April Bloomfield, executive chef and coowner of Michelin-starred restaurants The Spotted Pig, The Breslin Bar & Dining Room, The John Dory Oyster Bar and Salvation Taco in New York City and Tosca Café in San Francisco.

In 2014 Bloomfield received the coveted James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: New York City.

Thursday Life (TL): What are your five larder must-haves? April Bloomfield (AB): Anchovies, vinegar, olive oil, chilli, and salt.

TL: My earliest food memory was… AB: That was probably my grandmother’s roasted dinner, just being in the kitchen and seeing the steamy windows, and the smell of roasted pork. You know when you have those food memories with the smells… you are transported right back to that time.

TL: I love to cook because… AB: It’s my passion. It is what motivates me, drives me. It is something I found that I was good at and I stuck with it.

TL: Butter or olive oil? AB: That’s a really hard one. I am a big Italian fanatic, so olive oil is important. But then being English, and so close to France, there’s butter… can I do half and half? I usually mix half and half, so that is good.

TL: Wine or Champagne? AB: I think wine! Preferably whites or reds from Italy, I really like those.

TL: Jerk sauce or Scotch bonnet pepper? AB: These are difficult choices… Scotch bonnet because you can make a lot of unique stuff from that. You can make jerk sauce with it, so Scotch bonnet, hands down.

TL: You are in Jamaica because… AB: I love it. I have a deep passion for Jamaican food. When I was at cooking school in Birmingham, I did my finals in Jamaican cooking. I used to work for a Jamaican chef who did a mixture of Jamaican/French food in a very small restaurant in Alvechurch. He was a fabulous guy and that is why I fell in love with it (Jamaican food) and for my finals I made pepperpot soup from scratch (got all the ingredients sent to my college); I made a jerk pork loin and made my own jerk seasoning; and made some rice and peas. I did some lovely roasted bananas with rum. I love Jamaican food… I am yet to have a beef patty, but that’s my next stop!

TL: What has been your best food experience? AB: Probably working at the River Café in England and just tasting their food. I had this epiphany when I went to work there; the food resonated with me and stuck with me. So, within that moment (and being in the moment and appreciating it) was my best food experience.

TL: What advice would you give to a young female chef? AB: Just keep your head down. Lead by example, learn, be a sponge, be humble. I am a very humble person but I pushed myself, even sometimes when I felt uncomfortable and I wasn’t sure, I persevered and pushed through the pain. Sometimes it is hard. Life isn’t easy, but if you keep your head down and keep pushing, you can be successful. It might take some time but you will get there in the end.

Chicken is roasted in a sealed barrel over searing hot coals.

TL: What else are you eager to taste? AB: Well, I want to go to Scotchies and eat the jerk chicken because I’ve heard amazing things. But this lunch right now (at EITS) has been phenomenal. The barrel chicken was good. I took a photograph so I could recreate that at home.

TL: Where is home? AB: New York City — the Big Apple. I love the weather, the people, the multicultural emphasis; it’s all very eclectic. You can go down the road and get a Jamaican patty, or go for Filipino food or have some really great Japanese food; I love that.

TL: Tell us about your newest cookbook.

AB: My cookbook, A Girl And Her Greens, is all about vegetables and it came out in April. I have a deep passion for pork, so my first book was about that (A Girl and Her Pig, 2012), so this second book is about my other passion — veggies.