There are countless impressive resumes among the chefs at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. In the case of Chef Van Luu of Locavore, his includes experience working with Chicago’s iconic chef Charlie Trotter.

Maybe it’s telling that Luu was born in Alsace, France, where he lived until the age of 10. After all, many a great chef hails from France, with Pierre Herme, Christine Ferber and Hubert Keller among those from Alsace.

It was a job in the paper industry that drew Luu’s family to Appleton, where he spent his remaining formative years before heading off to UW-Milwaukee to study engineering. After changing his major to architecture – and then graphic design – Luu realized that he needed to take a different path.

"While I was in school,  I was working at a restaurant," he recalls. "I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the kitchen. So, when a friend encouraged me to pursue it as a career, I did. I quit school and went to Fox Valley Technical College for culinary degree."

Once he finished culinary school, Luu took jobs at The American Club in Kohler, Fairmont Princess in Scottsdale and Cafe Merquesa in Key West before moving on to take a job at Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago.

"A friend I met in Arizona was a huge fan of Charlie Trotter," says Luu. "We went to eat there, and I really looked at the experience and thought ‘I could work in a restaurant like this.’"

So, Luu applied for a job. Although he wasn’t hired immediately – he staged there for a month before being offered a job as garde manger – over the course of two years he worked his way up to chef de partie and then sous chef.  He assisted in opening Restaurant Charlie at the Palozzo in Las Vegas, a restaurant which would win the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in 2008. There, he earned his stripes as co-chef de cuisine.

When a good friend was diagnosed with leukemia (the same friend, mind you, who enouraged Luu to pursue his culinary career), Luu moved back to Milwaukee, where he worked at Lake Park Bistro, Bacchus, and then Prodigal before being hired to open Locavore at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino.

I sat down with Luu earlier this month to find out more about his Trotter experience, his culinary style, and some of the other elements that make him tick.

OnMilwaukee.com: What sparked your interest in food?

Van Luu: There are a lot of different factors.  Working in restaurants and really enjoying that atmosphere is part of it.  And my mom is a great cook. So we always had good food at home.

OMC: Among the things your mother made, do you have a favorite?

VL: My parents retired and moved to Florida a while back. And I would literally fly to Florida for her egg rolls. They’re always changing, evolving. You bite into them and you never know what you’ll get. Sometimes it’s shrimp and pork, other times chicken, maybe just pork. But, every one tastes amazing. I don’t know what she does to them.  She’s even given me a recipe, and it just never works.

OMC: What are the best things about your gig at Locavore?

VL: The restaurant is very fluid when it comes to the menu. So, for instance, last week I had ramps. But, now they’re out of season. So, I have to change things up. There were ramps on the trout dish, and so I changed it out to garlic scapes. It makes it a challenge to change dishes all the time and still ensure we’re putting out a great product.

I also love the idea of being able to contact farmers directly, really get to know them. I love hearing how excited they are about their products. That enthusiasm really carries over and makes me excited.  Our job is to really showcase their products and make them sing.

OMC: What’s your cooking style? How do you approach your dishes?

VL: Here, there’s really a focus on ingredients, and that’s a really natural fit for me. This restaurant wants fresh, local ingredients, and that’s something I can get excited about. My approach really stems from that; I could go to a farmer’s market, pick one great ingredient, and then design everything around that one item.

OMC: What's your favorite thing on the menu right now?

VL: You know what?  There’s so many. I can’t just pick one. I love the fritto misto – Growing Power perch with vegetables and a sauce.  It’s essentially become my signature dish, in part because it captures what the restaurant is – local products that change all the time. What’s great about it is that it’s somewhat of a comfort food. It is fried fish, but there are also vegetables. And the sauce is really fresh. It’s the type of dish where we can really work with it, change it up, and keep with the central concept.

(I tried the frito misto last time I was at Locavore... and it's absolutely delicious. This version featured perch, broccoli rabe and squash blossoms.

OMC: What's one thing you wish people knew about Locavore?

VL: That we’re really approachable. Even though the food is up to par with some of the best restaurants in town, we want to be approachable. It doesn’t need to be a special event. Also, we’re a non-smoking environment.  You don’t need to walk through the casino to get here. Oh, and there’s free valet for the restaurant.

OMC: Do you have any favorite places you like to eat in Milwaukee?

VL: I like to take my wife out whenever possible. Our schedules mean we don’t see one another all that often. But, one of the places we love to go is Three Brothers. The service is spot on, and they make you feel like part of the family. I love the suckling pig.

OMC: What's your overall impression of the Milwaukee scene?

VL: I think that the food scene here is only going to get better and better. With all the great chefs we have coming into to town, it’s gotten to be a great place to live and work.  You can see on South Second Street – people are really starting to push the boundaries in food. And you couldn’t say that 10 years ago.  I think the development has been happening at a really great, smart pace. As diners get more educated and become more concious about what they’re eating, it will all go from there.

OMC: During your time at Trotter’s restaurants, did you get to work much with Chef Trotter?

VL: I did. Every day in the restaurant.

OMC: What was that like?

VL: It was intimidating. A lot of people will say how mean of a man he was. But, if you stood right next to him on the line, you’d understand him a lot better.  We really liked to joke around, and as much as he was serious, he really was like a father figure to so many of us in the kitchen. He acted very much as a mentor. And definitely cared.  That’s something that not a lot of people get to see.

OMC: What do you think is the biggest legacy Charlie Trotter left behind?

VL: Taking the food scene in Chicago and the U.S. to another level – in both food and service. It doesn’t just come from his restaurant, but any of the cooks or service professionals who have passed through his restaurant, who now work in different places, they take it with them. His influence bleeds through to whatever they do?

OMC: Do you have a favorite cookbook? What do you like about it?

VL: Right now I have a fermentation book, "The Art of Fermentation" (Sandor Katz). My favorite thing is that it talks more about the history than anything. Those are the kinds of cookbooks I like. It’s about getting behind the food and really learning about it, not just how to cook it.

OMC: What kitchen utensil can't you live without?

VL: I really have to think about that one. I do have a carbon steel Japanese knife – a Gesshin Kegekiyo – that’s just so sharp. It cuts through everything like butter.

No, wait a second, it’s actually my wooden spoon. It has a natural feel to it, and the great thing about a wooden spoon is that it doesn’t scratch the bottom o fthe pan and it’s very gentle on the product.

OMC: What is your favorite guilty dining pleasure?

VL: Chef Boyardee Ravioli. It’s something I ate a lot when I was single. And it just kind of stuck with me.

OMC: If you could cook for anyone in the world, who would it be? And what would you serve?

VL: Eventually, my kid. He actually just started eating solids. But, eventually, I want him to taste and experience all sorts of different flavors. As far as what to serve, the first thing that comes to mind is any type of fish. There are so many varieties, flavors, ways of cooking it.