The Family Guy

Inside the home kitchen of Mark Sullivan, executive chef at Spruce.

What’s one thing from the restaurant that you miss at home?
A Vita-Prep high-speed blender. Now, I could go out and buy it—it’s about $500—I just haven’t done it yet. It even whips cooked parsnips into the silkiest puree. If you’ve ever wondered how restaurants get those velvety soups, it’s the Vita-Prep.

What do you listen to when you’re cooking at home?
My wife is in charge of music. If it’s a hot day, it might be Latin music; if it’s a cold winter day, it might be Björk. It’s a mood thing.

What’s your ideal comfort dish?
All chefs will tell you this: a roasted chicken. I am a lover of chicken. My wife and I take turns making it; I enjoy hers just as much. We’ll get a Rosie or a Marin Sun Farms chicken, and take herbs from the garden, like sorrel, and make a compound butter with shallots, lemon zest and black pepper. We truss the bird and rub the butter under the skin and bake it until it’s crispy on the outside and moist inside, and serve it simply with whatever’s in season. And then we do my favorite thing in the whole world: sit together as a family and eat a nice dinner. It’s heaven.

Home-cooking style versus restaurant-cooking style?
A baby in one arm and a chef’s knife in the other: Never the two shall mix.

Sullivan recommends...

Wine Enthusiast Silent 16-Bottle Wine Refrigerator $195; Sur La Table, Ferry Building Marketplace, 415-262-9970	Mauviel Copper Five-Piece Set $725; Williams-Sonoma, 340 Post St., 415-362-9450

What’s one thing from the restaurant that you miss at home?
A Vita-Prep high-speed blender. Now, I could go out and buy it—it’s about $500—I just haven’t done it yet. It even whips cooked parsnips into the silkiest puree. If you’ve ever wondered how restaurants get those velvety soups, it’s the Vita-Prep.

What do you listen to when you’re cooking at home?
My wife is in charge of music. If it’s a hot day, it might be Latin music; if it’s a cold winter day, it might be Björk. It’s a mood thing.

What’s your ideal comfort dish?
All chefs will tell you this: a roasted chicken. I am a lover of chicken. My wife and I take turns making it; I enjoy hers just as much. We’ll get a Rosie or a Marin Sun Farms chicken, and take herbs from the garden, like sorrel, and make a compound butter with shallots, lemon zest and black pepper. We truss the bird and rub the butter under the skin and bake it until it’s crispy on the outside and moist inside, and serve it simply with whatever’s in season. And then we do my favorite thing in the whole world: sit together as a family and eat a nice dinner. It’s heaven.

Home-cooking style versus restaurant-cooking style?
A baby in one arm and a chef’s knife in the other: Never the two shall mix.

Sullivan recommends...

Wine Enthusiast Silent 16-Bottle Wine Refrigerator $195; Sur La Table, Ferry Building Marketplace, 415-262-9970	Mauviel Copper Five-Piece Set $725; Williams-Sonoma, 340 Post St., 415-362-9450

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