Herbed Ricotta Spread

In this episode of Kitchen Essentials, we visit Lincoln Carson, owner and chef at Bon Temps in Los Angeles. Lincoln shows us his most-used tools, which include his honing strop, hard rubber cutting board, a painter's spatula, and a Lady Hamilton spoon for plating. Watch to learn all about Lincoln's essentials, and why he uses them every day in the kitchen.

In this episode of Kitchen Essentials we visit wine expert and author Victoria James at Cote in NYC, where she is the Beverage Director and Sommelier. She showed us her essential Sommelier tools, which include her tastevin, her favorite decanters, and a selection of the perfect glassware to enjoy all types of wines. Watch to learn all about Victoria's essential tools, and why she uses them every day.

In this episode of Kitchen Essentials we visit Mina Newman, Executive Chef at Sen Sakana in NYC, where she tells us what her essential kitchen tools are for her Nikkei restaurant. For those unfamiliar, Nikkei cuisine refers to the food of the Japanese diaspora living in places like Peru. In the Andes, the combination of ingredients and Japanese technique led to the development of fascinating dishes and flavor profiles. Mina shows us her chopsticks, favorite knives, spoons, and a bonito shaving machine she had to order from Japan. Watch to learn all about Mina's essential tools, and why she uses them every day in the kitchen.

food52 cofounders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs were nearly stumped when asked for their example of a perfect food for this video. Then they realized that Betsy Devine and Rachel Mark's Salvatore Bklyn ricotta was flawless in every way. Amanda and Merrill were filmed in Bklyn Larder, a great New York store where you can find Salvatore ricotta cheese. And be sure to visit food52.com to enter their best ricotta recipe contest.