This weeks piece is a little different than normal, no puns, no witty one liners and no awful jokes. I am going to make this the debut of 5 questions with a celebrity.
The opening piece is with one my favorite chefs in Ny, Yvan Lemoine. You guys might remember him from Food Network Star last season, or maybe you might have seen him on Chopped a few years ago, not to mention 2 books and numerous TV spots. Yvan
lends himself to being very family oriented, and in my family family oriented normally means me and my father in law and brother in law sitting around drinking beer couch coaching a NFL game but still having that time together eating great food. I got a chance to ask Yvan five questions from sports to food to books check it out!
(Plum) Growing up did you have a favorite team football or any other sport, and why?
(Yvan L ) I grew up in Venezuela, and football isn’t part of the culture. In fact we have football, which to us is soccer, and I grew up playing that on the street with my friends. When I first came to the states my uncle was big Cowboys fan- I thought that was Americas team and they were killing it so I was always rooting for them. Now I’m Giants all the way baby. You’re my boy blue!
(Plum) At my house football Sundays are an event I cook a ton of food; the whole family comes over its probably more about the gathering of family and friends. I know you’re very close to your family as well, do you guys have any Sunday football traditions?
(Yvan L) We are always cooking in my house but for some reason we always go out for the games. There is just something really rambunctious about being in a noisy sports bar with 15,000 big screen tv’s all with different angles- Does wonders to settle my a.d.d. and you cant beat a good tailgate, living in Nyc I don’t get to grill much so game day its nothing buts smoke fire and meat. When it comes to big game day, then its on!
(Plum)What are some of your favorite game day type foods?
(Yvan) Ribs, nachos with a fondue fountain dripping with cheddar cheese, killer chili cheese pigs in a blanket and spicy deviled eggs are my go-to.
(Plum)Your first book Food Fest 365 and your newest book Comidas USA are both doing fantastic and are really great books, (My Spanish is a lacking but I know enough kitchen Spanish to get through most of it :)) If you had to pick a recipe out of each to bring to my house for an off the chain Superbowl party what would it be and why?
(Yvan)I love making different kinds of pigs in a blanket: Chicago’s playing? I make Da Bears (chicago style dogs as mini pigs) Cowboys? chili cheese pigs in blanket, 49′ers? My Hawaiian friend Ippy is a huge fan so in his name I would make Hawaiian Pigs (pork pigs with pineapple and chiles with sesame seeds on top)
(Plum)Whats next for Yvan?
Big question. The dream has always been to open restaurants, write cookbooks and have a cooking show. As of now I’ve accomplished part of that dream. However the funny thing about accomplishing some dreams is uncovering others you never knew existed. So for now the mantra is to stay the course keep on doing what I’m doing. I plan to never stop working hard, keep learning, and discovering new things.
Yvan is one of the nicest dudes ever. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to chat with him. Make sure you check out his newest book Comidas USA 
available at
Funny how the NFL can change lives isn’t it? Even people who were not big fans have become fans and have there families and friends brought together at least one day a week. I guess sometimes it is not really about the game. At my my house though I will continue to scream at the tv dribble chicken wings off of my chin and chug my beer while the zebras on TV make awful calls and destroy heart wrenching moments; at least until the next commercial.
Hit on me on Twitter @chef_plum
Until next time
Stay Hungry!
Chef Plum
