Endlessly inspired by the notion of taste memory, Chef Michael White strives to recreate the sensory feel of true Italian dining experiences with each dish he creates. Although his soulful, flavorful interpretations of Italian cuisine indicate otherwise, he is not an Italian native who absorbed generations of recipes at birth. He is, in fact, a Midwesterner who grew up in,Wisconsin playing football and swimming competitively. After winning a James Beard Award this year for Best New Restaurant, Chef White gives us the scoop about Marea and when he discovered his passion for Italian cuisine.

AndrewZimmern.com: How does a Wisconsin kid develop a world-class passion for Italian food?

MichaelWhite: I’ve always loved to eat. I got injured playing football in high school and decided to go to culinary school. I moved to Italy and the rest is history. Italian food is now my life and an Italian woman is now my wife.

AZ.com: How did your perceptions of Italian food change after living in Italy for seven years? Do you think Americans understand authentic Italian cuisine?

MW: Being able to work with the raw product at the source is obviously an invaluable experience – and I did it for seven years! Cooking Italian food would be virtually impossible without travelling to Italy.

AZ.com: Is authenticity important? Why?

MW: I think to a certain degree it is. More than anything though is taste and taste memory. I don’t think those things can be duplicated. Authenticity – but to who? Every Italian mom does their version of a ragu. One tradtion to one is interpreted completely different to another. It is more about personal taste and taste memory.

AZ.com: Of all the chefs you’ve worked with, who opened your eyes to the newest cooking experiences and how?

MW: It would be unfair to name just one person because I’ve had so many important people in my career thus far.

AZ.com: What do you miss most about living in the Midwest?

MW: I miss summers spent on Lake Geneva. When I was a kid I used to work and restore wooden boats with my dad. I miss the fish fries and Sheboigan brat barbeques.

AZ.com: What’s the best part about living in New York?

MW: You can get anything you want whenever you want 24/7.

AZ.com: What is your hope for guests as far as a “take away” from an experience at Marea?

MW: For repeat customers, consistency is one of the most important things in the sense that when people return they expect the same experience. Most people order the same things from their first experience. It all comes back to taste memory.

AZ.com: What are the three dishes a newcomer to Marea should order?

MW: Astice – lobster & burrata
Fusili with Bone Marrow and Octopus
Uni & lardo crostini
Tagliata, dry aged sirloin with bone marrow panzanella – because it is a seafood restaurant and no one expects that the steak would be SO good.

AZ.com: You have a world famous chef from Rome come to NYC and you have to take him to five NYC restaurants. Which ones and why?

MW: Sushi Yasuda, Shake Shack, Daniel, Jean-Georges, Minetta Tavern

AZ.com: You have relatives come in from Wisconsin for a “real NYC weekend.” Where do you send them to eat and why?

MW: Gotham Bar & Grill because it is the true NY experience

AZ.com: You won this year’s James Beard Award for best new restaurant. What’s the best thing about taking home that award? What kinds of expectations come with the award?

MW: My expectations don’t change. NYC is one of the most if not the most competitive food cities in the world and in order for me to have a part in that world, I and my team have to be on top of their game all the time.

AZ.com: Five favorite places Michael White likes to hit up for a good meal in New York?

MW: Saigon Banh Mi, Minetta Tavern, SriPraPhai in Queens, and Hill Country.

AZ.com: Does being a dad and a husband make a better chef?

MW: Yes, it makes my time that much more valuable because its important with me to get home on time at least once a week to read to Francesca, my six-year-old daughter. I remember how much I appreciated the time my dad spent reading to me as a child.

It has also given me a tremendous amount of empathy for parents who bring their children to the restaurants – I actually encourage it. I often cook special pastas for the kids. There is nothing like hand made garganelli with Italian butter and parmigiano.

AZ.com: What’s in your fridge?

MW: Siracha, organic milk, eggs, bacon, mortadella, acqua pana, cream cheese, lox, my wife’s tomato sauce, tamarind juice (because Francesca likes me to make Pad Thai), palm sugar, fish sauce, and shiritaki noodles – for some fake carbs.

About Michael White:

Although Michael White’s soulful, flavorful interpretations of Italian cuisine indicate otherwise, he is not an Italian native who absorbed generations of recipes at birth. By whim or intuition, White decided to try his hand at culinary school, pursuing a career out of something that had been only a passing fancy. He enrolled at Kendall Culinary Institute in 1989 and just a year later, secured a position prepping in Chicago’s most famous Italian restaurant, Spiaggia. He spent a year and a half learning from Chef Paul Bartolotta and, wanting to find the origin of his mentor’s awe-inspiring recipes, he followed the Chef’s footsteps to Italy.

He trained with the venerated Italian chef Valentino Marcattilii at Ristorante San Domenico in Imola and it was there, learning to cook in the Old World-style kitchen, that he began his Italian transformation. For the next seven years, he studied the hands-on, ingredient-driven cooking style of the Italians, working with Marcattilii and traveling across the country for informal, but equally important, cooking lessons with friends.

White returned to the US in 2001 with his technique firmly rooted in his profound respect for Italy’s culinary traditions. He returned to Spiaggia as Chef de Cuisine and contributed to the restaurant’s four-star review from The Chicago Tribune. In 2002, he took New York by storm as Executive Chef of Fiamma Osteria.

In 2007, White partnered with New York’s accomplished restaurateur Chris Cannon and took the helm of the James Beard Award winning (2003) L’Impero and Alto. In July 2008, White and Cannon recreated L’Impero into Convivio—a restaurant that exudes the soul and spirit of Southern Italy—to much acclaim, including a glowing three-star review from The New York Times and chosen as one of Esquire magazine’s Best New Restaurants of 2008. In May 2009, the two opened Marea, a restaurant devoted to the bounty of the sea, which again garnered three-stars from The New York Times, a Michelin Star in the 2010 Michelin Guide, a nod from Esquire magazine as a Best New Restaurant of 2009 and the nomination of Best Italian Chef in the Country and Best New Restaurant by GQ magazine.