El Dorado County_Foothills_Style Magazine - November 2018

10 TOP CHEFS
Mark Berkner
Taste Restaurant,
9402 Main Street,
Plymouth, 209-245-3463,
restauranttaste.com
Mark Berkner serves as the
department chair for the
San Joaquin Delta College
of Culinary Arts, a tasty full
circle from when he was a
student studying culinary arts
at Contra Costa College. The
chef and educator believes
that all chefs are artists, and
after a bite of his foie gras
or seared scallops, we’re
inclined to agree.
Food philosophy: Food
should be prepared and
consumed at its most optimal
freshness and ripeness while
showcasing the natural
flavors of the ingredients. It
shouldn’t be intimidating,
but it should be a nourishing
experience that makes your
taste buds happy.
If I wasn’t a chef, I’d be: Test
driving dirt bikes.
Guilty pleasure food:
Reuben sandwiches.
Favorite ingredient to work
with: Wild mushrooms that
I’ve foraged.
For dinner last night, I ate:
Liverwurst on crackers at 10
p.m.
Favorite food pairing: Toast
paired with anything!
Favorite restaurant and
dish: The Waterboy, and
anything on the menu.
You’d never know it, but:
I’m a professor.
Dan Moore
36 Handles, 1010 White
Rock Road, El Dorado Hills,
916-941-3606, 36handles.
com
Dan Moore brings his
experience of training under
chefs from New Orleans, San
Francisco, and Sacramento
to deliver a polished pub
experience at 36 Handles.
He loves using seasonal and
local ingredients whenever
possible, which is evident in
the restaurant’s menu that
changes monthly.
First memory of food: BBQ
outings at my grandparents’
house in Folsom.
Food philosophy: Keep it
simple—and seasonal.
If I wasn’t a chef, I’d be: A
firefighter.
Top cooking tip: Salt. Use
more of it.
The best thing I ever ate: A
wood-fired pizza from an old
pizza place in New Haven, CT.
One food I’ll never get
behind: Broccoli.
Guilty pleasure food: Pizza.
Favorite ingredient to work
with: Pork.
For dinner last night, I ate:
A hamburger.
You’d never know it, but: I
have four kids.
32 styleedc.com // NOVEMBER 2018 // /styleedc /stylemediagroup /stylemediagroup /stylemagedcf
Julian Perrigo-Jimenez
Julian’s Pâtisserie & Café,
6610 Folsom-Auburn Road,
Suite 7, Folsom, 916-936-4735,
julianscafe.com
Julian Perrigo-Jimenez of Food
Network fame (he just finished
filming a Cake Wars episode
to air next October) is all about
pushing himself and staying
innovative. The California
Culinary Academy of San
Francisco graduate specialized
in baking and pastry arts, and
returned from Las Vegas—after
having worked alongside worldrenowned
pastry chefs with
stints at the Bellagio and Caesars
Palace—to bring the baked goods
home to Folsom.
First memory of food:
Buttermilk pancakes that my
grandma used to make from
scratch. She’d brush each one
with melted butter, and they
were the best pancakes I’ve ever
had.
Food philosophy: Food is an art
and a form of creative expression.
If I wasn’t a chef, I’d be: A
teacher. I love helping young
people achieve their goals.
Top cooking tip: Don’t be afraid
to make anything—everybody
has to start somewhere.
The best thing I ever ate: My
first crêpe in the streets of Paris.
One food I’ll never get behind:
Mushrooms.
Guilty pleasure food: Ice cream.
Favorite ingredient to work
with: Chocolate.
For dinner last night, I ate: A
bacon, egg, and cheese croissant.
Favorite food pairing: Ice cream
and bread pudding.
Favorite restaurant and dish:
Lasagna at The Place.
You’d never know it, but: I used
to be really into skateboarding.
Taro Arai
Mikuni Japanese Restaurant
& Sushi Bar, various locations,
mikunisushi.com
The self-proclaimed happiest chef
ever, Taro Arai learned how to
cook from watching his mother
and reading books. When the
raw fish aficionado and hailed
“Lord of Rice” isn’t rolling delicious
concoctions from the sea, you can
probably find him doing charity
work—or devouring his mother’s
homemade dashi.
First memory of food: I grew up
eating my mom’s home-cooked
meals, so maybe a bowl of rice
with a raw egg, from one of our
own chickens, or furikake, which is
dried fish and vegetables.
Food philosophy: I follow the
three “F”s: fresh, freestyle, and
freaky!
If I wasn’t a chef, I’d be: Working
for a charitable organization,
which I already do part-time at
the Mikuni Charitable Foundation.
Top cooking tip: There are no
rules, so just cook from your heart.
The best thing I ever ate: Tai (sea
bream) sashimi in my hometown
of Amakusa, Japan.
One food I’ll never get behind:
I’ve traveled all over the world
looking for one thing that I didn’t
like, but I haven’t found it yet—I
like everything!
Guilty pleasure food: I never feel
guilty.
Favorite ingredient to work
with: Fresh fish.
For dinner last night, I ate:
Sōmen noodles from Nagasaki,
Japan, with my mom’s homemade
dashi.
Favorite food pairing: Nigiri and
sake.
Favorite restaurant and dish:
I have too many friends in this
field—I like all of the restaurants!
You’d never know it, but: I used
to be very short-tempered, but
now I’m full of joy.