Interview with 2013 Philadelphia Rising Star Chef Greg Vernick

Caroline Hatchett: What is your favorite interview question?

Greg Vernick: When interviewing candidates, I like to ask cooks to rate on a scale of one to 10 where they see themselves on their learning curve as a chef. The number they give themselves isn’t as important as how they justify that number.

CH: What is your favorite tool?

GV: A chefs knife

CH: What tool do you wish you had?

GV: A Pacojet

CH: What is your favorite cookbook?

GV: La Méthode by Jacques Pépin

CH: What’s your favorite food resource?

GV: Complete Techniques by Jacques Pépin

CH: What is your most important kitchen rule?

GV: Respect all the stages of preparation, from receiving the ingredients to the finished plate.

CH: What is your favorite dish you have ever made?

GV: Our whole roasted chicken at Vernick Food & Drink

CH: Where do you most want to go for culinary travel?

GV: Southeast Asia

CH: Have you taken any steps to become a sustainable restaurant? What are those steps?

GV: We recycle our used oil and grease. We recycle our wine corks, paper, plastic, and glass bottles. We also buy from sustainable farms whenever possible and aim to buy products locally that are in season. For example, we buy premium farmed fish such as Scottish salmon and California farmed caviar. We are very excited to be working with a local purveyor, Samuels and Son Seafood, because they are beginning to purchase the first farmed black sea bass.