Chef's Table with Ember & Ash's Scott Calhoun and Dave Feola
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From right to left, Scott Calhoun and Dave Feola of Ember & Ash. Photo courtesy of Mike Prince
Scott Calhoun and Dave Feola are the culinary duo behind Ember & Ash, the East Passyunk restaurant that centers around its live-fire kitchen with a wood-burning hearth.
- They feature ingredients from regional farms with a focus on minimizing their carbon footprint.
Axios asked Calhoun and Feola questions for our culinary advice series, Chef's Table.
🔪 Must-have tool in your home kitchen?
Feola: KitchenAid mixer. We like to bake at home a lot, and I love making pasta with my son.
Calhoun: Microplane.
🛒 Go-to grocery store?
Feola: Acme out of convenience, but Wegman's whenever I can spare the time or drive past one.
Calhoun: Trader Joe's.
🌿 Most overlooked spice?
Feola: Sumac.
Calhoun: Sichuan peppercorns.
🍜 Favorite home-cooked meal?
Feola: My wife's Oyakodon. It's a Japanese dish that means mother and child — a chicken and egg rice bowl with mushrooms and scallions. The best.
Calhoun: Lao Lao's pig feet — my wife's grandmother's pig's feet recipe with feet/hocks braised in shaoxing wine, soy sauce and pork stock with spices and dried chilies.
🍽 Last restaurant you went to and your order?
Feola: Penrose Diner. French dip burger and chocolate milk — always chocolate milk at a diner.
- I love diners. Everything from the huge menus to the wait staff that have all been there for decades.
Calhoun: Hiroki for their omakase experience.
🔌 How to unplug?
Feola: Walk away from my phone for a while and spend time with my family. Horror movies or a Brandon Sanderson book. Anything that lets me completely mentally step away.
Calhoun: Spending time with my wife Lulu and my daughter Layla.
☝️ Quick tip for at-home cooks?
Feola: Save all of your vegetable scraps, peelings and ends in gallon freezer bags. Add it every time you peel a carrot or have an onion end.
- When it's full, use it to make vegetable stock and keep it in the freezer. You'll always have a soup base. And it's great to use instead of water in braises or with cooking rice.
Calhoun: Use salt and taste your food throughout the cooking process to better understand how seasoning in stages affects the flavor.