A decade ago, Bay Areans might remember Chef Cat Cora as manning the stoves at Postino Restaurant in Lafayette, and writing a regular cooking column for the Contra Costa Times’ food section.
How times have changed.
The 41-year-old Culinary Institute of America grad has gone big-time. You’ll now find her beaming from TV sets across the nation as the only female “Iron Chef America” star on the Food Network.
Her second cookbook just came out this year: “Cooking From the Hip” (Houghton Mifflin), which bears the same name as her former newspaper column.
Cora is set to open a new restaurant in Costa Mesa in December. And she and her partner, Jen, who have been together a decade, are expecting their third child in April 2009.
I caught up with the petite culinary star with the charming Southern twang at the recent “Worlds of Flavor International Conference” at the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone Campus in St. Helena.
Q: Does it feel like a lifetime ago that you were at Postino and writing for your local newspaper?
A: It does feel like another lifetime ago. It feels like I’ve had three lives between then and now. But it was a fun time for me doing the column.
Q: Why did you decide to settle in the Santa Barbara area?
A: I get to live by the beach, mountains and vineyards. Plus the public schools there are probably better than most private ones around the country.
Q: You’re opening a barbecue joint, CCQ (Cat Cora’s Que) at the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa next month? Why barbecue?
A: It was a fluke. I’m on the Macy’s Culinary Council. And I had one conversation with them, and they said, “We want you to do a fast-casual concept.” I thought of barbecue immediately. I’m from the South, and this will be global barbecue. Everyone around the world barbecues. I grew up around it. I wanted to expand on the flavors I love. We’ll use all natural meats and organic products.
Q: Will there be more CCQs around the country?
A: Yes, we own the concept, and we are working on opening others. I’m also working on a new signature restaurant concept. It’ll be fine-dining, and opening in larger cities in 2009.
In 2010, I also hope to roll out my first products — bakeware, cutlery, and pots and pans. We’re going green as much as possible with the product lines. We hope to do things that are innovative, and not just the same ol’ pot or pan.
Q: Why did you want to do “Iron Chef America”?
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Last weekend, I had the opportunity to talk to Nate Appleman, executive chef-owner of A16 in San Francisco, about his wondrous three-day pizza dough recipe. You might remember my original post, touting it.
