Q&A: Chef Erik Erlichson of Harper's

Editor's note: Patch is featuring Q&As this month from chefs participating in . For more information, see .

Name: Erik James Erlichson

Title: Executive Chef

Restaurant: Harper's Restaurant and Bar

The Rundown: Harper's boasts one of the largest menus in Darien. Chef Erlichson executes this global menu with such fineness; it's hard to pinpoint which style of cuisine the restaurant does best. From pizza to burgers, pasta to prime aged steaks and market fresh fish, Harper's seems to cast a wide net, and have been able to capture a varied customer base. Chef Erlichson is a classically trained chef, and far more importantly, an experience one, bringing a wealth of experience to a kitchen that handles volume well, while preparing everything from a mouthwatering fettuccine alfredo to a scrumptious pulled pork sandwich with pepper jack cheese and sautéed onions and peppers.

How and why did you become a chef?

I learned how to cook during childhood, as my sister and I were raised by our mom; on nights she was working, I was responsible for preparing dinner. She first taught me crepes, roasts, stews and pasta bakes. My grandfather (paternal) was also a chef, most notably for a stint at the Waldorf Astoria, and most of my formal base skill set, proper cutting, butchery, stocks, soups and mother sauces, I learned from him.

Initially, upon graduating high school, I attended John Jay College as a Criminal Justice and Legal Studies major, and supported myself working in the food industry. After several years, upon the recommendation of one of my old chefs at Jane Street Seafood, initial course tuition a gift from my stepfather, I completed a program at New York Restaurant School for Classical French Seafood. Jerry Gliber, the Dean, was my principal class instructor, due to a few roster changes.

Culinary School or School of Hard Knocks?

School of hard knocks first and foremost. Culinary school was a plus.

Career Highlights?

• Experience in Paris and Sydney
• Honorary Tastevin Goblet awarded
• Sole e Luna awarded "excellent" by the New York Times
• La Colline Verte awarded "excellent" by the New York Times
• Eurolounge, Australia awarded "best restaurant in the Hills Region"

How did you end up in your current position?

One of my best friends happened to meet owner Joe Sandolo's son on a dinner break from the Stamford Police Force and was talking about the restaurant business. R.J. mentioned that his father was looking for a chef to open Harper's…and the rest is history.      

What is one food you can't live without?

Cheese, but I need to cut back.

What is one food you won't eat?

Sea urchin

If you could cook for anyone who would it be?

Not any one person, but a table of world leaders.

What would you cook for that person?

An eclectic tasting menu

What dish would you never want to cook again?

Bubble and Squeak (fried leftover vegetables)

Your most memorable kitchen disaster?

My most memorable disaster was not a kitchen one but at an old Rancilio Espresso machine, while managing I Dada, a small shop in Manhattan. I removed the filter from a group too quickly and had coffee grinds splatter everywhere!

Name your favorite ingredient.

Garlic

What is the strangest ingredient you've used?

Snail Eggs. I was given a sample of them by a friend from Normandy, and used it during a tasting for a soiree given by the former French Consul in New York City

Name one item every kitchen should have. 

A proper chef's knife

Best kitchen invention?

The food processor

Best teacher you ever had?

• Culinary class- Jerry Gliber, former dean of the New York Restaurant School
• Restaurant-wise- Etienne Menozzi, old chef, mentor and friend; once the saucier under Master Chef Raymond Oliver, considered perhaps the greatest in the 1950's, and the most prolific food writer since Escoffier.

Best lesson(s) learned?

Start with the best primary ingredients in the cleanest work environment.

Are you a carnivore, omnivore or herbivore?

Carnivore, but with my current weight issue I am quickly becoming more of an herbivore!

What did you have for dinner last night?

A kitchen mistake—Margherita Pizza with broccoli and arugula salad with virgin oil and white balsamic.

What is your most memorable food experience?

14-course tasting menu at Tetsuya's in Sydney, Australia and a birthday dinner at Le Cygne in New York with my Uncle Robert and Aunt Linda.

If you weren't a chef, what would you be?

A writer; already am, but non-published, outside of old college journals and a reprinting of my poetry by a New York local west side paper. I participated in a neighborhood event to make people more sensitive to issues concerning the homeless which was the theme of the poetry I contributed.