December 1, 2009
Top Chef’s Danny Gagnon Delivers Top-Notch Cuisine at Bar Social
We visited Top Chef Season 5 Contestant Danny Gagnon who is now Executive Chef at Bar Social in Uniondale, Long Island. Bar Social is an exciting new Sports bar near the Nassau Coliseum that offers plenty of Flat Screen TV’s, hand painted artwork of famous sports figures and gourmet style bar cuisine. SpotonLI.com and Guest Foodie Blogger Teanna DiMicco of SporkorFoon.com joined Chef Danny at Bar Social to chat about his time on Bravo’s Top Chef, his new venture and of course his incredible new menu. Oh and when you come on down, try the Calamari it was truly Spoton!
Teanna – Give us a little insight on the day and the life of you opening up a restaurant ?
Chef Danny – Me making my own menu is the most difficult thing I ever had to do in my life, due to the fact that the place wasn’t really established, there was no good food anywhere. There was nothing really going here culinary wise, and I brought that to the table. I made innovative bar food gourmet. Most bar’s have food that’s not all that special. They have normal wings normal hamburgers. I’ve got a bacon stuffed hamburger that I stuff with double smoked bacon, American cheese and I serve with homemade French fries, all my onion rings are homemade…everything is made from scratch, nothing frozen! So that’s where I found it hard, in that, as a bar; what can I do that’s different, and really make this place shine.
Teanna – In the beginning of your career your cooking had a little bit more of an Asian and Italian influence, at The Babylon Carriage House. Correct?
Chef Danny – I did Italian at Babylon Carriage House and then I brought my Asian Cuisine to the Carriage House, which was good for my Italian Chef, he did have experience in Asian Cuisine but I really brought Asian fusion to him and he brought Italian to me. So we kind of fused Italian and Asian together and made our own cuisine as you would say.
Teanna – Is there any one cuisine you are more interested in?
Chef Danny – I like Italian and Asian and hopefully one day to make Italian/Asian Fusion. That’s my goal just to do it, it’s called a Tasian!
Teanna – Your experience on Bravo’s Top Chef ; what did you take away from it and how does it affect you now as a Chef?
Chef Danny – What I took away from Top Chef was that I knew I didn’t know everything and I know I haven’t seen everything. I kind of was a horse with a blindfold on when I went in there. I couldn’t really look. After the show and after seeing all these different creations by different chefs including Fabio, Stefan, Jamie and Jose the Top Chef winner of season 5, really opened my eyes and made me realize that I don’t know everything, but to still be creative and be charismatic in the kitchen and just to carry myself well and make sure I make sure I create and season my food properly.
Teanna – What were you thinking when you got that call from your roommate about auditioning for Top Chef?
Chef Danny – Ilan [Hall] was my college roommate, he was on Season Two of Top Chef. He had entered the show after we graduated and had won season 2. He and I trained together at the Culinary School of America so he called me and he was like ‘listen Danny, I think you would do very well on the show, I think you’re very charismatic, I think you’re very talented, since we trained together you’ve got the goods for what it takes to be on Top Chef!’ I took his advice, along with talking to my mother and my family and everybody else was pushing for me. I had a real community embracing me throughout this excursion on Top Chef. I took his words into consideration and I went with it. I went for it and I got it!
Teanna – Would you do it all over again if you could?
Chef Danny – Being on the show I sacrificed a lot of stuff…my whole life just to get there. I would do it again and I wouldn’t change anything. If you look at Padma’ s face when she eliminates me, she didn’t want to let me go and when I saw that as a viewer when the show aired I was like wow, maybe I shouldn’t have been eliminated and I should have gone a little further. But, I did get eliminated when I got eliminated, I didn’t cry like a little girl or complain about anything. I took it like a man I was thankful for being there to be able to compete against these talented Chefs from all over the world, and just that I’m able to compete and match up with these guys is an unbelievable accomplishment for me and my career. That’s what I carry with me every day.
Teanna – Any guilty pleasures that you may not want to admit to any chef’s food wise?
Chef Danny – No not at all! (laughs) I tell everybody all of my guilty pleasures. I really don’t care. I’m not shy at all.
Teanna – What would be the number one thing?
Chef Danny – Oh God! White Castle! And, I take Oreos and I soak them in milk then I eat it with a spoon.
Teanna – What would your last meal be?
Chef Danny – My dying meal if I was on death row? I’d have to say Bacala Salad. It’s salted cod with cherry peppers, nicoise olives which are French olives, small diced celery, red onion, red pepper in extra virgin olive oil. My dessert would be my grandmothers pistachio cake. It’s awesome, it’s unbelievable. It’s the best pistachio cake you ever had in your life.
Bar Social
1002 Hempstead Tpke
Uniondale, NY 11553-1113
(516) 489-8080
Photographs by Christine Gerani
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![Ilan [Hall]](http://www.realitytvmagazine.com/blog/images/ilan_hall.jpg){kind=link}
Danny ! ! You are fabulous ! You are a kind, loving person and we wish you all the luck in the world in everything you do in your life. Stay just the way you are. Good Luck and Happy Healthy New Year….