By Natalie Goel
Photography by Johnny Miller
It’s always exciting to see an entirely different, and more intimate, side of someone you’ve long respected. Thanks to her new cookbook Bringing It Home, that’s exactly the window we get into Top Chef judge Gail Simmons who is not only a friend of Athena’s but also her neighbor. Instead of portraying the cocktail dress-clad, culinary critique-giving Gail we’ve come to know and trust on the show, the book reveals a behind-the-scenes peek into the food expert’s very own kitchen and creations, all influenced by her worldwide travels.
While the personal recipes of a woman who has worked for Chef Daniel Boulud and who routinely evaluates some of the, well, top chefs across the country, might seem intimidating — they’re really not. In fact, making delicious recipes using accessible ingredients was one of Gail’s express goals of the tome. Read on to learn the (somewhat surprising!) ingredients Gail couldn’t live without, the reasons she actually appreciates mundane tasks like chopping, peeling, and washing dishes, the recipe for her party-ready Chocolate Honeycomb Crunch dish from Bringing It Home, and more.