Chef Dan Kluger Hates Coffee, Loves Sour Patch Kids

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Chef Dan Kluger is a Brooklyn boy through and through. New York is the town where he got his start, the spot he calls home, and most importantly, the place where he cooks. Last year, ABC Kitchen won the James Beard Award for best new restaurant, cementing Kluger's reputation as one of the master chefs around town. The family man got his restaurant beginnings as a prep cook at Union Square Cafe and since then has worked for Tom Colicchio at The Core Club and helped open Tabla, where he became the chef de cuisine under Floyd Cardoz. He is also a ridiculously nice guy. With that, here's 10 things you didn't know about Dan Kluger.

1. I'm a native New Yorker, born and raised in NYC (not many people can say that anymore).

2. I'm half British. My mom grew up in England and I spent my summers there as a child.

3. I hate coffee.

4. I LOVE sour patch kids.

5. I owned every issue of Gourmet Magazine from 1986 on, until my wife made me get rid of them all to make room in our apartment.

6. One of my guilty pleasures is cheap instant ramen.

7. My favorite movies are Johnny Dangerously and 12 Angry Men.

8. I used to be a DJ and worked every Saturday night at Belmont Lounge in NYC after working an entire day in the kitchen.

9. If I wasn’t a chef, I’d probably be a physical therapist or a carpenter.

10. I used to own a motorcycle, but I never got my license.
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[StarChefs]