By Jae-Ha Kim
Tribune Content Agency
February 2, 2016
Chef and restaurateur Tim Love is one of the stars of CNBC’s series “Restaurant Startup.” The reality show helps potential restaurateurs by investing money in new restaurants. He says one way he keeps on top of culinary trends is via travel.
“Cooking is really not the hard part,” says Love, 44. “When you travel, you experience different cultures and see how they do different things. This inspires me to incorporate new ideas and experiment with different cuisines, ingredients and flavors.”
When not filming, Love resides in Fort Worth, Texas. Fans may follow him on Twitter.
Q. What is your favorite vacation destination?
A. Anguilla. One year, my family and three (other) families went to Anguilla for Thanksgiving and rented a big house right on the beach. Instead of having a traditional Thanksgiving meal, we asked the resort if we could build a campfire on the beach, which they let us do. I had caught a bunch of snapper that morning and we set up a beautiful table right by the ocean. I cooked the whole meal on the bonfire. We watched the sun go down and had cocktails. It was one of the most spectacular Thanksgivings I have ever had in my life. Embarrassingly cool.
Q. To someone who was going there for the first time, what would you recommend that they do during their visit?
A. Chill some rosé, light a fire on the beach and relax. There’s a place called Banky Banks. It is this real kind of ratchety, reggae bar with different wooden levels and there’s a little sitting/bar area that is actually in the ocean. They cook two or three things there everyday, usually pork ribs or roasted chicken, but it’s always really delicious. It just takes a little while, which is fine because you are sitting there listening to live music and hanging out. I definitely recommend that you go there. And there are two resorts — the CuisinArt Resort, which is right next door to this place and then the Viceroy which is ultra nice but a little bit further away. That being said, you can definitely ride a bike there and bikes are easy to come by on the island.
Q. What was the first trip you took as a child?
A. I remember going to Ruidoso, New Mexico, to ski. I am the youngest of seven kids so going anywhere wasn’t a breeze. The closest one to me is seven years older than me. During our trip to this little ski resort, our motor home got stuck with all nine of us in it. I am sure it was a big pain for my dad but, us kids had a wonderful time. We skied a bunch and then, when we got snowed in, we were excited because we didn’t have to go back to school and we just skied some more. Ruidoso is actually a great family ski spot, especially for beginner skiers as it isn’t that steep. Plus you are always bound to have fun when you put enough people in one itty bitty motor home. We always found a way to enjoy each other.
Q. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned from your travels?
A. Check the weather and plan on your plane being late. My plane is late every time I go somewhere, so I just plan on it and it makes it a lot better. I always try to take the first flight out because 99 percent of the time it is never late. And then also check the weather. It is so easy to do with today’s technologies, with your iPhone, or whatever. Checking the weather allows you to pack properly, which ensures a much better, less stressful time wherever you go.
Q. Where are your favorite weekend getaways?
A. New Orleans, my ranch, Nashville and Las Vegas. It really depends on the mood for the one I want to choose. Nashville is great because I love its countryside and it is so pretty, especially in springtime. Plus it is just a really fun city and not too big, so it is not overwhelming. It has a booming little food scene. On the other end of the spectrum is Las Vegas, where I like to go to unwind and donate some money to the casinos. You can just get out there, cut loose and not really worry. Just go out, drink some cocktails and have some fun!
Q. Where is the most romantic destination?
A. I would have to say London. London is very dear to me because my wife and I have had some really amazing trips there. We spent our 10th anniversary there and, with Paris being so easy to get to, managed to sneak in a little side trip to there. London is rare, because it is always cool so it lends itself to strolling around. Plus, it’s nice to speak the language. There is just something about that city that my wife and I love.
Q. What are your five favorite cities?
A. New York City, London, Nashville, Austin and Toronto.
Q. Where would you like to go that you have never been to before?
A. Hong Kong. I have just heard so many great things about Hong Kong. It sounds like New York City or London on drugs with all this crazy stuff, so much booming business and the insane food scene. I would just love to experience that.
Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?
A. Phone, music, headphones, solar charger, swimsuit and raincoat.
Q. What would be your dream trip?
A. I’d love to hop on a private yacht and travel the Caribbean for a month. I’d love to never put a pair of shoes on for a month. Drink some great wine, eat some great food, phone doesn’t work…
Q. What untapped destination should people know about?
A. The Lodge at Mount LeConte in the Smoky Mountains. Mount LeConte has the highest elevation at 7200 feet in the Smoky Mountains and it provides probably some of the best hiking in eastern Tennessee. There’s a lodge at the top of the mountain that is open about eight months of the year (obviously not during the dead of winter because they can’t get any supplies up there). All of the supplies are taken up there by llamas so they hike supplies up there every other day and back down. The lodge can accommodate about 28 people to stay there. There’s some small cabins and some little lodges that have 3 individual rooms in them. There’s no running water – very primitive accommodations but very nice. They have nice dinners each night with great wine and the view from the lodge is spectacular. It is the most basic, five-star lodge there is! They put these little wash baths by the side of your bed each night so you can clean up. Because of the small size, it can be very, very hard to get into. When I was in college I used to hike up there all the time and do some climbing and things around it but to stay there is quite the experience especially if you can do it with your kids.
Q. Have you traveled to a place that stood out so much that you felt compelled to incorporate it into your work?
A. Tons of places – Everywhere I go I learn something new that I can incorporate into my work. The first time I went to London about ten years ago, I went to the Borough Market and I learned that proper fish and chips were cooked in beef fat. This really changed a lot of things for me because it helped me understand that I should be able to take all kinds of different fats and strain them, purify them and use them for all different kinds of cooking. The thing about cooking is that ideas are the hard part. Cooking is really not the hard part. When you travel, you experience different cultures and see how they do different things. This inspires me to incorporate new ideas and experiment with different cuisines, ingredients and flavors.
Q. If you’ve ever gone away for the holidays which was the best trip?
A. Definitely the time my family and I spent Thanksgiving in Anguilla.
Q. What are your favorite hotels?
A. Sunset Marquis in LA, Trump Soho in NYC, 404 in Nashville and Joule in Dallas. I like hotels that have their own personality. I really like the individuality of the luxury, independent hotels such as the Sunset Marquis. It started out as a place for musicians who were recording in LA. They had little kitchenettes in their rooms but there was nothing fancy about it. Yet all these great musicians have stayed there over the years. I stayed there a bunch when I was shooting my show Restaurant Start. This hotel feels like a second home to me. The staff is amazing and really get to know you, what you do. 404 in Nashville is special because it only has four rooms. It is like a miniature boutique hotel. It’s is a little restaurant bar in the front and four really cool but simple rooms in the back.
Q. What is your guilty pleasure when you’re on the road?
A. Italian food and red wine.
Q. What kind of research do you do before you go away on a trip?
A. Just restaurants. The rest I like to figure out along the way as I meet and talk to locals.
© 2016 JAE-HA KIM
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