he`s so original

Jose Gutierrez cooks.

Whether you’re visiting his sleek, modern Encore Restaurant or ordering up a party from Entourage, his nearly year-old catering venture, be assured that the food you order from Master Chef José Gutierrez is his alone. The much-honored chef (who came to Memphis in 1983 as the Chef de Cuisine at Chez Philippe in The Peabody) isn’t content to let someone else work the stove. "I’m a cook; it’s what I love," he says. Though you can’t help thinking, watching him mug for the camera with a cosmo in his hand, that he’d make a great teacher, which, in fact, is what he does on cooking trips with lucky acolytes from Memphis; next month’s tour is to Alaska. José has no patience for the three-ingredient gourmets that have taken over food on television. "Cooking is an art," he says in his still-thick French accent. "Not everyone is an artist, but everyone can practice."

The best thing about wearing a skirt? "It makes me feel a little risqué."

The best thing about reading skirt!?

"It gives me some female insight; always nice to know."

~Skirt from Dillard's