Chef Chat, Part 3: Charles Clark of Ibiza

EOW: So what should a first-time Ibiza patron order?

Clark: To truly showcase my roots, they should order my grilled shrimp served over crabmeat cornbread served with a spicy tasso sauce. That's one of my trademark dishes and it's definitely Louisiana, because you eat a lot of cornbread in Louisiana. I wanted to dress it up by putting in some beautiful crabmeat. And then I wanted to make a nice sauce with a nice taste, texture and color, so tasso is a cured Cajun ham. So that's definitely a dish that shows my roots.

EOW: What's your most popular dish during a sweltering summer?

Clark: Our most popular summer item is our ceviche. It's made with plenty of shrimp, lump crabmeat and avocados. We serve it with crispy shrimp toast. It's really refreshing for those hot summer days.

EOW: How often do you take special requests from your diners?

Clark: As much as possible, because in this economy you've got to do whatever you can to give yourself an edge to keep ahead of the game. And if that means doing something special to bring someone in the door, then that's what I try to do.

EOW: If our readers wanted to, how would they go about making a special request?

Clark: They should call a couple of days in advance. That will give me time to fly something in. I really lean toward Sunday through Thursday. Since Fridays and Saturdays are so busy, placing a special order Sunday through Thursday will give me the time I would like to pay special attention to the requests made.