This is the first in a series of quick conversations with local restaurateurs, chefs, and servers about what they like to eat at their own restaurants. It’s a collaboration between Rob Gurwitt at Daybreak and Susan Apel at Artful, with each taking a turn—the writeups will appear in both publications. Today, Rob talks with Jarett Berke of Lou’s (website here). Next week, Susan’s up.

You’d think that Lou’s owner Jarett Berke would have it made when it comes to breakfast: the extensive menu at his fingertips, chefs in the kitchen waiting for his order, maybe even someone to bring it to him at his basement desk. But uh-uh.

“I usually get here around 5:30 or 6 in the morning,” he explains. “But our chef, who’s been here the last six years, took a job as general manager at a restaurant closer to where he lives. It’s a good move for him, but it means we’re down a chef. So I come in early to make sure the day gets off on the right foot—and before all the chaos sets in. The reality is, I hit the ground running, usually don’t eat anything for the first couple of hours, and then by the time I realize, ‘Oh, I’m hungry, I should eat something,’ we’re into service with a full restaurant upstairs and I always feel bad making the cooks cook for me. So I typically go on the line myself and make myself a breakfast sandwich. But, being an owner and intimately familiar with our bottom line, I’m always looking for bread ends and whatever else is not going to get used.”

So what would he eat if he could? The specials, he says, are fresh and seasonal and “always awesome,” but on the regular menu hands-down it would be the Cowboy Bowl: “It’s a base of quinoa, cheddar cheese, and a little spinach that we put on the griddle and crisp up around the outside. Then on top it gets sautéed green peppers, some chopped bacon, spinach, cheese, avocado, and two poached eggs—the yolk covers everything and pulls it all together, then we add a little sriracha. So you’ve got the salt from the bacon, the fat from the egg yolk, a little hotness from the sriracha…. It’s one of my favorite meals and it’s one of the most popular items on the menu.”

Hungry yet?

The Cowboy Bowl… though with scrambled rather than poached eggs.

— by Rob Gurwitt