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Chefs and restaurateurs say kitchens of youth fed career inspiration
Mother’s kitchen has always been more than a place to eat. For many chefs, it was a place of inspiration — the birthplace of ideas that led them to a career in their own restaurant kitchens.
On Mother’s Day, we remember the women who fed us and nurtured the dreams of some of Houston’s most popular chefs. Here’s how they remember their mothers.
Marcus Davis, owner of the Breakfast Klub
My fascination for breakfast came through my mother. I remember vividly riding home to the Northside with my two brothers in the car. We hadn’t eaten yet, and my mother said, “Do y’all want to have breakfast for dinner?” Well, there was an eruption in the back seat. My brothers and I were screaming and jumping and bouncing our Afros on the ceiling of the car. We stopped by the grocery, went home and made biscuits and pancakes and eggs. Notice I said “we.” I’m smiling just remembering that day. Later I figured out that my mother was hustling us. As a kid, you don’t know how much money you don’t have or that you’re on the poor side of things. So with breakfast for dinner we 1) saved money and 2) my mother didn’t have to stand in front of the stove cooking all by herself. She had three boys making toast, scrambling eggs, buttering biscuits. We loved it. So that’s one of the reasons breakfast is my passion.
Sunil Srivastava, owner of Verandah
Once, while I was training to be a chef, I was asked who I thought was the best gourmet chef. I immediately said, “My mom.” Others chuckled, but there is no one I have ever met or known more talented, passionate and wise as my mother. In the colony where I grew up in Jaipur (India), people would come to her all the time to ask her to make food for all kinds of festivities. Her kitchen was a hubbub of dishes, spices, pots, pans and friends. It was our living room, our playground, where we did our homework, watched television. I would spend time with her grinding spices, and while we worked, she would share stories of her life cooking for the family. Everything about me today comes from her stories, her style and her recipes. Oh, the recipes. So many of the forgotten cuisine of India dishes I serve at Verandah now came from her. Unfortunately, she died just as we were beginning to open Verandah, so I never got to share this with her.
Jess Timmons, chef/partner of Cherry Block at Bravery Chef Hall
My mom cooked every single meal, every time we sat down at the table. She taught me a lot when I started cooking — I was late to that, around 25 years old — and one of her recipes, the pimento cheese everyone loves, is in H-E-B now. It’s one of the five ready-made plates I’m doing for them. So that’s fun for her! She was great at taking care of people, so that has translated to me and how I enjoy taking care of people.
Paul Petronella, owner of Paulie’s
I learned a lot of things from Kathy Petronella about cooking and the restaurant business. Regarding cooking, I learned that if you stick to cooking food that you genuinely enjoy, others will enjoy it, too. It’s apparent when you are passionate about your food. This can translate to anything else in your life. Passion shows and usually leads to good things. In regard to the restaurant business, I learned how important the details become. For example, there are two ways to grill a protein: One requires paying attention to the details, which include grill marks, internal temperature and consistent seasoning. The other requires none of those.
Sylvia Casares, owner of Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen
Unsurprisingly, some of my fondest memories were of watching my mother and my grandmother in the kitchen. I loved standing by them at the stove, listening to their stories and learning their methods and secrets. Two endearing methods I still do today is to turn my tortillas without a spatula using a very light touch with my fingertips, managing somehow not to burn them, and using my mother’s mortar and pestle (molcajete) to grind spices and chiles. These two practices bring back waves of memories of my mother.”
Terry Wong, Robin Wong and Quy Hoang, partners of Blood Bros. BBQ
Terry Wong: “Robin’s and my mom, Rita Teng Mortensen, was a workaholic, without a doubt. That’s where we get our work ethic. She and my stepdad, Richard Mortensen, worked at Enron for years until they were laid off. Then she started one of the city’s first Kumon Math and Reading schools, the Japanese tutorial service, in Sugar Creek. She was always working her butt off, and at 74, she’s still working at the original location and another one in the Heights. Same with our pitmaster Quy’s mother, Cam Thi Truong, and father, An Hoang. They’ve run the Dong Tim jewelry store since the early 1980s, and they’re close to 80 now and still working. They’re an inspiration for starting our own business. We’re not a perfectly oiled machine yet, but we’re pretty close.
Dustin Teague, executive chef of Relish
My grandma taught me how to cross-utilize ingredients and to not waste them. This encouraged me to get creative with my cooking. I have always associated food with family and comfort. Gathering around the table and being together with loved ones was always more important than what was actually on the table. Growing up, my mom cooked pretty much every night, which to this day I am very thankful for. Going out to eat was a luxury, and we’ve never taken that for granted.
Brandi Key, partner and executive chef of Alice Blue
My start in the kitchen actually began knee deep in a garden where we grew our own food each summer. You see, my mom has a green thumb. She was the ringleader in all of this and made it a point for my sister and I to be a part of the process. Each harvest we preserved and pickled and canned everything that was picked. We learned the value of what the earth could give us as well as how to cook everything with just the right technique so that nothing went to waste.
Kevin Naderi, chef-owner of Roost
When I told my parents I wanted to cook, instead of being a doctor or a lawyer, they never blinked an eye. They’ve always been behind me, no matter what I did. My mom’s cooking style is an influence. It’s very Persian with an American twist. My parents came here in 1976, and they’ll try anything once. They’re not hidebound at all. So a little of my creativity comes from my mom. We’re close. We talk three times a day.
Jason Cho, owner of Dak & Bop
My mother and grandmother, and even my mother-inlaw, all have their fingerprints on my restaurant menus and dishes. Their recipes, experiences and secrets are so prevalent in a lot of my concepts. I believe that is why customers enjoy the food so much, due to the authenticity of the recipes but also because of the modern takes on the finished dishes. The combination of the old with the new seems to be very approachable to everyone. All my success in the industry is due to my mother’s influence, and I am forever grateful.
Greg Martin, executive chef of Bistro Menil
My mom, Corine, was the oldest of nine children. Her mother, Ellen, taught her how to cook. They lived on a rural farm in Arkansas. My mom insisted that everything be made by hand from scratch. She was always exchanging recipes with friends and other church members. She was always interested in trying something new. She was not afraid of failing at a new recipe. I ended up being the chef in the family because as an adolescent I realized what a great cook my mom was. She sent me to school with crudités. She sent me to school with meatloaf sandwiches made on homemade bread. I realized at a young age what a great cook my mom was when I came home from a sleepover and I complained about the quality of breakfast I was served at my friend’s house. She responded, “That’s right, Timmy’s mom can’t cook, but we just don’t talk about that.”
Arash Kharat, executive chef of Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co.
My father is Persian and an executive chef. My mother is Mexican and a home cook. She did not measure. It was all eyeballing here and there. Even though my dad was a trained chef, I’ve always loved my mom’s cooking more. She cooked better Persian food than my dad. We had both Mexican food and Persian food all the time. I love the traditional rices. I always wanted to learn how to cook rice like she did. It’s their fault I’m doing this now.
Greg Gatlin, owner of Gatlin’s BBQ
Being in the kitchen with my mom taught me the appreciation of a home-cooked meal and what it provides for the family. When your heart and soul goes into every part of that meal for your family, it brings you together. Shopping for groceries, prepping for the meal, cooking the meal and then the cleanup was a total family affair. It offered the time to connect and bring us closer as a family or possibly even started a fight between the boys — which also in its own way made us closer. Thank you, Mom, for all the memories that you gave us in the kitchen; no one does it better.
Alex Padilla, executive chef of The Original Ninfa’s
I am proud to say that I became a chef because of my mom. My father passed away when I was very young, and I took over cooking for my mother (who went to work at Ninfa’s) and my three younger sisters. Every day my mom told me what I was going to make for dinner. But she always wanted extra. “Don’t just follow the recipe, Alex, do more.” She took recipes and made them her own, so I learned how to be creative in the kitchen by following her example. My mom taught me that I had to love what I do, love what I cook and always taste the food from my heart.
Maria Christie, proprietor of Christie’s Seafood & Steaks
Being the third of five Greek-American kids, I’m pretty certain I can speak for all my siblings in that our mom was absolutely meticulous about the big holidays we celebrated together. Easter and Christmas were staples in our life. Lots of family and friends were invited over to our house. Mom worked tirelessly to make them memorable. Our father worked all day at Christie’s, so for her to prepare the delicious food, the house, the décor, the baked goods and have all her five kids in precious holiday outfits with no help at home sounds impossible. Somehow, she did it. Baking her holiday Koulourakia (Greek butter cookies) or Melomakarina (honey-dipped cinnamon cookies) was an event in our house. She was also adamant to have everything done so that we could attend the holiday church services on time together. She was determined to show us what these traditions were all about so that the memory could instill the culture in our minds, our hearts and our souls. That she did, and did perfectly. As adults now, we all respect the process and the traditions. We do as she did when she raised us, and I know it makes her smile.
Joe Cervantez, executive chef of Brennan’s of Houston
In my family, growing up as a kid, mom cooked for us every day after work. No matter what the dish was, we always had rice. One thing she always told me when making Spanish rice is that you always toast your rice. That’s something that always stood out to me. Whenever she made Spanish rice, the house smelled like popcorn because she was toasting the rice. It was also important to her that we all sat down together as a family at the dinner table. We could not leave the table to watch TV or go to our bed
rooms. And she always served everyone at the table before serving herself. Latin mothers take care of their families, serving everyone before themselves. I thought everyone did that at their homes. We were spoiled.
Rebecca Masson, pastry chef/ owner of Fluff Bake Bar
My mom, known affectionately as Mrs. Wilson, didn’t necessarily teach me how to bake, but she taught me how to be a strong and independent woman. She taught me that I could be anything I wanted to be when I grew up. I watched her work hard and create her own business doing bookkeeping. She learned on the job and eventually was able to quit her full-time job to start her own business. She is the queen of her empire. Seeing her do this made me realize that I, too, can become the queen of my own empire. Thank you, Mom.
Ara Malekian, chef-pitmaster of Harlem Road Texas BBQ
My mom was the major inspiration for me becoming a chef. Some of my fondest memories as a child are of me in the kitchen helping my mom cook. I used to sit at the table and roll dolma (grape leaves stuffed with ground meat and rice). It’s a labor-intensive process, and it thought me that everything that is good is done with love. I still make the same dolma recipe.
Austin Waiter, chef of Tony’s
When I think about what inspired me to become a chef, I think of my mom.
Growing up, she was always cooking for us (my twin brother, sister and me). She would make home-made chicken and dumplings, pasta Bolognese and freshbaked pies and cookies. Her mom was a big cook and baker, too. Our favorite was the leftover pie crust she would bake for us and put out as a snack while we waited for the final product. I’m sure if you ask her it was like cooking for an army because my brother and I would be constantly eating all day. She is a true caretaker, always wanting to cook and take care of anyone that walks through the door. Her caregiver nature really imprinted on me when I was young and inspired me to do what she does so naturally as my career.
Christine Ha, chef-owner of The Blind Goat
My mom was my biggest influence on my cooking, even though she’s not here today. She died just before my 14th birthday. There are certain aromas that always bring back her kitchen: garlic, onion and shallots on the stove, and of course the smell of fish sauce, that’s so central to Vietnamese cuisine. What I didn’t fully appreciate at the time was the work and care and love she put into her cooking. She was a busy full-time social worker who still found time to cook lemongrass beef noodle soup or phos on the weekends. Once or twice a month she would make her braised pork, and that’s comfort food for me. It’s the dish I cooked for the finale of “MasterChef.” [Note: Ha won that season.] For me, putting my mother’s kind of love into my food is taking care of people in the way she cared for her family.