Chef

Chef John Brandt-Lee began renovating his Avalon restaurant in West Chester on the cheap a few years ago. One feature was the wooden cheese table in the middle of the dining room. No thousand-dollar table crafted by artisans. Not on Brandt-Lee's budget. It was handmade and topped with 12-by-12 floor tiles. The cheese boards themselves were made of bamboo and were always falling apart, he recalls. A customer directed him to a small woodworking shop in Montgomery County to get better quality.

The addictive and complex sauce known as mole is gracing lots of menus around the city these days, often informed by the cooks and dishwashers who learned from their mothers and grandmothers back in Mexico. In addition to the long-simmered mole poblano, built on chiles, fruits, and frequently chocolate, there are countless variations, including quick and fresh mole verde, and nontraditional uses, like mole drizzled over a pulled pork breakfast enchilada at Hawthorne's or mole-glazed chicken wings at SoWe.

FOR DECADES, Philadelphians have chomped on cheesesteaks and noshed on soft pretzels. But could city residents actually develop a palette for horse meat? Chef Peter McAndrews thinks so. He recently announced plans to serve the equine delicacy at his Sicilian restaurant Monsu in Bella Vista, even as European food outlets deal with fallout from the discovery of horse DNA in beef products. "I like the idea of being an authentic Italian restaurant. When I heard the ban was lifted, I was very pleased," McAndrews said, referring to the ban on horse slaughter in the United States, which was lifted in 2011, when Congress reinstated federal funding for U.S. Department of Agriculture inspection of horse meat.

"IT LOOKS LIKE A truck hit it. " That's not something anyone wants to hear or say, especially at 9 o'clock on a Monday morning. But there was no more succinct way to put it: Peter Woolsey's brand-new stove, custom-built for him in California and shipped across the country to his Queen Village Bistrot La Minette, was unsalvageable. While Woolsey was unsure how it happened, he was clear on the implications. A section of his shiny new Montague that houses the manifold meant to feed gas to each of this gorgeously tuned machine's dozen high-Btu burners, was harshly dented.

New on the edge of the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood is Fitler Dining Room (2201 Spruce St., 215-732-3331), a bistro from Dan Clark and Ed Hackett (Pub & Kitchen, the Diving Horse in Avalon). It fills the corner spot that previously was Meme. The 32-seater's clean look evokes a 1920s-'30s salon with its fabric-covered banquettes and bentwood chairs. Two beer taps are set in the dining room - small-batch crafts - plus 12 to 20 bottled beers. Artisan wines (about 40 bottles and 10 by the glass)

The board of trustees of Camden's LEAP Academy University Charter School is conducting a review of the process by which its executive chef got a $24,000 raise last year. Chef Michele Pastorello is the boyfriend of LEAP's founder and board chairwoman, Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, and, as The Inquirer reported this week, his base salary was bumped up to $95,000 as part of a new food-service contract. That is more than double what chefs at schools in the area typically earn. A school spokesman said Bonilla-Santiago had recused herself from any votes pertaining to the food-service contract.

Remember when school cafeterias were run by the "lunchroom lady" or a male counterpart? No doubt many still are. And in most cases, that term likely falls far short of describing the nutritionist responsible for what students eat. But how many schools do you know with an executive chef? Probably at least one, after news stories this week about the food-service boss at Camden's LEAP Academy University Charter School. It might be expected if a public school in tony Haddonfield or affluent Cherry Hill had a chef.

"THEY SAY we are all a paycheck away from being homeless, and I had that week when the paycheck didn't come," said February's Top Cook, Andrew Rothstein. That was seven years ago, when he lost his job and his home. Through his own research, Rothstein, 63, found a small house in Sicklerville, N.J., where he now enjoys his kitchen and finds cooking is a way not only to get away from problems, but also to help solve them. "I find you can save a lot of money by price comparison and using coupons," he said.

Trustees of the LEAP Academy University Charter School heard an outpouring of praise from parents Tuesday for the difference the Camden charter has made in the lives of children enrolled there, despite questions raised this week about a $24,000 raise for the school's executive chef. The chef is the boyfriend of the school's founder and board chairwoman, Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, The Inquirer reported Monday. The raise took his base salary to $95,000, about double what many teachers at the school make as well as what food-service directors in school districts make.

A March 2012 menu feature at Camden's LEAP Academy University Charter School was grilled cheese, tomato soup, peas, and fresh fruit. This month, the menu features grilled cheese, tomato soup, and strawberry applesauce. A more striking change than in the menu is what executive chef Michele Pastorello is getting for his work now - a $24,000 raise from last year. He will make $95,000 this school year - significantly more than comparable food-service directors' salaries in other New Jersey public school districts.