Nana's Anthony Bombaci on Good Ice Cream, Sharp Knives and Bad G.M.Os

By Jenny Block Thu., Jan. 6 2011 at 1:23 PM

Categories: Interviews

Nana's Anthony Bombaci

On Wednesday, we gave you the goods on Anthony C. Bombaci, executive chef at Nana. Today, we ask Bombaci to finish a few sentences for us. Tomorrow, he shares one of his recipes.

I was raised in...Central Wisconsin and the Milwaukee area.

My friends say...I am intense, focused, bonkers, crackers and a lover of good food and cuisine.

My momma told me...to always wear clean underwear. You never know when your pants might fall down.

If I had 24 hours to live I'd...catch a red-eye flight to Macchu Pichu or Giza.

My guilty pleasure is...vanilla ice cream.

I cook therefore...I am a cook. Well, when I grow up I want to be a cook.

If I could go anywhere, I'd go...Sortino, Sicily, where my grandfather was born.

Never again will I...lick a flag pole on a sub-zero winter day.

Cat or dog...Cat. Siamese, please. Or a tiger if possible.

The CD I couldn't do without...Jimi Hendrix.

I relax by...playing soccer with my wife and twin boys.

If it weren't for cooking, I would be...playing futbol.

Food should always...taste good and be eaten in good company. And it should always resemble food.

And food should never...be overpriced or from G.M.O. sources.

I get my cooking inspiration from...lots of places. Sometimes cooks, sometimes architects, sometimes the countryside, sometimes from cooking shows, sometimes from my wife.

The kitchen gift I'd like to receive...an ice cream machine/Carpigiani (2 liter capacity) There is nothing quite like freshly made ice cream.

Every kitchen needs...lots of love and respect... for the food that we cook, where it came from, the vendors that bring it to us, and for each other.

My favorite movie is...True Romance.

Kitchen tool I could not live without...sharpening stone. If you have knives you have to keep them sharp.

The best gift I ever received was...an old carbon steel slicing knife that Gary Adenko gave me. And my kids, of course.

Dallas diners expect...to be pampered. They expect more attention. More attention and being recognized. Genuine appreciation for them brings them back more than ambiance or food. A restaurant is more then just food. It's all the intangible stuff.

One thing that surprises me about the Dallas dining scene is...that there are always new things popping up.

The changes I'd like to see in the Dallas dining scene are...I live south of the city. I'd like to see more good restaurants in more places. More good neighborhood-supported restaurants.