Chef Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson’s Published on Main, in Vancouver, has collected a trophy cabinet full of accolades since opening in 2019, including being named the best restaurant in the country by Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants and a spot on the North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Originally from Winnipeg, Stieffenhofer-Brandson cooked all over his home city and Europe, including at Noma, before settling on the West Coast, where the keen forager loves to discover and cook local produce at its absolute peak.
Hi Gus, what do you always have in the fridge at home?
My fridge at home is pretty dismal. My main meal of the day is typically staff meal at 3:30 pm, which is pretty substantial. I often eat a lot of takeout, Thai and Vietnamese most of the time. Right now, in my fridge, I have apples, aged cheddar, some farmer’s sausage, eggs and some morels I picked. There’s a huge selection of condiments, but not really a lot to make a proper meal with.
What’s your go-to comfort food dish that you like to cook at home? And what do you like to cook after a shift that’s quick and easy, if anything?
At home, I don’t cook a ton for myself. Late-night grilled cheese, or instant ramen doctored up. Probably the best I eat at home will be after a big mushroom forage – I love to cook up a big pasta.
And what about breakfast?
Staff meal was my first meal of the day for me for years! I've recently started with a little probiotic yogurt and a grapefruit, just to get something in me. On days off, sometimes I make a ‘heart attack sandwich’ of butter-fried sourdough, mayo, mustard, bacon, schinkenwurst, cheese, alfalfa sprouts and two fried eggs. It’ll slow you down.
What’s a cookbook you always return to?
I have so many cookbooks; it’s hard to pick just one. I'm really loving the new Noma guide to building flavour. One of the books that I was really obsessed with when it came out was the first Eleven Madison Park book. Everything looks so edible, with many sharp, clean lines that are still very organic. Also, David Everitt-Matthias's book Essence was similar. Clean, simple, delicious, good cooking.
If you hadn’t become a chef, what would you have become?
I originally thought I might be an electrical engineer, but when I switched high schools to enter that program, I started getting death threats from a group of guys from my neighbourhood. Some pals and I got in a bad dust-up with them, so that dream ended pretty quickly. I started working in restaurants at 14; I never really considered any other path. I'm good at it, and I love it.
What’s the best restaurant you’ve been to lately?
I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to travel extensively and eat at a lot of incredible restaurants. I’ve had the great pleasure of some really outstanding meals in the last year. Koan and Alouette in Copenhagen, Old Tower in Beijing, Vespertine and Providence in LA, Atomix in New York, Emeril’s in New Orleans. I especially loved touring all three Atomic Workshop spots in San Francisco: State Bird Provisions, The Progress and The Anchovy Bar. They are all such different experiences, with such different stories. The Noma pop-up in LA was some of the most interesting and delicious food I’ve had recently, too. It's fun because it's fleeting – a moment in time that only a lucky few get to experience.
What’s the best dish you’ve ever eaten?
The dish that has the most weight for me, that always brings me back to my biggest nostalgic feelings, is markklößchen suppe. It’s a beef shank broth with bone marrow semolina dumplings and a ton of parsley. My grandfather used to make it, mostly around Christmas time. Before he passed away, my mom learned how to make it and taught me. I’ve run variations of it at my restaurant, but nothing compares to the one we make at home.
