Chef of the Moment: Bourbon Steak’s Michael Mina is about more than just the meat

Michael Mina, chef, author and founder of Mina Group, recently opened Bourbon Steak in Glendale, a modern American steakhouse serving cuts such as Wagyu rib cap with bearnaise to denizens of the Americana at Brand. Mina, born in Egypt and raised in Washington, attended the Culinary Institute of America in New York, was chef at the San Francisco restaurant Aqua and later partnered with tennis player Andre Agassi to form a restaurant group that now includes more than a dozen concepts. Bourbon Steak has a meat-centric menu with twists. So not only are there steaks, such as Miyazaki A5 strip loin (for $32 an ounce), a tomahawk rib-eye for two, Black Angus dry-aged porterhouse and a Wagyu burger, but there is also kanpachi sashimi, Maine lobster pot pie and shabu-shabu.

What’s coming up next on your menu?

We recently rolled out a brunch service on Saturdays and Sundays, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., complete with house-made cinnamon rolls, Alaskan king crab eggs Benedict, and fried chicken and beignets.

Latest ingredient obsession?

Fresh sweet corn and spring onions.

What restaurant do you find yourself going to again and again?

Hana Japanese restaurant in Sonoma. Chef Ken Tominaga’s skill and ability to make Japanese food delicious and approachable is incredible. I order his omakase menu, where he hand-makes piece after piece of sushi and sashimi featuring the freshest available seafood.

The one piece of kitchen equipment you can’t live without?

A microplane. It is my go-to tool. I constantly find myself using it with all types of ingredients, from zesting fruit to grating cheese, even grating spices like nutmeg.

The last cookbook you read, and what inspired you to pick it up?

“Daniel: My French Cuisine.� The quality of this book is just brilliant! And chef Boulud is always an inspiration to learn from.

237 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale, (818) 839-4130, www.michaelmina.net.