Chef interview with Chef E. Michael Reidt of the new B&O American Brasserie

Baltimore local Chef E. Michael Reidt of the new B&O American Brasserie was born and raised in Boston.  A former civil engineering major started his experience in the culinary world at Boston’s Faneuil Hall working an omelet bar in order to earn enough to return to school. This was the spark that led his curiosity in discovering everything food.

After working at the Copley Plaza, Chef Reidt soon enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Following graduation, he went back to Boston to work alongside Chef Todd English and Boston’s soon-to-become elite chefs Suzanne Goin, Barbara Lynch, Marc Orfaly, and Tony Susi, while behind the stoves of Olives Charlestown

In 1998 after his successful run at Restaurant Zinc with the opening of the trend-setting Bomboa, and in 2001 took that successful culinary concept to Miami’s South Beach at Wish. Wish was awarded four stars under Chef Reidt’s direction and also garnered him a tag of Rising Star from Starchefs.com. He made his West Coast debut in Santa Barbara with bold Latin fusion fare at his sultry restaurant, Sevilla, named one of the country’s “Best New Restaurants of 2005” by Esquire magazine.

Chef Reidt lets his food speak for itself. He was named one of the country’s “Best New Chefs” in 2001 by Food & Wine magazine. Laterhe took a sabbatical through South East Asia to experience the challenges other cultures face with everyday eating. Traveling abroad and across the United States and his experimentation with South American ingredients has sparked the greatest impact on his cooking style to-date.

“After six years in Southern California and several trips across Southeast Asia and South America, I felt it was time to return to the East Coast where I could feel more at home and cook with the style and inspiration I grew up with,” said Chef Reidt. “Baltimore reminds me so much of home. The comfort of the neighborhoods, the location to the harbor and the Chesapeake area is a chef’s dream. The moment I saw the architecture of the city and stepped into the 1850’s former B&O building, it was like a big ‘Welcome Home’ sign.”

Chef Reidt has a passion for all things healthy and sustainable- and is looking forward to bringing that passion to the Baltimore scene.

Chef E. Michael Reidt has been featured in Esquire, Bon Appetit, New York Times, Travel & Leisure, Vogue, Food Arts, Los Angeles Times, Wine Spectator, Miami Herald, Food & Wine, National Geographic Traveler, Forbes, Art Culinaire, Business Week, Ocean Drive, and The Boston Herald as well as on the Style Network, and the Food Network’s “FoodNation with Bobby Flay” and “Ready, Set, Cook!”

The Interview

Did you cook growing up?
I did not grow up in a “food” family. I basically grew up on Bisquick and Hostess Crumb cakes with a heavy dose of Kraft Mac & Cheese. At the age of 18 the only things I ate were hamburger, chicken, corn, and french fries with Chinese food on special occasions. The fact that I became a chef still is the shock of my mother’s lifetime.

What made you decide you would become a professional cook?
I enrolled at the University of Lowell for Civil Engineering in 1988. I was attempting to finance my own education and midway through my second semester ran out of money. I took a job at a small restaurant in Faneuil Hall in Boston on the egg station cooking omelets in the dining room in front of the guests. Soon I was on the cold line making 300 cobb salads a day, and soon after on the hotline. I enjoyed the energy of the kitchen and the “misfit” personalities of all the employees. The action was reminiscent of my high school sports teams and allowed me to contribute far beyond expectation. I was hooked, the engineering business office was boring and lacked any passion where as the kitchen was full of unexpectedness and instant gratification. I was a square peg hitting a square hole. I never returned to the University of Lowell and ended up attending CIA a year and a half later.

Where you were trained and how difficult was your training?
I attended the CIA in 1991 and worked under Todd English for three years after graduation. I did not realize it at the time, but that kitchen staff was made up of four future James Beard winners and five Food and Wine ‘Best New Chefs.’ Todd gave us all incredible freedom, which allowed each of us to grow into our own style and own ideas. The work was challenging, often arriving three hours prior to your shift just to allow yourself to be set up on time. Chef would walk by your station and mention for example…”Michael, you have scallops and Black Trumpets tonight”….and then continue on with his agenda. The restaurant opened at 5:30 p.m. with usually 150 people in line because of the no reservation policy. At 5 p.m. the special sheet came out from the office and all of the cooks would rush to the expo line to see what Chef had written. It was then up to you to interpret his idea into something in the next 30 minutes. At 5:45 p.m. Chef would call out for a pick up of that special. You would plate your special and send it. He would check the plate and if you passed, the plate would be sent through the food runner to the guest. If your plate was not up to what Olives’ expected, it came right back at you, usually at eye level. It was an incredible and very uncommon opportunity in the chef world and I will be forever thankful for that. It certainly taught me as much about life and how to approach and react to it, as it taught early on who I was as a chef and what would become my style.

Would you do it again?
It has required significant sacrifice and long sleepless nights, but it has also allowed me the ability to travel to places and meet people that an engineer would never have the opportunity to do. I read once, a quote from Charlie Plamer in a book called Super Chef that stated, “…being a chef gives you the feeling of scoring a touchdown in the Super Bowl…every night.”

Best piece of advice you would give a home enthusiast?
Try it once. Like anything in life, you can’t learn much from never taking a chance or trying something new.

Favorite gadget?
Like Will Smith in Enemy of the State…”I Blend.”

Funniest kitchen incident?
In 1994 Olives in Charlestown hosted a James Beard dinner with Chefs Jean-Louis Palladin, Roberto Donna, Mark Milletello, George Morrone, and a few others. I caught wind of a rumor that one of the chefs had once hit a cook in the groin area with a ladle requiring an emergency room visit and surgery. SO being the person I was, the day before the dinner, the went to the local sporting goods store and grabbed 10 athletic supporters and passed them out to the cooks putting them on over our chef pants but under our aprons. In the middle of plate up of said chef’s course, we all lined up and simultaneously raised our aprons to show we were prepared to plate.

Favorite food to cook with?
I love grains, yes, boring old grains. Underutilized in today’s society, but so good for you. They are also very versatile and can be used to add texture and healthy aspects to any part of the meal. Particularly, quinoa, speck, faro and spely, just to name a few.

Favorite dish to make at work?
Anything braised

When at home, what do you like to eat?
The “Spanglish” sandwich (see the photo slideshow)

Which item in your home refrigerator would you least like to cop to?
Ranch dressing

Your favorite cookbook?
The Way to Cook by Julia Child

In your opinion, what are the most important elements when creating a recipe from scratch?
Harmony and focusing on the ingredient without overwhelming it.

What’s your favorite music to play in the kitchen?
Everything from Method Man to Beethoven. Depends on the time of day. Music controls the energy and can motivate and moderate.

What’s your favorite meal?

• Hiramasa Tartar with Quinoa
• Stripe Bass with Lemon
• Butterscotch Pudding with Crème Fraiche and Sea Salt

I will be eating at B&O American Brasserie next week and I can't wait.  Also check out my other Baltimore local chef interviews