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One thing you don't know about me is that I am as good at the game of Scrabble as I am at cooking.
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If I could trade places with one chef it would be Francis Mallmann, the Argentian chef and author of Seven Fires. He is a genius when it comes to cooking over wood-fire, and I would love to be able to cook as many whole cows as he does.
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One of my most memorable meals was at Cibreo in Florence, Italy. The calamari inzimino changed my life.
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If there were no bananas, I'd have no reason to live. It's my and my son's favorite food to share together.
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My go-to drink is coffee or espresso — Blue Bottle or Illy, Starbucks or Folgers, I don't discriminate.
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If I were on death row my last meal would be my grandmother's skillet-fried chicken with a plate of thin and crispy home baked chocolate chip cookies for dessert.
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My worst culinary creation was the medium rare turkey I once tried to serve at Thanksgiving.
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If I could change one thing about me it would be the ability to not get seasick so I could go out and fish for the day's catch.
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My favorite junk food is Cheez-Its
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If I weren't a restaurant operator, I'd love to be a stay-at-home dad to take care of my son, Oliver.
Nate Appleman is a 2007 Restaurant Hospitality Rising Star, a 2009 James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef, a 2009 Food & Wine Best New Chef and a current contestant on The Next Iron Chef. A trained butcher and one of a few Americans certified as a pizzaiolo by the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association, Appleman is the co-owner of A16 and SPQR in San Francisco. Another unit of A16 recently opened in Tokyo. He recently became a chef/partner at Pulino's Bar and Pizzeria in New York City.