By King Harris ~
It’s not easy being a chef. I know; I’ve been one. I was appointed head cooking chef in 1974 at the distinguished Cock and Bull Restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.
I was hired by this temperamental executive English chef (what else is new?) who went by the name of Cleon. My duties included dressing turkeys and lamb, making cockaliki soup, and whipping up Hollandaise sauce for 50 people, which I still find impossible to do.
On my first day, I nearly severed my fingers with one of the sharpest knives in the world, and found myself in disbelief when I realized that I’d be cooking lunch when the servers began to show up.
The kitchen covered with wooden floor slats was the hottest and burning place I’d ever worked. My favorite order of the day was a steak well-done, because I could just throw it into the oven and then forget about it. I lasted about a week.
So it’s no wonder that I can relate to a book I just read, written by master chef from Morro Bay Leonard Gentieu. It’s called, “Chasing the Heat.” Len is currently the owner and the chef of his boat Papagallo II, which is moored along the Embarcadero [1100 block] in Morro Bay. He’s come a long way from working his way up.
“ My book is a behind-the-scenes look at the restaurant industry,” Len says, “and includes 12 of my favorite recipes.” But it’s not a cook book. It’s an account of Len’s crazy career as a restaurant owner and chef.
“I didn’t do well in school,” Len recalls. “I found myself going to home economics class in the 8th grade. Some people called me a ‘sissy,’ but I got to eat brownies and be with all the girls.”
Not long after that Len went to work as a dishwasher in a local bakery where he grew up back East.
“My father kept trying to teach me algebra, but I couldn’t get it. He asked me, ‘Well what do you want to do?’
‘What kind of life do you want to have?’ I wanted to be a cook. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but eventually resigned to the idea and told me ‘Well, if you’re going to be a cook, be the best cook.’”
That’s what Len turned out to be. He’s owned at least three restaurants throughout his lengthy career, and the anecdotes in the book that he provides about his experiences provide more than enough spice for a great and entertaining read.
Like the time when he was serving in the Army in Korea during the height of the Vietnam War and a high-ranking general was looking for someone to make a certain kind of potato dish that Len had made once before.
Regrettably he volunteered, and was immediately transferred to the general’s inner corps. Or like the time he arrived at one of his eateries to find not only the dishwasher broken, but the toilet system totally clogged up.
And soon to his dismay, he would find out that two separate parties would be coming to be served two separate meals.
“Its not about the paycheck,” he says. “When a person finishes a meal that was absolutely unimaginable, that is, as a chef, what really spurs you on, knowing that you have created something and brought something good to someone, that they really enjoy. So it is a service business and luckily I’ve been able to maintain that attitude throughout my whole career.”
There’s a lot more than just cooking, Len says. “You’ve got personnel management, you’ve got food costs, you’ve got all sorts of things that come into play with making a commercial kitchen go.
“And then if you get into ownership,” he adds, “there’s another whole box that opens up. Schooling is important but on the job, trial and error experience is key. You have to have that entrepreneurial spirit.”
To get a discounted copy of Len’s book, “Chasing the Heat,” go to 920KVEC.com. I guarantee you’ll eat it up.
