Starchefs plugs big-name chefs as often as Heinz bottles ketchup, so you'll find all the top toques in their new guidebook, Chefs to Know. Aimed at aspiring kitchen lackeys, the book is fun for civilian perusal as well, if only for the “offbeat restaurants,” favorite kitchen tools, and, best of all, their go-to job interview question.

• The best restaurant picks that we saw were from Brad Farmerie of Public: Dok Suni's for bok salad and noodles, Tavern on Jane for burgers, and Crif Dogs.

• David Burke of, yes, davidburke & donatella, has the best interview question: “What was your biggest fuckup?” We would want to know that a lot more than where somebody wants to be in five years.

Union Square Cafe's Michael Romano had a good one, too: “It’s now 3 months after your hire date. You wake up every morning and are really happy to come to work. Why?”

• L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon’s Yosuke Suga got a dog-ear from us with his favorite tools: “my own hands.” Sure, it’s obvious, but everyone else says microplanes, Japanese mandolins, and the like.

• Of course, we can’t open any book of chefs without seeing if our hero, Gordon Ramsay, is glowering back at us. Gordo takes the opportunity to plug his new Royal Doulton oven, but we like his interview approach: He asks candidates “to cook something from a selection of scraps and leftovers that I give them.” The results, of course, are served to patrons as specials of the house. (Not really, but it would be the Ramsay move.)

Starchefs.com Chefs to Know [Starchefs]