BRYAN AND MICHAEL VOLTAGGIO first hit the mainstream when they competed against each other on Season 6 of Bravo TV's Top Chef. Before appearing on the show, each had built up street cred in a variety of restaurant gigs — Bryan was a disciple of Charlie Palmer and later chef/partner at Volt, an acclaimed spot in his hometown of Frederick, MD; Michael also worked under Palmer at Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg, CA, where he helped earn that restaurant a Michelin star; later as executive chef at L.A.'s The Bazaar by José Andrés; then as chef de cuisine at the Dining Room at the Langham, Huntington Hotel in Pasadena. Two years after Michael's Top Chef win, the siblings have collaborated on a new cookbook, Volt Ink.: Recipes, which showcases their individual cooking styles in recipes exploring 20 food families. Both are also opening new venues. The Voltaggios recently took a break to chat about their latest ventures.
RH: You organized your book into food families. Why?
Bryan: We were trying to decide how to categorize the recipes, and we had the idea of taking one ingredient and having each of us play off the ingredient. We also wanted it to be somewhat about family, and what it means for us to be family. So, we wondered, did most people know that parsley, coriander and carrots belong in the same family? What about the laurel family, which includes bay leaf and cinnamon? Why do they go so well together? How do ingredients from the same family integrated into one dish play off each other? We could also show where ingredient families come from geographically. It was an educational element that we wanted to add to the book. And we wanted to cook things we love to cook, things we already have in our repertoire, successful dishes.
RH: What was it like to collaborate on the cookbook? You are known for different cooking styles, but how did your work styles mesh?
Michael: We actually have very similar styles. We vary in flavor profiles. I think it's a little bit of geography, but also our individual personalities, that inspire the combinations of ingredients. It was easy to collaborate with Bryan because we both have a great deal of discipline when it comes to cooking. Things just get done and done well when you work with a professional like Bryan.
RH: What has Top Chef done for you, and how did you feel about facing off on the show?
Michael: It was fun to compete against Bryan. It made the process a little easier; however, the result was bittersweet. Top Chef and other cooking shows are a great way to reach out and create a much larger demographic of people interested in food. It's not just about meat and potatoes anymore. Our guests are asking for more because they are becoming more ingredient- and technique-savvy.
Michael: It was fun to compete against Bryan. It made the process a little easier; however, the result was bittersweet. Top Chef and other cooking shows are a great way to reach out and create a much larger demographic of people interested in food. It's not just about meat and potatoes anymore. Our guests are asking for more because they are becoming more ingredient- and technique-savvy.
Bryan: It encouraged collaboration between Michael and me, because we were working together and seeing each other more than we had in our careers and lives. Even though we are brothers, I never saw Michael as much as I do now.
RH: There must be some degree of sibling rivalry between you. Any pluses to that?
Michael: We hold each other accountable. Also, when you are related, it's a little easier to say what you really think. The critiques make us better.
Bryan: We are very competitive by nature in our careers — in the past, we always tried to one up each other and didn't really share ideas. I think it helped propel our careers faster when we would ask, “What are you doing next?” It was healthy. Now we're more adult and more mature. We were thrown together on the show and realized that we respect each other's craft and food and palates and ideas. It's good because we do have different influences. We were able to create more with that, and we share more ideas now. Michael is the best person to throw ideas off of. We're working on more ideas and things together now, which is a good thing. We were outside each other's daily experience. Now we are very much involved in each other's business. We talk just about every day, whether it's about things we have going on between on us or I'm calling up to say, “I have this ingredient; let me run some ideas by you.” It's just good to have someone you know you can trust to give a good opinion.
RH: Michael, you recently opened your first restaurant, ink., in LA. Have you made any early tweaks?
Michael: We are tweaking every day. If we ever get satisfied with where we are, we are not doing our job.
RH: What made you decide to open ink. sack, a sandwich shop, a few doors down from ink.? Do the two restaurants share resources?
Michael: Ink. does supply the sandwich shop with most of the prep. There is no actual kitchen at ink. sack and the majority of the meats and garnishes are made from scratch. Logistically it made sense but now that we have managed to open both, we are realizing that we are already outgrowing the space a little. We are very thankful for the local support we have had in West Hollywood and hope that ink. sack becomes a neighborhood staple.
RH: And Bryan, what's on the horizon for you?
Bryan: We are planning a market format concept in Maryland. We have the location but it may change because of city and structural issues. It will have multiple stations, including a raw bar and a bakery. It will be like Mario Batali's Eataly — but not. I want to make that clear. It's very much a restaurant first and retail second. We're also working on a steakhouse with a focus on alternative cuts — shanks and shoulders and hanger steak, different game birds, vegetables from local farms and sustainable products, It's a big project, about 278 seats.
RH: Do you foresee any joint projects in the future?
Bryan: Besides the cookbook, it's too early to talk about other projects. We did tape a Thanksgiving special for the Cooking Channel. That will be a fun thing — we take on Thanksgiving.
