Marcus Samuelsson speaks on Chicago restaurants and "Top Chef"


Last week chef Marcus Samuelsson's unveiled the new line of stoves he designed for BlueStar ranges. But before the big reveal at his C-House restaurant in the Affinia Hotel, the Swedish-Ethiopian transplant to New York dished about other stuff. Here it is as promised:

The Stew: How did you like doing "Top Chef Masters"?
Samuelsson: Fun, fun, it was great.

Are you under orders not to reveal anything?
I am.

Whom did you like working with best?
They were all really nice but I’ve known David Burke the longest so it was fun to be with him. When I came to America he was one of the chefs I most admired. I always thought he was an American chef with a unique spin on food.

I bet Wylie Dufresne [of wd~50] came up with some interesting stuff.
Yes, Wylie and I are the same age and we came up at the same time and I love him, he’s very talented. But there are some chefs that you’ve always looked up to. Like Charlie and Rick Bayless, who I always associated Chicago food with. And Tony of course.

Where do you eat in Chicago besides C-House?
Now that I’m working here I don’t have as much time. I was much more up on it before before C-House. It’s weird how that works. But I enjoy the Chicago community — the guests and the chefs — a lot. I love what Paul [Kahan] and those guys are doing. They’re very forward thinking and fun and there’s a sense of publicness to what they’re doing and it’s not so expensive so more people can experience it. And they each restaurant tell different stories from Avec, to Blackbird to Publican. And I love Arun.

Do you ever go for Ethiopian or Swedish food in Chicago?
Yes, for Ethiopian I go to that place on Broadway.

Ethiopian Diamond?
Yes, that’s the one. But for Swedish, I make my own. You know, meatballs and gravlax.

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