After a day spent filling cannelloni and grilling octopus, Lidia's executive chef Dan Swinney actually wants to step up to the oven at his own house. But he takes no less pride, whether he's cooking for a dining room of seven (himself, his wife and five kids) or 70 in the Freight House restaurant.
"The last time my wife and I cooked together, she looked over at me and said, 'How can you stand this?' " Swinney says. "It's just in my blood."
Yesterday, he talked about what it was like in the beginning at Lidia's. Tomorrow, he'll get into his first love: music, with some recommendations on what should be on your iPod.
What are your culinary inspirations? It's crazy. Sometimes I dream it. I've also been fortunate enough to go to Italy and eat and drink my way through the country. Sometimes I'll go back to my notes about the trips. I think about something I had — great food or great wine.
What's your favorite ingredient? Pork. [Laughs.] I like pork fat. We make our own porcetta and pancetta. We use a lot of heritage breeds of pork. It's just such a staple. The pig is tantamount to Italian culture. I don't eat so much of it, but I love to work with it. We do a lot of braised pork shoulder, sausages and meatballs. We do a lot of braising here. It's a signature for us because we use so many of the lesser cuts of meat. It was born out of necessity. In Italy, it was about cooking what you could afford.
What was your best recent food find? I found this bottle of blood-orange vinegar. It was really bright and made a nice citrus vinaigrette. We use the same ratio for all of our dressing — some sort of acid is 40 percent and olive oil is 60 percent. The blood-orange vinegar was really unusual. The key to Italian cooking is choosing the right ingredients. If you get that part right, you're in good shape.
What's your favorite local ingredient? My favorite local ingredient is the peaches that come out in the summer. I can't wait until they get here, then I eat them all day long. They're not here for very long, and the strawberry season is even shorter.
What's one food you hate? Fast food. I have five kids. None of them have ever been to a fast-food restaurant. We just made the decision early on that we were going to try and raise them well. I have two daughters who are vegetarians. To me, the American diet is a big puzzle.
What's one food you love? Thai food. The flavors are so different than Western cuisine, and it's nice and refreshing. It depends on who I'm with, but I'll err on the spicy side if it's just for me.Â
What's your guilty pleasure? LC's Bar-B-Que. I don't go there very often, but if there's a chef in town to visit, I'll try to make it over there. We'll get a little bit of everything — burnt ends, beans, fries and red creme soda. Everybody usually loves it.
What's always in your kitchen? Olive oil, parmigiano-reggiano, canned tomatoes, pasta and herbs.
If you go out, where do you like to eat? If it's just my wife and I, we like to go to Le Fou Frog, and the charcuterie plate is something I'll always get. If it's a family thing, we go to the Thai Place. I get the crazy salad. The one thing I like about it is that it's not always on the menu, but they always make it when I order it. I think it's fun to see if they're ever going to say no.
What's one book that every chef should read? There's a book that I like to pass on to young people in my kitchen: Letters to a Young Chef by Daniel Boulud. If you're an aspiring chef, I think it has everything you need. There's a lot that I didn't realize until I was 20 years into my career. A lot of it is his story, coming from a farm outside Lyon to such a storied career and becoming one of the best-known chefs in New York City. It's a lot of the lessons he learned along the way — don't waste your time in a bad kitchen, try to work with the best chefs you can find, learning everything you can and then move on in a year or two, and even the selection of ingredients. I think for somebody that wants to find their way to success in the business, this is a good place to start.
Who's got the best barbecue in town and what are you ordering? LC's.
A chef is only as good as ... the last dish you put out.
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