We’re excited to re-introduce the talented Chef Edward Gallagher III A.K.A, Chef Eddie G., as our October 2020 Chef of the Month! An alumnus of Johnson & Wales University of Culinary Arts, Chef Eddie G. is also a celebrity chef, restaurant consultant, TV Personality and the star of his own TV show, Chef Eddie G. Locavore. This Chef is originally from New York and he likes to say that he’s now based in “whatever hotel [he’s] in that night”, and reflects on his love of traveling the world to share his love cooking for people. We’re honored to have him in our ChefUniforms family! Stay tuned for some delicious recipes & shop his look!

1. Where were you born?

Manhattan, New York.

2. Where do you work and where are you based?

I do restaurant consulting, I film a TV show called Chef Eddie G. Locavore, and I’m based in whatever hotel I’m in that night. But seriously, I am fortunate to travel the world and share my love of food and cooking for people.

3. What made you decide to become a chef?

Originally, I had friends who were a lot older than me, like 5 or 6 years older, and they all worked in the restaurant business. They wanted me to work with them, and I got a job in an Italian restaurant in New York when I was 13 years old. I started in the restaurant washing dishes and worked my way up over the next few summers. Over time, the Chef said I should get into the culinary world and I thought, “that’s interesting.”

I went to Johnson & Wales University and graduated from their Culinary Arts Program, and I’ve been in the restaurant business my whole life.

That first job was just a summer job… and here we are 41 summers later.

4. What have been some of your favorite events that you’ve cooked at?

Personally, I love cooking at Super Bowl events. I’ve been doing that 10 or 12 years now, and I just love the activity around the Super Bowl.

I love cooking at food and wine festivals, and I’ve done Las Vegas, Atlantic City, South Beach, Saint Lucia, Jamaica and others.

In addition, I really enjoy doing culinary demos with large crowds — love the atmosphere — and I love the small and boutique events, too.

5. What television shows/cooking competitions have you appeared on?

Television Shows

• Coast 2 Coast Cuisine
• The Great Food Truck Race, Season 9
• Chef Eddie G. Locavore, Seasons 1 & 2

Cooking Competitions

• Maria Bartiromo competition on CNBC
• Disney Food and Wine Festival

6. You recently launched a new show called Chef Eddie G. Locavore on Amazon Prime. Tell us about that. What was the idea behind it?

It incorporates traveling, getting to see new places, meeting great people, learning about the culture and the different foods you don’t normally see.

I love that — seeing foods I’ve never experienced before and getting to cook with them.

And then every episode ends with an event, whether it’s a farmer’s dinner for four people or the Super Bowl last year in Atlanta for 250,000 people.

7. What has been your favorite experience during shooting?

Bringing my parents to the Tuscany Food and Wine Festival and the Florence Cheese Festival. All of us being together in Italy for the first time, learning about the cuisine, seeing the country… that was a definite highlight. 

8. What have you been doing during the recent pandemic?

As part of the restaurant consulting that I do, I’ve been helping restaurants formulate a game plan, figure out the social distancing aspect of it, the food safety part of it, all of those elements.

On a related note, I’ve been consulting with Gosman’s restaurant in Montauk, NY, for the past five years with the long-range focus on lowering food costs and labor costs and increasing revenue. And we’ve done that, successfully, even in this pandemic.

I’m so thankful for this, and it’s also a hard reality that a lot of my friends are losing their restaurants right now. It’s a very hard time in the restaurant industry.

9. What advice would you offer for aspiring chefs?

Don’t do it! Go become a doctor or dentist or something like that.

Ok, truthfully, I love this industry.

It’s not for everybody. You have to be willing to work when everybody else is off, and be off when everyone is working. You work holidays and weekends.

But if you’re passionate about it, like I have been, there’s no greater industry to be in. To be able to nourish people, to help people —  there’s nothing more rewarding than that.

While the industry can be very thankless externally, internally it’s a very thankful industry.

During the pandemic, I’ve seen a lot more people being very thankful. More so in the beginning, but for the most part people have been grateful for our service.

10. What is your favorite kitchen tool in creating your masterpieces/dishes?

I would say my chef knife with the 10-12 inch blade. But I love an emulsion blender.

11. What is one culinary tip every chef should know and perfect?

What a great question that is!

I believe it’s the art of pan searing. This is the technique that most people get the most jammed up on. I can always tell the abilities of a Chef or someone with culinary skills by how well they pan sear something, whether it’s tuna, scallops, steak. If you can put a good pan sear on a piece of meat or protein, I can usually tell whether someone knows what they’re doing or not. I think it’s the biggest technique to perfect.

And going in another direction, I’m big with sauces. To me, being able to make a good sauce shows how good a Chef or cook is. For example, I can tell by how well they can create the five Mother Sauces: béchamel, espagnole, hollandaise, tomato, and veloute.

12. What does good food mean to you?

I’ll answer that by sharing a story. Not too long ago, my team London and Tracey were in Montauk, and we had some other friends join us. We sat around the grill, enjoyed some wine, talked, and took our time grilling lobster and cooking off clams in cream sauce and sharing it all.

To me, good food is the whole package. It’s the atmosphere, it’s the people around the table, it’s the love. It’s all that.

Good food is obviously fresh and local, but when it’s combined with the people you’re surrounded by and sharing it with, that’s what makes good food — and a great meal.

As part of our nonprofit Chefs for Vets, we also do a lot of serving of people less fortunate. It’s all about the people who are gathered around the table and sharing time.

13. What sort of features do you look for in your chef outfit?

First of all, I love working with the team at ChefUniforms. They’re so easy to work with and they understand this industry.

Their entire collection of chef apparel — from jackets to pants to aprons — are all top of the line.

They’re great quality, have deep pockets, and the price points are extremely competitive. And they’re great looking.

The biggest thing in our business is safety, and ChefUniforms creates stylish protective gear.

As a Chef, you’re working around hot grease and flames. You don’t want grease soaking through and burning your arms or legs. Their chef coats and pants are safety-first. If grease comes off anywhere and on to these pants, it doesn’t burn you. And same thing with the chef coat. If I get a grease splatter from a pan on the stove, it’s going to hit the jacket and not burn my arm.

Their chef apparel is also comfortable while being stylish. I like the chef’s pants with the stripes. It’s like wearing sweat pants all the time — so nice when you’re spending long hours in a hot restaurant kitchen.

14. Favorite ingredient to work with?

This changes all the time! It changes based on where I am.

I love garlic. I love Sriracha. Those are the two I think of immediately.

In Montauk, horseradish is a good one. Ginger is another ingredient I like cooking with.

I also really enjoy cooking with local flavors. For example, if I’m cooking in the islands, I like a little heat — peppers, poblanos, or habaneros. If I’m in California, I go more citrusy, with lemons, oranges. In Costa Rica, it’s citrus and avocados.

15. Favorite city to dine out in?

I can be a homer and say New York, right?

Barcelona is also a great food town. Tuscany was out of this world, and Florence, too.

One of the best restaurants I ever went to was on the island of St. Kitts and Nevis with a view of the volcano. That was probably one of the best.

But I can appreciate a plate from the vendor on the beach selling ceviche and grilled fish out of a shopping cart just as much as a 5-star meal.

16. What is your favorite dish to make?

I get asked that a lot. I love tapas, small plates, picking and tasting different flavors. And I like people picking and tasting the different things I’m cooking.

But generically, I love doing plays on Surf & Turf — some kind of seafood and meat combination.

Maybe that’s because I’ve lived in both areas.

I was doing a cooking demonstration a few years ago at a food and wine festival and someone asked what was my favorite food to cook. I said Surf & Turf — like filet mignon and lobster tail, or a rib eye with some shrimp or scallops. I’ll never forget this young girl watching the demo raised her hand and asked, “Was that because you lived in Colorado and South Carolina?” I’d never thought about it, but maybe that is why.

17. What food could you eat every day and never grow tired of?

Sushi!

But another that I could eat often is pizza. I try to keep carbs down in my normal diet and also not eat too many fried foods, but I do love pizza.

And one more — Cheerios and peanut butter. I eat this almost every day!

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