I thought I knew all about making perfect popcorn.

I would pop the kernels in oil, slather them in butter and salt, and gobble them while watching old slapstick comedies on the couch, battling husband and child for that last craggy crumb.

Then I tasted Jessica Koslow’s recipe, and my popcorn world exploded.

Her snow-white kernels were impeccably crunchy, glistening with fat and seasoned with just enough salt to stick to my fingers. Their initial crackle melted into a corn-flavored fluff on the tongue before completely disappearing. I yearned for more and didn’t stop until I hit the bottom of the bowl, which was blissfully free of any unpopped tooth-breakers. My lovingly tended version just couldn’t compare.

Ms. Koslow, the chef and owner of Sqirl in Los Angeles, has a knack for taking something that everyone thinks they know how to make, and making it even better. Take, for example, the toast with jam that made her restaurant famous: extra-thick slices of near-burned brioche coated with ricotta and a sticky puddle of Ms. Koslow’s seasonal, innovative jams. With simple twists, she turned the quotidian into the extraordinary.