Dan Kluger - Chasing Flavor

For my parents, who taught me that respect, courage, and hard work pay off. And to my amazing wife, Hannah, who taught me to follow my dreams, and our two wonderful daughters, Ella and Georgia, who support me every day with their love.

Copyright 2020 by Daniel Kluger

Photographs 2020 by Evan Sung

All rights reserved

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

hmhbooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kluger, Dan, author. | Fauchald, Nick, author.

Title: Chasing flavor : techniques and recipes to cook fearlessly / Dan Kluger and Nick Fauchald ; photographs by Evan Sung.

Description: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020. | Includes index. | Summary: In his debut cookbook, James Beard Award-winning chef Dan Kluger shares 190 recipes to help home cooks master flavor and technique Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020016361 (print) | LCCN 2020016362 (ebook) | ISBN 9781328546333 (hardback) | ISBN 9781328546524 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Cooking. | Creative ability in cooking. | CookingTechnique. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX714 .K5824 2020 (print) | LCC TX714 (ebook) | DDC 641.5dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020016361

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020016362

Food styling by Rebekah Peppler

Prop styling by Maya Rossi

Book design by Allison Chi and Melissa Lotfy

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I want to take a moment to thank not only everyone who has helped make this book possible, but also those who helped me build the career that led me to it.

Thank you to Norm Faiola and Peter Ricardo, who sparked my interest in the food business, and to Leon Genet, who introduced me to luminaries such as Danny Meyer, who gave me a shot and made me a believer in taking care of people. Thank you to Paul Bolles-Beaven, Michael Romano, Kenny Callaghan, Elsie Loh, Stephen Sherman, Karen King, Regina Kohler, Scott Frantangelo, and so many more who opened my eyes and heart to the restaurant business. Im grateful for the friendship and guidance of the late chef Floyd Cardoz. My years at Tabla restaurant and his mentorship made a greater impact on my career than I had ever let him know; I wish I had. His understanding of balance of flavors and textures helped me form my own style of cooking. His lesson of always cook from the heart taught me the importance of truly loving what I was cooking and allowing that to shine through to the plate. He will forever be in my ear as I cook. And to those who worked with me at Tabla and challenged me to be a better leader and helped me become a better cook: Terry Coughlin, Ty Kotz, Ben Pollinger, Tracy Wilson, Kevin Richer, Mohan Ismail, Randy Garutti, and many others.

Thank you to Jennie Enterprise, Francesca Giessmann, Daniel Rabia, and the employees and members of the Core Club, who gave me the confidence to be the chef. To Dan and Linda, Steve and Amy, Jonathan and Stacy Levine, Shawn and Jolyne, Tom Owens, Kathryn St. Andre, and so many more who I met when we opened in 2005, and who still support me todayI have so much love for you all!

To Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Greg Brainin, Danny Del Vecchio, and Phil Suarez for giving me an incredible opportunity at ABC Kitchen and allowing me to make something great of it. Thank you for giving me the knowledge and tutelage in food and business, and being by my side along the way. I am forever grateful for the experience and the friendship.

To some very special friends and wonderful sounding boards: Franois-Olivier Luiggi, Alison Cayne, Will Manuel, Todd Snyder, Michael Lagnese, Jonathon Cohen, Chris Papanti, and Michael Armilio.

To the many chefs (and non-chefs) who Ive admired and looked to for inspiration throughout my career: Alfred Portale, John Adler, Charlie Palmer, Tom Colicchio, Marco Canora, David Chang, Jonathan Benno, Jimmy Lau, Nick Kim, Athena Calderone, Kate Heddings, Michele Ishay-Cohen, Kelly OConnor, and Lela Rose.

To Noam and Bianca Gottesman, Guy Weltsch, Scott Sublett, Nick Boyle, Gene and Liz Assaf, Elvis Duran and Alex Carr, Richie Jackson and Jordan Roth, Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman, Danyelle Freeman and Josh Resnick, Dan and Linda Rosensweig, Ed and Wendy Hollander, Pam and Lindsay Drucker Mann, Rich and Peggy Gelfond, Victor Oviedo, Steve and Amy Lipin, Lyor Cohen, James Basille, Alex and Dinorah Zubliagga, Eric Foster, David and Sylvia Hermer, Ted and Betsey Pick, Neil and Elissa Crespi, Constantine and Angela Karides: Thank you for believing in me and for investing in Loring Place.

Thank you to the incredible team of cooks, sous chefs, dining room staff, managers, and office staff that Ive been fortunate enough to work with over my career. A huge thanks to the past and present crew at Loring Place: We couldnt have opened the restaurant or grown it to where we are today without Karen Shu (an incredibly important part of LP as well as the inspiration behind some of the recipes in this book), George Kantlis, Natalie Johnson, Diana Valenzuela, Slav Dobrow, Ann Marie Del Bello, Christine Ra, Michaelangelo Calvarido, Jessica Pearlman, Jill Levy, Caitlin Giamario (a pillar of Loring Place), Andrew Espinal, Jay Reusi, Amanda Perkins, Meghan Amato, Nikki Solanick, and the incredible Scott Reinhardt. Last but not least, a very special thanks to my longtime friend and chef Seth Seligman and the amazing Kendra Cusack, who are both my rocks at work and handle everything I throw at them with grace.

A very special thank-you to my agent, David Black, for encouraging me to write a cookbook and connecting me with Rux Martin at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, who brought me onboard. Thanks to Raquel Pelzel, who started the wheels in motion, and to Nick Fauchald, who turned a bunch of recipes and ideas into a book. His writing and leadership has made this book what it is. Thank you to the entire team at HMH for helping to make an amazing book: Deb Brody, Sarah Kwak, Emma Peters, Allison Chi, Marina Padakis, Melissa Lotfy, Kevin Watt, and our copy editor, Deri Reed. Thank you to Jono Pandolfi for loaning some amazing plates for the book and to Laurel Dragonetti for bailing me out throughout the photo shoots and prepping like a maniac. And I am ever grateful to Evan Sung, one of the most amazing photographers out there, who was able to work magic with prop stylist Maya Rossi and food stylist Rebekah Peppler to create something so beautiful.

Last but not least, I owe a huge thank-you to my family. To my parents for instilling my work ethic and passion for food. To my father, for the countless hours watching cooking shows with me, and to my mother, who taught me how to bake. To my brother, whose love for food has pushed me to know more than him simply for that reason. To my amazing wife, whose love and support has given me the confidence to sustain this career and do what I love doing. And to my wonderful girls, who give me a reason to get up and work hard every day.