Travis Lett

You know how guests always ask what they can do to help in the kitchen? Give them this recipe.

Lett prefers Hachiya persimmons for this fabulously simple dessert (they're the ones with the pointy shape). But don't use them until they're super soft and completely ripe; they taste unpleasantly tannic otherwise.

Shaking the egg white and other drink ingredients without ice—known as a "dry shake"—helps get the whites foamy without diluting the drink.

Can't find Meyer lemons? Mimic their flavor by mixing half lemon zest and juice, and half orange zest and juice.

You can find Thumbelina carrots at farmers' markets.

Lett says that getting a good, dark sear on the Romanesco cauliflower is critical to the flavor of the dish: "There's a nuttiness when you get that color on it."

English short ribs are cut lengthwise along the bone, so the meat sits on top. With a day or two of notice, any butcher should be able to cut them to order.

This knobby vegetable has no relation to the artichoke—it's the tuber of a type of sunflower. Look for small, evenly sized ones so they'll cook at the same rate.

"The mark of a great pancake is that it can be eaten without syrup," says chef Travis Lett, who serves this dish at Gjelina, his Venice, CA, eatery. His version delivers: It's nutty, lemony, and ever so moist. Be sure to fold the ricotta into the batter very gently: "That way, when you bite into the pancake, you get these pockets of pillowy ricotta."