“Ask A Chef” is part of an on-going series in which 5280 poses a single question to a local culinary luminary.

For this installment we chose chef Troy Guard of TAG Restaurant, TAG Raw Bar, and TAG Burger Bar. The timing is fitting as it was announced last week that TAG Burger Bar will open a second location in Sunnyside in 2014. Also pending: a taquería-style restaurant and SugarMill, Guard and TAG pastry chef Noah French‘s ode to dessert and bread. Both spots, which will open next door to each other at Broadway and Larimer, are slated for the fall.

5280: If you could eat at any restaurant in the world, which restaurant would it be and why?

TG: I might try Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo, because of its freshness and simplicity. There are only 10 seats, and the chef [Jiro Ono] has been doing the same thing for 50 years. I think that there’s a standard of quality and an expectation in Japan surrounding food. Japanese chefs are meticulous. They know that there is a way of doing things, and it has been the same way since their ancestors so they don’t mess with it. I think that [level of dedication] can be hard to find in American restaurants.

Bonus: Chef Jiro Ono was the subject of last year’s documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Watch the trailer here and read this related New Yorker story.

Photo courtesy of Adam Larkey