Michael Tuohy, the chef-owner of Woodfire Grill, is currently on a roll. After just being named one of Wine Spectator’s favorite Atlanta restaurants and then Gourmet magazine, he also just gets three stars from the AJC. Most importantly though, Tom Maicon, of our own Atlanta Cuisine, has raised it to third best restaurant in Atlanta. I went to interview Michael to find out what gets him going in the kitchen.

Michael has been working in kitchens since age 15, and is originally from San Francisco. After his culinary degree he worked for the famed chef Joyce Goldstein ( Author of Mediterranean the Beautiful, Back to Square One, and most recently Solo Suppers). At age 24 he was offered the chance to come to Atlanta and open Chef’s Café. Here he was one of the first chefs in Atlanta to focus on local and organic produce and worked closely with farmers. Just over a year ago he opened Woodfire Grill, where he continues his seasonally focused cuisine. I caught up with him at the end of a Saturday night and he seems both exhausted and happy.

Q & A:
Michael, what is the reason you became a chef?
I’ve always loved food but I guess a lot of my family were involved in it and both my parents cooked a lot. My cousin is also a chef ( note: Mark Miller from Coyote Café ), but really I just loved working with food

What gives you inspiration?
Great ingredients, and enthusiastic cooks (as his sous chef Michael Schardan walks over to ask about ordering for Monday). Yeh, great ingredients, I’m the first one to get excited when I see a great new product.

Favorite recipe from your childhood?
Well I really liked my Mums spaghetti sauce, lots of slow simmered peppers, mushrooms. But probably her Sauerbraten, a slow simmered beef dish with a thick sauce. In fact I’ve never even tried to make it.

What would be your signature dish?
Tough question, at Chefs Café it would have been the crab cakes. At Woodfire, (pauses) oh has to be Rocky the whole roasted chicken in the wood oven. Especially with the pommes frites and greens.

What is your favorite style of cookery?
My own, no really, honest simple cooking does it for me.

Cooking: Art, Craft or Science?
Definitely craft, I’m not a big fan of the scientific approach and I think you have to have a craftsman’s approach to your work.

5 ingredients if you were stuck on a desert island?
Well I’d have to have champagne, a bottle of Nicolas Feuillatte Palme d’Or would do. Then lamb chops, I love lamb chops. Some really good mushrooms, whatever kind is fine. Some great cheese and good bread. Is that five? Okay scrap bread, I need to have some olive oil and I think I can get the salt from the sea

Best chef in Atlanta? World?
Ooh, tough question. Atlanta? Well I guess Guenter Seeger for technique but then both Bruno (Menard) and Joel (Antunes) are up there as well. But I’ll go with Guenter, he’s phenomenal. The world would be Alain Ducasse, just for the purity, technique and ingredients he uses.

Most memorable meal?
Louis XV (Alain Ducasse’ in Monaco). The room alone was incredible but the service was phenomenal. They brought a stand for my camera. Every detail is taken care of. The food, the herbal infusions, the cheeses were great as well. Actually Daniel in New York comes a close second. For a non-fine dining experience definitely the roast suckling pig I had in Mealhada, Portugal with fried potatoes and a salad. Perfect, simple food.

The first memorable meal you made?
Dungeness crab legs and abalone sautéed with lemon and garlic for my parents

Best restaurant in Atlanta? World ?
Woodfire Grill and Louis XV

What is your favorite cookbook/s?
It would be between “Chez Panisse Cooking”, with Paul Bertolli, and Joyce Goldstein’s “Mediterranean the Beautiful”

Pet peeve when dining out?
Bad service, no actually bad ingredients. That really gets me when I know what they’re serving me and then I find out what I’m paying for it.

Favorite winemaker/vineyard?
What wine styles go best with your food?Domaine Tempier Bandol probably although I love Rhone, Alsace and Provencal wines. The new world intrigues me as well.

Kitchen horror story? Worst food disaster?
Probably the time one of my chefs sliced the tip of his finger off and I rushed him to the hospital. We got there and the doctor asked where the tip was. I didn’t have it so I had to rush back to the restaurant and there it was still stuck to his knife. They sewed it back on though. Food disaster would be the incineration of twelve lamb legs on the wood grill rotisserie. Just too much fat dripping down and the whole thing was a wall of flame. We had to open for Saturday night too, the firemen were upset that we had to through the legs out but they were covered in chemicals.

To garnish or not to garnish? How important is presentation vs. taste?
Well your plates have to look clean and good but flavour is everything. I don’t want to see squiggles or tree branches on my plate. No confetti either.

Best trend in food? Trend you’d like to see less of?
Best trend is organics. Worst is the science project food, just too experimental to taste good

What is your favorite thing to cook at home?
Lamb chops on the grill with grilled vegetable ratatouille and some fig balsamic. And I’ll need a big spicy red wine with it. Although I’m going to Canoe for brunch tomorrow.