The Man Who Cooks So We Don’t Have To!
Do you come from a family of cooks/chefs?
I come from a family of really great cooks – my mom, my dad, my grandmother. I grew up around a lot of great cooks – not chefs exactly…but they knew what it meant to make great food!
What got you interested in the food business?
When I was a freshman in high school I took a culinary arts class. It came naturally to me and I knew that this is what I wanted to do.
What brought you to The Market in 2009?My brother was actually working at The Market in the meat department, and I was looking for a new challenge. Prior to The Market I was a sous chef at Pinehills Golf Club for seven years so I knew what a great community it is. I feel very lucky to be able to continue to work at such a wonderful place.
Do you live in Plymouth?
I was born and raised in Plymouth and my goal is to eventually move back.
When you’re off the clock, what is your “go-to” meal?I love to grill so that’s my go to style of cooking. My wife’s favorite meal on the other hand is chicken marsala. That’s not easy to prepare on a grill!!
90% of the prepared foods are prepared by The Market Chefs and team - What’s the most popular prepared food that you see folks buying?
Folks love our salads but we also sell a lot of the brined in-house rotisserie chickens – we go through hundreds per week.
Do you always have a “Dinner of the Week”? How do you decide what it takes to be a dinner of the week?Dinners of the week are based on seasonality and price. We like to be able to offer our customers a great meal at a great value.
We understand that the deli, prepared foods, seafood and the butcher will customize orders for size, special cuts and that patrons are able to call ahead to prepare their orders - What are people looking for when they call – large quantities, special orders, new recipe?
I encourage our customers to tell me what they want me to make. A few people have brought in a recipe and asked us to make a large quantity of a family favorite. We’ve even liked a couple of the recipes enough to use them in the prepared foods case. Whatever it is – your grandmother’s favorite recipe – we try to do it justice.
Have you had any unusual requests when it comes to customized orders?We did have someone come in who was trying to recreate one of our dressings and just couldn’t get it right. Turns out the ingredient that was throwing her recipe off was the mayonnaise that we used – it’s a high quality mayo that you can’t buy in the store. We gave her what she needed to get the recipe right. We aim to please.
What are your favorite cooking gadgets – that one special thing that no kitchen should be without?
I am a big fan of mandolins (not the musical kind) – they can really reduce cutting time and give you more uniform pieces. They’re not cheap but they are worth having in a kitchen.
Spring is finally here – any special recipe that you can share with us as we head into spring and summer?We’ve been doing lots of blackened chicken and blackened salmon and we have a great recipe for Pineapple Salsa that’s posted on The Market Facebook page . Great for spring and summer. Here’s our Facebook link, if folks want to “like” us! Facebook.com/TheMarketPinehills
Everyone at The Market is always so helpful – if folks want to call and get a recipe, cooking tips and tricks or how to fix a meal – is it as easy as picking up the phone and calling you?
We’re a phone call away. The Market isn’t like any other grocery store. Every day we’re making things from scratch and are able to prepare items to order. We don’t have to make the same things everyday and you can always get one of us on the phone for whatever you need – just ask for Jackie, Ron or Walter – just a great staff with great culinary minds
