In case you don’t know who Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson is, he has a very impressive CV: he is the drummer for the GRAMMY Award winning band, The Roots; he is a highly sought-after DJ who spins at parties and events all over the world; he is the Musical Director for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon; and now, he is carefully making his mark on food world by venturing out with two chefs under the his ?uest Loves Food brand. COOK played host to some of the recipe testing process last Sunday afternoon.

The chefs behind ?uest Loves Food were part of a competition held over 6 months to find someone with the right skills in the kitchen to take the helm of the ?uest food project. Ahmir was lucky enough to find two: Elita Bradley and Clara Park. Elita and Clara have very different backgrounds but they complement each other perfectly in the kitchen, and watching them work together was a real pleasure.

Since Ahmir is a drummer, the fried chicken drumstick (and food on sticks, in general) is a path the crew has been exploring. For their class at COOK, 3 of their 4 courses were stick-friendly: the deliciously juicy and crispy “? Drumstick”, fried mashed potatoes and sweet potato pie doughnut holes. The only dish that was not served on a stick was a kale salad with a light and creamy tzatziki dressing.

Ahmir was on-hand at the class to test the food alongside our guests and talk humbly about his curiosity and passion for food. He even mentioned COOK in an interview with Grub Street this past week. He had to leave COOK a few minutes early though to be in New York for an event with Mario Batali (we had him first, Mario!)

Where ?uest Loves Food is headed is hard to say at the moment but one thing is for sure: Clara and Elita have developed recipes and dishes that are totally delicious and worthy of the ?uestlove brand.