HungryChefs: Chefs Love Lupa, Mixed on Hot Dogs

The Gluttoness — June 11, 2009

Roasted Pork Shoulder “Gyro” with Pickled Cucumber & Yogurt from Anthos at Street & Savory

Some of the country’s best chefs attended Citymeals-on-Wheels’ Street & Savory Tasting Event. We’ve already brought you pictures of all the dishes and rounded up our favorite plates, but we were also able to speak with the chefs.

Our questions were obvious: What are you AlwaysHungry for? Which New York City restaurant do you crave? And in keeping with the night’s theme: what would you serve if you opened your own street cart? Some chefs took the easy route, promoting dishes they had prepared for the evening, others were quite creative with their responses.

Julian Alonzo (Brasserie 8 1/2):
AlwaysHungry for: His mom’s cooking
Craves: El Castillo del Jagua & Lupa
Street Cart Would Serve: Varying hot dogs

Brian Bistrong (Braeburn):
AlwaysHungry for: A beer and a burger
Craves: Do Hwa
Street Cart Would Serve: Soft Shell Po’ Boys

Cesare Casella (Salumeria Rosi):
AlwaysHungry for: Salami
Craves: The Four Seasons, Del Posto or Devi depending on the day
Street Cart Would Serve: Sandwiches with salami, prosciutto and Porchetta Toscana.

Michael Gabriel (The Sea Grill):
AlwaysHungry for: Sushi, particularly from his own restaurant or Nobu
Craves: BLT Burger
Street Cart Would Serve: Ice cream

Josh DeChellis (La Fonda del Sol):
AlwaysHungry for: Time with his family and anything on top of Pan con Tomate
Craves: Pho Nha Trang
Street Cart Would Serve: Tacos made with nori powder, stuffed with blue fin toro (like Ventresca in Spain) and garnished with pickled jalapeño.

Franck Deletrain (Cafe Centro):
AlwaysHungry for: Gnocchi and nice prosciutto
Craves: Vong
Street Cart Would Serve: Crêpes, both savory and sweet

Larry Forgione (Monkey Bar):
AlwaysHungry for: A good, hot sandwich (which he makes himself)
Craves: The pasta at Barbuto
Street Cart Would Serve: Grilled Cheese

Marc Forgione (Marc Forgione):
AlwaysHungry for: His friend’s mother’s beef jerky (the best late night snack)
Craves: The Sepia A La Plancha at Casa Mono
Street Cart Would Serve: Suckling Pig Sliders, much like the ones he serves at the bar of his eponymous restaurant.

Craig Koketsu (Park Avenue Summer):
AlwaysHungry for: Kokuho Rose Rice
Craves: The Brazilian cuisine at Casa
Street Cart Would Serve: A complete menu on skewers because it’s the easiest way to conveniently serve street food

Mourad Lahlow (Aziza San Francisco, CA):
AlwaysHungry for: Ice cream, particularly strawberry ice cream right now
Craves: Ssam Bar when he comes to New York
Street Cart Would Serve: Cous-cous with various vegetables and meats

Donald Link (Cochon, New Orleans, LA):
AlwaysHungry for: Gumbo
Craves: The sushi at Yasuda when he comes to New York City since they don’t serve sushi like that back home
Street Cart Would Serve: Homemade sausage and Boudin

Drew-Nieporent (Myriad Restaurant Group):
AlwaysHungry for: Cheese
Craves: The Spedini Alla Romano at Benito II in Little Italy
Street Cart Would Serve: “Something magical”

Joe Ng (Chinatown Brasserie):
AlwaysHungry for: Shanghai noodles
Craves: Daniel
Street Cart Would Serve: The same Sirloin Tart & Vegetables Dumplings that he served at the event because people love it and he wants to give the people what they want

Charlie Palmer (Aureole):
AlwaysHungry for: Bacon
Craves: Le Bernardin since he never seems to make it there
Street Cart Would Serve: Homemade kielbasa, not hot dogs—there are too many hot dogs in his opinion

Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Vong, Spice Market & Matsugen):
AlwaysHungry for: Spicy food, whether it be kimchee, wasabi or chilis.
Craves: Co., his favorite pie being the Popeye
Street Cart Would Serve: Beef, Chicken and Shrimp satays

Christopher Lee (Aureole):
AlwaysHungry for: Jelly beans
Craves: Il Bagatto (which we already knew from our video interview)
Street Cart Would Serve: Curries, because “spice is a part of life”

Zak Pelaccio (Fatty Crab):
AlwaysHungry for: His leisure time and food addictions change frequently but right now, he’s loving peanut butter with fig fam
Craves: Franny’s pizza and pasta and Great NY Noodletown
Street Cart Would Serve: Thinks having a hot dog cart would be fantastic, or else he’d like to have Fatty ‘Cue be a commissary and use his sliced smoked brisket to make brisket buns for it

Charles Phan (The Slanted Door, San Francisco):
AlwaysHungry for: Sushi
Craves: Russ & Daughters and Carnegie Deli
Street Cart Would Serve: Vietnamese crêpes

Alfred Portale (Gotham Bar & Grill):
AlwaysHungry for: Peking Duck either at Shun Lee, Chinatown Brasserie, or Tao.
Craves: Sitting at the bar at Jean Georges for the Egg Caviar
Street Cart Would Serve: BBQ—duck, lamb ribs and pulled pork sandwiches.

Antonio Prontelli (Rock Center Café):
AlwaysHungry for: Bacon
Craves: Bar Stuzzichini
Street Cart Would Serve: Roast Suckling Pig

Juan Branez (Rock Center Café):
AlwaysHungry for: Raw fish
Craves: Le Bernardin
Street Cart Would Serve: All sorts of sliders

Maricel Presilla (Cucharamama and Zafra, Hoboken, NJ):
AlwaysHungry for: Tamales
Craves: Devi and the Baked Tagliolini at Cipriani Downtown
Street Cart Would Serve: Tamales—all different kinds like she does in her restaurants with various toppings and salsas

Jonathon Waxman (Barbuto):
AlwaysHungry for: Guacamole and chips with a margarita
Craves: The Little Owl’s Gravy Meatball Sliders (right)
Street Cart Would Serve: Soft lobster tacos with cherry salsa

Michael Psilakis (Anthos, Kefi & Mia Dona):
AlwaysHungry for: His son’s food, which is why he’s opening an all adult, kid food restaurant (Gus & Gabriel Gastropub) since people need to reacquaint themselves with food from their past like a great grilled cheese.
Craves: Teodora, comfort Sicilian food, because when he leaves the restaurant he wants to feel like he’s at home
Street Cart Would Serve: His street cart would have to be Greek, and it may be a reality sooner than we think as he was treating the event as a “test run”

Andrea Reusing (Lantern Restaurant, Chapel Hill, NC):
AlwaysHungry for: Salty food
Craves: Lupa when she comes to New York City
Street Cart Would Serve: Chaat with seasonal vegetables

Aaron Sanchez (Centrico):
AlwaysHungry for: A quesadilla with queso oaxaca, hot sauce and grilled spring onions
Craves: Lupa
Street Cart Would Serve: Oscillating, shepherd’s-style tacos

Suvir Saran (Devi):
AlwaysHungry for: Bhel puri, so much so that he always has his restaurant prepare him a plate when he arrives
Craves: Tanoreen
Street Cart Would Serve: Bhel puri and chat papri

Hemant Mathur (Devi):
AlwaysHungry for: Chaat
Craves: Sripraphai
Street Cart Would Serve: Bhel puri and chat papri

John Schenk (Strip House):
AlwaysHungry for: Rocky Road ice cream
Craves: Lombardi’s
Street Cart Would Serve: Variations on Greek Salad including blackened chicken

Joachim Splichal (Patina Restaurant Group, Los Angeles, CA):
AlwaysHungry for: A great steak
Craves: La Fonda del Sol when he comes to New York City
Street Cart Would Serve: Really great tacos with Santa Barbara Prawns, jalapeño, avocado, mango and cilantro

Sameh Wadi (Saffron Minneapolis, MN):
AlwaysHungry for: Grilled meats and rice
Craves: Babbo and is looking forward to Per Se when he’s in New York City
Street Cart Would Serve: Lamb kofta meatballs at his street cart.

Michael White (Convivio and Marea)
AlwaysHungry for: Italian canned tuna on whole wheat toast with tomatoes and a touch of Hellman’s mayo to make it American
Craves: Wonjo in Koreatown and Sripraphai
Street Cart Would Serve: Anything fried—like the Zeppole (Seaweed & Chickpea Fritters) he currently serves with shrimp at Marea

Jim Leiken (DBGB):
AlwaysHungry for: Pork
Craves: Shake Shack
Street Cart Would Serve: Fish tacos

Roy Choi (Kogi Korean BBQ-To-Go, Los Angeles)
AlwaysHungry for: White rice
Craves: Lupa
Since he’s already the proud owner of a street cart, we asked Choi about his plans for the Kogi Truck’s expansion in New York. His plan is to interpret the surroundings, put a spin on New York bagels, hot dogs and pretzels, but for the most part they’ll be letting LeAnne Wong do her thing—“it’s her baby”

Daniel Boulud (DBGB Kitchen & Bar):
AlwaysHungry for: Avocado (yes, it’s bland but he likes to dip it in more flavorful things)
Craves: Balthazar
Street Cart Would Serve: Different kinds of sausage
Also, for those who think this whole “hot dog” craze is a new thing, Daniel Boulud is holding a New York City hot dog on the cover of a cookbook he published seven years ago called “Cooking in New York City”