Whether roasted by an open fire or stuffed into a turkey, chestnuts are a key Christmas ingredient.

The resume of Michael Santoro, new chef de cuisine at The Blue Duck Tavern, reads like a guide to good restaurants around the world. In England he’s worked at Heston Blumental's The Fat Duck and with bad-boy-but brilliant Tom Aiken, as well as Fergus Henderson. He’s been through the kitchens of the one-star Mugaritz Restaurant near San Sebastian, Spain. He’s worked at Mill’s Tavern in Providence, RI. He’s served as sous chef at the Michelin one-star Restaurant Gilt in New York. And before joining The Blue Duck Tavern he was chef de cuisine at Boqueria, a popular Spanish restaurant in Manhattan.