Chicago’s 50 best chefs share all sorts of secrets, obsessions and predictions in the November issue of Chicago magazine.
And seven of the very best even let readers in on some family secrets.
Arun Sampanthavivat of Arun’s grew up in Thailand and recalls memories about the Chinese grandfather (his grandmother was Thai) who taught him everything but also hit him in the head with chopsticks if he didn’t pay attention.
Jean Joho of Everest, a native of France, lets readers in on an episode involving his great-grandmother.
“On her deathbed, my great-grandmother wanted foie gras and choucroute. My grandmother made it for her. She ate it and she died. She was 98.”
And Tru’s Gale Gand says her feminist mother “couldn’t believe that I wanted to cook. Spent her life trying to get out of the kitchen I was going right back in.”
But Gand, whose hometown is Riverwoods, doesn’t hold a grudge. She tells Chicago, on newsstands now, that her last meal would be: “mom’s cold fried chicken, a crisp apple, root beer float.”
Chicago magazine is owned by Tribune Co., which also owns the Chicago Tribune.
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The Personals page was compiled by Cristi Kempf from Tribune news services and staff reports.
