Silks (Huff): Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 222 Sansome St. (at Pine), 415-986-2020, www.mandarinoriental.com
   

Café Majestic (Begg): 1500 Sutter St. (at Gough) in the Hotel Majestic, 415-441-1280, www.thehotelmajestic.com

   

Upcoming projects: Two chefs, one hour, one surprise ingredient: Huff and Begg will cross spatulas at the third and final Macy’s “Battle of the Chefs” event on Monday, April 7, at 6:30 p.m. in the Cellar of Macy’s Union Square. For tickets and more information, visit www.rivera-pr.com.

   

Fun Facts: Huff and his wife had a baby boy, named Fin, six months ago. Begg started cooking professionally at age 14 and is completely self-taught.

What was your worst kitchen experience?
   

Huff: A sous chef got mad and kicked the door. It hit me in the head and knocked me out.
   

Begg:  Cutting up vegetables, which took about an hour a quart, and the chef said, “These are crap,” and threw them all out.

What are your biggest strengths as a chef?
   

Huff: Communication. You have to be able to communicate to the staff how to execute your dishes.
   

Begg: Leading by example – being in the kitchen cooking with the crew every day.

What is something you would like to improve?
   

Huff: Coming up with my own food theory. I saw Alain Passard on TV and he was like, “Dude, the veggies talk to me.” I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants guy. I tried a new fish dish and my sous chef said, “This is boring. It’s not you at all – you’re the ‘out there’ guy.”
   

Begg: Letting go of that a bit – taking a day off and trusting them when I’m not there.

What is your favorite place for sushi in the Bay Area?
   

Huff: Sushi Sam’s in San Mateo – it’s innovative and solid. I’ve eaten at the best sushi places in the world – Masa in New York; Ginza in Japan – but some of the stuff at Sam’s, like the marlin with black pepper, blows me away just as much.
   

Begg: Ryoko on Taylor Street – it’s open until 2 a.m. so it’s great for chefs getting off work late. Sit at the bar, though – table service isn’t great.
 
What is your favorite dish at someone else’s restaurant?
   

Huff: I don’t eat out much since the baby, but I loved “Tongue in Cheek,” this rustic braised beef dish, at August in New York.   

Begg: The pig’s feet at Jeanty at Jack’s – a generous portion for $10 and it’s awesome.

What is the most difficult thing facing chefs today?
   

Huff: The Food Network. Everyone’s a foodie. People think this is glamorous and it’s not; it’s a battle every day. And technology. There’s a Web site called Ideasinfood.com – it’s this couple and all they do is make this really out-there stuff and teach classes about it. It’s the most innovative food – I just get frustrated. I thought I was on top of things … I’m not – they’ll find some undiscovered cheese.
   

Begg: Juggling everything you need to do in order to rise up the ranks, with media; being in the kitchen …

What are your favorite cookbooks?
   

Huff: Michel Bras is my old-school favorite. Awesome book. And the Morimoto book – his food is beautiful. I also like the magazine Art Culinaire – chefs get stuck in their kitchens, and it keeps you up to date.
   

Begg: The Culinary Artistry books [What Chefs Have to Say About the Foods They Create; Fun with Food Spread Sheets]. One lists one ingredient and then what works with it, like, say, carrots go with cumin, and then what goes with that … the other has interviews with great chefs about their food.

What essentials would you recommend to the serious home cook?
   

Huff: A serious blender, like the Vita Prep; anything pork in the pantry; a sharp knife – I like my crappy little filet knife which was about $16 and fits perfectly in my hand; and a good wine cellar to get the job done.
   

Begg: Kosher salt and a sharp knife – it doesn’t have to be expensive, just sharp. I use Kiwi, a brand from Thailand – they’re about $4 at The Wok Shop, this really great, tiny, packed store on Grant Avenue in Chinatown. When I started at Café Majestic, the culinary kids would come in with their $100 German knives; now they’re using them because they don’t want to have to sharpen their knives all the time.

What restaurant trend or dish are you sick of?

Huff: I’m not sick of anything – I’m a chef; I can’t be narrow minded, right? Personally, though, I don’t eat salmon. I hate it.
   

Begg: I’m not a fan of “deconstructed” – there’s usually too many regions on a plate; my palate gets confused. I only want to go to one place on a plate.

Chef André Soltner says he is not an artist but rather a craftsman – which are you?

Huff: More of an artist … I’m not gonna lie – but we’re all cooks.
   

Begg: A little of both … you have to be a craftsman to reproduce a dish so many times, but also a bit of an artist to come up with the ingredients and create that dish.

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