The Culinary Adventures of Chef Stefan Richter

LAist: What was your favorite food when you were a kid?

Stefan Richter: Creamed spinach, potatoes, and two eggs sunny side up.

How old were you before you could make it for yourself?

I have never made it for myself. My mom is a chef. She always make that dish for me.

When did you start cooking?

When I was about seven.

We heard you'd like to grow an herb garden here by the restaurant.

A herb garden would be really special. I am going to ask them to give me a piece of land to build a nice little herb garden. It's fun to go to the farmers market and buy produce, but when you grow your own, it's different.

Will you be adding herbs to the cocktails?

No, I like to keep it simple. (Stefan stops and points to the speaker.) You hear that? It's Rush. I fucking love Rush, Journey, and Boston.

Tell us about your signature drink and where the recipe came from.

It's called the Finish Me Off. Get it- Finish, Finland? It came to me because I love cosmos. I use Finlandia vodka, Cointreau, a little cranberry, and a splash of Peach Snapple iced tea.

What is your food philosophy? What is the criteria for Stefan food?

What I truly believe is it's simple stuff. Don't have more that three or four components. What is the point to have three vegetables, six of this, six of that? No. One item. I like a nice combined dish like the beef cheeks. It's farro with fresh diced little vegetables in there. It's all combined together.

In the 70s they used to have three vegetables, two potatoes, rice, and a piece of fish and sauce on top. A lot of people still do that stuff. No. Have two or three components. That's it. You want to taste that dish. That's why I love Japan.

Why do you love Japan?

Because it's in the box. They don't go out of the box. Japan is clean. I am OCD. I like clean. In my house, all of the beers, all of the water, everything is lined up perfectly. The labels are in the front. (Stefan looks around the restaurant.) I wish I could make this place Japan. I love it. I just want to be organized and clean. Look at my kitchen. My walk-in is spotless. I bake my own breads. Everything is made here. Love it.

How did the small bites menu concept come about?

At many restaurants the small bites are two little scallops for $18. All of my small items are $3 to $4. It's fun. I can take one off, add one on. Take two off put two on. It's fun to play with.

How do you choose your specials?

You go hiking, you go for a drink, you go to the farmers market. That's how I choose my specials. If I see something cool. If I see fava beans, then you know, I make it happen.

Some people think you really won Top Chef. What do you think about that theory?

I think America knows that I won Top Chef. You look at the current season of Top Chef right now, there are a lot of good chefs. Our season had some really good chefs, Leah, Jaime, were great chefs. Hosea is Hosea. He's a good guy. He is a really good kid.

How often do you get to your house in Finland?

I like to go every summer for about three or four weeks. I invite friends. We fish, chop wood, cook outside, and drink beer all day. The house is right by the lake. I love it there.

How long have you lived in Los Angeles?

Seven years.

You live on the Westside?

Is there anything past the 405?

What is your favorite thing about living in LA?

You know what, I am truly a believer of flip-flops. I talked to my mom this morning and she said that the lake was starting to freeze shut. It's friggin' October and in Finland the ice starts freezing shut. Why would she want to deal with such a thing? That's why I live in California. The sun is shining 362 days out of the year. The rain is really nice. I cannot wait for the rain. The three or four days we have rain, it's beautiful. It's fun. Here people wear flip-flops, jeans, and a t-shirt and no one cares.

Where do you like to eat on a day off?

My absolute favorite place to go for lunch is In-N-Out Burger. Hands down. It makes my day. I eat there about once a month. The 4 x 4 Animal Style, grilled onions, that's it.

And I do like Taco Bell. Funny story, I have a Taco Bell tree. About five years ago catering was slow. It was a Sunday or Monday night. I went to Taco Bell and I had the Mexican Pizza that I always have. Mexican Pizza with extra sour cream. They give you extra sauces, a ton of extra sauces. I had 35 sauces in my fridge. I tried to stack them, but they did not stay together. They are little bubbles, kind of funny. So I opened the packages and squeezed them into a container. I can't help it, I am OCD. I realized when I opened them that there are seeds in there. So I started washing the seeds out of the sauce and I planted six trees from the seeds in the Taco Bell sauce bags. Now I have a beautiful Taco Bell tree full of peppers.

Have you eaten any of of the peppers?

It's fucking spicy. I grew a tree out of a Taco Bell bag.

That's pretty resourceful.

I am not bringing it to the restaurant. I don't want anyone touching my tree.

It's your special tree.

People don't understand. Not for every day, but Taco Bell is good once in a while.

LA is also full of authentic places to eat tacos.

Go to Lincoln next to Whole Foods and the dollar store. I do love the dollar store. You can tell everybody. The dollar store is not that bad. There is some sexy shit there. I go there every weekend. It makes my day. Next to the dollar store there is a taco joint. They make the sexiest tacos al pastor. They are two bucks each. They are the best. They taste really yummy.

Stefan's L.A. Farm is located at The Lantana Center, 3000 Olympic Boulevard in Santa Monica. The restaurant is open for lunch Monday through Friday and dinner seven nights a week.

Photos courtesy of Stefan's L.A. Farm website.