Famous Chefs' Favorite Summer Foods Slideshow
Mario Batali, Babbo, NYC
THEN: "My mom's blackberry pie and vanilla ice cream."
NOW: "It still gives me goosebumps."
Scott Conant, Scarpetta, NYC
THEN: "My father was one of those guys who would go and get a bunch of corn on the cob and leave it on the stove to snack on. Very simple: Cooked in water with salt."
NOW: "Pasta alla Checca: A hot pasta mixed with room temperature mozzarella, olive oil, basil and tomatoes. That's the quintessential 'pasta salad' in Italy."
Michael Symon, Lola Bistro, Cleveland
THEN: "My mom's Greek and Italian, so I loved Greek tomato salads with cucumber, feta cheese, mint, olives, and like a red-wine vinaigrette."
NOW: "Tomato salad. In the summer, when our garden is rocking, we'll have them a couple nights a week over a grilled rib eye or roasted chicken."
Suzanne Goin, Lucques, L.A.
THEN: "My dad didn't like bread, desserts, or salads so I never got much of those, and they're like my favorite now. Ile flottante [a 'floating island' of meringue] was the one dessert he liked and sometimes we would add cut-up strawberries."
NOW: "I love the ice cream 'coupes' we would have when we traveled growing up, so at my other restaurant Tavern we always have two or three that are seasonal."