Celebrity Tips

A number of celebrity chefs call our city home, and while they may disagree on San Diego’s signature dish, there is one thing they can agree on—San Diego is coming into its own as a foodie town.

"San Diego is emerging as one of the top food cities," said William Gustwiller, executive chef of Eclipse Chocolate in South Park. "We have the best ingredients to choose from year-round, and there are a ton of breweries here."

San Diego has emerged as one of the premier craft beer destinations, with more than 50 breweries calling it home, including Stone Brewing Co., Pizza Port and Karl Strauss Brewing Company.

"San Diego is arguably America’s best craft beer city, and I think that’s helping to bring a lot of attention our way, which in turn highlights our restaurant culture," said Candice Woo, editor of the website San Diego Eater (sandiego.eater.com).

Chef William Gustwiller

But it takes more than fancy beers to entice diners in this economy. Woo and Gustwiller mentioned San Diego’s ability to attract some of the freshest seafood and produce.

"Our incredible climate enables farms to grow produce all year long, and we have great local seafood," Woo said.

Added Gustwiller: "Diners are becoming more interested in food, where it comes from, and chefs are really embracing the fresh, seasonal ingredients that they are lucky to have access to."

Count celebrity chef Richard Sweeney, a contestant on season five of Bravo’s "Top Chef," among them. The Long Island-native came to San Diego on vacation and fell in love.

"The weather was wonderful," he said. "I found a great bartending job here, and it helped me to go to culinary school."

Sweeney attended the San Diego Culinary Institute in La Mesa and was hired as the chef de cuisine at Confidential in the Gaslamp Quarter. In 2008, he was a contestant on "Top Chef."

He now runs the R-Gang Eatery in San Diego, which features a pleasant surprise to Sweeney’s fans from his time on "Top Chef."

 "It was s’mores that sent me home (from "Top Chef")," he said. But that didn’t stop him from offering two kinds on his menu. The Supernatural S’Mores features house-made graham crackers and marshmallows with Nutella chocolate rolled in hazelnuts, and the Pot de Crème s’more is a chocolate-marshmallow custard.

 "I like to take dishes I had fun with as a kid, and then do adult twists on them," Sweeney continued. "That’s how I came up with our Captain Crunch-crusted popcorn shrimp."

A deep fryer is the one countertop appliance that Sweeney said he probably couldn’t do without.

Chef Fabio Viviani

Celebrity chef Fabio Viviani won’t be caught without his microwave, which he uses for steaming fresh vegetables. On his web cooking series "Chow Ciao" on Yahoo, Viviani places vegetables similar in texture—such as broccoli, carrots and cauliflower—cut into the same sizes in a baking dish, adds one-fourth cup of water per pound of vegetables, then adds a half teaspoon of baking soda to prevent oxidation. Covering the baking dish with parchment paper, then plastic wrap creates a steam chamber. Viviani likes to top these California veggies with olive oil, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Chef Susan Feniger

Celebrity chef Susan Feniger—owner of Street in Los Angeles and a competitor on Bravo’s "Top Chef Masters" swears by a rice cooker. "It does a great job with basmati rice; it cooks rather quickly, and also with brown rice. Plus, it can stay in there all day," she said. Often, she’ll come home and make a quick supper of fried rice with rice that is already done and waiting for her in the rice cooker. And she likes to serve Bourbon Basil Smash Cocktails with "just about any dish," she said.

For the home cook, the whole notion of "sous vide" cooking—which involves sealing marinated meat or fish in vacuum-packed bags, then setting a specific temperature and time for them to cook in water—can be intimidating. Still, counter-top immersion circulators (also known as sous vide machines) are starting to make their ways into more home kitchens as well as restaurants.

But Sweeney said there’s an easier way.

"You can use a vacuum-sealing machine to get all of the air out of the bag with the marinated protein in it, then cook it ‘low and slow’ in a big pot of water on the stove," he said. "Obviously, you’d want to keep an eye on it, know what temperature it should be on, and how long, that kind of thing."

Known for producing delicious braised short ribs, Sweeney will often start them in the sous vide fashion before adding them back into the pot to braise in liquid using the traditional method. "Literally, it melts in your mouth," he said.