Chef Carlos Llaguno Morales

It was announced this evening that Chef Carlos Llaguno Morales has passed away at 38.

Who is Carlos Llaguno Morales? He was the executive chef at NY Les Halles. Some of us were introduced to Carlos on multiple episodes of Anthony Bourdains "No Reservations". He came to the states from Mexico in 1994 with no culinary experience and over the years moved up the ranks. It is inevitable that he ended in a good place when you work under Bourdain over the years.

So tonight we here at FoodXcore want to pay our condolences to the friends, family and collegues on the passing of a chef who earned his part of the American dream.

I believe anyone who works in rhe kitchen can learn a lot from guys like Chef Carlos.

EAT INK- Recipes, Stories, Tattoos

I have been meaning to get around and writing a review about"Eat Ink" but the job has been keeping me busy. So here we go!!

I am a cookbook nerd and collector of tattoos so this book was going to be an obvious purchase. Having a history in the kitchen where all my friends who are cook, dishwashers and back of house staff all being tattooed this book was a no brainer.....This book was a great idea.

"Eat Ink" is broken up into 5 chapters...Hoofed, finned, winged, rooted and sugar. So you guessed it each chapter is going to feature a chef that is a top in his field.

"EAT INK" features chefs from all over the country and from different backgrounds. There book features former Top Chef contestants, Contestants from Hell's Kitchen, James Beard Foundation nominees and more.

There is a common thread between many of the chefs in this book and that is they did not start in the kitchen. There are plenty of them (chefs) that knew this (career as a chef) was what they wanted.

The more I read the book the more I actually like it.My first glance through it had chefs with one or two tattoos and I was like "Really, this is what your going to cover in a tattoo cookbook?"

As I read the recipes the great thing is that most of them are really approachable. That is important because so many cookbooks come out and are not easy for the daily at home cook.

I will be honest I was hoping to see more guys like rhe Voltaggios, Aaron Sanchez, Jamie Bissonnette and a few other bigger named and heavily tattoo chefs.

Chef Charlie Trotter

So it has been quite some time since I posted but todays post is sad news for the city of Chicago.

Chef Trotter passed away today at age 54. His family, friends and a lot of big names in the food game have done nothing but pay respect to a man who really in the end helped shape some of Chicago's food culture.

Chicago chef Graham Elliot (Master Chef judge) tweets: "CHARLIE TROTTER: chef, mentor, trailblazer, philosopher, artist, teacher, leader. He now belongs to the ages."

The first time I heard the name Charlie Trotter was because of Anthony Bourdain and "No Reservations"

Cities with major food culture there are men and women who have helped shape the face of food in there cities and what I have read and learned about Charlie Trotter was he was one of these men

I am not sure what to say but here at FoodXCore we offer our condolences to his family, friends and to all those chefs influenced by him in one way or another do not forget what he taught you because someone has to pass it on!!

Cheers!

4 Chefs I follow on Instagram

   Alright, so here is the deal I love Twitter and Instagram and so I have decided to share with you guys my list of favorite chefs I am following on Instagram. This list is in no particular order.

Chopsticks for nose picking..DOPE

1)Jamie Bissonnette (jamiebiss): I found out about Jamie becuase of a book called Primal Cuts (a must own). Jamie is the chef/owner of Coppa Boston and is an old hardcore kid, so this automatically made me a fan.

Cosentino and Denis Leary

2)Chris Cosentino (offalchris): I consider Chris Cosentino one of the most important "nose-to-tail" chefs in California. If you have not check out his book "Beginnings" you should especially if you are into cooking seasonally

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3)Michael Voltaggio (mvoltaggio): Owner of LA's INK and INK.SACK and oh yeah he won Top Chef season 6. There is just something cool about the guy. If you can slurge for INK do it. If you can not then you need to go to INK.SACK and have the Crab Cake Chips!

4)Nate Appleman (nappleman):  Best New Chef of 2009, James Beard winner and walked away from Pulino's in New York to go work for Chipotle. Yeah you heard me right, Chipotle (which I love by the way)! He left for his son. Anyone willing to give it all up for family is tops in my book.