Upcoming projects: Opening a large private dining facility in The Cannery space that houses the restaurant’s offices where he will host small group and private dinners, teach occasional cooking classes, and possibly grow a catering business; participating in a book called The Last Supper, about fantasy final meals of renowned chefs.

Fun fact: Danko’s father was a builder, and it was while working with him on a restaurant project one summer that he discovered he preferred working in the kitchen to building it.

Last thing you cooked for yourself?
Breakfast – I make buckwheat blinis at the restaurant – I use the same batter for pancakes – with caramelized apples, Greek yogurt, and maple syrup.

Favorite food from your childhood?
My mother’s chicken paprikash – my father’s Hungarian and she learned to make it for him. We’d have it on Sundays. You heat these spaetzle, sort of dumplings, with it.

Something in your fridge or freezer at home that would surprise people?
I don’t know … let’s look (opens refrigerator). Smucker’s chocolate syrup, Helmand’s mayonnaise – well, Best Foods on the West Coast – for tuna sandwiches. Some days I just crave tuna salad on Vital Vittles bread with onions and celery. The mayonnaise came from Costco. I shop at Costco.

A meal or a dish that, as a young chef, was an inspiration or a revelation?
Jean-George’s (Vongerichten) sea urchin and fennel soufflé, served in the sea urchin, when he first started out in New York.

Last restaurant you ate at besides your own?
The Four Seasons. But I like Luella a lot, and Blue Plate. At Luella, the Coca-Cola pork is always good; it’s a chic setting, great food, and a great staff. Blue Plate is great also, and they have this secret garden with outdoor heaters – I call them chicken brooder heaters – and trumpet flowers. It’s gorgeous.

The dish on your menu that will follow you wherever you go?
Roast lobster – I can never take that off the menu or people will say, “I came all the way from such and such for that!” If I were to take it off, I would be disappointing people; it’s bad business to take off a signature dish that people love.

Favorite offal?
Sweetbreads.

What are your guilty pleasures?
Stealing Greg’s chocolate ice cream – Double Rainbow is the best. I always have to think, “Do I want ice cream, or a Sierra Nevada?” It’s always the weight issue. I usually choose the Sierra Nevada. But I also love cheesecake … New York cheesecake.

What would your last meal on earth be and where would you have it?
A traditional ancient theme like the Greeks and Romans – the best of everything from four corners of the world served in bed (smiles), with drag queens feeding me beluga caviar from a huge tin.