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Executive
Chef Josh Silvers
Syrah Restaurant, Santa Rosa, CA |
Living
in the Detail
By Ellen Walsh
Photos by Steve Aja
“Einstein
said that God lived in the detail," say Josh.
This is the principal that he
lives by.
Born
in Manhattan Beach, California, and an integral part of the
Los Angeles restaurant scene for many years, Josh opened his
first restaurant in Santa Rosa because of the building. The
only criteria I had, was that I wanted to be in Sonoma County.
I looked everywhere from Healdsburg down to Petaluma. When I
saw this building, I knew this was it. Josh is referring to
the beautiful conversion of a run down cement terminal located
under the highway in downtown Santa Rosa, executed by designer
Bobby Sariaslani. Featuring high-beamed ceilings with skylights,
the walls of the common space are adorned with natural rock
and art, while the acid stained cement floors are home to calming
waterfalls, and common sitting areas. By the time you reach
Syrah, you are already in the mood to be relaxed and waited
upon, a point not missed by Josh in his 3 month long negotiation.
The
1251 square foot restaurant includes an open kitchen, visible
to seating for 60. A good night sees 90 customers, but it's
not uncommon on a weekend night to turn 150, says Josh. The
small size allows Josh to concentrate on quality. What inspires
me and that is why I built an open kitchen is to have more of
an interaction with customers and chefs. The tasting menu is
all about people in it for the experience. We are selling an
experience the whole dining experience. It's the great service,
the great food, the wine list, - cause there are so many things
that can go wrong on each level. In fact, Josh preps his staff
as if they are preparing for a play. The start every shift with
a rehearsal how to greet the customer, how to present the wine
list, even how to turn the coffee cup to the 4:00 position.
It's more important to define the spirit of service vs. the
technicality of service. The guests shouldn't have to think,
it should be a mini vacation.
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Josh
pays just as much attention to the back of the house as to
the front of the house. Einstein said that God lived in the
details, says Josh. This is a principal that Josh lives by.
He makes everything from scratch the stock has to be skinned,
produce from suppliers have to be carefully screened before
final acceptance. No detail can be overlooked.
Often,
there is a correlation between the development of a creative
chef, and the early work experience during the teen years. We
see that as a common occurrence in the European culture, where
some of the great chefs from France and Italy began their career
as a kitchen assistant to some of the greatest chefs in the
world. It is a little more difficult to isolate those experiences
in the United States, where the culture dictates a different
kind of educational approach. Josh Silvers found himself in
one of the memorable social engineering experiments of the 60's.
Synanon,
was an alternative society drug rehab facility started by Charles
Dieterich, located in Santa Monica. It started out as a private
club for recovering alcoholics, and moved into other areas of
drug rehab, such as violence prevention. As part of their experiment
with social engineering, they took kids out of school and put
them to work. Since Josh's father worked in the kitchen of Synanon,
it was only natural that Josh be a part of the experience as
well. This was a defining experience in Josh's life.
As
Synanon evolved into an alternative living commune for people
from all walks of life, Josh worked in a kitchen that fed 1000
people a day. " It was actually a central commissary that
dispersed food to other kitchens." And Josh loved it. "The
equipment was bigger than me. I stood on a milk crate to work
on a griddle. I held a 30-gallon bowl that was a food cutter
and it had separate steam cleaning equipment. It was awesome.
No experience ever compared with that again." In fact the
die was cast. Although he left the kitchen when he was 13 and
returned to traditional schooling, he stayed only until the
8th grade was finished, and left school again to work in a kitchen
in Berkeley, California. After a series of bosses he refers
to as mentors, (including Jeremiah Towers) Josh evolved into
the chef that brings him to where he is today. –
It
should come as no surprise, then, that when the NutraFoodies
gang at Food&Beverage International wanted to create something
different and exciting out of organic prunes, that they came
directly to the door of Josh Silvers. Harvested out of Live
Oak, California by the Sowden Brothers, these moist prunes are
the sweetest you have ever tasted. We think this will change
the way you look at prunes forever.
Chef
Recipes:
Heirloom
Tomato Vinaigrette
Organic
Prunes in a Squab Consommé Gelee
Sesame
Glazed Chicken
Tomato
Sorbet
Other
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Josh
SIlvers Bio