Tell Us About Yourself:Not much to tell. I'm a
food nerd. That's about it. I'm always cooking something up...in more ways
than you might think. My oldest son is Autistic so I have a lot of
interesting life challenges. Plus, my little fire of a six year old keeps
me busy too. I love being a Dad. I love to spend time with my kids. I've
been working on my own cooking show, which with any luck might even be
picked up by a network someday. I like to mountain bike, read books, go
fishing, talk to people, drink Guinness, listen to music, chat with my DAD
(all three of previous at same time), Anime/Manga kicks ass, Comedy,
learn, fail, grow, succeed, fail again, grow, succeed, fail, grow, succeed
(you get the idea) I love to be social, but I also like to be solitary at
times.
Q&A
MYCUIZINE: When and how did you decide to become a chef?
REPLY: Since age 5 I was in the kitchen helping out. By age 7 I
made up my mind to become a Chef.
MYCUIZINE: Tell us how your career unfolded.
REPLY: I worked in the fast food biz and college dinning as a teen.
Finally got to culinary school and excelled, but was frustrated by
bookwork. I just wanted to cook. Extern at Disney and work at a hotel for
nearly 3 years in State College, PA. Moved to Cleveland Ohio and began
working my way up at refined restaurants. Everything from Game centered to
Ritz Carlton to Cafes and Bistros. As the Chef at Lure Inc. I earned my
first glowing review by scene magazine quoted as, "Dangerously close
to perfection." Next I was Chef at the funky Fulton Bar and Grill
where I quickly made a name as a, "Global flavor lexicon" of a
Chef and continued to refine those ideas in a Hotel Steak house format for
a broader audience. I finally struck out on my own as a "Personal
Chef' http://worldsfareculinary.com
where I focused on interactive dinner parties bringing the restaurant to
the home. For the past 5 years I've managed to build a name for myself in
Cleveland with out owning a restaurant. I've been a published recipe
columnist in Balanced living magazine. I am a founding member of the Chili
cook off for Autism http://www.asgc.org/
that I started due in part that my oldest son has autism. I've consulted
on many restaurant projects as well. Made appearances and did many shows
over the years such as the Fabulous food show . In 2006 I joined a team
designing community-cooking classes thru our local community college. I
became the project manager and oversaw the program for its first year for
which I am still an instructor along with other notable Cleveland
Chefs In 2007 what started out as a consulting turned into a
more deeply committed relationship at Good Taste Market where I am
currently Chef. Another great accomplishment is my consulting at Gateway
Lodge in Cooks forest, PA
Lee
Anne Wong from Top Chef
MYCUIZINE:
Who were the biggest inspirations for your career?
REPLY: My Grandmothers, My
Father, MY Mother-in-law, Julia Child, and Chefs I've worked for. These
days I admire many Chefs for their achievements and what they do such as
Thomas Keller, Michael Symon, Marcus Samuelsson, Morimoto, Ferran Adria
and many others I admire.
MYCUIZINE:
What do you enjoy most about being a chef?
REPLY: Making people happy with food.
Giving folks a memory with a dinning experience they'll never forget and cherish
for the rest of their lives. I love seeing the look on people's faces when they
experience a wonderful taste sensation especially when it is the first time
they've tried an ingredient. I also love the farmers/artisan and their
labor/craft is more important to the dinning experience than the talent of a
chef in my opinion.
MYCUIZINE: What is one of your
favorite comfort food?
REPLY: Burgers
MYCUIZINE: Tell us one of your best
experiences you had?
REPLY: working with Celebrity Chefs
at the Autism Speaks to Wall Street events. http://www.autismspeaks.org.
MYCUIZINE: Tell us one of your worst
experiences you had?
REPLY: I'm the Chef at Lure, we're
short staffed, 50 resos and a party of 50 event. Asked someone for headache med,
got a muscle relaxer. The whole night I wasn't able to even stand up. It was a
disaster.
MYCUIZINE: What is one of your greatest strength?
REPLY: Never give up. Tenacious.
MYCUIZINE: What motivates you to do
your best in your job?
REPLY: Making people happy with food.
MYCUIZINE: If you were stuck on a
desert island and could only have one food, what would it be?
REPLY: Burgers.
MYCUIZINE: When you go home, do you stay away from the kitchen and think,
"I can't even stand
to look at another oven"?
REPLY: Nope!! I cook at home fairly
often and even if I'm not motivated to start. Once I'm in there I'm right at
home. I love cooking with my family. We are a team.
MYCUIZINE:
Tell us one of your proudest culinary accomplishments.
MYCUIZINE:
Name 2 of your favorite cookbooks you refer to for inspiration?
REPLY: art culinaire, Food arts magazines.
MYCUIZINE:
What would be one your greatest fear?
REPLY: all of the sudden be
unable to cook anymore by either physical or mental means.
MYCUIZINE: How
would you describe good and exceptional.
REPLY: Good is a burger. Exceptional is a burger with LTO, pickles,
Chipotle mayo and tomato-ginger jam.
MYCUIZINE:
Is it difficult to eat out? Do you deconstruct meals that you are served?
REPLY: not too difficult as long as expectations are met or exceeded.
I hate it when a restaurant doesn't live up to the hype. Although it is not
always their fault. I just appreciate good service and good food presented
well.
MYCUIZINE: What are 2 of your favorite cooking shows?
REPLY: Iron Chef America, Iron Chef Japan
MYCUIZINE: Do you eat any junk
food? Name two you have in your pantry at the moment.
REPLY: Mountain Dew, Special dark
chocolate.
MYCUIZINE: What are the tools of the trade you use most?
REPLY: Braun hand blender, my knives.
MYCUIZINE: Name 3 of your favorite kitchen gadgets?
REPLY: Braun hand blender, microplane, blow torch
MYCUIZINE: Name one of your culinary heroes? Describe why.
REPLY: Masaharu Morimoto. Because of his willingness to think outside
of the box about his roots and about cuisines from the rest of the world.
Bringing some of those things together in a whimsical fashion.
MYCUIZINE: What advice can you give to prospective students thinking
about an education and
career in the culinary arts?
REPLY: Never give up. Never stop learning.
MYCUIZINE: Is there anything else you'd like readers to know?
