NTF: How did you get started in the restaurant business? TAMALES: When we met each other we were working at Le Perroquet in Chicago. Neither of us had ever met another person who had such a passion for food as we did. We worked together for a year and then went our separate ways. About a year later we met in France. It was here that we both received the perfect topping for our education. All the techniques that we learned in chef school were combined with the experiences of working for French chefs and the passion that the French have for food. Then we felt we were ready to open our own place. We started in a tiny restaurant in Melrose called the City Café. We had 11 tables and six stools and were open for breakfast, lunch and dinner from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m., every day. When we decided to open a bigger restaurant with 50 tables, we turned the City Café into a taco stand. We then added tortillas, tamales, quesadillas and entrees. The next thing you know we had a full-blown Mexican restaurant called the Border Grill, which opened in 1985. To be sure we offered the proper cuisine, we rented a VW bug and took a trip to Mexico. We drove all over Mexico, getting some great ideas. We planned the whole menu in the car. We were pleased to find out that they eat quite a bit of turkey in Mexico. We had already been cooking a lot of turkey at City Café, so it was great to continue to make great dishes with turkey. NTF: What are some of the characteristics that differentiate turkey from other proteins you serve, such as percent of food cost, versatility, preparation tips, etc.? TAMALES: We love turkey because it has a delicious, mild taste and it stands up to a lot of different flavors. We tend to be drawn to items that aren't used often and when we opened City Café turkey was not featured on restaurant menus as frequently as it is today. It is also an inexpensive product. So, instead of using chicken breast for recipes, we'd often use turkey breast. We like to pound it thin and cook it really quickly, because if you over-cook turkey it will become dry. This style of preparation is also something people can do very easily at home. The important thing to remember when cooking with turkey is that you have to cook it much differently than you do chicken. You have to be much more sensitive to the white meat and the dark meat. In fact, when we're cooking small amounts of turkey, we always cook them separately - completely braising the dark meat and always cooking the breast meat quickly by searing it or grilling it. NTF: How do you currently menu turkey at the restaurant? TAMALES: Turkey's been on the menu since we opened City Café in 1981. There was a delicious veal club sandwich that we made at Le Perroquet, and we wanted to make it at City Café but we couldn't afford veal, so we decided to make it with turkey. We bought a whole turkey breast and sliced it into scallops, which we pounded thin. We would then grill the turkey scallops in the morning and use them for the club sandwiches in the afternoon. It turned out to be one of our best selling sandwiches for more than 10 years. It even got into our first cookbook, City Cuisine. Then we opened Border Grill and we changed the turkey offering to a traditional Latin American preparation of turkey with cracked pepper and a seviche-based sauce, which is featured on the web site. We also make a tostada with turkey and a Turkey Torta, which is a turkey sandwich with black beans, pickled onions, watercress and avocado - it's just fantastic! At our new restaurant, Ciudad, we have a great turkey sandwich made with turkey breast roasted and sliced really thin, but we are playing around with the preparation and we may offer it grilled. It is served with guava and Spanish goat cheese to create a great flavor. It's one of our best selling sandwiches at both restaurants. NTF: Have you ever heard from your patrons about their favorite turkey dish at the restaurant? TAMALES: We can't take the turkey dish off the menu here at the Border Grill because the patrons love it so much. They come specifically because they want to eat the turkey with cracked black pepper and caramelized red onion. All through the months of November and December at the Border Grill we run Turkey Tamales with a Mole and a Cranberry sauce. Those two months we just can't make enough of it. Because turkey is so versatile, we've been able to offer it in so many different ways, from the stewed with the Mole and the seviche or grilled with the sauce that we're showing on the web, to Turkey Tortas and tostadas. It's also a great salad accompaniment. You can grill pieces of turkey, cut it into strips and mix it with your greens and maybe add some corn chips for a chopped salad. The thing is we like to use turkey because it's extremely lean and flavorful. It also holds up to the heat where other kinds of lean meats are often dry and shred quicker. NTF: What's your favorite way to eat turkey? TAMALES: "Leftover dark meat, cold with a lot of mayonnaise with a lot of dark pepper," said Susan. "I can't decide what my favorite way is because I like it so many different ways," said Mary Sue. "I like it roasted. I really like it quickly seared. I love it smoked. In fact, every Thanksgiving I cook two turkeys. I smoke one on my barbecue and I roast another in the oven. One year, I even deep-fried a turkey using Justin Wilson's recipe."