Name: Kit Skarstrom
Where do you live? Bloomfield
When did you move there? 1994 – on the westward ho route that started in the Village with a stop in Jersey City.
Where did you grow up? New York City and Massachusetts
How do you make a living? Right now I’m the Chef de Cuisine at Tempo, a new Hilton hotel in Times Square. I’ve been cooking since I moved to New York after high school. No cooking school – I was waiting tables, but the owners discovered I didn’t really like people so they took pity on me and sent me to the kitchen.
Coffee, tea, or…? Coffee, a lot of coffee. But good coffee.
What’s your idea of a perfect weekend day? I like going on adventures with my wife – we go for drives, find restaurants, look at art. I also like going on bike rides around Montclair and then drinking coffee at Vesta afterwards.They have really good coffee.
What’s your favorite local restaurant? We’ve been going to Giotto a lot this summer. Good pasta.
What’s on your nightstand? I don’t have one. My watch, glasses, wallet, that’s on a dresser. It’s actually my wife’s dresser, mine is on the other side of the room, but I like the side of the bed where her dresser is.
What are you listening to? Arctic Monkeys and Interpol. We’re going to see Warpaint in a few weeks.
What are your current indulgences? I like good Japanese knives, Marsell shoes (I don’t work in Crocs or clogs), that’s a kitchen myth. We found this newsletter called Blackbird Spyplane, and they profile a lot of men’s designers who work with deadstock fabrics. Kind of Japanesy/David Byrne big suit styles.
What talent you would most like to have? I’d like to play guitar in the Clash or the Sex Pistols.
What’s the worst-kept (or best-kept!) secret about your town? Bloomfield isn’t as Bloomfield as it sounds. When we moved here we were the young kids on the block borrowing tools from the neighbors. Now we’re the old people on the block. We still don’t have many tools.
What do you hope they say about you at your funeral? He was good with cats, but now he’s dead.