TABLE TALK

For the past 30+ seasons, Chris Santos has served as a recurring guest judge on Food Network’s “Chopped.” However, this is far from his biggest claim to fame in the culinary industry. For the past several decades, Santos has owned and operated some of New York City’s top-rated restaurants. We sat down at his latest launch, the Lower East Side’s street art-inspired Vandal, to learn about his entry into the culinary arts and how he built a restaurant empire in the most competitive food city in the world.

How did the food you ate growing up inspire a passion for the culinary arts?

Well, it didn’t. My passion for the culinary arts started from my first night working in a kitchen when I was about 13 or 14 years old. The chef quit in the middle of my first shift and pandemonium ensued. My recollection was that it was a complete disaster. But the adrenaline rush of everyone moving as fast as possible and trying to salvage the night somehow grabbed me by the teeth and