{"id":2517,"date":"2026-06-17T22:33:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T22:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517"},"modified":"2026-06-17T22:33:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T22:33:18","slug":"chef-dads-describe-their-dream-meals-for-fathers-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517","title":{"rendered":"Chef dads describe their dream meals for Father\u2019s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Father\u2019s Day is just around the bend, and there are decisions to be made. Some dads want to eat out, some want to eat in. Some want a big old meat-and-potatoes meal, some dream of a sushi omakase extravaganza.<\/p>\n<p>But what do the dads who cook and feed people for a living want? The dad chefs and cooks who spend their working hours behind a stove (or a griddle or a hibachi) \u2014 what is their dream Father\u2019s Day meal?<\/p>\n<p>Three of them answer here. (Spoiler: All agree that being together is more important than the food.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Barbecue crosses generations<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Tom Colicchio, chef and owner of the New York-based Crafted Hospitality, has three kids, ages 14, 15 and 33.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe teenagers? They\u2019re not cooking anything,\u201d he says. \u201cBut my oldest might \u2014 he dabbles in barbecue, so I\u2019d put him to work on smoked short ribs, bone-in, low and slow. I\u2019d be nearby to step in if things went sideways.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Colicchio, a longtime head judge on \u201cTop Chef,\u201d envisions the Father\u2019s Day meal enjoyed outside at his place on the North Fork of Long Island, New York, surrounded by family.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Go fishing for fresh Father\u2019s Day catch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Cesar Zapata, chef and owner of the Vietnamese-Colombian fusion restaurant Phuc Yea in Miami, also has his sights on the outdoors.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince (my stepson) Eli loves to fish, we\u2019ll probably spend the day out on the water trying to catch our own meal,\u201d he says. \u201cBeing in Florida, hopefully we\u2019ll catch some snapper or grouper, bring it home, clean it together, and roast the whole fish over the grill.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And nobody should worry about impressing the chef. \u201cWe spend so much of our lives cooking for others that the meals that mean the most are usually the ones that feel effortless and shared,\u201d Zapata says. \u201cI love keeping really fresh fish simple, especially when it\u2019s something you caught that same day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He pictures serving it with a Vietnamese-style salsa verde, grilled asparagus and mushrooms, accompanied by good music and cold drinks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, Father\u2019s Day is less about the \u2018perfect\u2019 meal and more about slowing down, being present, and creating memories together around food and conversation,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Celebrate around the table with a family-style meal<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Roy Yamaguchi is on the same page. He\u2019s the founder of Roy\u2019s Restaurants, a Hawaiian fusion restaurant with locations in various cities, and is one of the pioneers of the cooking style Hawaii Regional Cuisine.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Father\u2019s Day, I don\u2019t need a fancy restaurant or an elaborate dinner,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat I really want is to have all of my kids home. My ideal meal would be shabu shabu or chankonabe because they\u2019re the kinds of dishes that bring everyone together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Both shabu shabu and chankonabe are Japanese hot-pot-style meals, where everybody eats from a common pot on the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the end of the day, Father\u2019s Day isn\u2019t really about the food,\u201d he says. \u201cThe meal simply gives us a reason to gather.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Everyone pitches in<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At his ideal meal, Yamaguchi says, nobody just sits and waits to be served \u2014 everyone cooks, shares, laughs and contributes.<\/p>\n<p>And he does have one request: For someone else to do all the prep work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnyone who has made shabu shabu knows that slicing the vegetables, preparing the sauces, and arranging everything takes time. Having the family take care of that would be the greatest gift,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>Then he would sit back, enjoy a a simple glass of Japanese shochu over ice, enjoy the conversation and watch everyone have fun around the table.<\/p>\n<p>__<\/p>\n<p>Katie Workman writes regularly about food for The Associated Press. She has written two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking, \u201cDinner Solved!\u201d and \u201cThe Mom 100 Cookbook.\u201d She blogs at https:\/\/themom100.com\/. She can be reached at Katie@themom100.com.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2511\">Federal government seeks to halt the first U.S. reparations program for Black people<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2513\">A person is in custody in a Chicago cross burning investigation, police say<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2515\">Sean Penn to direct Warner Bros. movie about a police officer at the Jan. 6 Capitol riot<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Father\u2019s Day is just around the bend, and there are decisions to be made. Some dads want to eat out, some want to eat in. Some want a big old meat-and-potatoes meal, some dream of a sushi omakase extravaganza. But what do the dads who cook and feed people for a living want? The dad [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1101,1102,149,150,152,1103,1104],"tags":[4114,4115,4116,4117,4118,4119],"class_list":["post-2517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-0-no-apple-publish","category-1gridmagazine","category-a-town-magazine","category-celebrities","category-sentinel-lifestyle","category-uncategorized","category-z-other-galley","tag-cesar-zapata","tag-chankonabe","tag-fathers-day","tag-roy-yamaguchi","tag-shabu-shabu","tag-tom-colicchio"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Chef dads describe their dream meals for Father\u2019s Day - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chef dads describe their dream meals for Father\u2019s Day - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Father\u2019s Day is just around the bend, and there are decisions to be made. Some dads want to eat out, some want to eat in. Some want a big old meat-and-potatoes meal, some dream of a sushi omakase extravaganza. But what do the dads who cook and feed people for a living want? The dad [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-17T22:33:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2517#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2517\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\"},\"headline\":\"Chef dads describe their dream meals for Father\u2019s Day\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T22:33:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2517\"},\"wordCount\":705,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2517#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ae0773837eb5816dab1102500e78c4b0.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Cesar Zapata\",\"Chankonabe\",\"father's day\",\"Roy Yamaguchi\",\"Shabu shabu\",\"Tom Colicchio\"],\"articleSection\":{\"0\":\"0 - No Apple Publish\",\"1\":\"1gridMAGAZINE\",\"2\":\"A-Town Magazine\",\"3\":\"Celebrities\",\"4\":\"Sentinel Lifestyle\",\"6\":\"z-other-galley\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2517#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2517\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2517\",\"name\":\"Chef dads describe their dream meals for Father\u2019s Day - Denver Moving Chronicle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2517#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2517#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ae0773837eb5816dab1102500e78c4b0.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-17T22:33:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2517#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2517\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2517#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ae0773837eb5816dab1102500e78c4b0.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/ae0773837eb5816dab1102500e78c4b0.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682,\"caption\":\"Roy Yamaguchi, founder of Roy\u2019s Restaurants, center, appears with his son, Roy Jr., right, and Denise Yamaguchi at a restaurant in Venice on June 22, 2023. (Denise Yamaguchi via AP)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2517#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Chef dads describe their dream meals for Father\u2019s Day\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Denver Moving Chronicle\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chef dads describe their dream meals for Father\u2019s Day - Denver Moving Chronicle","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chef dads describe their dream meals for Father\u2019s Day - Denver Moving Chronicle","og_description":"Father\u2019s Day is just around the bend, and there are decisions to be made. Some dads want to eat out, some want to eat in. Some want a big old meat-and-potatoes meal, some dream of a sushi omakase extravaganza. But what do the dads who cook and feed people for a living want? The dad [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517","og_site_name":"Denver Moving Chronicle","article_published_time":"2026-06-17T22:33:18+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b"},"headline":"Chef dads describe their dream meals for Father\u2019s Day","datePublished":"2026-06-17T22:33:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517"},"wordCount":705,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ae0773837eb5816dab1102500e78c4b0.jpg","keywords":["Cesar Zapata","Chankonabe","father's day","Roy Yamaguchi","Shabu shabu","Tom Colicchio"],"articleSection":{"0":"0 - No Apple Publish","1":"1gridMAGAZINE","2":"A-Town Magazine","3":"Celebrities","4":"Sentinel Lifestyle","6":"z-other-galley"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517","url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517","name":"Chef dads describe their dream meals for Father\u2019s Day - Denver Moving Chronicle","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ae0773837eb5816dab1102500e78c4b0.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-17T22:33:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ae0773837eb5816dab1102500e78c4b0.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ae0773837eb5816dab1102500e78c4b0.jpg","width":1024,"height":682,"caption":"Roy Yamaguchi, founder of Roy\u2019s Restaurants, center, appears with his son, Roy Jr., right, and Denise Yamaguchi at a restaurant in Venice on June 22, 2023. (Denise Yamaguchi via AP)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2517#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chef dads describe their dream meals for Father\u2019s Day"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/","name":"Denver Moving Chronicle","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com"],"url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}