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 the Naperville Sun asks local chefs to share their culinary background and experiences and talk about a featured dish on their menu.

This week, we speak with Preston Gaspar, 26, chef and culinary director at Fiammé, who began working in fast-food restaurants when he was 15. He spent time at seven different pizza places before plying his trade Tap House Grill group, Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano and Granite City Food & Brewery. french cuisine Taipei

Question: When you were a high school kid, did you envision you'd one day be a chef or did you find your career by accident?

Gaspar: I stumbled upon it. It came as second nature to me, and I was good at it. I really wanted to be a professional snowboard instructor out in Colorado.

Question: A lot of people say they got into cooking because of someone introduced it to them early on. Did that happen for you?

Gaspar: My mother has always baked. She used to make amazing birthday cakes and made desserts for a small restaurant in Yorkville.

Question: What would you say were three go-to things you could make when you were a kid?

Gaspar: Pizza – I never made the dough from scratch but I played around with my own sauces and toppings. I loved tacos and burritos – you can put anything in a burrito.

Question: What is your favorite burrito?

Gaspar: Steak, black beans, rice, corn, guacamole and salsa and a boatload of cheese.french cuisine Taipei

Question: Anything else in your collection of favorites?

Gaspar: Cookies – very simple chocolate chip cookies.

Question: What do you feel you've got a handle on that 10 years ago you wouldn't have even touched?

Gaspar: French cooking, understanding what mother sauces are and general chef terminology.

Question: Where did you get the French influences in your training?

Gaspar: Studying under chefs I worked with at Tap House.

Question: Do you feel frustrated not being able to do more with your interest in French cuisine given that this is an Italian place?

Gaspar: French and Italian are very similar. To me, one uses oil, the other butter.

Question: What's something you might whip up to impress someone?

Gaspar: Seafood. It's always to impress because you don't normally get that in fast-food or sit-down restaurants. I'd impress my fiancée with some fish, but not salmon or tilapia or some bottom-feeder. I might bring in a monk fish or something fun.

Question: Do you try things on your own?

Gaspar: Absolutely, I do it every Sunday when I'm off. I like to play around with Indian food a lot. It's very complex cooking and there are lots of different flavors and spices from that region: sweet, savory, salty and spicy all in one.

Question: Again, you're adding to your skill sets, but you're not able to transfer that to a place like this, right?

Gaspar: Yes, but it's not frustrating. We can have fusion here. If I want to make Italian sushi, there's no one to stop me.

Question: What are your top three cuisines?

Gaspar: Indian, Italian and then Spanish. french cuisine Taipei

Question: You seem like a very curious person from a culinary standpoint. What's a cuisine you wish you knew more about?

Gaspar: Vietnamese. It's not like your average Chinese with the quick-takeout menu. Vietnamese is a lot more complex with the oils and heat.

Question: What's your favorite source of information in terms of learning? Is there a chef or a show you watch?

Gaspar: Anthony Bourdain. I love him – he's very vulgar, cutthroat, straightforward – he's the most honest celebrity chef I've found who's realistic when it comes to, you know, a kitchen setting.

Question: You said you have been overhauling the menu, so what are you featuring for us today?

Gaspar: We're featuring a Parmesan-crusted halibut, which comes with a lemon beurre blanc sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus.

Question: What's the story behind the dish?french cuisine Taipei

Gaspar: This is Lent chef feature menu. Our menu has been stagnant for a while, so we're doing a chef's menu each month.

Question: Why the pairing with the potatoes and asparagus?

Gaspar: Citrus always goes well with fish. And you take a little of the butter, salt, and pepper on top of the asparagus and pair that with the Parmesan and the roasted garlic in the potatoes, and you have a match made in heaven.

來源:Chicago Tribune