Tim Bereika, chef of Secco Wine Bar, shares his expertise, love for the Richmond Region and passion for cooking in this month's Featured Chef Interview.

What is your favorite style of cooking? What about that style most appeals to you?

Honestly, I don’t have a favorite style  of cooking, per se. My culinary roots lie in Tuscany so I consider this type of cuisine my foundation, but I look for inspiration everywhere. For example, I’ve recently been fascinated with North African and Indian cuisine, and have been working on subtle ways to fuse spices from that part of the world into Secco’s pan-Mediterranean cuisine.

What are the top 5 five cooking tips or suggestions you would give a novice cook? 

• Following any recipe to a tee seldom makes for a great result. Use your instincts when preparing a meal and you’ll have a better finished product.
• Taste your food while you are preparing it so you know when to increase or back off on an ingredient (like salt).
• Always clean up while you’re cooking. A messy kitchen makes for a slow cook and a pile of dirty dishes at the end of a delicious meal. Buzz kill.
• A good, sharp set of knives is the most important investment to make when cooking and will help you avoid buying silly kitchen tools which are useless and clutter up your kitchen.
• When cooking a large meal, prep as much as you can ahead of time so you’re not under as much pressure on the day you serve it.

Who was the biggest inspiration for your career?
 
My grandfather would always cook huge, elaborate meals when we’d visit. He’d spend the better part of a day in the kitchen preparing and I’d always wonder what he was up to in there. He certainly sparked my curiosity in cooking at a very young age.

What do you enjoy most about being a chef?

A well run, professional kitchen is filled with a ton of energy. It’s an incredible feeling to be part of a service where everyone, from the dishwasher to the executive chef, is giving their all.

How long have you been working in the Richmond Region?
 
I’ve been cooking professionally for the last five years. I’m a bit of a newbie when compared to many of my peers.

What do you think the Richmond Region has to offer over other locations – culinary-wise?

From a chef’s point of view, Richmond’s geography is awesome. Our location offers us four solid growing seasons for local produce, plenty of farmland for locally sourced meats and we’re a few hours from the Atlantic, so sourcing locally caught seafood is a cinch.