The restaurant connection: Clark Gilbert

CLARK GILBERT

Bio: 45; grew up in Wynnewood, attended Lower Merion High School. The divorced dad to twins Dylan and Riley now lives in Gladwyne.

What's new? Gemelli on Main, his modern Italian-French spot at 4161 Main St. in Manayunk. Gemelli is Italian for twins.

Philly restaurant connections: First chef job, at 31, for La Terrasse. Other local kitchens: Four Seasons, Restaurant Taquet, The Saloon, Avalon, Gemelli Narberth.

First restaurant gig: Ale. Gators in Haverford. He was 18. "I waited tables, bartended and did everything else except cook."

Go-to cooking utensil: Shun knife.

Favorite ingredient: Thyme.

Prized kitchen skill: Knife skills.

Cheesesteak wid? Extra cheese and fried onions. Never ketchup.

Tattoos: None.

Battle scars: "Basic kitchen wounds [on the forearms] from being clumsy, making a mistake or being lazy."

If I wasn't a chef I'd . . . Be in the wine industry.

Bottle of red, bottle of white? I prefer white but I love all wine. I am an unabashed lover of California Chardonnay [from the] Russian River Valley.

Most memorable meal: Cheese and fresh baguettes with two friends heading south of Paris. It was our first meal in France and it was fantastic.

Place where you want to dine but haven't: It no longer exists, but Fredy Girardet in Switzerland would have been the place.

Personal hero: My biggest inspiration to start cooking was Jean-François Taquet, but I wouldn't give him hero status.

Favorite TV chef: Jacques Pepin.