TV chef urges simplicity with food, kitchen

Published 3:42 pm Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Before Food Network, before Iron Chef, before Bobby Flay and Cat Cora and Rachael Ray became famous, there was Chef J. Warren.

He first stepped in front of the cameras after returning from a gold medal win at the culinary Olympics in the ’80s.

It was a team win, and some of his fellow chefs were probably more skilled, he says now.

“I was the one who grabbed the microphone and never put it down,” said Warren, who lives in Tampa, Fla.

The “J.” stands for Jerry. He goes by J. Warren because it rolls off the tongue better.

He has talked food on TV and in trade show appearances ever since. He’ll take his message to the Everett Home and Garden Show this weekend, where he’ll lead a seminar on kitchen remodeling and cook some of his signature 30-minute meals.

Warren grew up with flour between his fingers. His father started Dandee Bakery in New Jersey, which became a chain built on the success of bread, cinnamon buns and crusty Kaiser rolls. He was decorating wedding cakes when he was 10.

At 14, he headed to Europe to refine his culinary skills in the European guild system. He later attended Le Cordon Bleu in London and earned a master’s degree in food science from Cornell.

With those credentials, one might expect haute cuisine at the Warren household every night of the week.

“Believe it or not, my wife and I have a favorite dish, and it’s utter simplicity,” he said. “White beans with a ham hock and cornbread on the side.”

He believes in eating well, but simply. He has never understood, for instance, why anyone would use lemon out of a plastic yellow container. It doesn’t take any longer to cut a fresh lemon in half, he said. He encourages people to choose fresh ingredients, rather than canned. He teaches time-saving methods such as chopping enough carrots or onions for a week and storing the extra in the fridge.

Chef Warren loves kitchen gadgets and appliances, and companies pay him to talk about their products. Buy the right appliances, and you’ll get your money back when you sell the house, he said. By right, he means quality. He pooh-poohed the $400 dishwashers and $500 ranges at big box stores.

One of his specialities is kitchen design, and he shares some good ideas for how people can make their kitchens more cook-friendly. People are hankering for design advice, he said, and his seminars are usually filled with people furiously scribbling notes.

He tells people about the practical details no one thinks about, like electrical boxes and water access for the sink. He also talks about doodads that can make cooking more convenient, such as an over-the-stove pot filler. When he designed his own kitchen, he drew everything to scale on the floor with chalk so he could make sure his rear doesn’t hit a sharp corner if he bends over to pull something out of the oven.

“If you have an organized plan, it puts the homeowner in control, rather than being at the mercy of the trade.”

Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com

Smart kitchen design

Celebrity Chef J. Warren says kitchens are the heart of the home and smart design can help make the room comfortable and efficient. A few tips:

n The kitchen has become the brain of the home, and contemporary kitchen designs include features that most associate with an office: file drawers, a computer and a place to sit and pay the bills. Better to have the family in one room than scattered throughout the house, he said.

n An inexpensive change that makes a big difference: buy a deeper sink. A premium 11- or 12-inch deep sink makes cooking and washing dishes easier.

n If you can make one change, let it be adding more counter space. Even adding a cutting board that pulls out of the cabinets adds space to chop veggies or to knead dough. The best designs let several work comfortably together.

n Everyone wants an island, he said, and he suggests putting a wine cooler or separate fridge under the island so cool drinks are close.

n There are many ingenious ways to add storage or other features to islands, he said, including fold-down spice racks and pull-out step stools. His 7-quart mixer is on an automated board that rises with a push of a button.