Q & A WITH FOOD NETWORK STAR JUSTIN WARNER

Almost daily, someone asks me "what's so-and-so (insert name of celebrity chef) really like?"

So I decided to create a new monthly feature with little known personal facts about some of your favorite celebrity chefs and Food Network stars. My first interview had to be with my Food Network Star BFF Justin Warner. 

My favorite photo with Justin during filming for Food Network Star. Photo: Food Network

Here's the scoop:

I first met Chef Justin Warner of Brooklyn's award-winning Do or Dine restaurant as we were both sitting in a holding pen at Alton Brown's studio in Atlanta, Georgia on November 2, 2011. We were there to audition for Season 8 of Food Network Star and Alton was to select his team from the  50 or so people assembled. Months later, when I arrived to film the show, it was no surprise to find Justin there, too. I was blessed to have Justin by my side day in and day out on Team Alton. When I needed help, he was there for me. He made me laugh. He had/has unique insight. He has years of valuable culinary experience from working in some of New York's finest restaurants---which I lacked. Justin was generous and happy to share his knowledge with me. We bonded. On several occasions, I absolutely would not have finished plating if he had not helped me. (see photo below of the 4-handed plating from our "Meet the Press" episode).

What you may not know about Justin is that he was named to Forbes' Top 30 Under 30 list as well as Zagat's Top 30 Under 30 NYC. His restaurant has a Michelin rating. He's been written about in the New York Times, The New Yorker, and he makes regular appearances on Food Network shows. He just opened for Alton Brown's Edible Inevitable Tour at the legendary Beacon Theatre in New York. That's pretty good for a guy who has owned a restaurant for a mere three years in the most competitive restaurant market in the world. Maybe one day the rest of the world will catch on to what I and the folks at TheBraiser.com already know...  This hipster is a lot smarter than you  think and is nothing short of remarkable. Read what they had to say about Justin and why he doesn't have a show on Food Network.

The #1 question I'm asked about Justin is: Does Justin Warner wear lipstick? In fact, when you Google Justin Warner, one of the items that search populates is Justin Warner lips. Really? The answer is, of course not. He is lucky to have naturally tinted tips any girl would die for. He uses Burt's Bees lip balm on them but not lipstick. Get over it, folks. Justin Warner does not wear lipstick. I promise.

The other question I'm frequently asked about Justin is: Are you and Justin really friends or was that made up for the show? We were and are real friends. I know we are kind of an odd pair. You'd never guess a quirky, hipster, skinny jeans wearing, Danny Meyer (The Modern, Union Square, Blue Smoke, Gramercy Tavern, Shake Shack) trained restaurant rat turned restaurant owner from Brooklyn who raps about food and wine could actually be friends with or have anything in common with a home cook-wedding expert from Alabama who loves entertaining, farm life, polo, Hermes scarves, and Southern rock. I was shocked he knew all the words to the iconic Don McLean song American Pie and he was shocked I would often break out an Eminem rap. We have more in common than it may appear. We are both entrepreneurs. We've both had a job since the age of 12. He's got a good heart. I learn a lot from him. He's extremely interesting and well read. He's a trusted advisor and a close confidant. I'm thankful we met on the show and I'm so happy we remain the best of friends to this day.

My favorite Food Network Star and BFF Justin Warner. Photo: Daniel Krieger

Q & A WITH CHEF & FOOD NETWORK STAR JUSTIN WARNER

Where you’re from:  I was born in Hagerstown, Maryland.  I spent summers and quite a few years in the Front Range of Colorado.  I consider both to be home.

City of residence:  I live in Brooklyn, New York, in a neighborhood called Bedford-Stuyvesant.

Where you’d love to live someday:  I absolutely must spend a month or two in Japan.  I don’t know where I’d like to begin my family.  It’s a tough decision.

Family:  I live with the best woman on earth, Brooke Sweeten.  We have two turtles; Soupy and Aristurtle, two cats; Merf and Luci, and an awesome dog; Kewpie.

Mentor:  Every boss I’ve ever had has done something to alter my trajectory.  Alton Brown, though, got me in to TV, so I owe him a bunch of credit.

What is your favorite quote?  “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving” is the first thing that came to mind.  That was some dude named Laozi. 

Best advice you ever got?  That’s tough.  I had a boss named Bill Eichelberger who told me we were in business to make “friends, not money”.  I try to live by that. 

Favorite book?  Paul’s Case, by Willa Cather

Justin's ultimate dinner party guest list would include these four:  Jay Z, Mike Nichols, Lana Del Rey, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

And if you had to cook for them, what would you make?  Barbecue, and some fun little hors d’oeuvres.

What are you listening to right now?  Pretty much whatever my girlfriend is playing.  She has the best taste in music.  Future Islands is pretty rad.  I love the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack.  Lana Del Rey is good for writing and zoning out.

Favorite cookbook of all time:  The Laws of Cooking and How to Break Them, Warner, 2015 Flatiron Books

Latest accomplishment?  I finished writing my first cookbook.  It should be pretty good. (Editor’s note: It is.)

Guilty pleasure?  Bad rap music, Sour Patch Kids, canned beer, Legos, video games.

Favorite travel destination: Rapid City, South Dakota.  My girlfriend lived there as a kid and her parents are there.  It’s a convenient, pretty, fun little place.

Where do you want to go you haven’t been yet?  Japan, but also the Spanish speaking countries in South America.

Must have travel accessory:  Just my comfortable Dansko shoes.

Best advice, tool, or equipment for the home cook?  The offset spatula is one of my favorite multi-taskers.  It’s probably also the most often overlooked by the home cook.

One of my favorite take-aways from Food Network star was Justin's tempura recipe. He used it for a food court challenge when we had to create a pop-up Italian themed restaurant. His Frito Misto was a hit with our guests and this tempura batter is why. It's light and airy, yet extremely crunchy. The secret is in the rice flour and club soda combo. I love this recipe for fish filets and shrimp; it does not create a soggy or heavy exterior on delicate seafood.  Get the recipe...

JUSTIN WARNER'S TEMPURA RECIPE

JANUARY 7TH IS NATIONAL TEMPURA DAY...  in other words, national fry something at home day.

Any time I hear the word tempura, I immediately think of my Food Network Star teammate, Justin Warner. Justin knows how to fry things really, really well and his tempura recipe was not only one of the best I've ever tried, it was a huge hit with all of the guests at our pop-up Italian restaurant on the show. Since then, I've used it for a number of things but really like it for frying shrimp for a Po-Boy.

Fried Shrimp Po-Boy... Justin's tempura batter makes it light and airy. Not heavy.

Here's us... working the fry station. Justin's tempura recipe follows.

Making a lot of fried food in our pop-up restaurant with Justin Warner on Food Network Star season 8. Get his recipe for tempura batter below

JUSTIN'S FAMOUS TEMPURA BATTER

INGREDIENTS

2 cups rice flour

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried parsley

Salt and ground black pepper

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning

Club soda

Vegetable or peanut oil, for frying

DIRECTIONS:

Make a dredge of 1 cup rice flour, oregano, parsley and some salt and pepper.

Make a batter by combining the remaining 1 cup rice flour with the all-purpose flour, red pepper flakes, garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Pour in the club soda a little bit at a time and whisk until the batter is just slightly loosened and the whisk won't stand up. Keep on an ice bath as  you are using it.

Fill a Dutch oven just under halfway with oil and heat over medium-high heat to 350 degrees F.

To fry: Dredge strips of fresh veggies, like bell pepper, zucchini, onion, whole string beans in the seasoned flour and then dip in the batter and drop into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels, season with salt and a spray of lemon juice.

If you make this recipe, please give my buddy Justin a shout out on Twitter: @EatFellowHumans. His highly acclaimed restaurant, Do or Dine, is located in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, New York where tempura fried things like the Cauli-Balls are always on the menu. Check out the Nippon Nachos with gouda and cheddar -- the one chef's dish Alton Brown says he wishes he'd come up with during an interview with Conde Nast Traveler.

Happy National TEMPURA DAY! Go fry something delicious!

LEARN MORE ABOUT JUSTIN WARNER IN MY CHEF SERIES Q & A. Read the article....

BBQ TIPS FROM WORLD CHAMPION BBQ PITMASTER CHRIS LILLY plus RECIPE

I’ve been grilling since I was a kid… duh, I’m from the South. We all think our sauce is the best and we all think even if we can’t beat those television chefs in the kitchen, we would smoke them on the grill. J We want our bark just right, the perfect degree of doneness, and those highly prized grill marks. As much as I know about grilling, I recently got some higher education. I got the chance to attend The Q, a gigantic beachside grilling event at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival where 40 teams from across the country competed for annual BBQ bragging rights. This is one of the biggest and certainly one of the most fun barbecue events of the year. While there, I got a chance to pick up some tips from meat masters Chris Santos, Michael Symon, and one of the most celebrated BBQ chefs in the country, Chris Lilly, just in time for opening day of grilling season.

Chef Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ in Decatur, Alabama has won every major BBQ championship there is. Chef Lilly won Grand Champion three times and is a seven time category champion at Memphis in May World Championship BBQ Cookoff, Reserve Grand Champion at the legendary Jack Daniel’s World Championship BBQ Invitational, Grand Champion at the American Royal Invitational Barbecue Championship and many prestigious barbeque titles. I watched Chris create his magic during the Bubble Q event going as far as to meet him out at the pit at 4:00 AM to help him prep. I quizzed him on his technique, which he’s shared in his new book, Fire & Smoke: A Pitmaster’s Secrets. (Clarkson Potter)  Between the two of us, we’ve got you covered for all of your backyard barbeques and parties this summer.

Here are our top tips for firing up the grill for the first barbecue of the season:

CLEAN. For your first cook-out of the season, clean your grill really well. According to Chris, it is essential to also use a wire brush to clean and then oil the grill grates no matter what kind of grill you’re using. Chris also recommends starting the grill several days before you plan to cook to make sure it is working properly.

PREP. Make sauces, rubs, condiments, or side dishes in the days leading up to the party. The more you have prepped in advance, the more you can relax and enjoy the fun.

ZONE OUT. Chris says to set up two zones for cooking, no matter what grilling method you are using: gas, wood, or charcoal. Create one zone for direct cooking and one for indirect cooking, says our pro. Use the direct zone to sear and seal in the juices and then move it to the indirect heat to finish cooking.

PUT THE TOP DOWN. Chris says when you close the lid on your grill, you are also baking the food so you are able to grill faster without burning. For thin cuts of meat, you won’t need to close the grill lid, according to Chris but for a thick filet, he recommends this technique: Sear the meat over direct heat for about four minutes per side. Move it to indirect heat and close the lid. Use a meat thermometer to check for the perfect degree of doneness.

TAKE THE TEMP. Chris recommends always using a meat thermometer. His favorite is a digital instant-read thermometer like Therma-Pen. Get a good thermometer and go by the recommended internal temperature for the cut you are grilling. This is a foolproof way to achieve the most consistent results. Remember that the internal temperature of your food will increase even after you remove it from the grill.

TOOLS. Other grilling essentials include a pair of extra-long tongs, a fire extinguisher and a spray bottle of water. A cutting board is essential. Transfer grilled meat to a clean one to rest before carving or slicing. Be careful not to cross-contaminate and clean your cutting board thoroughly if you used it to prep raw meat.

WOOD YOU? Chris uses a lot of wood when he’s at the restaurant or in a competition but when he’s grilling at home, he uses a combination of Kingsford charcoal and hickory chips. Make sure to soak the chips before you use them so they don’t burn up immediately. 

BE CREATIVE. “Don’t think you can just grill steaks; grill anything you would cook in your indoor kitchen. My new book has recipes for everything from okra to dessert. I even have a chapter dedicated to cocktails. Grilled fruit makes incredible cocktails like sangria, margaritas, mojitos, and wait until you try grilled lemonade or grilled apple cider” says the BBQ Guru.

ASK FOR HELP. Chris always asks his family and friends to help him with grilling duties on party day; that way they feel more involved.

Get Chris' Grilled Peach Sangria recipe from Fire and Smoke...