Tickets to the 2015 Houston Culinary Awards dinner on Sunday, October 4, are going fast. Two thirds of the 320 tickets have already been sold, and there’s a reason for it. Of course we’re all anxious to see who wins Chef of the Year or Best New Restaurant, but we also can’t wait to taste what the impressive 2015 HCA chef team will bring to the table.
We asked each chef to answer a few questions about themselves, and we will publish their answers throughout the weeks leading up to the Houston Culinary Awards night. These are some of Houston’s finest restaurant talent.
So far you’ve gotten to know bartenders Leslie Ross and Monica Richards, and this week we’re spotlighting Rocco Nankervis from The Oceanaire Seafood Room.
NUMBER OF YEARS YOU’VE BEEN HONING YOUR CRAFT?
10 years
WHO IS/WAS YOUR MENTOR IN THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS?
Chef Cris Carter [chef/butcher at Porter Road Butcher in Nashville, Tennessee]
CULINARY INGREDIENT YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT?
Garlic
YOUR FAVORITE HOUSTON HOLE-IN-THE-WALL?
Flor de Cuba
WHICH LOCAL RESTAURANTS HAVE YOU NOT YET VISITED, BUT ARE ON YOUR LIST?
Uchi, Añejo
THE BEST THING ABOUT MY JOB IS…
I love all of it, every aspect — developing a restaurant concept and a menu, shopping for ingredients, prepping, the pre-shift, and all the anxiety flowing through you just before a big service. Once I got a taste of it, I’ve never looked back. My best and worst nights in my life have been lived in kitchens. I feel like being a chef was almost predetermined for me. It runs in my blood.
IF I WEREN’T A _________ I WOULD BE _________.
If I weren’t a chef I would be fishing.