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REGIONAL CHEFS 2004

Age: 42
Home Town:
Rowayton, CT
Favorite Ingredient:
late summer bell peppers
Signature Dish:
Arctic char with truffle vinaigrette, pea shoots and salsify
Mentors:
David Bouley and Gilles Dupont

The daily challenge for Kerry Heffernan is to create a menu that reminds his customers of a walk through the green market. So while his guest chef appearances and research trips in California and Europe inspire his creative process, he is constantly editing ingredients, to stay true to his restaurant’s New York roots. The current menu might feature a white eggplant soup or a pasta dish made with heirloom beans, for example. Culinary apprenticeships in Switzerland and France taught him the importance of fresh, regional ingredients; those lessons were drummed into his daily routine when he worked for David Bouley in New York. An avid fisherman, he has created a network of seafood purveyors, from the boat owner who brings in his morning’s Spanish mackerel catch to the fatty tuna supplier in Maine. Heffernan’s menu includes both set items and daily options: "Some things I can project, others change as the market dictates," he says.

Pea Flan


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