Food Royalty Reveal Junk Food Favorites
Yes, it's the time again when Bay Area chefs, critics, and other artisan slop notables break their silence on what junk food they let pass over their acclaimed, richly-textured palates. Everything from aged (read: stale) Swedish Fish to Tombstone Pizza (mmm) to Rotel cheese dip (quadruple mmm) to Beard Papa cream puffs receive tips of the hat from the gastronomic elite. Many thanks goes out to the fine food folks who participated.
- Thomas Keller (The French Laundry): "My favorite junk food is Reese's peanut butter cups."
- Chris Cosentino (Incanto and Boccalone, executive chef): Swedish Fish - buys them by the bag, "then lets them sit out in the open to 'age.'"
- Matthew Accarrino (SPQR, executive chef): "I got a box of these for xmas and they are so good. Crispy crepe covered in chocolate - what's not to like?"
- Traci Des Jardins (Jardiniere, Manzanita, ACME Chophouse): "Nachos, but really good ones."
- Ryan Farr (4505 Meats): "Not much makes me feel guilty, but I do feel pretty bad when my wife leaves the room and I eat her ice cream."
- Jonathan Kauffman (SF Weekly, food critic): "Tombstone original pepperoni pizza. And I make no apologies for it."
- Thomas McNaughton (Flour + Water, chef): "Jersey Pork Roll - which is basically pork scraps and all that stuff put together in a roll that is then prepped by frying, making a sandwich, etc."
- Frankie Frankeny (Frankeny Images, food photographer): "Rotel cheese dip with REAL Velveeta cheese."
- Jason Berthold (RN47, executive chef): Sour Patch Kids, Good and Plenty, Snickers Bars, and Cheez-Its.
- Michael Dotson (Martins West Gastropub, Redwood City, chef/owner): Chicken wings, American cheese, and menudo ("Yummy icky bits, boiled and served with lime and fresh cilantro -- it's just delicious -- period.)
- Sarah Sung (UrbanDaddy, writer/editor): Twizzlers, Nutter Butters. pretzels ("the gigantic kind like at Monk’s Kettle"), Orbit Sweet Mint Gum ("I chew a pack a day.")
- Michael Morrison (Coco 500, executive chef): "Beard Papa [cream puffs] - like 4 at a time."
- Scott Hocker (Tasting Table, writer/editor): Cheetos puffs ("Never the crunchy kind. Blech"), cereal ("bowl after bowl of Lucky Charms in one sitting, eaten rapidly enough that they don't get soggy. Then dump the murky, unholy milk.")
- Dottie Guy (The Sweet Cart): "Tastykakes are my favorite. They remind me of home (they are an East Coast thing)." (Note: Guy is done with The Sweet Cart. "I'm going back to school soon and needed to focus on that," she told SFist. Alas. We'll miss you and your red velvet cakes!)
- Alice Waters (Chez Panisse, God): N/A
Foodie Royalty Reveals Junk Food Favorites (June 2009)
Contact the author of this article or email tips@sfist.com with further questions, comments or tips.
