Who is Superchef?

When I first saw Superchef, the man behind the Superchef’s Breakfast at The Seafood Connection and the newly re-opened Bloom’s Lunch Cafe, I did a double take. I was at Bloom’s for lunch, trying to decide on a dessert for the table when he walked out, cut himself a piece of pound cake and told us that it was the best dessert at the restaurant. He was right.

And I would bet that the piece of pound cake he ate was the only thing he ate all day.

Pound cake with a limoncello mascarpone.

He doesn’t look like your typical, robust Emeril or Mario Batali-type of chef. He’s tall, I mean ducking under the overhead lights tall. He’s super skinny, and admits to not really eating much. His long hair is in immaculate braids down his back, covered by a flat-billed hat that is in mint condition. Allow me to introduce you to Superchef, aka Darnell Ferguson.

Superchef Darnell Ferguson cooking at The Seafood Connection for his Superchef’s Breakfast.

I met him late last month during his breakfast shift. He has Superchef’s Breakfast, which he runs out of The Seafood Connection in St. Matthews from 7:00 – 10:00 a.m., before the Seafood Connection starts their lunch service.

Superchef is a Superwaiter too.

Then he drives over to Bloom’s Lunch Cafe on Wallace Ave. in St. Matthews to start lunch service there out of the back of The Ruby Slipper Consignment Store.

In the back of this store is a great, great lunch spot.

Superchef earned his nomenclature fair and square. A graduate of Sullivan University, one of his first jobs while in school was working at Maker’s Mark in the private dining room. The chef there was the original Superchef. Darnell claimed that he could cook faster than his boss and when he did, he said to him “Who’s the Superchef now?” Darnell was later picked to travel to the 2008 Olympics in China with a group of chefs, and took the nickname with him there, where it stuck. His experience at the Olympics has been life changing for him, cooking in that capacity for that many people in a foreign country. He loved every minute of it.

Back in Louisville, he worked for Napa River Grill and Proof on Main before starting out on his own. Rather than owning a restaurant, he rents the kitchen at these two restaurants. It works for him and for his clients.

Back to the matter at hand: FOOD. I sampled all kinds of items on the breakfast menu. Each one was fantastic.

These will be pancakes…

Red velvet pancakes.

Beignets topped with powdered sugar and a whipped cream cheese dollop.

Apple caramel pancakes.

Veggie omelet with hash browns and side salad.

Breakfast tacos: Three hard shell tacos with house-made sausage, topped with eggs, cheese, mornay sauce, and diced tomatoes.

Greek omelet with red pepper grits.

Take a trip over to Bloom’s Lunch Cafe with me. Darnell works with Nancy, the original chef and owner of Bloom’s Lunch Cafe. She gets the show started before he gets there each day, along with Darnell’s partner Ryan Bryson. Here Nancy is making green chile corn chowder with lots of bacon.

Nancy making her delicious homemade soup of the day.

Bloom’s Lunch Cafe is tiny. When I went there for lunch with seven girls, we made a reservation and it was packed.

I’ve heard that most people there have made reservations.

You’ll want a reservation – the space is small.

Smoked chicken salad with grapes and pasta salad.

Bloom’s Blue Salad: Spring mix greens, avocado, apples, blue cheese and candied pecans.

Soup of the day: Navy bean with ham. There is a different soup each day and they are all homemade and delicious.

Caramel cake.

Triple Layer Orange Dreamsicle Cake.

Recently, I was honored to be featured on Darnell’s regular television spot on WHAS Noon news. It’s called From Simple to Super, where he, host Michelle Arnold and a guest take a recipe and make it super. Our recipe was Grilled Cheese. This was the easiest television spot I have ever done because he did all the work. I just had to eat a bite of a monster sandwich in front of a television audience. To watch the video click here> www.whas11.com.