“People flock to Binkley’s, where topflight contemporary American cuisine with a slight French influence can be enjoyed in golf shirt and shorts.” The New York Times, November 30, 2008

Chef Regina is proud to launch her new series, Kitchen’s Best, featuring behind-the-scenes interviews with master chefs and restaurateurs from around the globe, and we couldn’t be more excited to premiere this series with Chef Kevin Binkley. The driving force behind Binkley’s Restaurant and Bink’s Cafe in Cave Creek Arizona, Chef Kevin has received high praise for his imaginative and artful creations. And his delicious dishes are as pleasing to the palette as they are to the eye.

When did you first discover your love for cooking?

At fourteen cooking crepes at TCBY.

What inspires you in the kitchen?

Everything, from the amazing products we procure, to reading a great cookbook, watching cooking shows, my wife and family, my staff, etc. You can find inspiration anywhere.

What’s the best dish you’ve ever had? Where and when?

Impossible to answer. I have been fortunate to have so many amazing meals, that I can’t put my finger on a single favorite dish.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of working with food? Most difficult?

Immediate gratification. It doesn’t take a long time to make something really great from raw ingredients.

What would we find in your pantry on any given day? Staple ingredients in your kitchen?

Flour, sugar, salt, pepper, soy sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, bay leaf, and various spices.

What dish is comfort food to you?

My wife Amy’s Bolognese. It is so nourishing.

What do you cook at home that you’d never cook in a restaurant?

Peanut butter and jelly.

Where do you go when you eat out?

Local independent restaurants, preferably chef driven.

What are the five most important tools in your kitchen? What’s the one you couldn’t live without?

Spoons (to taste), whisk, spatula, chinoise (fine mesh sieve), and saute pan. I couldn’t live without spoons to taste, the most important part of cooking.

What dish or creation are you most proud of?

Again, hard to answer, we have created so dishes that we are proud of.

What other celebrity chef would you most like to cook with?

Ferran Andrea, chef from El Bulli. He has reinvented food, and is the most influential chef of our time (as far as I am concerned).

What’s your favorite ingredient at the moment?

Mangalitsa pig, also called the wooly pig. It is the Kobe beef of pork. It is incredible.