Do you ever wonder about your favorite chef’s culinary quirks? You may be surprised by the responses we received when we queried a few local chefs!

Chef Jack Chaplin

Daddy Jack’s

181 Bank Street

New London, CT

860-444-8888

Where do you go for late night dining or carry-out?

High 5’s in New London has good late-night food – wings, burgers, bar food and tacos.

What’s your favorite guilty eating pleasure?

French fries; I’m hooked on mixed nuts and … all-natural baked cheese puffs.

What’s your favorite comfort food?

Any kind of roast with a good gravy; I love gravy over rice, buttered noodles or mashed potatoes. Soul food – collard greens, macaroni and cheese, fried fish and fried chicken.

What’s always in your refrigerator at home?

Butter for my toast; half-and-half for my coffee. I’ve got to have some good pickles and pickled jalapenos, good cheeses and grapes.

What’s your dream job?

I once wanted to be a musician, so I enjoy incorporating music and food. I’d love to drive in an RV to cities with great blues music, like Memphis. I’d visit top restaurants and Junior Leagues and ask, “Who’s your best cook?” and feature those individuals on a cooking show.

What was your first cooking gig?

I started washing dishes at a steak house, the Steak Out, when I was 14 and then got promoted to doing salad bar and prep.

Corporate Executive Chef Michael St. Angelo

The Coastal Gourmet Group

(Includes Aspen Restaurant and Latitude 41)

769 Stonington Road

Stonington, CT

860-572-1111

Where do you go for late night dining or carry-out?

Jack’s Authentic Italian Brick Oven Pizza, for pizza, in Norwich, Connecticut; Zen Garden, for Chinese, in Hebron, Connecticut.

What’s your favorite guilty eating pleasure?

Foie gras on a steak with a great Cabernet, and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.

What’s your favorite comfort food?

Country fried steak, mashed potatoes, peas and gravy; meat lasagna, lots of gravy and Italian bread.

What’s always in your refrigerator at home?

A variety of obscure hot sauces, sharp Provolone, Italian cured meats – prosciutto, soppressata, etc.

What’s your dream job?

Anthony Bourdain’s or Andrew Zimmern’s job: Travel the world, eat and drink, and get paid for it.

What was your first cooking gig?

My first professional chef job was as a private chef aboard a yacht … working for Allen Paulson, who founded Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. I was visiting my girlfriend at the time who was a stewardess on the yacht; the captain offered me the job. I was 19 and making more money than I should have … for the next five years, I experienced food and wine throughout the East Coast, the Caribbean, South America, Europe and the Mediterranean.

Chef Oscar Yanez

Amigos Taqueria Y Tequila

2 Canal Street

Westerly, RI

401-315-5800

Where do you go for late night dining or carry-out?

If I can’t eat here, Caffe NV in Waterford, Connecticut.

What’s your favorite guilty eating pleasure?

French fries.

What’s your favorite comfort food?

A Mexican cake with flan on top and chocolate on the bottom. It’s called the Impossible Cake, and we make it at the restaurant.

What’s always in your refrigerator at home?

Fresh cilantro, fresh radish and avocado.

What’s your dream job?

What I’m doing now.

What was your first cooking gig?

I was a busboy at Surya, on Bleecker Street in New York City. When I was 18, one of the sous chefs got sick and they asked me to fill in. I’ve been cooking ever since.