Executive
Chef Josh Silvers
Syrah
Restaurant, Santa Rosa, Ca.
By
Ellen Walsh
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.”
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. (PULL QUOTE)
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:
Chicken
Coq Au Vin
Chicken
Paella
Chicken
with Organic Prunes Soaked in Armagnac
Egg
Pate and Caviar
Heirloom
Tomato Vinaigrette
Hot
Smoked Petaluma Poultry Chicken
Old
Fashion Egg Salad
Organic
Prunes in a Squab Consommé Gelee
Sesame
Glazed Chicken
Three
California Cheese and Mac Medley
Tomato
Sorbet
Truffled
Egg Mix
Truffled
Egg Mix topped with Crème Fraiche and Caviar
Truffled
Egg Pate with Aspic
Other
Related Links:
The
Styling of California Cheese
Living
in the Details
The
Secret's in the Rice
Petaluma
Poultry
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