Mike Silverstein
GMARO Magazine - Celebrity Edition Vol. 16 October 2022
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Chef: Mike Silverstein @chefmichael.keto
Facebook: Chef Michael
TikTok: Chef Michael @chef.michael
YouTube: Chef Michael
Photographer: Dan Galvan
PR: ICON PR @Icon_pr
What do you aspire to be?
Simply put, I see myself as an entrepreneur as well as a chef, so that natural next step for me is to open a restaurant of my own. I aspire to be a restaurateur and hope to be able to bring my food to people all over the country and beyond. I’ve always dreamed of having my own restaurants and am already working hard toward that next step.
When did you decide to become a chef?
I must have been 8 or 9 years old when I knew I wanted to be a chef. I was always drawn to that restaurant world, and never really looked back. I got my first job at a restaurant at 13 years old, and it’s something I’ve been working toward for basically my entire life.
What is your signature dish? What do people love about it?
It’s probably hard for most chefs to definite a singular dish that defines us. I’ve been inspired by food all over the world, and find passion in cooking many cuisines and styles. That said, if I had to pick one, I think my crab cake is really special. At one point Gordon Ramsay tried my crab cakes and called it “easily a top 10 crab cake in the world”. It’s hard to argue with Gordon Ramsay!
How do you incorporate food costs into your menu development process?
As a restaurant chef or private chef, food costs are obviously a guiding force toward your bottom line, but you also have to find balance between cost and quality; this is a constant battle in the restaurant industry. But since I’m now working as a full-time recipe developer and food writer, food cost has become as important as ever. For one, I need to control my food costs to keep myself profitable. Every penny counts when you’re self-employed. But I’m also writing recipes for anyone to make at home, so keeping food costs low also benefits my customers. I want my recipes to be accessible to everyone, so it’s a win-win situation if I can keep my food costs low. It even pushes me to be creative with my ingredients. How much flavor can I get with really simple ingredients that anyone can find in the grocery store? It’s the questions I constantly find myself asking, as I’m working on recipes.
Name the three kitchen tools you can’t do without?
As much as I really like to push the boundaries of food, when it comes to kitchen tools, I’m a bit of a traditionalist. I don’t think you need fancy equipment, devices, or gadgets to make really innovative cuisine. So, for me, if I have a good knife, a carbon-steel pan, and tongs, I can pretty much cook anything!
What is your proudest moment as a chef?
I’m not sure I’ll ever be as proud at anything as the moment I walked out to the cheering crowd at the finale of MasterChef. Though I didn’t necessarily “win” the show, I was the runner-up on the all- star season of arguably the toughest cooking competition in the U.S. I beat the best of the best of 11 years of competitors. It’s easily my proudest moment. Not only for making it so far, but really for proving so authentically who I am as a chef and as a person.
If you were told to provide a lower-calorie menu and had to make each of your dishes healthier, how would you approach that process?
First of all, I would remind myself that low-calorie does not mean low-flavor. I think many people hear words like “healthy” or “diet” or “low-calorie” and visually boring, underwhelming food, and it’s just not true. You can make phenomenal food with less calories by loading up meals with tons of spices and seasonings. Even if food is healthy, it should be exciting to eat, and that would be my mindset going into it. From there, I’d lean on proteins like chicken and salmon, and green veggies like haricots verts and asparagus, that can load up a plate and fill someone up. Then generously season them. There are also ways of adding flavor without any calories at all! Such as grilling or smoking meat or fish instead of roasting. The smoke adds so much flavor! There are lots of “hacks” for getting big flavors without as many calories.
What qualities do you believe make a good chef?
For many years, we thought of chefs as loud, pugnacious (and often nasty) in the kitchen and this can certainly be true at times. But I think the tone is changing. I think a good chef is a true leader. One who quietly inspires those around them to want to learn and grow. One who pushes creativity and rewards hard work. A good chef inspires, encourages, and sets their ego aside for the good of the team.
How do you handle teams with multicultural or multilingual employees?
Anyone who’s working in a restaurant kitchen knows you’ll find co-workers who speak other languages. This is something that should be embraced, not avoided. Bringing diversity into your teams can provide new perspectives, new techniques, and new flavors. Learn from everyone around you! When it comes to language, meet people where they are. If they can learn a second language, so can you! There are free apps now that can help you learn the basics of another language, and it can be really helpful for you, but also mean a lot to those co-workers when they see you trying. I’ve become fluent in Spanish, so becoming bilingual has added so much richness to my life both in and out of the kitchen.
What steps do you take to ensure that clients are satisfied with your meals?
Quality control is everything! Both in a commercial kitchen and now as a recipe developer, we need to ensure that every plate (or recipe) going out is perfect. Test your dishes over and over and pay attention to what your customers are saying - they’ll tell you the truth if you ask.
Listening and adjusting recipes as needed becomes a big part of my work, and I continue to strive to put out the best food possible.
How would you accommodate special diet needs, such as a gluten-free or vegan?
My whole career as of late has become focused on dietary needs. After losing 80 pounds on the Keto diet, I’ve written hundreds of recipes that are gluten-free, sugar- free, and low in carbohydrates. And the trick is simple: don’t sacrifice deliciousness for dietary needs. Everything needs to be just as tasty and satisfying as the non-dietary dishes. Nothing frustrates me more than going to a great restaurant only to see the one vegan item on the menu as a “throw away” or after-thought. If you include a vegan or gluten-free dish, put just as much love into it as every other dish on the menu and it should be just as delicious as well.
What Is Your Favorite Food Memory?
When I got out of school, I traveled through China and South Korea. Driving on the coast of Korea, I noticed a seemingly random tiny seaside market setup with tents and tables. Walking through, I saw a woman with two folding tables and a few coolers that had fish and crabs right out of the sea, still swimming in the coolers filled with ocean water. She took a beautiful King crab and threw them into a steamer. While it steamed, she gracefully took a whole fish, and swiftly broke it down into a massive sashimi platter. When the crab was done, she chopped it up into manageable pieces, and served the crab and sashimi as I sat there in my cheap plastic chair. No seasonings, no sauces, just honoring the freshness and beauty of these ingredients. It was the best meal of my life!
