Superstar Chefs' Signature Dishes

By Food & Wine
Updated May 05, 2017
Every iconic chef has a defining recipe. Here 10 culinary superstars are each matched with F&W's simplified version of their signature dishes.
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1 of 10

Wolfgang Puck's Pork Schnitzel

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Wolfgang Puck of Los Angeles's Spago makes his schnitzel by deep-frying cutlets of Kurobuta pork, a deeply marbled heritage meat imported from Japan.

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2 of 10

Thomas Keller's Smoked Salmon Crisps

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Thomas Keller's salmon cornets (tuiles shaped into tiny cones and topped with crème fraîche and fresh salmon) are a famous kickoff to his luxe and whimsical meals. The original recipe appears in The French Laundry Cookbook (Artisan).

3 of 10

Daniel Boulud's Chilled Spring Pea Soup

Credit: Quentin Bacon
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Daniel Boulud puts this deliciously light and clean-tasting soup—a mix of sweet peas, favas, pea shoots, snap peas and snow peas—on the menu each spring. The recipe appears in the Café Boulud Cookbook (Scribner).

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4 of 10

Mario Batali's Bucatini all'Amatriciana

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At New York City's Babbo, Mario Batali creates a simple, brilliant version of this classic dish, tossing the long, hollow pasta strands with house-cured guanciale (pork jowl) and a spicy house-made tomato sauce.

5 of 10

Rick Bayless's Carne Asada with Black Beans

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At Frontera Grill in Chicago, Rick Bayless serves this classic dish that combines grilled marinated steak, fried plantains, homemade black beans and fresh guacamole.

6 of 10

José Andrés's Paella with Shrimp and Squid

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At Jaleo, the delightful Spanish restaurant in Washington, DC, José Andrés prepares this satisfying rice dish with lots of seafood, including hard-to-find cuttlefish, and a house-made fish stock.

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7 of 10

Gale Gand's Lemon Meringue Pie

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In her version of lemon meringue pie, Gale Gand forgoes a traditional crust for quick-baked sheets of sugared phyllo dough, which she layers with house-made lemon curd and a brown-sugar meringue. The recipe, a classic at Tru restaurant in Chicago, appears in Gand's book Butter Sugar Flour Eggs (Clarkson Potter).

8 of 10

John Besh's August Chopped Salad

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At his flagship New Orleans restaurant, August, John Besh makes his chopped salad with 21 different kinds of vegetables and herbs.

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Tom Colicchio's Braised Short Ribs

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Tom Colicchio is a master with meat, and his tender, succulent braised short ribs are much in demand at his Craft restaurants. He marinates the short ribs along with vegetables in wine, then discards those vegetables and braises the ribs with fresh vegetables.

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10 of 10

Nobu Matsuhisa's Black Cod with Miso

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This sweet and silky fish dish, which has been cloned at restaurants all over the country, is fairly simple to make, though it's somewhat time-consuming: Nobu Matsuhisa of the Nobu restaurant empire recommends marinating the black cod in a good deal of the sake-miso marinade for 2 to 3 days.

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