Chef Jeremiah Tower: A Shining Culinary Constellation

Let's celebrate Chef Jeremiah Tower's culinary past, present and future. Considered to be the first Celebrity Chef and a creator of California cuisine, Chef Tower's creative genius continues to influence chefs around the world and across generations. During this special Kitchen Chat, he shares delightful stories about Julia Child, James Beard and Anthony Bourdain with Chef Jaime Laurita and me. Chef Tower also touches upon the music in the kitchen at Chez Panisse and shares why he left Stars, his famous restaurant in San Francisco. He explains, "At the very top, you step off. That's why I left and went to the beach. It was time to go fishing. Only Anthony Bourdain understood it. Nobody else did." Anthony Bourdain featured Chef Tower in a CNN documentary, "Chef Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent" which is available on Netflix.

Chef Tower lives in Mexico now and is working on a new book about his experiences of eating food from around the world. In addition, he is partnering with a prestigious institute in Mexico on "la busqueda de la authentic cocina Mexicana" to create a full documentation in every way of the regions of Mexico and their cooking of the hearth in homes and to present new versions that keep the original flavors and tastes.

He remains passionate about focusing on ingredients. Chef Tower truly defines and lives life with exquisite taste and style: "Style has to come from within and it's what you're working with. The real style is finding the perfect fish, knowing how to take care of it, knowing how to cook it and knowing in what ambiance to serve it to your paying customers. Simplicity of food is the real style. Just like the little black dress in fashion."

Chef Jeremiah Tower shares his top three tips for the home cook:

1. Empty out your spice drawer that's got 40 bottles of two year old spices and throw them away. Buy spices in small quantities on the day or week that you plan to cook with them.
2. Healthful eating is more important than ever. Eat healthy food, invite your friends to your home and cook for them. It's all about the ingredients.
3. Don't be afraid to cook. You can always make scrambled eggs if your dish doesn't turn out.