5 Questions for Casey Lane
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Casey Lane is executive chef of The Tasting Kitchen in Venice. The Abbot Kinney eatery boasts a daily changing menu drawing on Italian, French, Moroccan, and Spanish cuisines. The Texas native attended culinary school in Portland followed by stints at Bluehour and clarklewis. Lane brought his craft to Southern California in 2009 with the debut of The Tasting Kitchen and now, the 2011 James Beard Award nominee plans to open the Parish, an English gastropub in the former Angelique Cafe space downtown this spring, and Itri, a pasta shop on Melrose later this year.
What’s coming up next on your menu? Octopus! I have plans to offer rotisserie octopus at the new pasta space we’re planning to open later this year on Melrose [Itri], and I can’t get it off my mind.
Latest ingredient obsession? Vegetables of all sorts! Too much winter has made me anxious to get back into spring veggies, and composed vegetable plates are hitting the menu with more and more frequency.
What restaurant do you find yourself going to again and again? I am over the moon for Son of a Gun right now. The food is fantastic; the fact that I can eat an amazing fried chicken sandwich and drink vintage champagne makes me think they designed this place for me.
The one piece of kitchen equipment you can’t live without, other than your knives? A mortar and pestle! I mean, come on! It’s as essential as your knives.
What’s your favorite breakfast? Fried chicken and waffles!
Tasting Kitchen, 1633 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, (310) 392-6644, www.thetastingkitchen.com.
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-- Caitlin Keller