For the past nine years, Joey Altman has been a familiar face on TV as the host of KRON’s “Bay Cafe,” where he’s welcomed us into his home and into the kitchens of some of the region’s best restaurants. 

Nine months ago, the award-winning show sadly went off the air, the victim of the dismal economy and the unfortunate lack of a major sponsor, Altman says. 

Altman fans shouldn’t despair. The 44-year-old, long-time Bay Area chef has been busy for the past year, working as a consulting chef for the new incarnation of Miss Pearl’s Jam House in Oakland, which just opened in late August. Altman was the opening chef for the original Miss Pearl’s Jam House in San Francisco in 1989. 

His first cookbook also was published this year: “Without Reservations” (John Wiley & Sons), which is filled with tips and recipes for cooking boldly flavored dishes at home. 

I caught up with him recently to talk about life after TV, his disdain for TV dinners, and his favorite TV and music idols. 

Q: I remember when “Bay Café” first aired. Would it be fair to say that you weren’t nearly as ease on TV as you are now? 

A: I was horrid the first 200 shows. They’re unwatchable for me. I was just ‘on’ as opposed to ‘being.’ I’ll go on a show now, and I’ll see other people practice bullet points in front of a mirror. I can’t imagine doing that today. I don’t think about it anymore. I just ‘do.’ 

Q: Was it sad for you when “Bay Café” ended? 

A: I was very sad. All of my life has been a series of 90-degree turns. It requires one door to close for another to open. I’m confident I’ll find something. I won’t sit at home and pick lint out of my belly button. 

I love the diversity of my career. I’d like to do another cookbook, more consulting on restaurants, and to play with my band (the Back Burner Blues Band, made up of fellow Bay Area chefs), and to a business project that would give me some sort of equity. 

Q: Would you like to open another restaurant of your own? 

A: God forbid. Not with three young children at home. Knowing what it takes to really make a restaurant work, I don’t want to sacrifice that much in my life right now. As it is, I’m doing 16-hour days at Miss Pearl’s. I’ll be there a couple more months. 

Q: Is the new Miss Pearl’s similar to the original one? 

A: The sensibilities of both are the same, but it’s really the evolution of the original as if it had continued to grow. The signature dishes are there and the funky drinks. We’re also embracing things that have come on the scene since then — sustainable and local. The cooking there isn’t trendy; there’s not a lot of sous vide or foams happening there. It’s just more sophisticated because the environment is more so than it was before. There are elements of whimsy there. It’s bold flavors that are really dynamic and evocative of island cooking with lots of chilies, ginger, and lime juice. 

Q: If you could trade places with anyone on TV, who would it be? 

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It’s hard to believe that it will be a decade this Labor Day weekend that Chef Ron Siegel made history, becoming the first and only American to ever beat an “Iron Chef” on the original Japanese-version of that wildly popular culinary TV show. 

Siegel, now the celebrated chef of the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco, walked into Kitchen Stadium, having never really followed the show, and not fully realizing the magnitude of what was to come. The Japanese also underestimated their American challenger. Siegel had quite the credentials already, having cooked at Aqua in San Francisco and Daniel in New York. The former opening sous chef for the French Laundry in Yountville, Siegel was then the chef of the well-regarded Charles Nob Hill in San Francisco. Even so, the producers of the show feared he wouldn’t even complete any dishes. 

But when “Battle Lobster” ended, Siegel had not only crafted five dishes, but food so spectacular that he emerged victorious over Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai. His life, and his cooking, was forever changed. 

Even today, diners still come up to shake his hand and congratulate him. And the video on YouTube of the epic battle has attracted more than 4,800 viewers. 

You might expect Siegel to be an avid fan of today’s crop of reality-TV cooking shows, but you’d be wrong. Still, he came this close to being on the first season of “Top Chef” _ not as a competitor, but as a judge. In the end, though, the producers went instead with Fleur de Lys in San Francisco as the setting for the first challenge. 

Fame, apparently, has not gone to his head. The Dining Room’s pastry chef, Alexander Espiritu, who has worked with Siegel for four years, says, “I’ve never worked with any other chef whom I got along with so well. The most important thing I’ve learned from him is to relax. As Ron always says, ‘Don’t worry, it’ll happen.’ ”

I caught up with the 42-year-old, father-of-four last week when he was the guest chef at a special heirloom tomato dinner at the Cliff House in San Francisco. Siegel had me in stitches, chatting about Iron Chef, his years at Palo Alto High School, and of course, tomatoes. 

Q: Would it be fair to say that if you had never done “Iron Chef” that your style of cooking might be quite different today? 

A: Yes. I think I probably would have matured enough to let other influences in. But I never would have gone to Japan five times like I did, and learned so much about the food and culture there. The passion the Japanese have for food is just incredible. 

Q: What do you think when you look back at your Iron Chef battle? 

A: I would go back and do that show again in Japan. I wouldn’t do the American version, though. I don’t think it’s as good. That’s what happens when Americans remake things. “La Femme Nikita” is a prime example of that. I just hope they never remake “Babette’s Feast.” 

Q: If the Japanese “Iron Chef” show was still around, who would you choose the next time around to battle? 

A: Sakai again. He’s amazing. I remember when I first met him. I was in a suit, and he comes in, wearing this warm-up jacket. I don’t know how old he was then, but the guy was ripped. He looked like Rocky Balboa. And he was just so polite. 

Q: So you’re not a fan of the newest cooking competition shows? 

A: I saw “Hell’s Kitchen” a few times. Can they not pick someone who can cook on that show? I have seen “Top Chef,” but I don’t really watch it. Actually, I like the History Channel. And “The Shield.” It has nothing to do with cooking, but it was a good show! It was so violent and intense. 

Q: You were recently on the Discovery Channel’s “MythBusters” show? 

A: For all of 10 seconds. Or maybe 20 seconds. I was tasting steak. They wanted me to test whether if you blow up steak, it’ll taste more tender. 

Q: Uh, OK. And does it? 

A: Well, they were such small pieces, it wasn’t always easy to tell. 

Q: So what do you think about chefs being the new celebrities? 

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The restaurant industry can be a nail-biting, roller-coaster ride. But few chefs have weathered as many jolting ups and downs as Justin Perez. 

In 2003, his small Buca restaurant in Campbell faced a David-and-Goliath fight when restaurant chain Buca di Beppo, which has more than 30 locations nationwide, threatened a lawsuit because it believed the name of Perez’s restaurant was too similar and could confuse customers. Rather than face an expensive legal battle, Perez renamed his popular establishment, Restaurant O.

Two years later, a bizarre incident occurred while Perez was relaxing with his family at their San Jose home. A hysterical woman came running up to them, screaming that her husband was going to kill her. Perez and his family took her into their home and called police for help. 

His good deed, though, soon turned into a horrific nightmare. His house was subsequently fire-bombed, and bricks hurled through his front windows. The husband’s brother was later convicted of those crimes, but not before Perez, his wife, and their young children were severely traumatized.

In 2006, with his life back together, Perez spent $30,000 to renovate Restaurant O. He did all the work, himself, with the help of a few friends, only to discover a year later that his landlord was selling the property to make way for a senior retirement project there instead.

As word spread about the plans, diners stopped going to the restaurant, believing it was already closed. With so little business, Perez was forced to shutter it.

He was crushed. Yet unbelievably, the worst was yet to come.

I caught up with the 37-year-old chef, who somehow has remained indefatigable through it all.

Q: Your life has been a soap opera, hasn’t it?

A: We used to actually say, ‘As the O turns,’ when we had bad days at Restaurant O.

Q: And after Restaurant O closed, that wasn’t the end of your struggles?

A: No. Around that time, I found out my former director of operations had embezzled about $750,000 from the restaurant. I’d known him for 20 years. He was my best friend. It was pretty devastating.

Q: How did you finally find out?

A: He got really sick last year, and had to stop working. That’s when we found out. He had taken out loans and forged my name on them. We’d give him money to pay the taxes, but we ended up owing more than $300,000 in payroll taxes to the IRS. At one point, I owed close to $1 million to the IRS and to our vendors.

Q: What did you do?

A: I mortgaged my two houses – the San Jose one my family lives in and the one in Oregon that my grandfather lives in. I tried to pay things down as much as I could, but when interest rates went up, that killed me.

I finally filed for personal bankruptcy. So I’m no longer the owner of my company. Chris Flippen, my director of marketing and sales, is. I’m just an employee.

Q: Where is your former best friend now?

A: He disappeared. We filed police reports on him. But nobody knows where he is now.

Q: I don’t know many people who could look so pulled together after going through something like that. How have you managed to do so?

A: I’m back where I started, at square one. But I love it. I’m just happy I got through it. I survived.

Q: Your Restaurant O Catering company is now operating out of La Hacienda Inn in Los Gatos. How did that come about?

A: The owner wants to demolish the property for townhouses. But that won’t happen for a couple years. So he offered it to me in the meantime. I’ve been here since March. The building we have is twice the size of what we had at Restaurant O. And we use the patio for hosting the special wine dinners that we do each month.

Q: Have your customers remained loyal or have they been scared off by the bankruptcy?

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Celebrated chef and restaurateur for 35 years, Bradley Ogden has overseen such acclaimed restaurants as Campton Place in San Francisco, the Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur, Parcel 104 in Santa Clara, and his eponymous Bradley Ogden in Las Vegas.

His latest project may catch you by surprise. It’s in — of all places — Solvang. Yes, the noted chef is about to put his stamp on a new, upscale restaurant in the land of windmills and Danish bakeries. Founder of the Lark Creek Restaurant Group (where he’s still a major shareholder and a board member), and in charge of the culinary programs at Parcel 104 and Bradley Ogden restaurants, Ogden let us in on the scoop about his new venture.

Q: Why in the world Solvang?

A: (laughs) It’s a consulting job at the old Royal Scandinavian Inn. The Chumash tribe bought it. They own a casino 4 miles away, but it’s not connected to this project.

It’ll be a boutique hotel with more than 100 rooms. Yes, we have to keep the country-like façade, but the inside will be gutted and the look will be contemporary and warm. I’m redoing the restaurant there. Hopefully, it’ll open in early December. Nope, there’s no name for it yet.

Q: How expensive of a project is this?

A: It’s probably at $12-$20 million project with the hotel and restaurant.

Q: What will the restaurant be like?

A: It will be about 80 seats with a glassed-in kitchen. When you walk in, there will be French doors that will open up to the lounge-bar area that will have water features, landscaping, and fireplaces. The design will be sort of a light California-Hawaiian decor.

You have one of the biggest agricultural areas in the world here, so sustainable agriculture will be a big part of the menu. It will be influenced by local fishermen and local growers. The wine list will be 90 percent American, up and down coast of California, with a heavy emphasis on the Santa Ynez, Paso Robles, and San Luis Obispo area.

It will be an upscale, contemporary American restaurant with prices in the $30 and under range.

Q: And who is the target clientele?

A: Locals, which is the mainstay of any restaurant. And we hope to draw in tourists.

Q: Is it easier or harder to open a restaurant these days?

A: It’s harder now. It doesn’t get any easier even when you know what conceptually works and doesn’t work. We’re in an economy that’s fluctuating, but it’s nothing that we haven’t been through before. People don’t have a lot of money to spend. They may stay closer to home. But they’ll always eat out. It’s cheaper to dine out than eat in.

Q: It is?

A: In some ways, yes. You can’t leave the market without paying $100.

Q: You mean, when you shop at Whole Foods?

A: (laughs)

Q: What do you think of all those reality-TV cooking shows? Do you watch them? Shun them? You know, your whole crew at Parcel 104 is addicted to “Top Chef.”

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Imagine cooking without such staples as sugar, chocolate, vanilla beans, cinnamon, coffee, and even pepper. That’s the challenge that Executive Chef Robert Sapirman and his crew at Parcel 104 restaurant in Santa Clara are taking on with the second annual “104-Mile Dinner” on June 7.

 That night, every ingredient used must come from no more than 104 miles from the restaurant (measured from point to point in a straight line). Climate Clean of Portland, Ore. will be working with the restaurant to mitigate and offset the greenhouse gas emissions generated from this $125-per-person dinner.

The seven-course dinner includes Point Reyes oysters, local petrale sole, and pork belly from pigs raised in the Yosemite area. Also on the menu are Cornish game hens that were slaughtered, then air-chilled, as opposed to the conventional method of water chilling. Proponents of this method favor it because they consider it more sanitary (studies so far, though, are inconclusive). In air-chilling, the poultry also absorbs less water, making for a crisper skin when cooked and more intense flavor.

Parcel 104’s pastry chef, Carlos Sanchez, will be ending the night with a refreshing dessert of Sausalito Springs watercress topped with strawberry sorbet made with honey, fresh strawberries the staff will pick the day before in Sonoma, and tiny beignets of Bellwether Farms Carmody cheese.

The menu is subject to change, of course, since it’s all based on what’s available locally at the time. 

I sat down with Sapirman to find out the most difficult aspects of creating such a dinner.

Q: You came on board as chef last year just as the restaurant was about to do the 104-mile dinner for the first time. I think I detected just a tiny glint of fear and panic in your eyes then. How is it different this time around?

A: Last year, it was all about what could we get our hands on. It was a real race to find things. This year, we have more time, and we’re able to reach out to see that’s really out there.  Last year at the last minute, we were able to find wheat flour in Sonoma, so we were able to make crackers for the beet salad. This year, we’ve already discovered that Full Belly Farm (an hour northwest of Sacramento) — which is right on the edge of our 104-mile limit, and believe me, I measured it – produces flour and wheat berries.

Q: Last year, you guys were in a tizzy because you thought you wouldn’t be able to use salt. But at the last second, you found a source?

A: Yes, we get salt from underneath the Dumbarton Bridge. There are salt flats there. And a producer makes this very coarse pretzel salt from there that we have to grind ourselves until it’s finer.

Q: So there will be salt, but no peppercorns?

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