I had an appetite and needed to eat constantly so I found a third job at a vegetarian Mediterranean restaurant in Berkeley…working my mind away for the chef in return for what I principally owed her, which was that she hired me when I had no real skill, tons of attitude, which I grew out of, for the most part. In retrospect, I am grateful to that particular chef for giving me the education.

She showed me how to cook bulgur AKA cracked wheat and turn it into a delicious salad with the addition of a ton of fresh Italian parsley and extra virgin olive oil, tomatoes, etc…and how to make couscous salad, and she showed me how to make marinated feta cheese with thyme and lemon zest and fresh orange juice. I made panzanella, which is an incredible bread salad with fresh tomatoes and basil. Chef also roasted and peeled eggplants for baba ghanouj and also made hummus.

Hummus is my favorite food in the world. It’s made with garbanzos, a lot of raw garlic, tahini (which is sesame
seed butter), and fresh lemon juice, Kosher salt, more of the olive oil…tons of explosive flavor and there isn’t anything like it on the planet. I worked with wholesome ingredients for the first time, in an open and clean public restaurant environment and I got into it like for example the kosher salt, sea salt in different colors, grape leaves, fresh basil, fresh Italian parsley, dill, cilantro, chives, fennel, radicchio, fresh marjoram anda oregano, heirloom tomatoes…cucumbers, ricotta salata, Opal basil, saffron, olives of all varieties, cracked green, lemon cured, Greek oil cured, kalamata, picholine, and your standard California black olives and those green ones with the red pimento, you know, for your martini…the flavors just captivated me.

We’d like to think that we achieve flavors at Sonora Grill and at Rickenbacker’s at the Ogden airport that grab your attention and hold it for a while and inspire you to come back for more.