MEMORABLE cooking isn’t just about technique or access to quality ingredients. Professional chefs also have the opportunity for repetition and experimentation, perfecting the ideal balance for a recipe over days—or even months—in the kitchen. By the time it hits your plate, they’ve invested countless hours in developing the flavors of a single dish. REPEAT that process a few hundred times, and you’re bound to have a few recipes your customers can’t forget.
THAT’S HOW CHEF JASON BRAY got the idea for Mad Genius. At his two Colorado food trucks—J Street and Hunje—and the ingredient-driven kitchen at Spice Trade Brewery in Denver, he spent years perfecting his modern take on such diverse cuisines as Asian street food, Irish pub classics and Southwest fare. Yet no matter what he cooked, the response to his addictive sauces and spice rubs remained the same: “You should really bottle this!”