Behind the Knife - tools, food, and the secret lives of chefs

Chef Profile: Michael Roberts

Though he lives in Utah, Michael Roberts wasn't into polygamy, so he became a personal chef instead of a restaurateur.

The Chef: Chef Michael Roberts runs No Name Gourmet, a personal chef service in Bountiful, Utah. Before he opened for business in 2008, Roberts was an avid home cook and frequently entered cooking competitions. When people would tell him he should open a restaurant, he would always reply, “But I’m already married,” describing the huge commitment a restaurant requires.

Chef Roberts' handy-dandy plastic snap-on toolbox

The Toolbox: A knife roll and a snap-lid plastic box.

The Tools: When asked to describe the contents of his toolbox, at first Chef Roberts answered my question this way: “Knives, silicone spatulas, an offset spatula, spoons, whisks, and tongs.” Then he peeled back the layers: “In my work as a personal chef, I have six essentials; a set of tongs, a Sharpie, an oven thermometer, a Thermapen, a ball whisk, and a quad digital timer.”

Chef Roberts is a practitioner of Sharpie Love!

BehindTheKnife readers are familiar with this last tool, what Roberts calls a lifesaver, since the competition to win a Taylor 4-Event Digital Timer in a Tool of the Week two years ago was particularly ferocious. For Roberts, he says he can’t live without it, especially when he’s making five entrees and sides for a family of four in four hours. He also reveals that he also uses his ball whisk almost every time he cooks.

The Love Tool: “I really love my six-inch Henckels utility knife,” he says.

The Tool That Inspired Him: “My julienne peeler,” he says. “I bought it for some Thai curry dishes and realized ‘so many vegetables and so little time.’ It helps add texture and color to many of my recipes.”

What A Psychologist Would Say About Your Toolbox: “He gets all of that in there?”

His Voyeuristic Side: “I’d like to learn some new and unique ways of using some of the tools we all pack in our kits,” he says. Um, that’s why we’re here in the first place. Right?