Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo in the kitchen of their five-month-old restaurant Son of a Gun, in Los Angeles. Their rock 'n' roll demeanor belies the laborious process of concocting hit dishes.  Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo are the duo behind the Los Angeles restaurant Animal, which opened in 2008. The chefs became nationally known for their surprising—shocking, even—menu items, which include pig ears, pig tails, crispy pig's head, veal brains and a bacon-chocolate bar. Their new, five-month-old restaurant, Son of a Gun, takes a similar approach by serving unexpected seafood, including salmon collars and alligator schnitzel.  Their cuisine is frequently described as "dude food," the kind of indulgent, meaty fare favored by hungry, bearded, shorts-and-baseball-cap wearing young dudes, like Mr. Shook, 30, and Mr. Dotolo, 31, themselves. Mr. Shook introduced Son of a Gun's chef du cuisine Frank Anderson as "like, the third dude." On a recent Wednesday morning shopping trip to the Santa Monica Farmers Market, Mr. Dotolo was stopped every few paces by fellow chefs addressing him simply as "Dude."  But the dudes' rock 'n' roll demeanor belies the laborious process of concocting hit dishes, which must be both unexpected—"our food has to be something you can't get just anywhere," Mr. Shook said—and lip smacking enough to get diners coming back and the blogosphere and Twitter world chattering. Animal alone, with just 50 seats, grossed more than $2 million last year, Mr. Shook said, and has attracted queries by some of the country's top restaurateurs, including Drew Nieporent and Stephen Starr, about opening an outpost of Animal in New York (no deal was made).  Most ideas begin with little more than a notion. "We should really do something with pig ears. That's an under-utilized part of the pig," Mr. Dotolo recalled thinking in 2009. The next thing the chefs think about is cost, because Animal tries to keep prices modest, hovering around $14 a dish. Pig ears—which two years ago cost the restaurant $1.99 a pound (they have since risen to $3.99 a pound, said Mr. Shook, attributing the inflation to the trend they sparked)—fit the bill.  “Bubble charts allow Vinny Dotolo to express visually how certain ingredients play together.”  The next step is to figure out a preparation, flavorings and seasonal garnishes. Unlike most chefs, Mr. Shook and Mr. Dotolo don't rely on any cultural tradition or on a style inherited from mentor chefs. That's because the chefs, who met at a Fort Lauderdale culinary school, worked only briefly in other restaurants and started a catering business together. With so little formal training, they are forced to rely on experimentation, Mr. Dotolo said.  On a recent Friday afternoon in Animal's empty dining room, Mr. Dotolo peered at a scribbled bubble chart on which he'd written the word "sweetbreads" in the biggest, center bubble. Around it were circled terms, including "pea shoots," "mint chutney," "raita," "tamarind" and "turmeric." The charts are a new format Mr. Dotolo uses, allowing him to express visually how certain ingredients play together. His goal was to create a veal sweetbreads dish with Indian-style flavorings.  "I've taken a couple of whacks at it, and it's not working," Mr. Dotolo said. The week before, he had rolled the sweetbreads in sweetened coconut, fried them in butter and served them with raita, a cucumber-yogurt mixture, and tamarind sauce. It was good, but Mr. Dotolo felt it was not special enough and lacked textural contrast.  Now, Mr. Dotolo tried crusting the sweetbreads with unsweetened coconut and decorated the plate with the same tamarind and raita, adding chunks of pickled watermelon rind (for crunch), mango sauce (for sweetness) and elderflowers and nasturtiums (for color). He took a picture of the final composition, so he wouldn't forget it.  Pig Ear, Chili, Lime, Fried Egg Pig ears are simmered for 36 hours, then sliced thin, deep fried, tossed with salt, dressed with a chili-lime vinaigrette, and topped with a fried egg.  Poutine, Oxtail Gravy, Cheddar In a take on a classic Canadian diner dish, house-made French fries are covered in oxtail gravy with pieces of oxtail, and topped with shredded aged cheddar cheese.  Alligator Schnitzel, Heart of Palm, Orange A thin piece of alligator tail meat is pounded, breaded and fried and served with a salad of hearts of palm, mint leaves, and orange sections.  In the dining room, Mr. Dotolo tasted the dish with two members of the kitchen staff (Mr. Shook was out of town). As they took bites, everyone critiqued. The chef du cuisine felt sweetened coconut worked better; Mr. Dotolo nodded, chewing. Everyone liked the watermelon pickles but wanted smaller chunks. Mr. Dotolo said it would take another pass or two to nail the dish.  The partners used to split duties down the middle, but these days, Mr. Dotolo focuses on menu development while Mr. Shook spearheads operations. Contrary to the old adage about "too many cooks," Mr. Dotolo and Mr. Shook said they never argue about dishes. They do differ markedly in disposition, though: Mr. Shook is outgoing, perpetually on his cellphone, and openly ambitious. "I hope to have five restaurants in this neighborhood by the time I'm 35," he said. Mr. Dotolo refuses to appear on television and admits to unreliably answering voicemails or texts. "I don't know if I want more than two restaurants," Mr. Dotolo said.  Sometimes their personae combine to crack a problem. After months working on pig ears, Mr. Dotolo temporarily gave up when he felt he couldn't get the texture right. Then Mr. Shook returned from a trip to Tennessee during which he chatted up a local chef and learned that a good ear needs simmering for at least 30 hours. Mr. Dotolo used the tip in his preparation, then sliced the meat thin, deep fried it and gilded the lily with a fried egg on top. It went onto the menu in 2009.  It worked: Today, the team sells over 40 pounds of pig ear a week at $12 a serving. "You never know what will be a hit," Mr. Shook said.  • On a recent visit to the Santa Monica Farmers Market, Vinny Dotolo spied some huckleberries in the back of another chef's truck. He hadn't realized they were in season yet, and he immediately started brainstorming how to use them. Though he doesn't have to go to the market himself, Mr. Dotolo said that those types of discoveries make it worthwhile.  • Classic dishes at the restaurant Animal are a "play on fat, salt and acid," Mr. Dotolo said. With any fatty dish, from foie gras to pork belly, sauces heavy on lemon or vinegar "clean out your mouth and get you ready for the next bite."  • Though the chefs make many of their own condiments, from spicy mayonnaise to pickles, they buy hot sauce and vinegar. "I always ask, can I make it better than the guy who has been making it for 50 years?" said Mr. Dotolo. If the answer is no, he shops.  • The team tried dozens of versions of a chicken sandwich for the Son of a Gun menu. "I tried it on 10 different buns, the chef probably brought in five buns. Everyone got so sick of eating chicken," Jon Shook said. After all that, the chefs decided to go back to the first bun (a pain de mie) and the first recipe they'd tried (brined chicken breast, deep-fried for seven minutes and served with crunchy slaw). Now the chicken sandwich is a top seller.  Write to Katy McLaughlin at katy.mclaughlin@wsj.com
How the acclaimed Los Angeles chefs, known for making everything from pig ears, pig tails and veal brains, develop their hit menu items.