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Chefs like to complicate things: recipes, techniques, their lives. Jeremy Fox isn’t one of those chefs. At least not anymore. Although he was once known for his conceptual dishes at Napa’s groundbreaking vegetarian restaurant Ubuntu, his menu at Rustic Canyon Wine Bar in Santa Monica reflects the 180 he’s taken. “Great food isn’t hypercreative,” he says. “It’s just good.” Fox’s rules are ones everyone can—and should—follow. He shops locally, cooks seasonally, eschews extra garnishes. Simply put, he keeps it simple. “I always wanted to do more straightforward food,” he admits. He might have earned a Michelin star for some wayyyy out-there food, but it’s his earth-bound techniques that are inspiring us to eat in. Here’s how to cook like the fantastic Mr. Fox. Buy good grains and always soak them. They’ll cook more quickly and evenly when hydrated, and the soaking liquid can be used in finished dishes. You might have to special-order the visually striking black barley that Fox favors, but that’s the hardest part of making this dish (if you consider two mouse clicks hard). Anyone can cook a bean: Simmer till done. But for a truly transcendent pot of beans, a bean you could base a meal around, the secret is in the broth. When your beans are tender, take them off the heat and focus on the cooking liquid, doctoring it with good olive oil, salt, and pepper, tasting and seasoning it until the liquid itself is straight-up delicious. How will you know when it’s done? “Make a broth you’d want to eat,” Fox says. Add a handful of greens and an egg, and you’ve got dinner. Everyone in the Rustic Canyon kitchen keeps their tools organized on a rimmed sheet tray. And, unlike what’s in your junked-up kitchen drawer, everything is actually used. Here’s how Fox pares it down to the essentials. Fox keeps a couple dozen demitasse spoons in front of him at work and uses them to dip into everything on the stove to check things as they cook. You don’t need several, just one. The point is: Taste as you go. This is absolutely the most foolproof way to make sure your food is delicious—and if it’s not, it allows you to adjust before it’s done. Fox is particular about how his cooks fold their side towels. “If a cook’s not folding his towel right,” Fox says, “he might be cutting corners elsewhere.” They’re used as pot holders, to wipe cutting boards, to anchor a mixing bowl—and draped over the corner of a pan to signal that it’s hot. This is how to earn his approval: 1. With the hem side facing up, fold towel in half; align corners. 2. Fold in half again to create a square. 3. And then in half again to create a tidy rectangle. Fox ain’t above a party nut. These sugary, salty, fatty almonds are how diners can begin a meal at Rustic Canyon (and they’re the only recipe Fox kept from Ubuntu). Thanks to a tactical addition of lavender, your guests will actually talk about them. There’s lots of whey (it’s a by-product from making fresh ricotta) at Rustic Canyon. The cooks use it to simmer polenta, as a braising liquid for meat, and in place of egg whites in frothy cocktails. Lucky for you, it’s something more and more cheese shops and specialty grocers now carry. Think of it as your new probiotic-filled vegetarian broth. A classic cookbook should be your sous-chef. On Fox’s shelf: Le Pigeon, The Zuni Cafe Cookbook, Tartine Book No. 3, The Babbo Cookbook, and Paul Bertolli’s Cooking by Hand, which Fox credits with teaching him the art of bottom-up cooking. “My copy is covered with fat, blood, and grease,” he says. As it should be. What sets Fox’s roast chicken apart from all others? It’s not the brine or the harissa rub, though both add a ton of flavor. The real magic is in the pool of schmaltz sizzling in the pan. Schmaltz, a.k.a. rendered chicken fat, isn’t a neutral oil—and that’s a good thing. It’s infused with chicken essence, and when the bird and its drippings get together, they form a kind of flavor symbiosis that’s key to the juiciest, most finger-licking bird of all time. And the spice-infused fat left in the pan afterward? You can use that, too. The Rustic Canyon walk-in is filled with crazy condiments like fermented mustard, sorrel kimchi, and preserved limes. Cool. But why should you prepare your own flavor boosters? Spend some time making one of these, and you’ll have an easy, fast way to add nuanced flavor. “They lend depth and complexity that come from time,” says Fox. Use garlic confit in your next aglio e olio pasta; spoon some Calabrian chile butter over a pork chop during the last minute of cooking; serve roasted salmon with a dollop of aioli; add harissa to your next tomato sauce. And on and on. Get the Recipes: Real-Deal Aioli Three-Chile Harissa Garlic Confit Calabrian Chile Butter Two rules: 1) chill leftover food in quart and half-quart deli containers, and 2) stick a label (i.e., masking or painter’s tape) on the outside so everyone knows what’s in there—and since when. It’s neater, and it saves room in the fridge. Plus, it’s been scientifically proven that 96 percent more leftovers would be consumed if only your family knew what the hell was in there! Most chefs will tell you that acidity elevates any dish, but then they get all highfalutin with the options. Barrel-aged vinegar. Twenty-year-old balsamic. Fox finishes most dishes with a humble squeeze of lemon juice. (All of his line cooks have quart containers of wedges at their stations for juicing in the moment.) Why lemon? Aside from the fact that you can always find one, “You’ll taste what it does to the food, not the lemon itself.” Along with salt and pepper, it’s all you need to season everything from simple pastas to grilled fish, roasted meats, and sautéed vegetables, as well as pan sauces, grain salads—even run-of-the-mill lentil soup. Cut lemon wedges ahead of time, then squeeze as you cook for the brightest flavor.
