Sam Sheff

Sam runs Sheffathome, a private dining and catering service in LA. After growing up cooking alongside his mother and grandmother who were born in Casablanca, Sam started his career in NYC at Eleven Madison Park. Now he serves Mediterranean and Californian cuisine based on seasonality and tradition.

Your most memorable cooking disaster?

It was my first time offering catering during the beginning of the pandemic and I had created a pretty sizable menu with a website for people to order from a la carte, as if I were a restaurant. I woke up the next day to about 25 different orders of all different sizes for the same day at different times... I had to ask my entire family to help me out and it was an absolute fiasco — frying cauliflower with hot oil splashing inside, grilling fish kebabs, roasting vegetables. Definitely one of the most overwhelming moments of my cooking memory!

Any advice to give home cooks about ingredient sourcing?

Go to the farmers market, touch the vegetables. Feel, smell and see what a properly grown in season vegetable should be like! Always ask questions.

AN INGREDIENT YOU'LL ALWAYS SPLURGE ON?

Extra virgin olive oil.

A common ingredient you think is overrated?

Black pepper. Try replacing with dried chili flakes, Espelette, or roasted chili.

What's a pro kitchen cooking hack that works just as well at home?

Making purees or sauces in a vitamix.

A common mistake that home cooks make?

Under-seasoning, don't be afraid of salt! Taste your food and re-season every time you add an ingredient to the pan or bowl!

How do you approach balancing flavors in a dish?

I always love bright acidity from different vinegars or citrus in season with luscious oil or fatty protein and some sea salt.

How does your cooking in pro kitchens differ from how you cook at home?

I try to make less of a mess because I wash my own dishes so I like one or two pot meals.

Tips for maintaining a clean and organized workspace?

Use a large cutting board and work on one project at a time.

An unconventional tool in your kitchen that you can't live without?

A cake tester.

What can home cooks learn from professional kitchen cleaning routines?

Working in a clean space will help you focus and make better food.

Tips for applying restaurant-level organization at home?

Have lots of kitchen towels and deli containers.

Which food trend do you hope will disappear?

Its always branzino, branzino, branzino. I would love to see more fresh and exciting whole fish at restaurants. Bring back the real "catch of the day"!!!

If you could bring one aspect of the pro kitchen to your home kitchen, what would it be?

The hood!!! It sounds funny but my pet peeve is the smell of food cooking in my home, it would be so nice to pan fry a fish or sear a steak at home with no fumes in my living room.

WHERE CAN WE FOLLOW YOUR COOKING?

@sheffathome

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