1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, stalks peeled and sliced crosswise 1/2 inch thick.

Okai’s food is refined and thoughtful, but like his music, it’s anything but quiet.His behind-the-counter energy is palpable, and the team doesn’t shy away from spectacle every now and then—”Once every three months,” says Okai, “we host an event where we bring the full.

and cut the fish in front of 50 to 60 people....this gives me a lot of adrenaline.”.Rothman attributes some of this spark to Okai’s interdisciplinary approach to food, describing how “he talks about his cooking in sort of musical terms.” These confluences are what help him create and innovate while keeping his cheeky, rambunctious aesthetic intact—Rothman notes that “he’ll talk about how the Rolling Stones or The Beatles have this sort of core identity as musicians, but that they adapted very smartly over the years to new audiences so that they could stay modern.”.Okai, whose restaurant constantly teases out what a sushi experience can be—playing R&B through the understated 12-seat dining room, for example, or incorporating elements of Central Texas BBQ into his nigiri—“talks about his cooking in the same way.”.

Food & Wine Best New Chefs 2017. .Originally appeared: May 2013.Grace Young has literally written the book on wok cooking.(Make that two; her second,.

Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge.

, won a James Beard Award.)Edna Lewis: At the Table with an.

, which comes out April 13.The collection of 21 essays by professional cooks, food writers, academics, and Lewis’ own friends and family paints the picture of the soft-spoken woman whose personal and political philosophies were so radical, the only way she could communicate was through food.. Lewis was born in 1916 in the community of Freetown, Virginia.

As she chronicled in her 1976 cookbook/memoir,.The Taste of Country Cooking.