NICHOLAS BOGNAR

INDO & SADO

Position: Chef/Owner

Married? No

Kids? No

Where are you originally from? STL

Where did you go to school? St. Louis Community CollegeForest Park

How did you get to where you are? I started working at my mother's restaurant when

I was 10. I continued to learn, moved away to work in some great restaurants. Came home and took a leap of faith that St. Louis was ready for a whole new kind of Asian restaurant.

New things going on in your restaurant: We are opening Sado. A building my family and I own. Completely rehabbed and absolutely stunning. Serving the best sushi we possibly can, dry-aged fish and a selection of wagyu beef.

Favorite menu item: Isaan hamachi

Three cool facts:

• I do Muay Thai.

• I love video games.

• I love thrifting.

What is your favorite piece of equipment or kitchen item? Yanagiba sushi knife

Indo, 1641D Tower Grove Ave, St. Louis, indo-stl.com Sado, 5201 Shaw Ave, St. Louis, sado-stl.com

If you’ve never experienced the ways green Sichuan peppercorns invigorate a dish, the boiled fish with Chinese green pepper at ChiliSpot is a revelation. Lesser known than their red cousins, green huajiao (“flower pepper”) impart a similar numbing heat, but their herbal, floral quality adds a surprising, pleasing twist. ChiliSpot also offers this dish with chicken or beef, but the smooth, flaky texture of the fish is a perfect foil for the silky broth, which also includes green peppercorn oil. Bean sprouts and spears of cucumber add a crunchy counterpoint to proceedings.