The city's best chefs dish on must-haves of the moment.

Ingredient Espelette pepper. It has a delicate, complex, natural smokiness, and the heat builds. We’ve used it in tomato soup and now in the octopus marinade.
Kitchen gadget The immersion circulator [food is sealed in plastic, immersed in water and cooked] because you can set it at a specific temperature, add your ingredient and just forget about it. For us particularly, it’s great because we can cook in the prep kitchen where there is no stove, and it’s extremely accurate and consistent.
Restaurant Lula Café (2537 N Kedzie Blvd between Albany Ave and Linden Pl, 773-489-9554). They use the same level of ingredients as the big boys, and yet it is very casual and very fun and the people that own it are tirelessly creative with no boundaries.
Inspirational place Riding my bike. I use the time to get ready for the day on the way to work and to decompress on the way home. It’s a great time alone.
Music to cook to Yo La Tengo’s I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass.

615–619 W Randolph St between Jefferson and Desplaines Sts (312-715-0708)