The hot seat

Photo: Shmura Campbell

Ingredient It’s not really one ingredient, but currently I’m really into fermented things—right now we have fermented black beans and garlic on the menu. There’s just this great flavor you get from fermented items—a sweetness with an amazing tang. It adds a bit of surprise brightness to most dishes.

Kitchen gadget My plating tweezers. The cooks used to make fun of them until they started using them. Not only are they the best for any delicate plating, but you can pull the stamens out of squash blossoms and take tempura out of the oil or veggies out of the water.

Restaurant San Soo Gap San (5247 N Western Ave, 773-334-1589) for Korean barbecue. My favorite dish is the pork belly braised in kimchi. Going there is best with a large crowd—that way, you can try many different flavors. It’s hard to get the whole kitchen here to go together, so we end up talking about it more than actually going.

Inspiration It starts with walking around the Green City Market (Lincoln Park, N Clark St and N Lincoln Ave; Wed, Sat 7am–1:30pm), but the real thoughts happen after service on [Green Zebra’s] small rooftop garden [pictured], with a bottle of wine. Sous chef Enoch Simpson and I can sit up there for hours bouncing ideas off each other. Our best dishes come from us collaborating, and the wine helps.

Music to cook to Whoever gets into the kitchen first has control of the radio. If it were up to me, it would be Neil Diamond or Michael Jackson all day long, but I think the cooks would organize a coup.

Green Zebra, 1460 W Chicago Ave at Greenview Ave (312-243-7100).