Sasha Bernstein

Inside the Bernal Heights home kitchen of Mark Sullivan, executive chef at Spruce.

What’s one thing from the restaurant that you miss at home?
A Vita-Prep high-speed blender. Now, I could go out and buy it—it’s about $500—I just haven’t done it yet. It even whips cooked parsnips into the silkiest puree. If you’ve ever wondered how restaurants get those velvety soups, it’s the Vita-Prep.

What do you listen to when you’re cooking at home?

Inside the Mission District home kitchen of Jennifer Biesty, executive chef at Coco500 and contender on season four of Bravo’s Top Chef.

Do you cook with friends?
I have some friends that are good cooks. Usually they say, “You should come over for dinner,” and then they’re hacking vegetables up with a really dull knife, and it’s so painful to watch. I’d much rather jump in there and do it myself. They almost expect it—like your friend who’s a doctor, and you ask him for advice on your bad back.

How would you describe your home-cooking style?

Inside the Lone Mountain home kitchen of Joey Altman (shown here with daughter Piper), host of the James Beard Award–winning cooking show Bay Cafe.

What advice would you give the home cooks of the world?
Don’t cheap out. The $3 more that you could spend on butter will give you four or five meals that are just so much tastier.

What can we expect to find in your new book, Without Reservations?

Inside the Potrero Hill home kitchen of Dominique Crenn, executive chef at Luce.

What’s your ideal comfort dish?
My mother’s roast chicken with apples. Either that or her rabbit—we’d get a wild one from my father’s friend, the rabbit hunter, and my mother would braise it with Madeira wine, mushrooms, olives and prunes. Poor little bunny.

What do you listen to while you’re cooking at home?
I love jazz and blues. Right now, I’m obsessed with Amy Winehouse—she’s always in the CD player.