BRANDON BOUDET

As an avid fisherman and outdoorsman, Chef Brandon Boudet demands a personal relationship with his fish. Born and raised in New Orleans, Chef Boudet learned his craft at the San Francisco Culinary Academy before going on to apprentice with culinary icons Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse. Chef Boudet has spent time in kitchens in markets ranging from New Orleans to New York, Las Vegas to Los Angeles where since 2001 he has been his own boss at his current restaurants 101 Coffee Shop, historic Dominick’s in West Hollywood, Little Dom’s a hip East-side neighborhood spot and now the new Tom Bergin’s. “I believe in keeping things simple,” says Boudet. “There should rarely be more than three components to a dish and it should be absolutely true to what it’s supposed to be.” Although Boudet has worked for luminaries such as Prudhomme and Lagasse, he ranks his two grandmothers—one a talented Louisiana home chef, the other a master of Italian cuisine—as his greatest influences.