Five questions for Stir Market chef Chris Barnett

Chris Barnett is the executive chef at Stir Market, a new boutique food hall in the Fairfax neighborhood of Los Angeles. Barnett has been cooking since he was 14 years old but believes the real turning point in his career came when he got the opportunity to work under Jeremiah Tower at Stars in San Francisco. He went on to spend a year in Paris at the two-Michelin-star Relais d’Auteuil and moved to Southern California to work as the executive chef at Primitivo on Abbot Kinney Boulevard. He’s also worked at the Hotel Bel-Air and most recently at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. At Stir Market, Barnett is collaborating with chef Jet Tila on a diverse menu that includes sandwiches, salads, small plates and European-style rotisserie items. At the heart of his menu are Barnett’s Provençal rotisserie chicken with lemon, garlic and herbs, and porchetta with lavender, rosemary and fennel rub. And when he’s not preparing another roast for the rotisserie, he’s whipping up rubs, chutneys and flavored sugars for the restaurant’s retail store.

What’s coming up next on your menu?

Over the holidays we are doing citrus-glazed rotisserie duck with chestnut and preserved lemon gremolata.

Latest ingredient obsession?

This fall I have been obsessed with persimmons. At Stir Market, I caramelize a wedge on the plancha and serve it with porchetta on a skewer. We also make a persimmon mostarda that is served with a Toulouse-style sausage.

What restaurant do you find yourself going to again and again — and what do you order?

Marouch. It’s a Lebanese restaurant in Hollywood. I love the quail with creamy garlic.

The one piece of kitchen equipment you can’t live without, other than your knives?

The Microplane. I grate everything from cinnamon bark and Indonesian long pepper to nutmeg.

What’s your favorite breakfast?

I’m not much of a breakfast guy, but I find that a vegetable juice is a great way to keep my energy up throughout the day.

7475 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 600-2732, www.stirmarket.com.