Age: 39

Title: Executive chef, Flight Restaurant and Wine Bar

Who or what was your first cooking influence? One of the first people who taught me a lot about the basics was Michael Cahhal, who opened Cafe Roux.

What was the first thing you ever cooked or baked? I always had a little bit of a knack for putting things together. Lying around the house and coming up with a few strange combinations. I think I started doing a lot with pastas when I first started.

What made you decide to become a chef? As I was working in different kitchens here in Memphis, it kind of dawned on me this is what I want to do. I went to the Culinary Institute (of America) in New York. I was 22. I was the head chef at La Patisserie back in the early '90s. I just decided it would be good to get a solid education instead of just a learn-as-you-go type of thing.

What was your first food-related job? Cuco's Mexican Restaurant. I was just a waiter there.

What was something important that a fellow chef taught you? One of the first things Michael Cahhal taught me is about product utilization. It's not just about making great food. If you're gonna have a long stay as a chef, you also have to make money. We all like to be creative and we all like to do different things, but if people don't like your food and the restaurant doesn't make any money, you won't be around very long.

What is the Antony Field style? I'm pretty worldly as far as my knowledge. I can do some Chinese, some Indian, some French, German. There's no really set style of food. I cook Cajun. I've never come across anything that I couldn't figure out.

Describe one of your dishes. My crab cakes are a version of a couple of different crab cake recipes that I learned along the way. It's sort of a mixture of a Maryland-style crab cake and a Louisiana-style crab cake. They still have a little bit of the Cajun spice, but the way of putting it together is a little bit more like a Maryland crab cake.

What do you cook or bake at home, if anything? Most of the time I'm pretty much steak and potatoes type of guy.

What's your least favorite ingredient? I don't like olives. I don't like the taste of them. I have a tendency if I don't like it, I don't serve it. We have olives for the bar and that's it.

--Michael Donahue: 529-2797

Flight Restaurant and Wine Bar is at 39 South Main; 521-8005.