California Chefs

Douglas Keane says that these summer rolls, filled with tangy marinated daikon, cucumber and papaya, are the perfect way to jolt the palate before a rich meal that will likely include truffles and foie gras.

David Myers creates this silky-sweet soup with cantaloupe (a good source of vitamin C and beta-carotene), then adds mounds of crab (rich in zinc).

Fish tacos are a staple among California surfers but are often beer-battered and fried. Kerry Simon's healthier, grilled version enriches the guacamole with low-fat sour cream.

San Francisco chef Stuart Brioza sears sweet summer peaches in pancetta with fresh basil leaves for a crispy, juicy hors d'oeuvre. They would also be an unexpected addition to a frisée or baby escarole salad.

"The lemon-poppy seed combo is classic," says Vinny Dotolo. "When I was a kid, I ate lemon-poppy seed muffins for breakfast and with ice cream for dessert." Now he turns the pairing into lovely cakes: They have a tender cakey layer on the bottom, a luscious curd-like layer on top and poppy-seed crème fraîche to finish the whole thing off.

When Kogi's truck first Tweeted its stops, no one had heard of Korean short rib tacos. Now hundreds of people line up for them, and for kimchi hot dogs.

L.A. chef Suzanne Goin grew up on the healthy flavors of California cooking and embraces that style in her cooking.

Although Wolfgang Puck is best known for putting smoked salmon, caviar and dill-flecked crème fraîche on his designer pizzas, he also loves this trio of toppings with his exceptionally crispy potato pancakes, a dish he makes frequently when cooking at home. All three garnishes are wonderfully decadent together; still, you can leave out the smoked salmon or the caviar.

These spicy olives are infused with fennel, a favorite flavoring of chef Trey Foshee. "The licorice flavor always makes me hungry," he says.

Thomas Keller's scrumptious recipe combines three of the world's most popular sandwiches—bacon, lettuce and tomato; fried egg; and grilled cheese.

Chef Nate Appleman cooks Piadina—the excellent flatbread sandwiches that he describes as "Italian quesadillas"—on his custom stone griddle. Appleman cooks the flaky dough until it's just crisp outside, then stuffs it with sumptuous combinations like tender roasted squash with pancetta, or prosciutto with stracchino cheese and peppery arugula.

When Charles Phan samples banh xeo (a.k.a. "happy pancakes") at Vietnamese restaurants, he often finds that they aren't crisp enough. Phan thinks the perfect crêpe should be lacy thin and crackly crisp. After years of obsessive experimentation, he recommends refrigerating the batter overnight, so the starches have time to relax, then cooking the crêpes in a nonstick pan.

This frittata includes sautéed cauliflower topped with homemade bread crumbs for a lovely bit of crunch. Nancy Silverton's trick for making small amounts of bread crumbs is to toast a slice of sourdough bread, rub it with a garlic clove and grind it in a mortar.

Broiling ricotta intensifies its creaminess: It's ideal with both sweet and savory toppings. Here, Maria Helm Sinskey serves it on garlic toasts garnished with olives and a tangy sun-dried-tomato relish.

Sang Yoon, who makes some of America's best burgers, flavors his succulent pork patty with Spanish ingredients like piquillo peppers and serrano ham. "Spain," he says, "performs miracles with pork."