Meet the Chef: Chef Paul Roller of Roller's at Flying Fish

While I've met my fair share of chefs and interviewed dozens more, I can honestly say this particular interview was one of my favorites. Chef Paul Roller of is sincere, full of life and truly loves to talk about food, cooking and restaurants. While many other chefs shy away from reporters (they are notoriously press shy) or merely answer with as succinct a reply as possible, Chef Roller had story after story to tell me. It was a fun as well as educational experience. It's always great to exchange war stories with a fellow cook. Read below to find out more. 

Name: Paul Roller

Age: 58

Years in the Industry: 37

Earliest Cooking Memory: When I was 8  I was out with my mother and grandmother at the . They were giving away a pound of wagon wheels (type of pasta) and a recipe book. There was a recipe for chicken tetrazzini and I wanted to make it. We had to go to the grocery store for all these ingredients [that we didn't have in the house]. We had to get heavy cream, herbs and such. I made it. I also had the Boys' Cookbook which is fantastic.

First Kitchen Job: Frog Restaurant on 16th Street where Monk's is now. My first job was to scrub and clean the mussels. Back then you didn't get these tight, sparkling clean bundles of mussels. You got them right out of the ocean. You had to remove the barnacles from the outside by scraping them off or smashing them. You had to yank out the beards. Then you had to wash and scrub the mussels clean and then soak them in water with some cornmeal so they would "burp" and release any sand inside the shell. 

Advice for Home Cooks: Go out to eat more often or organize yourself in advance. Be methodical, try to think like a chef, manage your time, plan ahead, make a prep list if you need to. If something can be made ahead, make it ahead of time. You can make pie crust the day before, roll it out and then refrigerate it until you're ready to use it.

Favorite Thing to Cook: Soft shell crabs and domestic rack of lamb (none of that New Zealand stuff)

Favorite Local Restaurants: , Supper, Meme, Modo Mio, Pumpkin and Nan (all in Philadelphia),  Old Guard House Inn in Gladwyne

Favorite Restaurant in the World: Lutece in New York under Chef Andre Soltner (This restaurant is now closed but it was considered for many years to be one of the best restaurants in the country.)

Guilty Pleasure (food or drink): Belgian beers like Duvel or a donut from Frog Hollow Donuts in New Jersey.

Last Meal on Earth: Winter- Oysters on the half shell, rack of lamb with a mustard crumb coating, watercress, stuffed baked potato and fresh green beans or haricot verts (French green beans), apple pie a la mode with Bassett's vanilla.

Summer - Tomato salad with chive, basil and goat cheese, soft shell crabs and peach raspberry pie.

Biggest Kitchen Disaster: We don't allow disasters to affect us. We always make it work.