Shanghai Issue: Spotlight on Fat Radish’s Phil Winser & Ben Towill
We gave you an up-close look at Tory’s Shanghai Dinner, from menu to decor. Now, here’s our exclusive interview with the chefs behind those good eats: Phil Winser, left, and Ben Towill of New York’s The Fat Radish, The Leadbelly and The East Pole restaurants.
It was a fun name that would make people smile, and it shows that we do not take ourselves to seriously.
We first met each other when…
We are childhood friends who met in school and have a shared love of so many of the same things. We look at the world through very different lenses but share the same values and love of creativity, people, travel, food and family.
Our cooking influences…
Jamie Oliver, Rick Stein and Raymond Blanc as chefs — they are all heroes. Also, Phil’s godparents Richard and Bridget Gladwin are a huge inspiration to us and so many others.
The menu is truly reflective of what we do at The Fat Radish: simple, well-sourced ingredients. The dishes are all from our new cook book The Fat Radish Kitchen Diaries.
Our favorite flavors from China…
We make great broths at the restaurant, which we use a lot in the winter. We also are located in Chinatown and use lots greens (tatsoi, bok choy) from some vendors, and do great greens and grains stir-fry with ginger and chili.
The key to a great dinner party…
The company.
A great cocktail, and some awesome snacks — or as Phil likes to call them, nibbles. His signature snack is garlic yogurt and homemade hummus.
Essential ingredients in our kitchen…
Great olive oil, the best salt, lots of garlic, lots of Indian spices — turmeric, cardamom, curry powders — and hot sauce.
For good prep you need…
A good knife, good music and a great glass of wine.
Kitchen etiquette we always enforce…
Treat everyone the same, show the same respect for the guy who delivers the food to the chef who creates the dishes to the team member who washes them, because if one person fails we all do.