Chef Profile: Bryan Dame
The Chef: Bryan Dame is Chef at The Edge restaurant at the Inn at Ocean’s Edge in Lincolnville, Maine.
The Toolbox: Dame says his current toolbox — a carpenter’s box — has outgrown itself. “I have tools spread out all over the kitchen, in other carpenters boxes and Rubbermaid stacking drawers,” he says. “And pots and pans abound.”
The Tools: Dame’s tools range from the usual knives, spatulas, rolling pins and spoons — though he does admit to “a small obsession” with large saucing spoons and tends to hoard them — to the complex: frothers, syringes, soda guns, and a paint sprayer for chocolate work.
What Not To Pry From His Cold, Dead Hands: “I’m crazy about making, cooking and eating potato gnocchi, and I absolutely will not make it without a potato ricer,” he says. “Mine is ancient and came from a flea market, but it works so well that I cannot cook without it. The truth is, I cannot pass an antiques store without checking to see if they have any used potato ricers, and I keep several backups at home in case my favorite one gives out.”
The Strangest Thing In His Toolbox: Says Dame: “A hairdryer for sugar work is probably considered a bit unusual, but I also think that the water capsules that florists use on the stems of roses make exceptional Popsicle molds.”
His latest toy is a Brix meter, traditionally used by winemakers to test sugar content. “So of course, I’m constantly checking sugar content whether I need to or not,” he says. “I initially bought it to test ice cream, sorbet and granite bases to ensure proper freezing of the base, but when the box arrived from FedEx, I tested everything in the house: wine, beer, jams, jelly, bread crumbled into water.”
The Final Analysis: In Dame’s own words: “Unlike many chefs, I consider myself to be a little OCD, and I think a psychologist would see that in my box. Everything has a place and everything is in its place, from books to produce to spices. If it can be alphabetized, it is. Even the items in my freezer are in alphabetical order.”
