He may be the scion of a legendary actor (hint: Han Solo,
Indiana Jones), but Los Angeles-area chef Ben Ford is known for his
stardom in the kitchen. The executive chef and proprietor of Ford's Filling Station in Culver City, Calif., Ford celebrates his restaurant's gastropub concept with innovative comfort dishes using local ingredients.
Ford's Filling Station has earned honors from Zagat, Michelin and the Los Angeles Times since its opening in 2006. Previously, Ford cooked in some of California's most famous eateries: Chez Panisse, The Farm of Beverly Hills, Opus and Campanile.
Ford joins other big-name chefs like Bobby Flay, Todd English and Jasper White at the Sun WineFest's Celebrity Chef Dine Around event on Jan. 29.
Q: You're well-known in the Los Angeles area, but what attracts you to an East Coast festival?
A: It's an opportunity to go off and represent myself on the East Coast here and there. I'm doing whole roasted pigs [at the Celebrity Chef Dine-Around]. It's going to be quite a display. ...We're a snout-to-tail restaurant, so I thought it was a good way to represent what we do. ...This is a fun event. I wouldn't be coming back for a second year if I didn't think it was worthwhile. We've got three days' worth of different events. It's going to be a blast out there.
Q: How would you describe Ford's Filling Station to those who haven't visited?
A: We do a lot of nostalgic dishes, a lot of comfort food. But it's a very crafty restaurant. ... It's also a very playful restaurant. We're always bending and weaving, always changing the menu, having events. It's a wonderful concept and a wonderful place.
Q: You've worked with some influential chefs during your career.
What are some of the most valuable lessons you've learned from these
figures?
A: Well, Alice Waters ran her restaurant in a very holistic manner, and that was probably the biggest thing I took away from her...she got to me very early in my career. So she really built a foundation of my understanding of how you treat food. Eberhard Muller [of Opus] taught me a lot more about refinement, and how to work with seafood. Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton [founders of Campanile] sort of saved my culinary soul to a certain extent, and gave me the insight to be a real chef. Those are my main influences up to this day.
Q: How would you describe your philosophy behind food and cooking?
A: I was in fine dining for quite some time, and [Ford's Filling Station] was an exercise in me getting back to the reasons why I got involved in restaurants in the first place, which was, to really cook and forage and enjoy the investigations of my food sources. ...We spend a lot of time researching our ingredients and being responsible about [them]. We really believe that the extra efforts we put into it is the difference between what's good and great. ... Anyone who's ever made homemade ice cream can understand that metaphor.
Q: The movement to eat organic and local foods has taken off across the country. Do you think that's a lifestyle that will continue to become more mainstream?
A: Yeah, because it leads to better food and better health. And I see absolutely no reason for that trend to reverse. I'm really actually quite surprised that it's taken so long to even become rooted here.
Q: You're involved in charitable organizations, serving as a chef chair for Share Our Strength and building gardens for community schools. What motivates you to give back?
A: Yes, we recently put gardens into the Culver City schools. It's an entire curriculum. Culver City [was] very open to letting us do that. Throughout the progression, [students] will learn everything from planting seeds to selling the crops. My next program with them is to figure out how to preserve some foraging gardens, so that we can teach the kids to see what's living right at their feet.
One of the reasons why I got into restaurants in the first place was that they were a great way to be involved in your community. ... I just feel that if I have the time and the wherewithal, I like to give back as much as possible.
When I was in kindergarten, my school had an organic garden. My parents also planted gardens. I had that connection to the soil very early on, and I think it really helped me in many different facets. It definitely led to what I was going to do later, but it gave me epiphanies about my own personal health, about how things grow, the fragility of life. ... There's a lot of different lessons to be learned there in the garden.
Q: You've said you've drawn inspiration from your parents in other ways, as well.
A: My mother (Mary Marquardt) is a very good home cook. She inspired a few chefs that pay homage to her in their bios. My home was one of those where the kids would come over and they wouldn't leave for three or four days. ... It was a fun house to hang out in, and the food was very good. And some of those kids were paying attention. A couple of them became chefs, most notably, Neal Fraser.
Q: And you actually stood in for your father during a reshoot for the 2007 final-cut version of 1982's "Blade Runner"?
A: Yeah, I can do a very good Harrison Ford impression. I did the reshoots for the anniversary edition. They finally redid a part of it where the voice didn't match the mouth and vice versa, so we did all that. It was fun. It was difficult, probably more difficult than creating something from scratch. ... You have to hit the dialogue with your head movements, face movements and expression. It's not that easy. ... It took a day. But it literally was six or 10 lines of dialogue and other little innuendos.
Q: Speaking of on-screen experience, any chance you'll get to challenge your "Iron Chef America" loss to Bobby Flay?
A: I would love that! (laughs). I think I've made it well-known that I want a rematch against Bobby Flay. When I did that first competition [in 2007], it was two weeks after I opened my restaurant and I was in no shape to compete. ... But I would love to have a rematch. I think it would be a blast.
The Sun WineFest will be held Jan. 28 to Jan. 30 at various locations throughout Mohegan Sun. Ticket prices and availability vary by event. For more information, visit sunwinefest.com.
A: Well, Alice Waters ran her restaurant in a very holistic manner, and that was probably the biggest thing I took away from her...she got to me very early in my career. So she really built a foundation of my understanding of how you treat food. Eberhard Muller [of Opus] taught me a lot more about refinement, and how to work with seafood. Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton [founders of Campanile] sort of saved my culinary soul to a certain extent, and gave me the insight to be a real chef. Those are my main influences up to this day.
Q: How would you describe your philosophy behind food and cooking?
A: I was in fine dining for quite some time, and [Ford's Filling Station] was an exercise in me getting back to the reasons why I got involved in restaurants in the first place, which was, to really cook and forage and enjoy the investigations of my food sources. ...We spend a lot of time researching our ingredients and being responsible about [them]. We really believe that the extra efforts we put into it is the difference between what's good and great. ... Anyone who's ever made homemade ice cream can understand that metaphor.
Q: The movement to eat organic and local foods has taken off across the country. Do you think that's a lifestyle that will continue to become more mainstream?
A: Yeah, because it leads to better food and better health. And I see absolutely no reason for that trend to reverse. I'm really actually quite surprised that it's taken so long to even become rooted here.
Q: You're involved in charitable organizations, serving as a chef chair for Share Our Strength and building gardens for community schools. What motivates you to give back?
A: Yes, we recently put gardens into the Culver City schools. It's an entire curriculum. Culver City [was] very open to letting us do that. Throughout the progression, [students] will learn everything from planting seeds to selling the crops. My next program with them is to figure out how to preserve some foraging gardens, so that we can teach the kids to see what's living right at their feet.
One of the reasons why I got into restaurants in the first place was that they were a great way to be involved in your community. ... I just feel that if I have the time and the wherewithal, I like to give back as much as possible.
When I was in kindergarten, my school had an organic garden. My parents also planted gardens. I had that connection to the soil very early on, and I think it really helped me in many different facets. It definitely led to what I was going to do later, but it gave me epiphanies about my own personal health, about how things grow, the fragility of life. ... There's a lot of different lessons to be learned there in the garden.
Q: You've said you've drawn inspiration from your parents in other ways, as well.
A: My mother (Mary Marquardt) is a very good home cook. She inspired a few chefs that pay homage to her in their bios. My home was one of those where the kids would come over and they wouldn't leave for three or four days. ... It was a fun house to hang out in, and the food was very good. And some of those kids were paying attention. A couple of them became chefs, most notably, Neal Fraser.
Q: And you actually stood in for your father during a reshoot for the 2007 final-cut version of 1982's "Blade Runner"?
A: Yeah, I can do a very good Harrison Ford impression. I did the reshoots for the anniversary edition. They finally redid a part of it where the voice didn't match the mouth and vice versa, so we did all that. It was fun. It was difficult, probably more difficult than creating something from scratch. ... You have to hit the dialogue with your head movements, face movements and expression. It's not that easy. ... It took a day. But it literally was six or 10 lines of dialogue and other little innuendos.
Q: Speaking of on-screen experience, any chance you'll get to challenge your "Iron Chef America" loss to Bobby Flay?
A: I would love that! (laughs). I think I've made it well-known that I want a rematch against Bobby Flay. When I did that first competition [in 2007], it was two weeks after I opened my restaurant and I was in no shape to compete. ... But I would love to have a rematch. I think it would be a blast.
The Sun WineFest will be held Jan. 28 to Jan. 30 at various locations throughout Mohegan Sun. Ticket prices and availability vary by event. For more information, visit sunwinefest.com.
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