Chef Profile - Michael Miller (Silicon Valley Capital Club)
Name: Michael Miller
Residing Club: Silicon Valley Capital Club in San Jose, Calif.
Background and Career Highlights: Won the Michelin Star Chef award in 2009 and 2010 and the Emerging Maverick Award via Cinequest.
Other than your chef knife, what is your favorite kitchen tool?:
"A wooden spatula"
What had the greatest influence on your culinary career?:
"My father's pizza place."
What is your single favorite ingredient to cook with?:
"Yuzu juice is my latest favorite."
What is something about you few people know?:
"I've been a musician longer than I've been a chef."
What is one thing that can always be found in your home refrigerator?: "Butter, eggs, stock, beer... the basic essentials."
If you could cook dinner for anyone, past, present or future, who would it be?:
"My grandfather. He put me through culinary school but I never had the chance to cook for him."
What is your Walter Mitty fantasy?: "Being a studio musician in New York."
What character traits/qualifications/skills makes a good chef?: "Discernment, amplitude, organization, thoughtfulness and fairness."
What do you like most about working at the Club?: "The ability to use multi-global ingredients."
What do you see as the next big trend in food?: "The evolution of classics with modern applications."