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Mod Mex: Cooking Vibrant Fiesta Flavors at Home

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Mod Mex: Cooking Vibrant Fiesta Flavors at Home

Before Dos Caminos, Scott Linquist made his mark working with chefs in some of the top Mexican-inspired kitchens in the country. He was the man behind popular television chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger at Border Grill, the Santo Family Group's Arizona 206, and Buzzy O'Keeffe's latest project, Pershing Square. Now he is in the spotlight as the executive chef of Dos Caminos Park Avenue, Dos Caminos Soho, Dos Caminos Third Avenue, and the upcoming Dos Caminos Las Vegas.

Scott Linquist

Even though Scott has done his share of French and American cuisine, he has a natural affinity for Mexican ingredients. A Los Angeles upbringing only fueled the fires of his taste buds. As part of his Culinary Institute of America education, he externed at Border Grill and City restaurants in Los Angeles with Mary Sue and Susan. This was the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship with the women who would eventually become the Too Hot Tamales. While an extern, Scott filled in as their chef, quite a feat for someone who had not yet graduated from culinary school.

One of my favorite recent memories is of sitting in the fish market in Ensenada. I was eating fish tacos and freshly made ceviche and drinking light Mexican beer. The beer was so cold that it almost had ice crystals in it, and I realized that very fresh ceviche and very, very cold beer is a perfect marriage. —Scott Linquist

After graduation, Scott worked at Boulevard in San Francisco with Nancy Oakes and at Lutece and Gotham Bar and Grill in New York. When Mary Sue and Susan asked him to become chef of Border Grill and help them expand their restaurant empire, Scott went back to California and stayed for two years. He then became chef at the groundbreaking Southwestern restaurant Arizona 206 in New York and spent two years creating upscale dishes using Mexican and Southwestern ingredients. From there he took a teaching position at the California School of Culinary Arts, returning to a restaurant kitchen when Buzzy called from Pershing Square in New York.

Scott received favorable reviews for his contemporary cuisine but felt it didn't define him as a chef. He missed the vibrancy and flavors of Mexican ingredients. As luck would have it, Stephen Hanson was looking for a chef to take over the stoves at the newly opened Dos Caminos, and through mutual acquaintances the two men met. Now Scott feels he has a home and a vehicle to showcase the food he loves. Vibrant flavors and colorful ingredients presented simply and beautifully are what diners can expect when experiencing Scott's cuisine at the most exciting Mexican restaurant in New York. For more about Dos Caminos, see www.brguestrestaurants.com.

Joanna Pruess

Scott's flair for flavor has been praised by Food & Wine, The New York Times, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, New York magazine, and more. He has appeared on CBS and CNBC.

Award-winning cookbook author Joanna Pruess has written eight cookbooks and is consistently praised for her clear prose and well-tested recipes. She lives in the Bronx, NY.

Contact: Tammie Barker, (800) 851-8923, ext. 6921, tbarker@amuniversal.com

Mod Mex: Cooking Vibrant Fiesta Flavors at Home

Authors: Scott Linquist and Joanna Pruess
ISBN: 978-0-7407-6865-1
Format: Hardcover: 7 ½ x 11, 224 pages
Price: $24.95 ($29.95 Canada)