Five Questions for Mark Tafoya
It is immediately obvious that a certain discernable passion consumes Chef Mark Tafoya. His dedication and sincere personal commitment to the culinary arts is evidenced in his many diverse projects. He possesses a unique vision and strong determination to inspire and communicate through cuisine. To realize the broad expanse of his considerable personal achievement is to appreciate his versatility. Chef Tafoya holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in French Literature and Theater Studies from Yale University (He spent ten years acting in New York), and he is also a Certified Personal Chef and graduate of the Culinary Business Academy. His expansive culinary knowledge results from his extensive travels, while obtaining training and experience from accomplished chefs throughout the world.
Chef Tafoya is the Executive Chef and Culinary Editor for The Gilded Fork, the stylish online culinary magazine that also produces The Culinary Podcast Network. Featuring food writing that remains unconcerned with the newest trends and latest noise within the culinary industry, The Gilded Fork focuses instead on the more epicurean aspects of the culinary experience. It explores the essence of the food itself, accentuating the ingredients, science, and most importantly, the taste and sensual appreciation of global cuisine. The Culinary Podcast Network, founded by Chef Tafoya, is the premier online network of collected food podcasts. The network showcases podcasts from various culinary professionals, including Chef Ming Tsai.
A Certified Personal Chef in New York City, Chef Tafoya is the owner of ReMARKable Palate Personal Chef Service and President of the New York Metro Chapter of the United States Personal Chef Association. While his Personal Chef Service specializes in home entertaining events, Chef Tafoya also accommodates the busy, everday household, by providing individually customized menus with freshly prepared gourmet meals, labeled and refrigerated/frozen, with specific heating instructions included. Always accessible, Chef Tafoya ensures exceptional support for his clients.
ReMARKable Palate is Chef Tafoya’s personal podcast blog, containing concise, well written entries which correspond to eclectic podcasts that are both highly informative and extremely entertaining. In addition to the written and spoken words of Chef Tafoya, the blogsite also contains many useful resources, including ideas for dinner menus, recipes, and helpful tips for proper food handling and storage, along with numerous related links. ReMARKable Palate recently received recognition from Bon Appetit, as the highly acclaimed magazine noted the significant presence and influence of the very popular blog, within the podcast medium.
Recently, Chef Tafoya answered five questions for Paper Palate:
1. What prompted your transition from actor to chef (and do you still occasionally pursue acting roles)?
I had been in the business for about 10 years, and I had done a little of everything, from being on Broadway with George C. Scott, Charles Durning, and Tony Randall, to off-Broadway, and WAAAY off Broadway, as well as small independent films. I enjoyed it, but it became clear to me at a certain point that I had hit a ceiling. I came into the business at a time when Latino actors were not so prominent or sought after, and I was “hard to place,” because I didn’t fit into a stereotypical Latino mold, yet I also didn’t read “white” enough for other roles. I think that the business is starting to change in that regard, but at the time it made it difficult for me. Also, if you’ve been in New York and on the scene for a few years and you haven’t made a big name for yourself, it starts to get harder and harder to get representation. So I joke that in a few years when I’m somewhere between George Clooney and Edward James Olmos, there will be roles for me.
What brought me into the Food business was managing a summer home for a friend in Fire Island, and since he had lots of guests every weekend, I was doing lots of cooking, which I had always loved to do as a hobby. As my dinners got more and more elaborate and well known (people would try to get invites to the house to join in on these ethnically themed dinners), people started telling me that I should open a restaurant. I never wanted to do that, but one day I was paging through a magazine and I ran across an ad for the USPCA, the United States Personal Chef Association, saying that you could make a business out of cooking for people in their homes. I realized that I was already doing just that, and decided to go for it as a full time business! Within 3 months, I had my business set up and I started doing dinner parties and regular family personal chef services for clients in Manhattan.
I don’t really actively pursue acting roles anymore, but last Fall I did have the good fortune of participating in a wonderful theatrical event to protest the War in Iraq. It was a one night fundraiser and reading of the 1930’s play “Bury the Dead,” directed by Randall Stuart of the Upon These Boards Theatre Company. He brought together a fabulous ensemble of actors, including Kathleen Chalfant and Denis O’Hare, and we had a great time. I also catered the backstage food for the actors!
2. What is the most difficult aspect of being the Executive Chef and Culinary Editor for The Gilded Fork, while maintaining your ReMARKable Palate Personal Chef Service and its companion blog/podcast, along with your work on The Culinary Podcast Network?
TIME! On days when I’m cooking, I get home dog tired and I still have a few hours of work to do on the computer answering e-mails, recording the shows, or writing recipes or articles for GF. So obviously, juggling these is the most difficult. But long ago, I decided that I would only do things I love to do, and that it shouldn’t ever feel like work. While I do spend long hours, and sometimes my social life suffers, I always enjoy doing it. I mean, I get to write about, talk about, and cook food all day every day! We’re continuing to develop new things at the Gilded Fork. We just recently launched the Gilded Fork at Home service, where readers and listeners can hire us or our partner chefs around the country to come into their home and produce a Gilded Fork event, using our recipes, and our philosophy of food as the backdrop. In this way, the two businesses are dovetailing somewhat. As things start to take off more and more with The Gilded Fork, I will be expanding my ReMARKable Palate business to include other chefs working under the company name. But the events I do, whether for Gilded Fork or for ReMARKable Palate, will always be customized for the client by me.
3. Your culinary work takes you to many global locations, do you have an absolute personal favorite location for dining?
Ironically, I haven’t had much time to travel lately, as we’re still in serious start-up phase with The Gilded Fork, but that will also change soon as we unveil another of our initiatives, which will be a Gourmet Travel division. We will take guests along with us on some exciting journeys with cuisine as the central focus. It will enable me to indulge in my love for micro-regional cuisine. I’m somewhat of an obsessive educator when it comes to micro-regional foods. I really think it’s important that Americans develop a deeper understanding of world cuisines and world cultures, both from a socio-political point of view and from a gastronomic-sensualist point of view.
It’s hard to answer, therefore, what would be my favorite place for dining. You cannot sit down at a table anywhere in Umbria and get a bad meal. I have included a number of recipes for Umbrian dishes at the Gilded Fork, and I teach a class about it as well. Hong Kong is an amazing culinary destination both for its signature Cantonese Dim Sum, and for its wealth of international cuisines, since it’s a great world capital. The north of Spain, from Navarra to the Basque country, is also an amazing culinary destination. Food is almost a religion for those people! (Plus it’s my ancestral homeland - my family and I visited Tafalla last year, a little town just south of Pamplona where our name is derived from).
So if I were pressed, I’d have to say Northern New Mexico, since it’s where I’m from, and everyone seems to love our authentic New Mexican food. Give me some Carne Adovada with Red Chile and a fresh hot Sopaipilla or a bowl of Posole, and I’m in heaven.
I also know that there are a number of places I have yet to discover, which I know will have great tables in store for me.
4. What prompted the launch of The Culinary Podcast Network, earlier this year?
I had been podcasting since last August (the stone age of podcasting!), and I was one of the first food podcasts out there. There were a few others that I had been listening to since that time, which I respected highly and listened to every week. I also saw numerous not-so-great ones appear, most of them quickly “podfading.” But I figured that as frustrating as it was for me to find good quality food podcasts, it must be even harder for listeners to weed through the offerings to find the best. Jennifer Iannolo, my business partner, had been appearing on my show as a regular contributor, and decided to start her own Food Philosophy Podcast, and we thought it would be a good idea to unite all the best shows under one banner. I got the idea from seeing other groups with common themes publish feeds: The LOST Podcast Network is a good example. So I approached the ones I liked best, and suggested starting the group. We’re really proud that the CPN went from idea to launch in just 3 days! Since then, we have expanded to 13 shows, including Ming Tsai’s Simply Ming video podcast from WGBH. We have plans to expand further and add a couple more video podcasts soon, and we’re co-producing several podcasts that are in the works for the coming months, helping people with great food knowledge and regional focus to bring their podcast to the public. We know that the podcasting phenomenon will explode for the general public in the next year or so, and we want to be the trusted source for the best food talk on the internet.
5. Any one-word advice or suggestion for aspiring chefs?
Are you kidding? I’m not capable of doing ANYTHING in one word!
What I will tell people is that you should pursue your passion, or “follow your bliss,” as Joseph Campbell used to say. If you do what you love, you will always love what you do. Also, as someone who is self taught, I would say to people that you can create your own path in any industry, cooking included. That said, you need to know your stuff. Learn about food any way you can, whether it’s through formal culinary training, or through passionate self-discovery. But you really should focus on developing your palate as the primary thing. Taste is the cornerstone of all that we do in food, so if you can develop your taste and trust it, you will do well.
We extend our sincere gratitude to Chef Mark Tafoya for giving his time to answer five questions for Paper Palate.
