Rod Hernandez, Neighbor

I've been in the kitchen since 1992 and have had the good fortune to have worked elbow to elbow with some of the most remarkable chefs in the world in some of the most influential kitchens. On my own, I opened Luke's Kitchen in Maplewood in 2007 where we were able to earn 3 stars from The New York Times as well as Top Ten Restaurants in New Jersey for 2009.  Unfortunately, Luke's Kitchen is now closed but still lives on in cyberspace on Facebook and Twitter and in the hearts and flavor memories of all the very loyal guests that I had the pleasure of hosting.  I currently work in Teaneck and will, from time to time, share information about what's going on that I believe may be of interest and when I don't think that anything I've heard or seen may be of interest, I'll share one or two stories about things that happened or just reminiscences of great restaurants and chefs that I've worked with and have influenced my career and the careers of many other fledgling cooks that followed me.