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• by:
• Richard, Michel

Michel Richard is a man giddy with invention. Enamored of crispness, this master chef, who calls himself Captain Crunch, makes a potato gratin that is all crust. He makes his grits with tomato water rather than stock (lighter and fresher). He brûlées chocolate mousse, makes risotto from potatoes, and “salami” out of raspberries and almonds. He’s always looking for the twist that makes good things great—whether it’s his lamburgers, lobster burgers, tuna burgers, turkey “steak” au poivre, or the chocolate reverie Michel calls Le Kit Cat.

Happy in the Kitchen is teeming with Richard-esque discoveries, whether it's an amazingly simple technique for dicing vegetables, a delicious [low-carb] carbonara made with onions rather than pasta, or a schnitzel made of pureed squid. He's playful—always—but also a perfectionist and an iconoclast. What can you say about a chef who makes risotto with potatoes, prefers frozen Brussels sprouts, and whips up spectacular chocolate pudding and béchamel in the microwave? A chef who doesn't shock blanched vegetables in ice water, but uses his freezer as though it were a fifth burner, and turns raspberries and almonds into salami?