Bringing Foodies Inside the Kitchen
The life of a chef has become much more than just cooking and preparing delicious dishes for guests each and every night; many are now considered “celebrity chefs.”
To help San Franciscans get in the minds and find out the secrets behind the wonderful array of chefs in the city, Brad Lev has a solution called Studio Gourmet.
Lev said the premise is simple. “Chefs are like rock stars now. They have followings. People follow where they go and what they do. But a lot of times at events, you don’t really hear the stories behind the chefs,” Lev said. “To me, chefs are like artists. So their stories, their experiences, where they’re from and their personal tastes are all the things that make them do the things they do. So this is an opportunity for the customers and guests to really get the stories behind the chefs.”
Each Studio Gourmet event features a live cooking demonstration by the chef, an interview and a chance for audience members to try some food and meet the participating chef in person. Lev said it’s a personal experience that you can’t always get when dining out.
“It’s really geared to getting to know who this person is. So the next time you walk into their restaurant, they can walk up to the chef and say, I remember the stories you told about where you grew up from,” he said. “(The audience) actually gets to know them on a personal level.”
So far, Lev has hosted shows with Martin Brock of Gary Danko, Hoss Zaré with Zaré at Fly Trap and Russell Jackson from Lafitte. Each show is recorded and once it is edited, it is put up on his website. Lev said he eventually would like to move the production to television.
The next Studio Gourmet event will be held on Sunday, August 28 (4-7 pm) at Circolo with Chef David Lawrence of 1300 on Fillmore. Tickets and more information can be found here.
Photo Credit: Brad Lev, pictured with Hoss Zaré
