Dan's Taste 2021 Chefs Countdown: Guy Reuge, Mirabelle Restaurant

For tickets and more information on all Dan’s Taste 2021 events, visit DansTaste.com.

First word (or words) that comes to mind when you hear “Taste of Summer?”

This year would be welcome back to summer fun.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

Everywhere at any time, it’s great to put a new idea in practice and see the result.

You can invite three people, living or dead, to your dinner party. Who are they, and what would that meal be?

I always wanted to cook for President Obama. I would let him pick two guests, as well, and I will cook sturgeon with a leek and ginger fondue served with oeuf brouille in the shell, topped with caviar; seared squab breast, leg confit, vanilla poached peach, chanterelle timbale with port scented jus; and apricot tartlet with caramelized marcona almond and black currant sorbet.

What’s your favorite dish to prepare, and do you enjoy eating it as much as preparing it?

There’s no favorite dish for me—the time, market or the season dictate my taste and, of course, I have to eat it.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

That there is always room for improvement, to never be totally happy with a dish as it can always be better, and to never forget the little details.

Share your funniest, most unforgettable or oddest kitchen incident.

During the long days of winter at the old Mirabelle, one of my waiters asked me to paint a balloon with chocolate in order to deflate the balloon as the chocolate would get hard and obtain a round and hollow ball of chocolate. I let him do it. As the balloon got almost completed with the kitchen staff intensively watching, a sudden burst of the balloon send the chocolate to his face and all over the kitchen as our waiter was left with a small piece of rubber stuck between two fingers. We had a good laugh before cleaning the whole kitchen.

Who do you most admire in the food/wine world and why?

I am always amazed by a great food/ wine pairing. It is hard to achieve but it can be very rewarding to the sense of taste.

What is going to be the “next big thing” on the East End food scene?

What is it today? I do not gamble on this, as I do not know, trends come and go.

What are your hobbies, passions and interests outside the world of food, wine and work?

Traveling and writing. Travel helps me on getting new unexplored ideas around food and technics new to me. Writing in English is a challenge for me (not my mother tongue), but I love to go deeper in a language that I learn to love.

What’s your comfort food and why?

A roasted farm-raised chicken with vegetables cooked with it does the trick for me. It is simple and always good.

If you were not in the food or wine business, what would you be doing?

I would be a photojournalist. Photography was my hobby for many years, and I am proud of some pictures I took in the 1970s—New York (Harlem, the Lower East Side), the desert of Morocco and other places.

What is the most memorable thing you’ve ever tasted?

A clover-studded sweetbread at Freddy Girardet in Crissier.

What recent travels have you taken that have inspired you?

No travel lately because of COVID but finding myself on the coast of Croatia two years ago extended my knowledge of Mediterranean cuisine.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Training and forming young chefs who became Michelin starred or leaders of great restaurants in America.

What’s a unique kitchen ritual you practice?

Tasting the food you prepare should be rigorously done, and every day I make sure that my staff does it.

What has surprised you the most about working in the East End culinary scene?

It’s not a surprise but simply the camaraderie of every chef involved in programs such as Dan’s Taste of Two Forks.

What is your go-to karaoke song?

Wishing I could sing better, I would pick any Beatles song.

It’s your last weekend on earth—what’s the menu?

I do not want it to end, but I will have a large can of caviar.

We just handed you a glass of bubbly. Now please make a toast to summer on the East End.

It will be in French: Que la fete continue!

The Mirabelle Restaurant at the Three Village Inn is located at 150 Main Street, Stony Brook. To learn more, visit lessings.com/corporate/restaurants/venue/restaurant-mirabelle.