The exalted tastes of the Commoner

Thirty years ago, I met Dean Fearing, the visionary pioneer of southwestern cuisine and executive chef at the Mansion, the world-renowned Dallas restaurant. He was buying a brand-new Corvette — a shade of yellow so intense it would’ve melted a canary — and I happened to be atop a tall ladder at the car dealership, washing the expansive windows with a squeegee at one of my many starving-rock-dude day jobs.

That’s how I was able to glance down and see that the roof of the chef’s new ride had pockmarks — probably the result of a recent hailstorm that’d swept through North Texas. I alerted Chef Fearing, who was an instantly friendly and pleasant guy, and he was grateful for the head’s up — taking my name and promising to buy me dinner at the Mansion.*

During our brief conversation, I asked if a rumor was true that he enjoyed Domino’s pizza. Yes, he said, although he doctored the pies up after they’d been delivered. He also liked McDonald’s French fries, he said.

In that context, I’ve since come across the occasional newspaper or magazine story wherein highend chefs do blind taste tests on fast food items — or simply, for purposes of the article, list any fast foods they enjoy that folks probably wouldn’t contextually expect. It’s the sort of light feature that makes for entertaining reading and, at the same time, gives folks like me the sense that, hey, even these Gods and Goddesses of Cuisine can appreciate a Dairy Queen Belt-Buster or two.

What I haven’t seen, though, is a reverse spin on that construct.

What, I wondered, do sub-minimum-wage kitchen workers secretly enjoy from the world of Michelin-star dining? What are THEIR secret caloric guilty pleasures? I gathered a few volunteers and this is what I learned: