Max is a self-taught cook who has been in the restaurant industry for seven years. He got his start cooking and running kitchens in Boston, and Dartmouth, Massachusetts, before moving to Providence, Rhode Island, and ending up in Chicago. Though he has had some success in restaurants, earning a James Beard Award nomination, and winning a Starchefs Rising Star award, He is now glad to be taking a step back from the kitchen to be able to connect with the passionate home cooks that come to learn at The Chopping Block.
Recent Posts
The Internet Has a Croissant Problem
Our vast planet is home to many breads, all of them excellent. This is not to say, of course, that every loaf or example of bread is excellent. No, to be sure there are loaves of bread that I have ...
We’ve come to the point in summer where strawberries are on the wane. This is always a melancholy time of year for me because in my opinion strawberries are one of the greatest treats that warm ...
Herbs are among the most important ingredients in cooking. Choosing the right varieties and amounts of herbs for a particular dish can mean the difference between a meal that’s just okay, and one ...
If you read my previous post on breaking down a forequarter of beef you may recall that we put some pieces into a ramshackle dry aging chamber so that they could age for a bit before we cut them. ...
Very Good Masa Harina, and a Simple Tortilla Technique
Hey folks, have you ever tasted the difference between a typical grocery store corn tortilla, and one made fresh in your kitchen? If you live in Chicago then maybe you haven’t, because why would you? ...
A Catalog of Worthwhile Food Establishments in NYC
Living in upstate New York has many benefits, but a rollicking and vibrant food scene is definitely not among them. No matter where in upstate you might reside, I can pretty much guarantee your ...
The spring is a unique time of year for gathering edible goodies from the landscape. While there may not be as much growing as in the height of summer, there are a great many wild plants that only ...
As you may have noticed, meat prices seem to be getting higher and higher. Every time I go to the grocery store now it seems like it becomes less and less feasible to buy meat (commodity beef shank ...
The Sugarbush Chronicles Part III: Evaporation Station
At the end of the previous installment of The Sugarbush Chronicles, we had collected a good amount of sap and were putting it through a reverse osmosis system to increase the sugar content of the sap ...
Knives are arguably the most essential kitchen tool any cook will use. Even more so than pots, pans or even a stove. There are plenty of dishes made without the application of any heat, but dishes ...
