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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