Chef Five Bites: Rodney Scruggs

Chef Rodney Scruggs of the Occidental has been cooking in the DC area for more than 20 years — and he's ended up right where he started. At 18, he was hired as a line cook at Occidental and worked his way up to executive sous chef, under then-executive chef Jeff Buben (now of Vidalia and Bistro Bis fame). He followed his first Occidental run with stints at Galileo, Cesco and Bistro Bis and found himself back on familiar terrain when he was named head chef for the Occidental in 2005, just before the restaurant's 100th birthday. Here are his Five Bites.

1. Gina Chersevani's scalded milk cocktail at PS 7's "Tastes like a milk shake. Silky smooth."

2. Anything (like the sticky pecan buns) from the Swiss Bakery

3. 24-hour sous-vide pork belly at Café du Parc

4. Pasta with shrimp, rapini, crushed pepper and white sauce at A La Lucia

5. CityZen's bar menu

Previous Chef Five Bites: Cathal Armstrong, Dani Arana, David Guas, Josh Short, Michel Richard, Haidar Karoum, Ryan Morgan, Shannon Overmiller, Anthony Chittum, Jonathan Krinn & Jon Mathieson, Victor Albisu, Vatche Benguian, John Snedden, Nicholas Stefanelli, Travis Olson, Brian Robinson, Cliff Wharton, Alex Bollinger, Massimo Fabbri, Daniel Bortnick, Rob Weland, Olivier Perret, Dennis Marron, Dean Gold, Mike Isabella, Bryan Voltaggio, Geoff Tracy, Bart Vandaele