By Jon W. Crowell
Photos By L.G. Patterson

Before chef Brian James was in junior high school, he'd found his passion in the culinary arts. The Boston native was always fascinated watching the men in his Irish and Italian family take charge of the meals for get-togethers.

He also related well to an uncle who was a chef. One Easter, he was invited into the kitchen (normally off limits to those not involved with the cooking) to help prepare the holiday fare; from then on, he was hooked. After stints in Boston and Chicago, James has settled in as head chef at Hemingway's Wine & Bistro to master what he loves doing the most — preparing the most amazing food imaginable.

Up & Coming
James attended a technical high school that offered culinary arts classes, where he and his peers alternated a week in the kitchen with a week of class work. A "food court" setup in the school featured different training/serving areas, and by the end of his freshman year, James was running the restaurant area.

"When I graduated in 1990, there was a huge food craze going on in Boston," he recounts in a friendly East Coast accent. "To get a decent culinary job, you needed a college degree."

Baseball is another of James' loves, and he managed to combine his two passions when he attended Boston's Newbury College for two years on a baseball/cooking scholarship. Much of the curriculum, though, was "repeat work," he says, recalling how he would finish his cooking assignments and leave class as quickly as possible.

"I just wanted to cook."

The Best Of Beantown
After graduation, James worked his way up to become the banquet sous chef for the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge. During his time at the Sonesta, a friend managed the opening of 21 Broad, an upscale, four-story steakhouse, and James began a second job as a line cook, making for a grueling 90-hour work week.

"They were long weeks, but it was great experience and I learned quite a bit," he says.

Later, he also spent time building up the reputation and quality of the Union Square Bistro in Somerville, Mass., which won Boston's "Best Kept Secret" Award two years in a row during James' tenure.

On To Chi-Town
Through his wife Carri Risner's contacts, James got to meet famed chef Julia Child at her home and later had dinner with her and celebrity chefs Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand at an elite Boston restaurant known as Olives. Child was filming her "Best of Baking" series during that time.

"And her kitchen at home? Looks exactly like it does on her show," James says with a chuckle. "My wife and I were like kids in a candy store playing around in there."

The encounter prompted Tramonto and Gand to invite James and Risner to help them open a large, upscale brasserie in Chicago. After a visit to the Windy City, the couple relocated and spent the next year building up the business with their new chef friends.

East To West
After their year in Chicago, James and Risner returned to Boston to open a "Fine Dining" Brew Pub with their friend from the 21 Broad steakhouse; next came a stretch in a Cape Cod bistro. Then, in the late 1990s, he and Risner paid a visit to her family in nearby Harrisburg.

"I dislocated my shoulder riding a four-wheeler," James says. "I like it here and have been here ever since."

James and Risner opened up Le Petit Bouchon (French for "The Little Cork") restaurant on Broadway and ran it for five years before selling it. A year ago, while James was working at Jack's Gourmet restaurant, Hemingway's co-owners Dru and Dawn Vaughn approached him about turning Hemingway's Ltd. (formerly a cigar/wine store on Peachtree Drive) into a full-scale restaurant. The new restaurant opened near its original location last November. Hemingway's features Northern Italian/Southern French cuisine, with an "American flair," James says.

The chef enjoys his work at Hemingway's and plans to stay put for quite a while. James takes care to ensure the cuisine goes well with the selections on the wine list.

"I take pride in using the best ingredients available, not taking shortcuts, and in training my cooking staff well," he says. "It's hard to get people you want in this town without 'stealing' them away from someplace else, but I'm very happy with my current staff."

Pork Chop Au Poivre with Sweet Potato Mashers and Haricot Verte (French string beans)

Yield: 1 serving

• 1 sweet potato (peeled and cut into chunks)
• Butter
• Zest of 1/2 orange
• Juice of 1/2 orange
• 1 12-ounce pork chop
• Olive oil
• Cracked black pepper
• Green peppercorns in brine
• Shallots
• Red wine
• Veal demi glaze
• Whole butter
• 6 ounces haricot verte
• Unsalted butter
• Salt
• Pepper

Prepare sweet potato mashers ahead of time by placing chunked-up sweet potato in a pot with water, and bring to a boil; boil until soft and tender. Drain and put in to mixer with "whip" attachment at speed "2"; add butter, orange zest and juice, and then salt and pepper to taste.

For pork chop, brush olive oil on both sides of chop; sprinkle with salt and cracked black pepper (not too much) on both sides. Place on grill for 2 minutes; turn a quarter turn to get "diamond grill marks" and grill for 1 more minute; flip chop over and repeat above process. Place chop in pan with some water and bake for about 7 to 10 minutes in a 350-degree oven; the chop will be cooked medium-well when done.

To make au poivre sauce, saute green peppercorns and shallots in butter until soft; add red wine and allow to reduce down over heat. Add veal demi glaze and allow to reduce by one-half; finish with whole butter, salt and pepper.

Heat a saute pan for the haricot verte. Add unsalted butter and watch it until the butter begins to brown. Add beans (verte) and saute, seasoning with salt and pepper.

To serve, place mashers in middle of plate, with pork chop on top of mashers. Glaze chop with au poivre sauce; place beans on top, draping off onto plate.