COVID-19 Prompts Two NJ Chefs to Pivot Business

What is your go to comfort food?

Chef Leia Gaccione: “what dishes bring me comfort? Oh my goodness. Well, fried chicken, I think is a good one. Mac and cheese or pasta. If I'm like having a bad day and I need something to make me feel better. It's always like some type of pasta, which actually I don't have any pasta on the menu right now. We do have Mac and cheese on the menu. Comfort food to me is always like extremely indulgent. So I try to not dive too much into that. Another thing for me, that's comfort food is like, it sounds so terrible, but like I grew up eating those packet ramen noodles”.

Chef Sam Freund: “as a fellow Italian, there's nothing wrong with a beautiful Spaghetti and Meatballs. That's probably one of my most comforting dish, and also fried chicken. You took this food, this high end food all the time. It's just like, it's hard to eat all the time too. So, the one thing that actually brings me joy on a daily basis and really brings me home is cereal and whole milk. I mean, there's nothing better than a huge, massive bowl of cereals. And I'm talking me personally, I could eat a whole box in one sitting and I've done it several times. So my whole thing is thatI don't eat the sugar stuff, I am a big Raisin Bran lover!”

Best Burger recipe?

Chef Sam Freund: “I have a little seasoning that I make. It's a brown fennel seed, that are toasted. Salt, pepper, and dried thyme. Season it like that, and then sear it up. And then I'm very simple. I'm a huge Swiss guy. So, I use in Gruyere cheese. Lettuce, tomato. Now, if you were a huge fan of Slamwich restaurant, we used to make this red onion jam, it brings a sweet tart to the burgers, and balance. You could even Google a recipe for red onion jam, but that pretty much sums up my burger. Add mayo and mustard.”

Chef Leia Gaccione: “For me, I love to toss the greens in a vinaigrette. I feel like the acid wakes up the burger because the beef is so rich and fatty that it cuts through it. And it also brightens the whole thing up. So, I would say that for me, it's definitely put a vinaigrette on there. For the sauce: French onion dip aioli! For the bread:maybe it's on an English muffin that is toasted. Maybe it's on brioche, nice and soft and buttery. Or it is on a Kaiser roll so that you could get a nice little crunch on the outside, but it's holding everything on the inside.