5 Simple Restaurant Dishes

The only thing more impolite than asking waiters the amount of tips they leave in an establishment is trying to sneak into the kitchen to find out the chef’s recipe for his signature dish. The modern restaurant “rock stars” are less and less concerned with secrecy, preferring to make their best dishes an excellent advertisement.

The calculation is simple enough – if you want to cook something similar at home, you are bound to tell your admiring friends who was your absentee teacher and where this dish is served. And so the Internet and shelves in bookstores are flooded with collections of recipes “from the same chef,” where, however, not always right.

We’ve gathered five great recipes for you that are actually served in famous restaurants, and specific celebrity chefs are involved in their creation. All of them are eagerly waiting for you to master them at home.

Fried Chicken from Zuni Café

This dish by Judy Rogers hit the menu at a San Francisco restaurant nearly three decades ago and is still wildly popular. A couple of tips if the fried chicken from Zuni Café intrigues you enough to try making it yourself: choose the smallest bird carcass possible and leave the salt-and-pepper-rubbed meat to marinate overnight.

Smoked salmon pizza from Spago

This gourmet pizza came to chef Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant in 1982, instantly becoming a Beverly Hills sensation, all because it’s garnished with a couple of spoonfuls of black caviar before serving. It’s even on the menu at post-Oscar parties!

Pork brisket in a bun from Momofuku

And just let anyone try to tell you that your “burgers” are kind of weird! Feel free to shove this recipe from Chef David Chang of Momofuku in the sassy man’s face.

Miso Cod from Nobu

The secret to making the famous dish from Nobuyuki Matsuhisa’s restaurant is simple enough – just three days of marinating in a special sauce.

Beef from Slanted Door

Chef Charles Fan spends about $380,000 a year to buy beef for the dish, which is called Shaking beef at this famous San Francisco institution. The enormous popularity is due to the amazing flavor that only the best available produce adds to the simple Vietnamese dish.