Kip Meyerhoff learned how to cook from his father, a New York City gangster who got his formal training in culinary arts while doing a stretch in prison.

His dad taught him the axioms of cooking: a little sugar can go a long way; bitterness can spoil your appetite for life; tarts are not always a just dessert; heat can reduce heat; and hot is not always hot.

Kip wanted to learn more, so his father turned him over to a succession of hotel chefs. Soon he was searing and broiling, baking and boiling, sauteing and flambeing, roasting and toasting.

He looks back at his...