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Today over at Midtown Lunch, Dave Pasternack, the chef and co-creator of Mario Batali’s highbrow fishery Esca, sits down for a quickie profile. There’s nothing particularly revelatory (that angle was more than covered in a lengthy New Yorker profile from 2005), but we just couldn’t wrap our heads around one little thing:

Favorite Kind of Food: I mean, I like everything — but my favorite is ethnic food. I find it more intriguing. I’ve worked in fancy restaurants for 25 years, but my favorite foods are still Chinese, Thai, Indian … pretty much everything.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Fancy.

Wait — Dave Pasternack doesn’t like fancy food? We never had any doubts as to the guy’s talents, but to rise above his simple culinary inclinations, abandon kung pao, and successfully run a kitchen where the char and spotted bass hovers near 30 bucks is quite an accomplishment. We recognize your extraordinary efforts and salute you. —Jessica Coen

PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er (& Esca Chef) David Pasternack [Midtown Lunch]