4 minute read
A Conversation with Chef Josh Dalton
Interview by Megan Smith / Photography by Sam Kendall / Layout by Bryce Patterson
Megan Smith: Your restaurants serve the city well, each aiming for excellence and a focused nice. How do you keep your creative reservoirs filled? What keeps you inspired and forward-thinking?
Josh Dalton: Traveling! Everyone should get out and explore as much as possible. It's the best way to stay inspired and remain creative. Seeing what other people in our industry do in different cities and countries certainly helps me stay creative.
MS: In 2019 Forbes wrote a piece about you and your vision for your restaurants. Since then, do you feel like Columbus restaurant-goers are starting to embrace the tasting menu-only concept as you had hoped more fully?
JD: We always have a need for more guests; things have certainly improved for us in offering a tasting menu format. I am always trying to push the boundaries. Ideally, I'd like to provide a more extensive tasting experience. However, that always comes at a cost, and I don't think we're quite there yet.
MS: Food is a connector. How do you see this essential element of our human connection as either cultivated or wasted in current culture?
JD: Throughout time people from all walks of life can break bread and come to a common ground. As a society, we are more divided than we ever have been. To me, it seems like people need to sit down and break more bread and find that common ground.
MS: You are a self-described, 'untrained' chef – yet you are working gastronomical miracles in the kitchen. Where do you see us, everyday cooks messing up on the basics? In your opinion, are there a couple of areas in which we could have more success and less frustration in the kitchen?
JD: It's a matter of keeping things simple. Most people make the mistake of not seasoning properly— salt and pepper is a big one. The next thing is introducing acid, whether it be citrus or vinegar. Buy the best ingredients possible, do as little to them as possible, and sear at high temperatures.
MS: It's a gorgeous day in Columbus, and you have a rare opportunity to be out of the restaurants, exploring, eating, shopping, and making memories. Where would you go? What would you do?
JD: Usually, if I have an extended amount of time, I'll try to get out of town. If not, I'll usually play with some of my new kitchen toys, work on finishing my pilot's license, or drive my Vespa around. But more than often, I'll coax some of my team to go out for drinks and dream about the next concept.
MS: What are you most proud of within the walls of your 5 locations?
JD: Regardless of what location you're at, we all have the same goal in mind, and that's to set standards of high expectations. Our entire intention is to put out the best food we can, with the best ingredients and hospitality, to offer our guests the best experience we can across the board. In addition, one of my longtime goals has been to provide a better workplace environment with benefits—something we've been able to do at our company over the last year.
Quick 10
What would others say is your greatest virtue? I would say self-awareness. I am honest with myself, and when I know I'm not good at something, I'm not afraid to ask for help or look for the answers. I think many people bullshit themselves thinking they have all the answers.
What item of clothing gets the most mileage in your wardrobe? Black tees!
What feeds you creatively? Circling back to traveling on this one.
What zaps you creatively? Two things: drama within the restaurants. We have 96 employees, and dealing with every person's particular thing can be a lot to juggle. The other is not doing the food I want because I must keep the doors open and find a happy medium between offering food that I'm satisfied with and that people are willing to pay for.
Favorite pizza topping? If you take away cheese — spinach, and good mushrooms. No pineapple, period. Not up for debate.
Hamburger topping? A good aioli is the crucial thing, lettuce, tomato, pickle, and lots of pickles, something to cut through that cheese.
Ice cream topping? If you have good ice cream, nothing. But a good hard shell can save the day.
Three ingredients we should always have in our pantry? Crusty bread, vinegar, and an excellent finishing olive oil.
Fridge? Butter, labneh, and cheese.
Freezer? Ice cream, frozen burritos, and more ice cream.
