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Executive
Chef Gary Chu
Osake,
Santa Rosa, CA |
Simplicity
By Ellen Walsh
Photos by Steve Aja
“I
could not do it if I did not keep it simple,"
Gary explains in his comfortable demeanor."
And fortunately for me, the simplest way is always the
best."
Simplicity.
This is the driving thought that guides Executive Chef
and owner Gary Chu's every decision.
Keeping
it simple is born part out of philosophy and part out
of necessity.
Everybody
understands the philosophy part. When you own a restaurant
in the California area, where you are known for your
height-of-freshness selections that appear on your menu,
then you fit right in. You really don't have to cxplain
any further. However with Gary, there is another dimension.
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Gary
Chu's outgoing personality has been just as much of
a factor in his success as his artistic presentations
of both Japanese, and Chinese cuisine. Any night of
the week, you can go into Osakc in Northern California's
Santa Rosa and find Gary behind the sushi bar, laughing
and joking with his customers while he prepares with
incredible speed mountains of original sushi presentations,
exotic fresh seafood dishes, and beautiful desserts.
"I
could not do it if I did not keep it simple" Gary
explains in his comfortable demeanor. "and fortunately
for me, the simplest way is always the best."
Gary
has an instinct for presenting the cuisine that is going
to be instantly accepted, add to this his gift for working
out problems that arise in the restaurant business,
and the result is the most successful and innovative
Asian cuisine restaurants in the area.
Chu's
background is comprised of elements of the American
dream. Born in Korea, Gary attended college in Japan,
where he apprenticed as a chef in a Japanese restaurant.
"There the philosophy was completely different.
I worked for 5 years and was never allowed to touch
the food. You must build a foundation first. Here, everything
is so fast. You must know everything and learn everything
right away." But that fit Gary's profile just fine.
Gary did not want to be traditional. He developed his
own philosophy. It has to be simple, it has to be beautiful,
it has to appeal to the eyes, nose, and mouth. Many
of Chu's innovative presentations include items other
than traditional Asian ingredients. He loves to work
with creme fraiche, blue cheese, mozzarella and Jalapenos.
Tuna carpaccio with blue, cheese and olive oil,
and a Japanese lime sauce with jalapenos, are just
a couple of the different approaches you might find
on the Japanese Osake menu.
Gary
and his family's story is unique but inspiring. Gary
came to America with his mother and father, his older
brother and two sisters when he was 21. The original
restaurant that the family had lined up to go to work
for had closed, so the family chose to see this as an
opportunity. They had relatives in Petaluma, so this
was their first stop. When they first got there, the
father sat them around the table to lay out the blue
print for the fami-Iy. They had a total of $2000. They
spent $1400 on a car, and $600 on a deposit on an apartment.
They all helped each other meet each other's schedules,
as they were all working in different restaurants throughout
the Northern California Area. But because Gary's mother
had a dream that the family should all sit around the
family dinner table together at night, a plan slowly
evolved.
It
was decided chac each family mem-ber would specialize
in a particular job in the restaurants they worked,
so that someday their combined talents could run their
own restaurant. There were six people in the tamily.
Three family members would go in the kitchen (the back
of the house) and three family members would work outside
the kitchen (the front of the house). Gary started out
in the front of the house, but his talents as a chef
soon sought an avenue of expression that incorporated
both.
Gary's
instincts as chef and as host are what has given Osake
as well as their flagstaff restaurant, Gary Chu's Chinese
a Restaurant, its face to the public. It is the iefforts
of the entire Chu family behind the scenes that glue
it all together.
Gary
has selected a few of his most popular requests for
this presentation.
Chef
Recipes:
Ahi
Tempura
Sauces
to Create Contrasting Flavors
Seared
Scallops with Salmon Roe
Shrimp
Puffs
Spicy
Fish Cakes
Sushi
Rice
Other
Related Links:
Gary
Chu - Bio |