Fergus Fergus

Fergus Fergus Fergus!With his short blond hair, big glasses, and impish smile, he looks just like you'd expect somebody named Fergus to look, if the kid in Jerry Maguire had been named Fergus.What's more, Fergus is a famous chef.He helms St. John, a restaurant in London that's nearly worshipped by celebrity chefs around the world -- some actually make pilgrimages, like it's foodie Mecca -- though most normal people will think: Ew.Fergus' traditional yet inventive approach to British cooking translates into dishes like Cold Lamb's Brains, Fried Eggs with Blood Cake, and Crispy Pig's Tails. (Hey, did you just say ew?) "Nose to Tail," he calls his gestalt approach, and he means it.

Fergus's long-out-of-print cult cookbook, The Whole Beast: Nose to Tail Eating, has just been revised and released in the United States.On his whirlwind nationwide book tour, Fergus Fergus Fergus stopped at the Modern Art Museum last week to supervise lunch at Café Modern and sign copies of the Beast.He was the first contestant in Café Modern's new Star Chef's Lunch and Book Signing Series, which is, as one might surmise from the name, a program wherein chefs sign their latest books while the Café Modern staff prepares a meal from the book's recipes. (Rumor has it that cheesemaker Paula Lambert of Dallas' Mozzarella Company is up next, maybe in the fall.Keep an eye on www.themodern.org/cafemodern.html.)

The signature dish at St. John's, the one dish Fergus is most famous for, is Roasted Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad.
...
There's something a bit dented about Fergus, perhaps, but definitely a certain splendor in The Whole Beast.