Q & A With Lure's Josh Capon

How many great seafood restaurants have bragging rights to a terrific burger? Lure Fishbar does and Chef Josh Capon has a lot to do it. His burger won the people's choice award at last year's New York Wine and Food Festival. In fact, this fall, restaurateur John McDonald and Josh Capon are teaming up again to open a burger bar called Burger and Barrel in Soho, which will serve small steaks and chicken paillard. Pretty impressive for a guy who used to cook chicken parm for his fraternity brothers at University of Maryland.

Capon has proved himself a versatile chef, as talented with seafood as he is with meat. Capon trained under Charlie Palmer at Aureole and David Burke, who he credits as his mentor. "David Burke taught me how to have fun with food,” he explains. His favorite dishes on the menu are the steamed branzino with oyster mushrooms, scallions and ponzu, and the grilled daurade with dill gnocchi, agro dolce and tomatoes.

Single/Married/Divorced?
Married

What did you want to be when you grew up?
An Oceanographer. I always wanted to study Dolphins.

What was your first job in food and what did you learn?
I was a dishwasher at -15, then a busboy. I learned I didn’t want to be a dishwasher.

You realized you wanted to be a chef while studying at the University of Maryland. What dishes did you cook for your fraternity brothers? Were any lost on them? What were you studying at the time?
I was studying Agronomy at the time, the study of the soil and the conservation of the environment. But my parents didn’t see much of a future in that. It just so happened I was spending most of my free time shopping and cooking for friends. Weekly dinner parties so to speak. Italian night was always a big one, Caesar salad and Chicken Parm!

Did you end up going to culinary school or are you self-taught?
After 2 years at the University of Maryland, I transferred to Johnson and Whales in Rhode Island, with a little pressure from my folks.

What was the biggest takeaway from your externship at Charlie Palmer’s Aureole?
It was just an eye opening experience to the restaurant world of NYC.

Who are your culinary mentors/influences?
I think by far David Burke. He really taught me to have fun with food and not to take it to seriously. People should have fun while they are eating.

What is your favorite kind of seafood to cook and why?
I would say shrimp, just because everyone loves them and they are so versatile and not to expensive.

What tips can you give us for picking out, handling and cooking fish?
Always buy it from a reliable source. It should be fresh, pristine and smelling of the ocean. Never slimy and limp. As far as cooking, keep it simple and light and let the product speak for itself. Season things well, citrus and fresh herbs and of course S&P!

The Lure burger won the People’s Choice Award at the 2009 New York Food and Wine Festival Burger Bash. Think you’ll win again this year? What’s your method for cooking a great burger and how did you come up with the onion and bacon jam recipe?
You never know, but you gotta be in it to win it! Truth is it’s a GREAT event and just a really fun night to be a part of, win or lose. We cook our burger on a griddle with lots of love. As far as the bacon onion jam, it was my interpretation of the classic bacon cheeseburger. I just always hate when you get 2 or 3 strips of bacon on top of the burger and when you bite in to it all the bacon comes out.

We heard you picked up another burger technique from In-N-Out, your favorite West Coast chain (mine too!). Do you mind sharing it with us?
Yeah, we spread a little mustard on the burger while its cooking the griddle, when it caramelizes it gives a very unique flavor.

What other New York City burgers do you enjoy?
I love the Burger Joint, the Kobe Sliders at Stanton Social are awesome, and of course the Black Label at Minetta Tavern deserves respect.

The food at Lure is very different from the food you cooked while you were in the kitchen at Canteen, which was located in the same space as Lure is today. Was it difficult making the transition from the Canteen menu to the Lure menu? Why the change in the first place?
Canteen was a great place back in the day, but I think we just felt it was time to evolve. When Canteen first opened it was more of a hot spot then an actual restaurant. Towards the end, it became much more of a respectable dining establishment. With Lure, we were just looking to continue in that direction.

What’s your favorite dish on the menu at Lure right now?
The grilled whole Dourade or the steamed Branzino.

What’s your least favorite?
Don’t really have one, its all good! If I had to pick I would say the soft shell crab only because I don’t love them in the first place.

Any plans to open a burger shop in the near future, say fall?
Hey that sounds like a pretty good idea ;) Yeah we are opening a place called Burger and Barrel. It's not exactly a burger shop although we will feature a few burgers.

You’ve been a judge on the Food Network show’s Chopped. Any plans to do more television appearances? You certainly have the personality…
You never know, I didn’t get into this business to get on TV, but I hear that all the time.

Any cookbook or memoir in the works? Do tell…
Nothing in the works but sometimes I do think about putting some memories and recipes down on paper, for now I am to busy putting them on the plate!