The second installment of the Chef Series was a unique experience for me. ‘Chef Q’ as he is lovingly known by his friends and vendors is not only a customer but also a friend. As a writer, it was challenging not to impart my own feelings about this wonderful man who emanates such calmness in the midst of his busy life. He is a self made man who arrived in town with $10 in his pocket and was not afraid to work hard to get to the top. His hard work and dedication have paid off and he now works hard to leave a legacy with the people who surround him on a daily basis. Touching people’s lives in a positive way is something that comes naturally to this soft spoken man and when he speaks, everyone listens.
What is your background? How did you get started in the food business?
“I have been in this business for 32 years. I mainly worked in the Washington DC area because that was where the best opportunities were. My love for food and the food industry comes from my mother and my grandmother and I never went to culinary school. I knew what they were doing wasn’t easy, but I could see the joy that cooking brought to them and to those around them. I also love to eat.
I was the eldest and helped my parents with my brothers and sisters. It was during my summer break when I was 12 that I decided to help my parents and prepare dinner one evening. Both of my parents worked very hard and one day, I felt confident that I could produce an entire meal for the family. I went out to the yard and caught a chicken, plucked it, soaked it in salt water, boiled it to get the rest of the feathers out, then cut it up and fried it. My father always had a garden so my brothers went out and picked some fresh vegetables and potatoes for side dishes. I not only made fresh mashed potatoes and green beans but also homemade biscuits…. There were no recipes…I just went from what I remembered watching my mom and grandmother do on a daily basis.
When mom came home she could smell the aromas in the house and knew we were up to something. She was touched that I had actually accomplished such a huge undertaking and from that point on, I was never afraid to cook. My first job in the kitchen came about during a difficult time in my life. I was getting into trouble and my father told me it was time to leave…when I left it was a one way ticket and I never went back home.
I was 22 and had dropped out of college and really had no direction or purpose…I was kind of a mess. One day a friend called me about a dishwasher job in a local hotel. It was Christmas Eve and I went in and spoke to the manager who hired me on the spot because they were so busy. I didn’t even have time to fill out the paperwork until the next day. I worked hard. I always finished my work quickly and was always interested in what the other Chefs were working on. I would go over and watch what they were doing…I found myself becoming very ambitious about really wanting to make this a career and turning my life around.
I realized this was a great opportunity.
The Chef and his lead cooks helped me learn good knife skills. Some of them discouraged me about the industry and suggested I go back to school but others were willing to help me any way they could.
Another friend got me my first real job at the Marriott in Bethesda. I started working on the line and then began working in the prep area for all of the functions at the hotel. That’s when my career really began to take off. I met this wonderful man who worked as a part time manager/cook for the prep kitchen. He was a tough man who was retired from the military but still worked because he loved what he did. He taught me how to be strong in this business and how to prosper. Most people who worked with him never made it beyond the first week because he was so tough.
When I met him, he never called me by name…he just called me kid. Everyone in the kitchen had bets going that I wouldn’t last either. Two months later, I was still there.
One day, I became frustrated that he was still not calling me by my name, and one day I snapped. I told him, “I’m tired of you calling me kid…you’re not going to run me away…I want to learn and I you’re your respect.” He sat me down and said, “no one has ever stood up to me, because I am not going to teach someone who is going to waste my time. The words ‘I want to learn’ are the only words I ever wanted to hear…so I will teach you and I will make you the best you can be.”
He was the only Chef who took me under his wing and kept up with my career years after I left. He made me the person that I am. Every day when I am faced with the challenges of teaching my own team, I go back to his philosophy. I don’t make it easy for them and I tell them what he told me…’keep your mouth shut and watch and learn.’
I worked in many different kitchens over the past 32 years, sometimes working 2 jobs at a time. I worked my way up through the ranks and was allowed to take over some management responsibilities in addition to working in the kitchen because I wanted to learn more. Another Chef who I credit with taking the time to teach me life skills is Executive Chef Mike Mork. I really learned the basics from these two men and the rest I filled in on my own.”
What Chefs have influenced your cuisine?
“I can’t say that other Chefs influence my cuisine…my clientele influences my cuisine.” What type of cuisine do you prefer to cook and why? “I call my cuisine American food with a worldly influence. I like to challenge myself by putting many different things together. I enjoy using spices from other cultures to create something completely unique that is exclusively mine. I find that many other Chefs take ideas from others, change out a few things and then call it their own. I like to be my own person and develop a recipe on my own from start to finish. I haven’t travelled abroad, but I have had the great opportunity to work with many Chefs from around the world who have taught me so many things about their cultures and about their food. I take a little bit of the knowledge I gained from each one and create my own identity in my food.”
What do you think about the food industry? What’s working? What’s lacking?
“From my experience, I believe that culinary schools paint an unrealistic picture to most young kids. They glamorize the business in ways that may not be fair to young minds. Many of these schools offer internships after the student has attended culinary school, but I think that it is important to be working in the business while attending culinary school so that they are able to incorporate the skills that they are learning on a daily basis in a real working environment. Food is an art form and that’s what they learn in school, but they don’t teach them the reality of the industry. Many kids come out of school and make it to their first job and don’t survive beyond the first few weeks or the first month…they are not taught that they have to pay their dues.”
As a busy Chef, how do you make it all work with an equally busy home life?
“I was 32 when I got married and met my wife when I was working at the Marriott. I was a young Food Production Manager running multiple divisions of the hotel which included housekeeping, Alice Patch, the Celadon (fine dining restaurant), keeping up with the commissary kitchen and what they needed for banquets. My wife saw firsthand what was expected of me and I believe that had she not experienced this reality, our marriage would not have lasted.
After my children were born, I got a job with a chain restaurant called the Rainforest. It was my responsibility to travel around the US and open each unit and I opened 15 myself. In our first month in just one restaurant, we were pulling $900,000 per month, that’s roughly $5,000-$7,000 per hour. It was a tough time in our lives because we had young children and my mother in law had just had a stroke…so my wife had to be tough and have a thick skin to put up with the fact that I was gone. She had to do it all on her own.
That part always gets overlooked…I have seen the relationships of many Chefs collapse under the strain, and many did not even have children.”
What advice do you give aspiring Chefs?
“You first have to start with passion…that’s the key. Then you have to have drive and you have to be a self motivator because if you can’t motivate yourself you will never be able to motivate anyone around you. The cooking is the easiest part. Running a kitchen and the consistency that is required to do that on a daily basis is what is most challenging. I believe that you not only provide your staff with a job but also a free education because there are so many things to learn on a daily basis. I have 3 guys that I hired as dishwashers and today, they can do anything in that kitchen. I didn’t want anyone with a big head or an ego…that was not my plan for this place.”
What is it like working for a Country Club?
“The Club opened in April of 2009…and really did not have much of a menu. I came on board in September 2009 and have not only developed a full menu but have already changed it 4 times. I try to change it around every 6 months, keeping things interesting, seasonal and priced right to stay competitive. The increases in food and fuel charges are the only reasons why we have had to hike up our pricing, something that was dictated by the economy, but I work hard to stay competitive. Our Club is the only one that does not have a minimum food purchase for members on a monthly basis. As a result, I always need to be putting out exceptional food to draw people in and drive the business. With each dining experience I not only want people to walk out of here full, but also fulfilled. The experience needs to be a complete experience. I am trying to build the catering business because it’s easier to execute and more profitable for us. You can be successful a la carte, but you need the catering component.”
What Chefs have influenced you most and how?
“When I look to develop recipes I do some research online, read food magazines source new ingredients and develop new ways of putting it all together. I don’t use the recipes of other Chefs as an inspiration. I look within and go back to the basics to find my inspiration. I don’t eat out often…I rely on what is tried and true. When I come up with new ideas, I rely on the ingredients that I have around the kitchen to inspire and challenge me. It’s a very European mentality…dealing with what ingredients are available and in season on a daily basis. I also want to say that every evening after work I go home and sit at my kitchen table. I sit in the dark and go over my day…what was good and what I could have done better. I think about new recipes and lay them out in my head. It’s an internal source that I tap into…something that is always there and something that is real.”
If you had a mediocre food experience at a restaurant, would you go back?
“Yes and no. I can walk into a place and feel the energy and can tell right away if something is wrong. I’m compassionate about what they may be going through, but I don’t want to add to their misery. If I went in and had a horrible experience and no one cared about it, then I would not go back. But if there is a genuine concern by management, I would go back. I would never let anyone walk out of my restaurant unhappy. I try to ‘touch’ each table during dinner service each day, just to make sure that all my customers are happy. You need to take care of your customers each and every day. You need to make them feel special and I never forget a face…”
Would you ever want to have your own restaurant?
“At one point I did, but I feel that this place is mine and I run it as my own. I have free reign to do what I feel is right for the venue and that is more than any Chef can ask for. The management has done a lot for me, and I take complete ownership of this place and am completely committed to its success.”
What is your favorite meal?
“For sure it has to be fried chicken, steamed cabbage with salt pork, a little vinegar maybe some hot sauce, my mom’s macaroni and cheese and her lemon cake. Food does not have to be complicated to be good…it’s all about simplicity. Chefs have become so creative and fancy with their food that they have lost the real meaning of what food should mean to each of us.”
How have you changed as a Chef over the years?
“In my younger years, I felt limited in what I was allowed to do on my own. I was always working under someone else and it was their vision that was being executed and that was ok. My Sous Chef Bill is my right hand man, and I know how he feels. I understand that I am nobody without the commitment of my team. I appreciate them and everything they do for me. I have people who would go to the end of the earth for me…because they know I care and that I am there to help them any way that I can.”
How did you become so centered?
“I credit both my mother and my faith in God who have helped me stay centered and grounded in reality.”
What is your food philosophy?
“I am very particular about the products that I use. I build relationships with vendors who I know have a lot of integrity…that means a lot to me. I don’t like to deal with salesman. I prefer to deal with a vendor with whom I can develop a relationship. It’s not all about ‘selling’…I know that they are always there to help me, even if I need something in a pinch. It’s a relationship. I know I am always going to be given the information that I need and I can trust them to help me manage my business. This year, I planted a vegetable garden right here on the property. I grow 4 types of tomatoes (heirloom, beefsteak, golden boy and plum tomatoes), red/yellow/green peppers, green beans, cucumbers, zucchini and yellow squash and some strawberry plants. I learned it from my father. There is no magic formula just 3 simple tools: a hoe, a pitchfork and a rake. The response from the customers is overwhelming.”
Do you think food bloggers help or hurt the industry?
“I really don’t follow any blogs but I believe that if you have an inexperienced food blogger it can really hurt a business. It’s not fair to critique something if you don’t have some experience in the food industry like knowing what certain herbs or spices are supposed to taste like. Food is a subjective experience and everyone’s experience is personal, but if you are going to critique something, you have to start on a level playing field and know what you are talking about. If they had a bad experience, they need to have as much information as possible from the server or Chef about the product they are eating before they go and blog about it.”
What are the top 5 things you would like your patrons to know about you?
1. I am a passionate and genuine person. I don’t just cook…I put a lot of love into my food. I won’t just throw something together. I take the time to prepare a special experience. If something is not done correctly, I will re-do it over from the beginning…I’ll take the loss to make my customers happy.
2. Their opinion matters to me, good or bad…I take it to heart. If I do something wrong, tell me because it matters to me.
3. I am a people person…I am blessed and I share my blessings with everyone around me.
4. I was inspired by both my mother and my grandmother. I had strong women around me my whole life. I appreciate strong women, many men don’t. Most successful men in this world are the product of a strong woman. I believe that if you have strong women around you, you can do anything.
5. My life has come full circle. My professional life started when someone took an interest in me and cared enough to help me. I do the same for my employees. My Sous Chef Bill reminds me of myself many years ago, and I take the time to teach him what was taught to me. He keeps me on my toes. I talk to my employees about more things than just what they need to know in the kitchen. I tell them about the important things in life. I teach them the importance of trust, by always being there to back up their choices; I teach them the importance of making good decisions; I teach them the importance of being grateful and not complaining and most importantly, I teach them the importance of having respect…not only for themselves but for others. In life, you have to develop your own personal philosophy and you have to live it every single day. I have my own personal hurdles but I don’t make excuses for myself. My goal is to one day work with underprivileged kids to teach them one very important thing…that they have to show that they want to be around. That no one will take them by the hand. Their desire has to come from within. They have to earn the right for someone to invest their time in them.
Summary for The Bistro’s All Day Menu at South River Golf Club
Appetizers are priced very reasonably and range from $8-$12. Some of the choices include a Greek or Hawaiian pizza, grilled scallops with mango chutney, lobster mac and cheese, blackened ahi tuna and steamed shrimp pot stickers. Salads range from $10-$14 and include selections such as pear and gorgonzola salad with raspberry dressing, a caprese tower salad with fruity olive oil and a grilled scallop and chick pea salad with a champagne vinaigrette.
Soups are more traditional and prices vary from $4-$12, depending on whether you get a cup or a bowl. They include the always delicious French onion, crab soup and Chef Q’s sweet and spicy chili.
Mains are also very reasonably priced and range from $12-$26. Some of the delicious selections include Crab Imperial with Old Bay ($26), Chilean Sea Bass with lobster cream, spinach and roasted potatoes ($26), Pecan crusted mahi mahi with maple butter, served on saffron rice and roasted vegetables ($21) and maple bacon wrapped top sirloin with scalloped potatoes and grilled vegetables ($22).
Extra sides are also available and include things like sweet potato fries ($3), kettle chips ($3) and guacamole, slasa and chips ($5).
Desserts are a must here because they are ALL made in house by Executive Sous Chef Bill Jankowski…some of the delicious selections include crème brulee, homemade cheesecake, fried ice cream with cinnamon twists and a keylime parfait…absolutely delicious, you just have to try them!
For more information on membership information, you may contact Donna Loftin, Director of Membership Services at 410-798-6004 or visit their website. Social memberships begin as low as $25 per month, and would make a great gift for that person who has everything!
3451 Solomons Island Road, Edgewater, MD 21037, 1-800-767-4837
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