You’ve made an impact in your community when your first name is a household name.
Such is the case with Chef Rick, the highly regarded and telegenic local chef who earned a loyal following while serving “up tempo American cooking” for 22 years at his Orcutt restaurant, Chef Rick’s Ultimately Fine Foods, and on local TV.
He closed his soulful eatery last year to take his talents to the Far Western Tavern in Guadalupe. Chef Rick is returning to Orcutt in October when the steakhouse moves into new digs at 300 Clark Ave.
For more information, visit farwesterntavern.com.
1) What is your birth year and place?
1954 in Oakland, Calif.
2) What first attracted you to a career in cooking?
The brochures were very alluring.
3) Who is responsible for guiding you toward your career?
That would be my mom. She is a great cook and was always very willing to help me as a kid with my first attempts at cooking, which seemed to always be making cookies and candies. (Kids, let me pass on a secret: I soon learned that if I made cookies and candy, I got to eat cookies and candy! So choose your career path carefully.) Thanks, Mom!
4) What is your favorite food of all time?
That’s easy. It’s definitely fried chicken; no, maybe tacos; no, fried oysters; oh, I forgot rib eye steak; and sauerkraut and ribs; and pizza; and roast turkey and dressing; BLTs; cheese; tamales; and mashed potatoes and gravy, and …
5) Favorite drink?
My favorite drink is whatever I’m drinking when spending time with my wife Cathy. That being said, our “boire de l’amour” is a Kir Royale [champagne and black currant liqueur].
6) Name three things always in your refrigerator at home.
Ranch dressing, ketchup, and “brain” juice. [Chef Rick’s kids love Minute Maid pomegranate blueberry-enhanced fruit juice, something they call “brain juice.”]
7) Five favorite ingredients to use in the kitchen?
Garlic, chicken stock, Susie Q seasoning, bacon, chilies/sherry vinegar (tie).
8) Most memorable meal ever?
On our honeymoon in Paris, I needed a recommendation as to where to take my new wife for her birthday dinner. Our hotel concierge didn’t hesitate a second in suggesting the Michelin 3-star restaurant Tour d’Argent. With a table overlooking Cathedral Notre Dame and the River Seine, from the martinis, “free” hors d’oeuvres, Kir Royales, pressed duck, and white peach flambé, to Cathy throwing rolls at our dining neighbor (It was a wonderful accident! Bell sleeves, you know!), being our honeymoon and her birthday, it was by far the most memorable meal, ever!
9) What did you eat tonight?
Cold beans and cereal.
10) What other chefs do you admire?
My friends Marie Will and Jim Clendenen [of Au Bon Climat Winery] are two of the greatest cooks (chefs) I’ve ever known, although they don’t work professionally. Locally (the greater Central Coast) I’ve always admired Laurent Grangien [of Bistro Laurent in Paso Robles] and I have great respect for my peers who I’ve grown up with that are still
“swingin’ their whisks,” including Laurent, Ian McPhee, James Sly, and a few of those young guys, Alphonso Curti [of Trattoria Uliveto], Clark Staub [of Full of Life Foods], and Anthony Endy [of Rooney’s Irish Pub]. Nationally, I have always loved the food of Dean Fearing, Emeril Lagasse, and Wolfgang Puck.
11) Famous people you have prepared a meal for?
Jimmy Carter, Tom Petty, Robin Ventura, Herman Munster, Martha Stewart, Boz Scaggs, Jesse Jackson, Jonathan Winters, Jackson Browne, Robert Mondavi, David Crosby, Horace Grant, Metallica, and Jimmy Messina.
12) What is your guilty food pleasure?
Lily’s Chocolate-Peanut Butter Things, raw cookie dough, double-doubles. I have no problem as a chef embracing the fact that I love stuff that was probably stirred and cooked by a robot, i.e., corndogs at the fair; two tacos from Jack in the Box; potato chips (not those lightly salted baked kind, but some classic Lays); and those chocolate-covered pretzels from Trader Joe’s are pretty good.
13) What is the most overrated new food trend?
The locally foraged and sourced sustainable, organic, artisan, stone hearth-baked, cupcake food truck, and the reality shows that document them.
14) If you were not a chef, what profession would you want to attempt?
I’ve often said I’d rather be a musician, but those who have witnessed my attempts in that field are probably glad I stayed driving the culinary highway. Other than that, those hedge fund managers seem to be doing pretty well. Can I still get in on that?
15) Favorite movies?
Midnight in Paris, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Defending Your Life, It’s a Gift, Down by Law, Stranger Than Paradise, The King’s Speech.
16) What music do you listen to?
Any music Damon writes, “Bugs” suggests, or DJ Danny spins is all right by me. I do own one of those iPod devices, and it seems to be heavily populated by the likes of Donald Fagen, Damon Castillo, The Beatles, Van Morrison, Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones, Dan Hicks, Commander Cody, Peter Wolf, and the likes.
17) Name a book that you have recently enjoyed.
Eat me! The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin.
18) Best things about the Central Coast?
The weather and Santa Maria-style barbecue.
19) What do your kids request from “Chef Rick?”
Triple-layer chocolate cake with mocha icing, chocolate chip pancakes, Chef Rick’s French fries, and to stay home more.
20) When you don’t want to cook, what do you eat?
Out.
Sun food and wine columnist Wendy Thies Sell wants to know where you like to go out to eat. Tell her about your favorite places at wthies@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Sep 13-20, 2012.