Chef Conversations

In the kitchen with Bernie Kantak of In Good Spirits Hospitality

By Alison Bailin Batz / Photo by Debby Wolvos

Bernie Kantak – a 2025 James Beard Award nominee for Best Chef: Southwest – is the chef-owner of In Good Spirits Hospitality, where he crafts the menus for Citizen Public House, The Gladly, Beginner’s Luck, and Minnow.

You invented the Original Chopped Salad!

Such a fluke! When I was lead chef at Cowboy Ciao in 1997, we had a wildly popular chopped salad with prosciutto, lentils and radicchio. On a whim, the owner decided we needed a new one, much to the staff’s dismay. I dreamt up our now-famous version with whatever we had in the kitchen, which was asiago, black currants, pepitas, dried sweet corn, marinated tomatoes, arugula, pearled cous cous, and smoked salmon. Nearly 30 years later, it’s still going strong. Earlier this year, the state Senate even gave it its own day (May 1).

What are your most controversial food opinions?

First, tacos are sandwiches! They have a ground grain vessel like bread, then are stuffed with protein and produce. Totally the same thing. Also, I do not think food is art. My eyes do not have to eat first.

Ever have a dish you loved that failed?

My grandfather was a butcher and made pickled pig’s feet, so I thought it would be a cool homage to make a pickled pig dish. I used pig temples because they are even more tender than beef cheeks. I think the name scared people, and it did not last long.

Any foods you personally dislike?

For years, pretzels and chocolate made me sick, until local dessert icon Tracey Dempsey sat me down and fed me her delicacies. Now, bagels with sweet elements – think strawberry or cinnamon – gross me out.

What would readers be surprised to know about you?

Patrick Swayze and I have something in common! No, I do not dance. However, I know my way around a pottery wheel as he did in ghost. A high school 3D art class inspired me to study ceramics and sculpture professionally before culinary school. It’s my dream to get back on the wheel and make plates for each of our eateries someday.

In Good Spirits, multiple venues; more info, www.igshospitality.com.