5 QUESTIONS WITH...TOP CHEF SEASON 9 VICEROY SANTA MONICA CHEF CHRIS CRARY

Chef Crary at the Viceroy Santa Monica

Roasted Main Lobster lobster tortellini white beans fennel
forest mushrooms
Photos K&S Media 2012

1. CSL: Why did you decide to try out for the show?

Chef Chris Crary: It’s one of those things where everyone has goals and things that they want to do. I just said in the next couple years I want to lose the weight, I want to see if I can go through this process if I can make it on to the show. I just want to push myself and push myself until I reach these goals and see if it could actually come to fruition. A lot of people say fame, money…nah. It is what it is.

2. CSL: What was the highlight of the show?

Crary: The highlight for me was getting to meet so many amazing chefs, seeing their styles, seeing the techniques that they have and ingredients that I haven’t used in that way. It’s like ‘wow why did I never think of that?’

3. CSL: What do you remember about cooking as a child?

Crary: When I first started cooking I was 10 or eleven and I thought I was cooking the most gourmet food ever - tater tots on top of ground beef with cheese over it. That stands out in my mind. Some of the better ones are: we had a cabin in Canada and we would go fishing over the summers and just catching fish and bringing it back for family. Being from Ohio a lot of my family had never had fresh fish.

4. CSL: What is your favourite moment in the kitchen?

Crary: That’s hard to narrow down to one. I think it’s one of those things where it happens almost every night - at the end of the night you get done with a busy service and you feel like you’re with your family and everyone’s gone through something very stressful and sometimes painful and now you’ve grown together. It’s a really great feeling.

5. CSL: Favourite ingredient?

Crary: Right now harissa or yuzu.

www.viceroyhotelsandresorts.com/santamonica

Look out for more on Chris Crary, the Viceroy Santa Monica and Los Angeles in the Summer 2012 issue of City Style and Living Magazine.

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