic on the Square in Ridgewood was once a journalist, and worked for the Ridgewood News after graduating with an English degree from Montclair State University in 1986.

By 2001, the Fair Lawn resident was working in Manhattan doing technical writing, but after 9/11, she decided that life was "too short to not do" exactly what she wanted to do.

She enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America in January 2002 and even lived in the dorms for a semester at age 37 (which was "horrifying"). She graduated in December 2003 and created the catering company Picnic. In 2005, she opened a storefront in Emerson, where she stayed for five years before opening Picnic, The Restaurant in Fair Lawn, which garnered rave reviews. After 2 1/2 years, Picnic served its last meal on New Year’s Eve 2012.

In 2013, Nunn published "The Preppy Cookbook" and worked as executive chef at Grange restaurant in Westwood. Three months ago, she opened Picnic on the Square in Ridgewood. The lovely, brick-walled 34-seat New American restaurant received 2 1/2 stars from The Record last month.

Here, she talks about the technique home cooks should master and the best way to cook fish.

Favorite dish to cook: The Parisienne gnocchi ($14), which is served with a wild-mushroom sherry cream sauce — even though it’s a pain to make, and it takes a while to do. People flip over it.

The one technique home cooks should master: A good braise. And if I’m braising, I specifically make [the butcher] leave a little fat on top of the meat — if you used trimmed meat and try to braise it, it’s going to be dry. So if I do short ribs, I do it fat-side up … so the fat goes into the meat.

What home cooks should make at home but don’t: People are afraid to cook fish, afraid they’re going to overcook or undercook it. But fish, while it’s not forgiving, is quick to cook and it’s not hard. Give it a quick sauté first and finish it in just a little white wine, chicken stock and lemon juice, so the fish tastes moist — it’s much more forgiving that way. Don’t do just white wine and lemon, because it’s too acidic. You have to cut it with chicken stock or even water.

What diners would be surprised to learn about chefs: We love when other people cook for us. Most people are afraid to. We’re thrilled if someone makes us a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Food fad I hate: Ancient grains, like quinoa or freekeh. They’re kind of boring. They don’t have much flavor, and there’s not much you can do with them.

Favorite local restaurant: Axia Taverna in Tenafly [whose owner is also part-owner of Picnic]. Chef Alex Gorant makes chicken like nobody’s business. I love Greek food, and it’s a nice, lemony, Greek-y chicken.

My favorite cheese shop: The cheese department at Fairway, or at Super Cellars in Ridgewood on Broad Street because they have such variety. I’m a big cheese snob; of course, I adore Stilton [blue cheese], but when I can get my hands on it I like Oxford blue, also from England. And I enjoy Affindelice au Chablis, which is a strong cheese similar to an Époisses. And of course, the terrific golden bits of doodle dust that grace the bottom of a bag of Cheez Doodles.

My feelings about having a BYO: Who wouldn’t love a liquor license? But at 34 seats, it would take an awful long time to pay for a liquor license at New Jersey prices. But we have a very nice wine store down the street.

Most valuable tool in my kitchen: Any fish turner; everyone should have one. I use it as a whisk, I use it as a spatula, I use it to stir sauce if I’m in a rush — and it picks up fish beautifully.

Three herbs and spices every home kitchen should have: Dried herbes de Provence — it’s such a nice blend of French herbs, and it gives everything a really nice flavor; white pepper — it’s got a little more bite than black pepper; and tarragon — it pairs with so many things, it’s great with any mushroom sauce, tomato sauce.

More info: Picnic on the Square, 26 Wilsey Square, Ridgewood, 201-444-4001; picniconthesquare.com. Appetizers: $8 to $20; entrées: $21 to $36.

— Steve Janoski

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"Why are cocktails so expensive?" and other mystifying questions about restaurants finally answered

Eating at restaurants might be familiar territory, but how they function business-wise — and the

impact that has on their prices — is foreign to many of us. Here, we deconstruct the menu to show how restaurateurs and chefs arrive at those prices, and why their menu looks the way it does.


How much of a profit do restaurants make?

Like any business, a restaurant must balance revenues and expenses. Revenues come from customers buying food and/or alcohol. At a restaurant with a liquor license, 35 to 40 percent of the profits tend to come from liquor sales; at a BYOB, all profit comes from selling meals, which is why food prices are sometimes higher.

About a third of the profits goes straight towards food costs, and another third pays for labor. About 15 to 20 percent goes towards fixed costs like rent, insurance and something called the "Q factor": the things a restaurant must buy but doesn't actually sell, such as salt, pepper, napkins, plastic wrap, bathroom supplies, tablecloths … "That has to be worked into your menu price," said Michael Ventura, co-executive chef of The Plum & The Pear in Wyckoff. "Otherwise you're giving that money away. And it could be another 5 percent on your menu prices."

Christine Nunn, chef/owner of Picnic on the Square in Ridgewood, said that her Q factor includes Riedel wineglasses, each costing around $30. Break one, she said, and she's already lost money on your table. Nunn also spends between $800 and $1,000 a month renting napkins (15 cents each) and tablecloths ($6 each) from a linen delivery service.

A restaurant's profit margin is likely to be between 8 percent and 15 percent — and if it's at the higher end, it's doing well.


Is there seasonality for meat?

Yes, but it relies more on customers' tastes than availability. In the depths of winter, heavy dishes featuring venison, lamb and braised meats will rule, but as snow melts and temperatures warm, you're more likely to see lighter dishes like brisket, flank steak, chopped meat and pork.

"I can get anything at any time of year, but do you really want to sit down with a nice steaming bowl of beef stew when it's a 100-degree day?" asked Kevin Portscher, owner/chef of Village Green in Ridgewood. "Probably not. You'd rather have a grilled chicken breast with a salad."

Why are mixed drinks so costly?

Liquor is often viewed as the most profitable thing a restaurant can sell, and that's because it's easy to prepare and tremendously marked up — sometimes as much as 400 percent.

But when it comes to cocktails, other factors are involved, said Andrew McIntosh, resident mixologist at the Park West Tavern in Ridgewood. There are ingredients to pay for, and some, like small-batch bourbons and ryes, aren't procurable by the average consumer and are more expensive than what's found on liquor store shelves. And although anyone can pour a draft beer or glass of wine, not everyone can mix a good drink — that, McIntosh said, is a skill all its own.

"It's not something we're just throwing together willy-nilly — we're putting our time and effort into it," he said.


Why do restaurants serve pre-made desserts?

Ideally, all restaurants would serve fresh desserts made in-house, but two factors get in the way: space and cost. Ventura of The Plum & The Pear (who has, he reported, a talented salad chef prepare his desserts) said that pastries and desserts need their own space away from the line in order to prevent cross-contamination, and it can be difficult to cross-train a chef working the grill or salad station.

The money also isn't there. Kevin Kohler, chef/owner of Ramsey's Café Panache, said that if a restaurant sells 25 desserts at $8 each, the resulting $200 in profit must cover both the ingredient cost and the labor.

"It's a losing proposition financially," he said. "Restaurants choose to go to an outside bakery, or get frozen desserts, because that's their only solution to selling desserts and profiting."


What happened to the bread basket?

In Europe, bread and napkin/tablecloth charges are often tacked onto the bill automatically, but in America, we expect them for free. But it's not free … for the restaurant; Nunn said she gives out about $100 worth of bread each weekend. Still…

"I'm not going to say to someone, 'I don't mind that you're paying $38 for the lamb, but if you want bread it's another two bucks,' " she said. "You can't do it."

Portscher has his waiters deliver one piece per diner (they can always request more) — and not offer a bread basket. Therefore, at the end of the night, he doesn't have to throw out uneaten bread.

Kohler said he'd "like to smack" the first person who gave free bread because it's "the most filling item on the planet."

"A restaurant gives you an array of breads, a hunk of butter, and they start you off with that … and then when [customers] order, they don't order much, because they're full of bread."


Why is pasta on every menu?

Simple: It sells well, and restaurants make money off it. The profit margin on things like steak or other proteins is slim, but pasta sales offset that — if a steak costs a restaurant $20, many will charge $40. However, a plate of pasta that sells for $20 might have cost the restaurant $5 or less.

Plus, everyone is comfortable with it — Kohler said that many customers who find themselves bewildered by the intricate menus and unfamiliar terminology used at upscale restaurants can always fall back on a pasta dish and know they'll be full by meal's end.


Why are there so many red-sauce restaurants in Bergen County?

Blame our Italian ancestors. New Jersey has one of the highest concentrations of people of Italian descent in the country, and even those who aren't Italian have grown comfortable with red-sauce meals because it makes it easier to feed a larger number of people, said Peter Loria, owner/chef of Café Matisse in Rutherford.

"Italian-style food was a cheaper way to raise a family," Loria said.

Kohler agrees, but added customers are comfortable with red-sauce meals — especially those who aren't familiar with refined-yet-limited menus. At a red-sauce restaurant, any customer will know everything listed. "It's about comfort. They want a great big pile of food that they'll never eat in a million years, a menu with more than 30 items on it, none of it can be fresh … that's the general public."


How does a BYOB make any money?

It's not easy. Nunn of Picnic on the Square said that alcohol-serving restaurants are "making more on a bottle of Kendall Jackson chardonnay than I'm making on a plate of food." Controlling labor costs, reducing waste and counting pennies becomes crucial, and Ventura said that selling enough profitable items like homemade soups and pasta is even more important. So is customer service: Replacing a diner's overcooked steak might cost money, but it's the best way to ensure they come back, Portscher said.


Why do restaurants have prix-fixe menus?

Not all restaurants offer an a la carte menu — some favor a "prix-fixe" setup that promises several courses and a dessert, all for one price. Loria's restaurant has functioned this way since 2000, and he said the benefits are two-fold: It helps track inventory more accurately, and keeps out customers who might only want to buy one course and skip more profitable items.

"There's less guessing," he said. "Overall, it's better for the bottom line for ordering, and not [having to] throw away product and make the garbage can your friend."


Is buying wine by the bottle a better deal than by the glass?

Given the high markup on wine, yes.

"If two people are sitting down and drinking the same wine, they might have two glasses each — you're drinking a bottle right there," McIntosh said. House wines aren't typically the highest quality, either, because the restaurant is trying to satisfy all palates, and they're sometimes left open overnight.

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This Ridgewood chef lived homeless, on the streets of Paterson

Vaughn Crenshaw always loved to cook. It is in his blood, he said — everyone in his family knows how to "put flavors together." But from the moment he saw Emeril Lagasse's cooking show at age 9, he knew the kitchen was his calling.

Four years later, however, he was living on the streets of Paterson, sleeping in an abandoned Volkswagen hatchback on Van Houten Street, hustling and selling drugs just to get by.

"It was a little two-door wagon, a blue joint," he said. "I remember that like it was yesterday. It was hard to stay clean, my clothes were extremely dirty, and I became very upset with anybody who looked at me wrong. I became very aggressive. I felt like nobody wanted me."

His future — if there was to be one — was bleak.

Things are different today. Sporting a shaved head and perfectly coiffed goatee, Crenshaw, 29, is the executive chef at Pearl Restaurant in Ridgewood. He lives in Hackensack with his wife of three months, Erica, and listens to jazz and plays basketball. He teaches conversions — how to use math the way a chef does — at the Paterson Adult and Continuing Education school, and is often involved in food drives in his old hometown.

He swears that cooking is his "savior," and refers to it as "playing" or "dancing." Although he is fond of saying that his is a "typical bottom-to-the-top story," there is little typical about his narrative. His life has always been an uphill fight.

He started out living with his mother, stepfather, and seven brothers and sisters in a tiny apartment next to a crack house on 12th Street in Paterson. At 4 years old, he and one of his brothers were badly burned after a pan of boiling chicken grease and fat fell on them. Third-degree burns covered 70 percent of his body ("The skin was bubbling and exploding"), and he still bears the scars all over his body.

When he was 9, the family moved to Fair Street, but he was kicked out by his mother at age 13 after arguments about him not caring for his siblings the way she expected him to. He lived in the blue hatchback a few blocks away for a year, he said, and he and his teenage friends became "like [drug dealer] Nino Brown in [the 1991 movie] 'New Jack City.' " But he was always looking for a way out.

"I knew there was more to the world, and I knew that I could do more … I just couldn't get there," he said.

That world opened to him at 14 when his mother, believing it would be better for her son, signed him over to his godparents, who lived in Hackensack.

Teacher helped mold him

Crenshaw wasn't used to being outside a six-block radius of his home in Paterson, and still recalls his incredulousness at seeing a black guy talk to a white girl — in Paterson, that wouldn't have happened, he said, admitting that he was "very close-minded."

"I always had the mean frown face on, because the streets build you that way."

His life changed again when he met English teacher Barbara Caruso at Hackensack High School in his freshman year. When he walked in, he could barely spell, said Caruso, who retired in 2005, but when Crenshaw left four years later, he had "taken off." Caruso admits that she was hard on Crenshaw, and many other kids didn't understand why she was pushing him so incessantly — but he understood.

"He had this tremendous desire to improve himself, to improve his circumstances …. There was a light in his eyes," she said. "I was a tough cookie … but I saw that he was willing to take on what I was offering him."

"She didn't cut me any slack," Crenshaw recalled. "If I messed up, she didn't pass me. Every year she was on my back, and she wouldn't take anything less than 'A' material. If it wasn't 'A' material, she would fail me."

He became captain of the football and track teams his senior year, and scholarship money paved the way to Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island (Lagasse's alma mater) where he could focus on his dream of being a chef.

On breaks from school, he'd work at the Stony Hill Inn in Hackensack, where he was hired in 2005 after telling chef Gregory Sutton that he'd work for free just for the experience. Sutton placed him in the banquet hall, and was impressed with what he saw.

"That kid was just talented as hell," Sutton said. "He had the motivation — and passion. And if you're going to work with food, you've got to have passion."

Crenshaw worked there off and on for three years, and after he graduated (with an associate's degree in culinary arts and bachelor's degree in food service management in-hand), he followed Sutton to the Brick House Inn in Wyckoff and became assistant banquet chef.

A year later he took the head chef position at the Caribbean/soul food restaurant Jacksonville in Paterson, but two years later, still had nagging doubts that he'd assumed the top kitchen spot too soon. So he became executive sous chef at Mocha Bleu in Teaneck, where he learned to cook kosher under the watchful eye of the restaurant owner and a rabbi. Although he couldn't make a good matzo ball, his soups and specials "slapped their heads off," and Crenshaw added another skill to a growing list.

"My thing is this: Closed minds equal limitation. I don't like to limit myself. Period," he said. "I think once you get stuck in how things are supposed to be that's when you become confined, and that's as far as you're gonna go."

A year later, he became executive sous chef at Fort Lee's Khloe Bistrot, where he cooked for celebrities like Ice-T and Tahiry Jose from the VH1 show "Love and Hip Hop." In 2012, he landed on an episode of the Food Network's "Chopped," but got cut in the second round after struggling with the odd ingredients and the show's time constraints. His work was below subpar, he said, and he's still disappointed that he wasn't more prepared.

"It was the wake-up call that I needed. At the time I thought I was pretty good and I was a little full of myself. But this was like, 'Listen guy, you're not as good as you thought you were. So what are you going to do about it?' "

He rededicated himself to being a student of cooking, and spends his time searching for new trends by talking to vendors, subscribing to every culinary magazine he can find, and living by the "Flavor Bible" — a well-known index of flavors and ingredients — in a determined effort to get his flavor "on point."

His enthusiasm has become contagious — Alex Garibian, owner and chef at the New Milford Delicatessen, often cooks with Crenshaw for fun at his establishment

"He's a very entertaining guy," Garibian said. "When the dish is done, he's got this ecstasy, this 'Oh my God! This came out so good!' He's a natural chef."

"Food is art at the end of the day," Crenshaw said. "You can mix colors and manipulate things the way you want to … and I was able to create something of my own. You kind of take over the world through someone's palate."

Reconciled with mother

Dishes like his quinoa chicken and red velvet waffles, which have a bourbon cream cheese drizzle on the top, exemplify his style, which, he said, has grown during his year and a half at Pearl Restaurant. The menu has an Italian flair but changes daily, and includes unconventional dishes like duck prosciutto or duck meatballs. In 2014, he started his own catering company, the Jersey City-based Fre Food Catering and Events, which creates customizable menus for events.

His relationship with his mother has also healed, and he now said that being thrown out of the house was "probably the best thing she could have done for me."

"It made me mature very, very early," he said. "Me and my mom have a very good relationship now. We've put that in the past."

But if, somewhere, there's a 13-year-old kid reading this by flashlight in the back of an abandoned car, Crenshaw offered four pieces of advice: Do the work. Be open to change. Take the help people give you. And keep your eye on the prize.

Ignore those, and life is going to be terribly difficult.

Take it from Crenshaw. He learned the hard way.

Email: janoski@northjersey.com

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Coffee with the Chef: Mo Kablouti, Bibi'z Restaurant and Lounge in Westwood

Mo Kablouti owned five restaurants and cafés in Manhattan — two in Chelsea and three in Greenwich Village, including Rafaella's on Bleecker Street, where he was executive chef — until, after 19 years, rising rents forced him out of the city.

Now the 60-year-old Ridgewood resident and father of three is the chef at Westwood's Bibi'z Restaurant and Lounge, where for two years he's worked to create the global cuisine the establishment is known for.

Originally from Tunisia, Kablouti came to the United States at 17 and learned to cook at an Italian restaurant in Miami. Other than that experience, he's self-taught. Bibi'z received 2 1/2 out of 4 stars from The Record in December 2013.

Here, he talks about bronzino, Whole Foods and an odd diner who always sends his food back so it can be burned more.

Toughest dish to cook at my restaurant: The bronzino [$29]. We serve it boneless, but it's very delicate, and it's complicated to make sure that the fish stays intact.

My favorite local restaurant: I go to Just Janice, a bistro in Ho-Ho-Kus. I like the short ribs and the risotto — it's perfect, nice and creamy.

What I'd never pay for at a restaurant: Bread — the first thing on the table should be bread, olive oil and butter, but a lot of them don't do that anymore. And if they do, they want to charge you.

Simplest tip to improve home cooking: You must practice. If you cook for long enough, you're going to get better at it, and if you make a mistake, you move on. You don't give up because something doesn't taste good, or because your wife didn't like it.

Favorite dish I've created: The blackened salmon with a tomato chardonnay [$27]. It's a big seller, and I like it because it has the spiciness of the Cajun spice in the fish along with the sweetness of the tomato chardonnay, which has figs and cranberries. A lobster sauce on the plate gives you another flavor as well.

Best place to grocery shop in North Jersey: I like Whole Foods' quality, and that they have a lot of local stuff.

My favorite cooking show: I watch Ina Garten. A lot of her dishes are interesting because they're very simple and very good.

Strangest request from a diner: I have a man that comes in, and he orders the same thing every time: a shrimp cocktail in a martini glass and a chicken kabob. But he wants them burned. So I send them out to him, and he always sends them back and says they're not burned enough — and they're black already. But he always wants them burned more. I've never seen anything like it.

The biggest misconception about chefs: That this is easy work.

How I keep my weight down: I don't eat. A lot of chefs eat continuously, but when I'm working I just cannot. I don't have the appetite.

Favorite cookbook: Ina Gartner's "Barefoot Contessa Family Style." I've tried a lot of her recipes and they're beautiful.

Most underused spice: Cumin and coriander. They're powerful spices, and you can't just throw them in anything; it has to be the right dish. Here, we use coriander in the Tunisian couscous [$15], which is a vegan dish, and in the fava beans [$5, appetizer].

More info: Bibi'z Restaurant and Lounge, 84 Center Ave., Westwood; 201-722-8600; bibizlounge.com. Appetizers $5 to $7, entrées $15 to $29.

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Coffee with the Chef: Cesar Sotomayor of Cafe 37 in Ridgewood

Cesar Sotomayor, 38, owes his love of cooking to his Venezuelan roots — as a child in Caracas, his grandmother cooked for 10 family members each day. Sotomayor "grew up in the kitchen."

A few years after his arrival in the United States in 1999, a chance meeting with chef Michael Latour at Burlington Coat Factory in Paramus landed him a spot in Latour’s Ridgewood restaurant, where Sotomayor did menial tasks such as dicing vegetables and sanitizing the kitchen, all while learning the trade.

His five years at Latour, combined with an associate’s degree in hotel and restaurant management from Bergen Community College, landed him in the head chef position at Ridgewood’s Village Green in 2007. During his six-year tenure, he established his own cooking style, and in July 2012, the Hawthorne resident opened Café 37, also in Ridgewood, serving modern American cuisine. The restaurant received 2 1/2 out of 4 stars from The Record in 2012.

Here, Sotomayor talks about Whole Foods, his weakness for ice cream, and how to stay slim when you’re surrounded by food.

Toughest dish to cook at my restaurant: Asian marinated pork riblets ($28), because of the time factor; they marinate in their juices overnight and are braised the next day.

Favorite dish I invented: The Café 37 seafood pot ($35). It used to be made at my house on Sundays when I was growing up. It’s fish and whatever seafood was available, and a roasted tomato/garlic/white wine broth. My grandma would bring the pot to the table and everyone would serve themselves.

Guilty pleasure: Ice cream. We make it homemade, and every time the machine is running, you’ll see me next to it scooping out a portion for myself. We make a coconut ice cream that’s a thing you can’t say no to — it’s in a dessert called golden puff and coconut ice cream with caramelized pineapples ($8).

Favorite local restaurant: Villa de Colombia in Hackensack. I usually get a steak, seafood chowder, or a yuca frita. They’re doing something right; the flavors are always great, the temperatures are where you want them, the service is awesome, and it’s very casual.

Best place to grocery shop in North Jersey: I like Whole Foods. It’s a little pricey, but they always have fresh, organic produce.

My last meal: Paella. It has seafood – which is my favorite thing – and the roasted garlic, rice and white wine make a perfect combination.

How I keep my weight down: I work out like a maniac. I just did 16 miles this afternoon on my bike, and I went right after to a yoga class. Every day I’m doing something — I have to either skateboard or bike or go to the gym or do some hiking. I’m always moving around. If you sit, you rust. And don’t eat after 7 p.m. It’s tough because I’m surrounded by food, but it’s all about discipline.

Presentation is important: Customers eat with their eyes. You want to put a plate in front of them so they will say, ‘This looks amazing.’ You’re a big step ahead before they even taste it.

More info: Café 37, 37 S. Broad St., Ridgewood; 201-857-0437; café-37.com. Appetizers: $12 to $17, entrées $26 to $36.

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Coffee with the Chef: Michael Latour at Latour in Ridgewood

Michael Latour, 51, was no stranger to high-end cooking even before he opened Latour in Ridgewood in 1998 — the Ramsey resident had cooked at the Jockey Club at the Ritz Carlton, the Four Seasons Hotel, the Doral Park Avenue Hotel (all in New York City) and L'Auberge de France in Wayne before opening his own place. Latour, a French-American restaurant, received three out of four stars from The Record in 2010, when it was last reviewed.

Although he has a degree in culinary arts from Johnson and Wales University in Rhode Island, Latour says it was his on-the-job experience that was most valuable — in cooking, he says, everything is based on interpretation, and learning from others is critical to create one's own style.

Here, Latour talks about convection ovens, his (negative) feelings for tilapia and his favorite local restaurant.

My favorite tool in the kitchen: The convection oven. It cooks evenly, it browns things better, and it helps with soufflés in particular. You try to make that in a regular oven, and it's just not going to come out as well.

Food fad I hate: Tilapia. That's the worst fish. It's a farm-raised fish that's raised in a cesspool. It's nasty. If you see that on a menu, stay away. It should have a skull and crossbones next to it.

Biggest misconception about chefs: Chefs have been glorified on the Food Network, and people think, "I'm going to come out of school and become a chef and open a restaurant." But it takes a long period of time to gain the knowledge needed — it's a minimum of 10 years.

The secret to great French cuisine is: The sauces. Without that, there's nothing.

My favorite kitchen knives: Henckels. They're very sturdy, they have some weight to them, and I like their feel.

My favorite local restaurant: Local Seasonal Kitchen in Ramsey. The presentation is fabulous, and Steve Santoro's style is very different — there are a lot of items on the plate.

Guilty pleasure: Chocolate. I love Cacao Noel. It's not too tart, not too bitter.

I keep my weight down by: Hiking. I go to Skyline Drive in Ringwood, or Seven Lakes or Sterling Forest in New York State. I go three times a week at least, and do 5 miles or more.

A tip for home cooks: When cooking fish, it's always better to have it a little underdone than overcook it.

Favorite dining experience: At the Moulin de Mougins in Mougins, France. The chef was Roger Verge, and the cheese course was amazing. We had a lobster navarin, and a noisette of lamb with morel mushrooms. The sauces, the quality of the meat, the presentation … it was the whole package. They really nailed it.

More info: Latour, 6 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood; 201-445-5056, latourridge wood.com. Appetizers $9 to $17, entrées $26 to $36. Tuesday to Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday 6 to 8:30 p.m., Sunday 4 to 9 p.m.

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Coffee with the Chef: John Vitale of Caffe Anello in Westwood

Although John Vitale, the 33-year-old chef at Caffe Anello in Westwood, has no formal background in cooking, his family ties to the pursuit run generations deep — the Cresskill resident grew up in the kitchen with his parents and grandparents, all of whom were "tremendous cooks." And though he spent a few years cooking for campus restaurants during his years at Elon University in North Carolina, Caffe Anello, which Vitale opened with his wife, Alissa, nine months ago, represents his first foray into the world of fine dining. It received three out of four stars from The Record.

Here, he talks about mushy pasta, Snickers bars, and why Americans use too much salt.

Biggest mistake home cooks make: Not being creative enough — it's the key. For example, cook with orange champagne and garlic, and reduce it down to a garlic shrimp dish, instead of just doing traditional scampi, so you'll get the citrus flavors, too.

Culinary hero: My mother. That's where I learned everything, and it would be her over anyone.

What I would never pay for at a restaurant: Any pasta dish, because we make and cut our own fresh. So I'm expecting boxed pasta, and it's just not as good as fresh cut pasta. It's a major difference, and I don't think people know that.

Best dish I ever ate: It was wild boar ragout over fresh-cut pappardelle at La Campana in Rome, Italy. It was so unique — it was done in a very rich sauce that used fresh tomatoes reduced in a brown sauce, which is something I've never seen before.

At a vending machine with a buck, I get: A Snickers. It's the only candy bar that can actually quench your appetite, and I like the salty and sweet combination.

My favorite tool in the kitchen: Sauté pans. I have several going at one time because we don't fry anything here.

Most overused spice: Salt. There's too much of it on too many dishes. I think it's compensation; it's used to mask things that aren't as fresh as they should be. People use it on everything, but there are a lot of other spices I'd rather go heavy on, like garlic. I can't get enough garlic.

Strangest request from a diner: Once, a diner asked me to make sure that the pasta came out mushy. They did not want it al dente. That's just a sin.

Most overrated food: The steaks at a lot of restaurants are overrated. I use Westwood Prime Meats, and they take the time to bring in the highest quality stuff you can get. So when I go to a fine dining restaurant, and I order a steak and pay a lot of money, it's a big disappointment after having had their quality.

I hate it when diners: Ask for more salt on anything. We don't even have it on the table.

The next food fad is: Crepes. They're a large part of European and Asian culture, and I don't see a lot of places doing them.

Presentation is important because: Your eyes, mouth, and nose are completely connected. I don't send anything out of the kitchen that doesn't look like something I'd want to be served.

My favorite dish to cook: "Chef's suggestion tonight." When a diner comes in and says that's what they want, it means they don't have boundaries for what they're willing to try, and it allows me to be creative.

More info: Caffe Anello, 429 Broadway, Westwood; 201-786-8137; caffeanello.com. Appetizers: $8 to $15, entrées $13 to $36.

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Coffee with the Chef: Wilson Lindemann of Biddy O'Malley's in Northvale

The restaurant might be called Biddy O’Malley’s Irish Bistro and Bar, but that doesn’t mean Wilson Lindemann’s culinary creations are limited to different variations of shepherd’s pie and fish and chips.

The 27-year-old executive chef, who is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in New Hampshire, said that Biddy’s does a little bit of everything — even if that means using Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Italian dishes to compliment its traditional Irish fare.

Before coming to the Northvale restaurant three years ago, Lindemann worked for the Ship Lantern Inn and the Tuxedo Club — both in New York State — for about two years apiece, and was also contracted to work on Norwegian Cruise Line for five months.

Here he talks about lobster, French knives and how to cook the perfect duck.

Toughest dish to cook at my restaurant: Sake-marinated Goffle Road Farms duck breast ($26). It’s about getting the temperature right — a lot of cooks have difficulty with doneness with a duck because it has a different texture than, say, a steak. If somebody wants duck medium-rare, it might feel a little softer than the chef is used to.

Favorite kitchen tool: A French knife. It’s very versatile, and if you don’t have a boning knife or a paring knife, you can use that. It really should be attached to the chef’s hand. I use a Shun Classic because it’s very lightweight and it holds its edge for a long time, which is very important.

Favorite dish to cook: Plum-braised short rib with foie gras fried rice ($25). I’ve never eaten at a restaurant that had something like that, and the final product is awesome. The sweetness of the plum compliments the foie gras very well, as well as the short rib.

The secret to being a good Irish restaurant: The hospitality. It’s always very welcoming, very warm, it seems like people don’t have any choice but to come back.

Most overrated food: Lobster. Oftentimes it’s very expensive, but I don’t think it has a ton of flavor. I’d rather have a diver scallop over lobster any day.

Simplest tip to improve home cooking: Less is more. If you put too much of something, like a spice, into your dish, you can’t take it out. But you can always add more.

How I keep my weight down: It definitely is difficult, and I’m a big guy. And one thing that I was always taught: You have to try everything you put out. I stand by that.

My pet peeve: When cooks feel the need to add their own twist on one of my recipes. That’s a big no-no. I always encourage them to be creative, but let me try it first before we go with it.

Biggest misconception about chefs: That we’re all angry all the time. And I don’t think that Gordon Ramsay helped us with that one. This can be a very stressful job if you let it, and I have stressful times, but there’s no need to get that hyped. Even if they paid me the money they pay him, I don’t think I could do it. I wouldn’t want to be angry all the time.

My guilty pleasure: Foie gras. I love it. It’s very rich and full of flavor.

Next food fad: Fermented foods, like kimchi. There are so many restaurants that are going farm-to-table, and because chefs are becoming more involved in farms, they don’t want to see food go in the garbage, so I think they’d rather ferment or pickle it so you can use it all winter.

What I’d never pay for at a restaurant: Bottled water, like Pellegrino. I would rather have a glass of wine with a meal.

More info: Biddy O’Malley’s Irish Bistro and Bar, 191 Paris Ave., Northvale, 201-564-7893, biddyomalleys.com. Appetizers: $8 to $13; entrées: $11 to $25. Monday to Friday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 a.m., Sunday noon to 2 a.m.

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Due's Adam Weiss on kale, caviar and kosher salt

dam Weiss has spent the last six months at Ridgewood's Due (pronounced do-ay) attempting to set the "innovative, eclectic" Italian restaurant apart from the town's many other restaurants. His strategy? Elevating traditional dishes by adding surprising elements and his signature touch.

So, instead of preparing a simple chicken marsala, for example, Weiss, a 1997 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, would use a Frenched chicken breast and his own wild mushroom sauce to create something that "serious foodies," he said, might appreciate.

The 37-year-old Ringwood resident was the chef at Esty Street in Park Ridge for a decade before eventually landing at Due in April. The restaurant received 3 1/2 out of 4 stars last week from The Record. Here he talks about kale, caviar and why home cooks should learn to love kosher salt.

Toughest dish to cook at my restaurant: The Key lime semi-freddo ($8). The prep work that goes into it takes four hours or more — I have to choose and then juice the limes, and then I take a can of condensed milk and put it in a pot, bring it to a boil, and leave it for three hours before refrigerating it and then make the custard.

My guilty pleasure: Twix bars, because of that combination of chocolate and caramel and crunch. Also, sautéed medallions of foie gras. I know that's very "poor-man, rich-man."

Most overrated food: Kale. I'm guilty of using it, but it gets to the point where it becomes silly — you don't need candy kale or kale spring rolls.

Favorite local restaurant: Café Matisse in Rutherford. It's such a creative menu, and whatever you order, every dish will turn out extraordinary to exceptional. I don't think anybody can criticize it. My favorite is the crispy crab cake appetizer with guacamole and spicy chipotle sauce.

Simplest tip to improve home cooking: Learn how and when to use salt. When a box of pasta tells you to put one teaspoon of salt in for a gallon of water, no! It has to be salted like the ocean, because when you drain it, you want the salt to adhere to the pasta. I use a quarter to a half cup. And only use kosher salt. Iodized salt should be thrown in the garbage; it makes things taste like chemicals.

The next food fad: Smaller plates so people can try various dishes. It'll be tasting menus instead of one steak hanging over the side of the plate.

Strangest request from a diner: Years ago at Esty Street, I had a woman who ordered a grouper over vegetable ragout in a broth, but she wanted ketchup on the side. And she was the wife of a known chef. I don't know whom I felt worse for, the dish or the chef.

What I'd never pay for at a restaurant: Caviar. I don't need to sit down and have that for $125 an ounce. I'd rather spend that on something more substantial.

Dish I wish I created: Molten chocolate cake. Whoever the chef was that developed it made chocolate cake, came up with the right ratio of ingredients, and then accidentally underbaked it to create a fad.

Favorite cookbook: "The French Laundry Cookbook" by Thomas Keller. There' a lot of insider tips for both professional and home cooks, and it gives you new inspiration — a sense not only of, "How did he do that?" but also of "Why did he do that?"

More info: Due, 18 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood. 201-857-3232; dueridgewood.com. BYOB. Appetizers $12 to $17, entrées $23 to $32.

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Chef Lynn Neumann of Sapphire Thai Food Express in Teaneck on Thai food

It wasn't until she was laid off from the Simmons Jewelry Co. in New York City in 2010 that Lynn Neumann, née Thongnid, had the time to return to the hobby she'd abandoned long ago: cooking.

The 54-year-old Bergenfield resident, who came to the United States in 1990 from Thailand, began preparing traditional Thai dishes, many of which she learned from her father as a girl, for her boyfriend Erwin Neumann to bring for lunch. He soon became a hit at his workplace, thanks to the spicy aromas emanating from the office kitchen whenever he warmed up his meals.

In 2011, Erwin became her husband, and Lynn Neumann continued to practice for several years with friend and fellow chef Mary Jaisue, formerly of Thai Palace in Teaneck, before opening Sapphire Thai Food Express in January.

The restaurant received 2 1/2 out of four stars in July from The Record.

Here, she talks about what home cooks do wrong and the health benefits of Thai food.

A great introduction to Thai food is: Pad Thai, which is noodles and meat. It's very well known, it's like fast food in Thailand. And if a restaurant cannot make a good pad Thai, they don't know what they're doing.

Thai food is different from other Asian foods because: It's much healthier. We don't deep-fry in vegetable oil, we use canola or soybean oil. We don't use a lot of tapioca powder or flour, and we use no MSG, period.

What diners don't know about Thai food: Not everything is sweet. The sweetness is added to make the diners in America happy, but Thai food from Thailand has a variety of tastes.

My favorite local restaurant: Sanducci's Trattoria in River Edge. I love their blackened pasta with any kind of sauce. They don't just open up a box and boil things — they make fresh pasta over there, and I can taste it.

One thing everyone needs in their home kitchen: A sharp set of knives. I don't care if it's expensive or cheap, if it's sharp, I'm happy. Every few minutes we re-sharpen our knives when we're preparing meat — it's something that people don't pay attention to, but once you're in the kitchen, you know how important it can be.

Biggest mistake home cooks make: Don't underestimate the importance of the quality of your ingredients. Even if you're trying to save money, and meat is 50 cents a pound cheaper, buying it will change the meal itself. The quality and presentation is not there.

Favorite cooking show: "Iron Chef." Bobby Flay is my inspiration.

My last meal would be A dish that my father taught me called moo oob ($12). It's pork marinated with herbs, and simmered with a variety of herbs and spices. It's moist and tender, and it's got beautiful color, and it blows everybody away. It's so unusual.

How I keep my weight down: I've exercised from age 11. I also control my food intake, and I don't eat fattening things. I don't eat sweets.

Favorite dish to cook: Pad Thai. You have to perfectly cook the noodles. It sounds simple, but that's how you prove to yourself you're a good chef.

Favorite dish I invented: Nam tod ($10). It's jasmine rice mixed with red curry paste with chopped lime. I make it like a meatball, and I deep-fry it. I let it cool down, and mix it with brown pork.

More information: Sapphire Thai Food Express, 445 Cedar Lane, Teaneck, 201-928-0770; sapphirethaifoodexpress.com. Appetizers $5 to $10, entrées $10 to $18. Open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, 3 to 9 p.m. Sunday.

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