Some of the most interesting foodstuff I have ever eaten was in Paris, and also some of the most wonderfully rustic. I like the highs and lows of Paris. You can have a Michelin-starred meal or go to a small cafe for some cheese and a baguette and try to eat it on a park bench, and it’s heading to be scrumptious. In the US, I’m constantly really impressed with Chicago. Again, it is about the highs and lows. There are places like Alinea, which was on Chef’s Table and has superb, unique dishes, and Girl & The Goat, which has super-rustic, easy dishes that are wonderful.

I have a robust sweet tooth. I like tiramisu, and it’s Justin’s [Jesse’s husband] favourite. He does not have a sweet tooth, which is torture for me since when we go out, I have to beg him to share a dessert with me. But if there’s tiramisu on the menu, he’s totally going to buy it. I also really like pumpkin pie. My parents made it in the course of the holiday seasons, but I come to feel it can be appreciated any working day of the year.

I’d enjoy to go to Japan. I haven’t been to any nations in east Asia, and it is someplace I definitely want to go. Back in Albuquerque, I’d go to eating places where by they’d cook dinner at your table and flip the shrimp onto your plate. It was like theatre. That’s how I was initial exposed to Japanese food stuff — but I want to be in the country wherever I’d get the authentic variation.

When I moved to California, I was taken aback by the vary of clean substances. The farmers’ markets have been bursting with this sort of great produce. It’s wherever I decided to acquire a ton of these recipes that I grew up having and recreate them with fresher components. 

Albuquerque’s culinary scene has transformed due to the fact I grew up there. Going again as a visitor, I’m getting all the new locations that are popping up. My favorite restaurant is Campo at the Los Poblanos inn and farm. It is a lavender farm with alpacas and peacocks. The chef at Campo was a single of the finalists for the James Beard [Best Chef: Southwest] Award, and has completed good things in elevating Albuquerque’s cuisine in a truly beautiful way. 

My 3 dream supper friends would be Joan Rivers, Adele, and both Kamala Harris or Michelle Obama. I actually experienced Adele in excess of for dinner once. She’s a impressive person and I had a terrific time with her.

Meals Involving Buddies, by Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Julie Tanous, is released 9 March (£25, Clarkson Potter).

Revealed in Issue 11 (spring 2021) of National Geographic Traveller Meals, out 4 March

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