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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