SOBEWFF

Mardi Gras may have come and gone, but thanks to advocates like chef John Besh, New Orleans cuisine will always be in style. The Louisiana-based culinary personality — who runs nine restaurants, has authored three cookbooks, runs a charitable foundation, and hosts a forthcoming show on PBS — has been one of Crescent City's biggest ambassadors. We caught up with the chef poolside in South Beach, where we discussed everything from life lessons to ingredient obsessions.

POPSUGAR: What's keeping you busy right now?
John Besh: I have a new series coming out this Spring on American Public Broadcasting, which is called John Besh's Family Table, filmed in my house. It's strictly the foods that my wife and I feed our four boys, and the way that we create menus around that idea of cooking and eating as a family. My third cookbook will be released in the Fall; it's called Cooking From the Heart. It's about anecdotes and delicious recipes from my apprenticeships in both Germany and France, a tribute to stepping back good, gutsy food like blanquette de veau, that style of cooking. I wanted to focus on the idea of eating, dining, and learning more about yourself in the process — life lessons about food.

PS: Sounds like John Besh's Family Table is inspired by your book My Family Table. Tell us more about it.
JB: I created a book because my wife challenged me to the fact that I was running all over, sourcing ingredients for all of our wonderful paying customers. But at home, I kind of left that up to my wife. [She said], "If you cared half as much about what we're eating as [you do] your customers, then we would be a lot better off." That had me really think about why is it that I do what I do. It can't be just to make a living; I need to spread this kind of passion, and it starts with family. So I started operating the kitchen at home like I would operate a professional kitchen. Let's say I'm making this great centerpiece with pork shoulder and black-eyed peas; I'll take that shoulder and create anything from a green chili to Vietnamese noodle bowls to Cuban sandwiches.

PS: Why public broadcasting?

Find out his answer when you keep reading.

Bobby Flay may have taken top honors at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival's Burger Bash this past weekend, but it was tacos — another category he's well versed in — that he tackled at a cooking demo on Sunday. His passion for the subject quickly became apparent as he made spicy jerk chicken tacos topped with red cabbage slaw and habañero hot sauce as well as an enticing stone crab and orange mojo stunner. He even proclaimed them a perfect food — "you can make anything a taco," he said — later admitting that they're a food he consistently craves, especially "late at night [after he's] had a few cocktails with friends." Here are a few tips and tricks the chef had to impart:

• Prioritize textural contrast: Both of Flay's tacos had a crunchy element: a red cabbage slaw for the jerk chicken and a deep-fried blue corn tortilla for the stone crab. He emphasized waiting until the last minute to dress the slaw so that it would stay crisp.
• Overseason taco fillings. "Otherwise, it's going to be fighting through the tortilla," he said. A bland tortilla can overpower the other components, making for an uninteresting bite.

Keep reading for two more taco tips.

Bobby Flay has a shining new accomplishment to put under his belt: winner of the Burger Bash people's choice award. The owner of Bobby's Burger Palace shared his elation with the crowd at a South Beach Wine and Food Festival demo yesterday, mostly about dethroning best friend and long-standing winner Michael Symon. "I've endured 36 straight months of razzing from Michael. The next 12 will be bliss . . . I'm going to give it back." Chef Flay also shared tips and his controversial opinions on what does — and does not — belong between two buns.

• Don't even bother with chicken burgers. When asked by an audience member why her chicken burgers never turn out quite right, Flay had a simple, definitive answer: "Don't make them!" Ground chicken breast doesn't work: it's too rubbery and dry. Instead, he offers customers a chicken breast sandwich and turkey burgers to satisfy those in need of a poultry fix.

Keep reading for a deeper glimpse into his burger philosophy.

Think eating out nightly and watching episodes of Kitchen Nightmares has given you a grasp on what it's like to run a restaurant? Then think again: owning a restaurant is serious (and tough) business. While the tough landscape is nothing new, you might be surprised to learn what factors are directly related to success — and which ones aren't. At day three of the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, a number of culinary heavyweights came together to demystify the biz: New Orleans stalwart John Besh, Top Chef and Chicago favorite Stephanie Izard, Portland restaurateur Jenn Louis, and Miami mogul John Kunkel. Here are five points they hit upon that might surprise you.

Restaurateurs are, first and foremost, businessmen.
Kunkel shared one revelation: "A line out the door does not guarantee a profit." Understanding a balance sheet, on the other hand, might help. "I opened a restaurant . . . by basically pulling a Ponzi scheme on myself," he told the audience only half jokingly. The biggest amateur mistake is "not knowing all the costs that go into opening," Izard said. Or for that matter, the amount of work: "I have no other hobbies," Louis admitted. They all went by the wayside once she committed to opening her own restaurant.

Juggling more than one restaurant can be hugely complicated.
Izard, who has just opened a second spin-off restaurant, Little Goat, put this out there: "It's hard at restaurant number two, learning how to divide your head, when you can't do all the details. I don't know if I'll ever get to that point where I have more than two [restaurants]. I'm kind of a control freak." On the contrary, Besh pointed out that "to go from one to three restaurants is more difficult than to go from three to nine. You have to have managers that understand it, get it, and have the soul." To keep everything consistent across his Louisiana restaurants, Besh has implemented across-the-board rules. "You have to create a standardization of everything," he said. One way he does it is by sharing information with other similarly sized restaurant groups elsewhere in the country, like the Philadelphia-based Vetri Family or Chicago chef Paul Kahan's One Off Hospitality Group.

Local and sustainable is not always practical.
"Farm-to-table is not always possible," Kunkel admitted, explaining that there's a tightrope to walk between top-quality food and what the customer perceives to be a reasonable price point. "There is a balance between providing the absolute best product as a restaurant and . . . staying in business."

Keep reading to see two more interesting restaurant facts.