This is a fun time of the year to be Chef Todd English. Which, chances are, you aren’t—but you can still enjoy this sunny moment, the cusp where summer meets autumn, in the same ways the four-time James Beard Award-winning chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author does. For one, we can finally eat tomatoes, as well as cook, dream, gush, and best of all, not frown upon them.
For English, even after decades of immersion in the tomato lifestyle, the magic that began in his grandmother’s kitchen still hasn’t faded. “It’s one of the most beautiful fruits. And it’s a vegetable. It’s savory and it’s sweet. It goes with aioli, mayonnaise, and other sauces, and pairs with so many foods,” says English, who refuses to serve tomatoes out of season due to his “loyalty to their perfection.” The names of his restaurants, like Olive and Fig, betray his fiercely ingredient-forward approach to cooking, which is less about fancy footwork and more about expressing the inner beauty of his raw materials.
