Q+A
E
Since he made the final cut to win season six of the Bravo
reality series Top Chef in 2009, Michael Voltaggio has carved
out an enviable career in the L.A. dining scene. He had an
acclaimed run as executive chef of the Bazaar by José Andrés
before wowing diners with his innovative, molecular gastronomy-enhanced New American cuisine at the Dining Room at
the Langham, Huntingon Hotel in Pasadena. Fall brings two
new ventures for Voltaggio: A cookbook, VOLT ink., co-written
with brother and Top Chef alum Bryan Voltaggio and due in
October; and the opening of his supremely buzzed-about
first restaurant, Ink, on L.A.’s Melrose Avenue. The West
Hollywood resident dishes about hole-in-the-wall restaurants,
sibling rivalry and surfing Santa Monica’s nonwaves.
How else do you relax?
We probably go out and try
cocktails at different places every
night. I just went to Harvard &
Stone for the first time, I thought
that was really cool. I still like The
Roger Room. If I go downtown I
like to go to The Varnish. I love
to go to the beach.... That’s the
one thing I miss about not living in Santa Monica [anymore]
is being able to just grab my
surfboard and go down and go
surfing.
You could have opened a restaurant anywhere. Why L.A.?
Looking past like the stereotypes
of Los Angeles, you realize some
of the most creative people in the
world are here. Whether it’s “the
industry,” music, fashion, food,
art­—there’s so much here.
I didn’t realize that you surf.
I’m not going to pretend like I’m
a good surfer. I started learning
to surf at Ocean Park, which I
wouldn’t even consider to [have]
waves. I mean, I’m still sketched
out by the ocean, you know? I’m
not out there like, “I don’t care!
I’m not afraid of anything!” Like,
I definitely am afraid of dying in
the water.
You’ve worked for many
acclaimed chefs. Who has
influenced you the most?
As far as work ethic, I would definitely give that to Charlie Palmer.
He’s the guy that basically taught
me the lesson of, “Don’t rely on
other people to get everything
done for you.” I’ve watched Charlie like take apart the ice machine
and fix it.... Probably the one person that influenced my cooking
the most ... is Arnaud Berthelier.
I worked with him at the RitzCarlton in Naples and he’s the
one where I looked at his food
and I was like, “I want to cook
like that.” And then, obviously,
José Andrés, and just his kind of
whimsical, fun approach.
Surely you love to go out to eat.
Any favorites around town?
We like to go downtown and eat
ramen. That’s one of our favorite
things, to go on 1st Street and eat
at Daikokuya, go eat Thai food
at Jitlada, or go get tacos.... I love
Bouchon in Beverly Hills, and I
love the idea of going up there
and dressing up a little nicer than
I normally would.
s
You recently got to throw the
first pitch at a Dodger game.
Yeah, that was kind of a rivalry
thing between my brother and
I. He called me one day and he
was like, “I got to throw the opening pitch at the Frederick Keys
game,” which is a minor league
baseball team in Frederick [Md.],
which is where his restaurant is. I
called [my publicist] and I’m like
“Joy, I want to throw a baseball!
Bryan threw a baseball!”
Details
Bouchon 235 N. Cañon Drive,
Beverly Hills, 310.271.9910
Daikokuya 327 E. 1st St., Little
Tokyo, 213.626.1680 Dodger
Stadium 1000 Elysian Park Ave.,
L.A., 323.224.1471 Harvard &
Stone 5221 Hollywood Blvd.,
Hollywood, 323.466.6063
Jitlada Thai 5233 W. Sunset
Blvd., Hollywood, 323.663.3104
The Roger Room 370 N. La
Cienega Blvd., L.A., 310.854.1300
The Varnish 118 E. 6th St., downtown, 213.622.9999
h
amy k. fellows
HIGH VOLT-AGE
Ink is one of the most anticipated restaurant openings in town.
What was the inspiration for it?
I think, better than trying to be
like the nicest fine-dining restaurant in the world, it’s taking
the lead from some of the ethnic
restaurants here and sort of just
elevating that experience, and
celebrating it, and recognizing
the fact that it’s about the people
that are coming in the restaurants, and about making the
experience accessible.
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