10 Questions: Chef Chris Carpenter

CHEF CHRIS CARPENTER is a multi-talented family man who also happens to be a gifted chef. He strives for perfection and enjoys the details involved in preparing menus that will optimize the ingredients available locally and seasonally.  In addition to Coqui Catering, Chris is chef at New York Butcher Shoppe in Florence.  We know because we worked with Chris and his catering firm to promote Vine & Dine: A Celebration of the Sea earlier this year and NYBS was part of that event, as well. Since then, like his partner Adam Silverman, Chris has become not only a friend but a blog sponsor. A man after our own hearts, he is also a big supporter of local non-profits like Manna House and Harvest Hope Food Bank.

As part of our effort to support our sponsors, as well as learn more about Chris, husband of PeeDeeFoodie.com™ contributing blogger Leslie Carpenter, we delved into his background with one of our 10 Questions interviews. That revealing Q&A is below. Food photos are from the Vine & Dine event, which we reported on here. Enjoy and please add your comments.

(10) What inspired you to become a chef? Was it always an aspiration or was it something that developed over time?

Carpenter: I have had jobs in the food industry since I was in high school and it is always something that I felt really passionate about. I did attend culinary school in Ohio but wasn’t able to finish. Like many young people I floundered trying to figure out what fit me best when it came to choosing a career. Always I came back to food, I love it and really enjoy the whole process. From meeting my vendors or farmers to coming up with new dishes to finally presenting a plate of food to someone and getting to watch them experience my food.

(9) Where did you get your culinary training? Was it formal or informal? What were some of the most valuable lessons you learned through that process?

Carpenter: As I alluded to before I have had some formal training and a great deal of informal training. Both are valuable but I must say that I am a little old school because I just don’t think anything in a school setting will really prepare you for how things go once you are on the line and have twenty orders waiting to be done. The most valuable lesson I have learned is that no matter how far in the weeds you get as long as you keep at it you will eventually get it done.

(8) You work with Brent Tiller at NYBS, as well. How does that enhance your ability to design menus? Does it complicate your menu planning, given your myriad of ingredients and wine options available to you there and elsewhere?

Carpenter: Working with Brent at the NYBS has definitely given me many more options when planning my menus. I like that fact that I get to work with the meat and break it down the way that I want. It’s nice to be able to cut the meat to order and make it the size that I want for certain items. The wine assortment at the Shoppe is always nice because I can experiment with different dishes and use an assortment of wines when tweaking a recipe to get the seasoning just right.

(7) Florence and the Pee Dee have some great food, but they have not necessarily been “known” for their food in the past. Is that changing? If so, how and why?

Carpenter: I definitely think that our local food is becoming very popular in all areas of the US. I have seen a surge in “Southern Cuisine” everywhere. You can’t cut on the TV without seeing a program about southern food or “soul” food as many call it. I have seen our local produce sold even in Ohio and people are clamoring to get our tomatoes, peaches, etc. I think that part of the reason this is happening is that our state and much of our area is a vacation destination. People are coming here and experiencing our culture and cuisine and when they get home they keep craving our food.

(6) Fresh, seasonal ingredients play a big part in your menus, as evidenced by the Vine & Dine Event not long ago. Do you have any advice for the home cook who wants to use fresh, local ingredients but isn’t sure how to know what should be available at any given time and where to find it?

Carpenter: The best advice I have for the home cook/chef that wants to start cooking “in season” is visit your local farmers market. This market is often underutilized as far as I am concerned. Everything you could need for a meal can be found in one trip. You don’t waste gas riding from store to store and you are guaranteed to find the seasonal options you are looking to cook. I find that its nice to have a face to put with your food and to actually interact with the very people that grow and harvest it, and unlike the grocery store where they ship things across country, it is highly unlikely that the tomatoes at the local market came from California.

(5) Coqui Catering, which hosted Vine & Dine, is your catering firm based here in Florence and one of our sponsors here on PeeDeeFoodie.com. Tell our readers a bit more about it and about your involvement. What types of events have you catered so far? What are your goals with Coqui Catering?

Carpenter: Coqui Catering is the culmination of many years of work for Adam Silverman and myself. It is our opportunity to cook food on our own terms. What I really love is that instead of having a set menu, if we can dream it we can cook it and serve it to our clients. We have a menu that is a sample for anyone to look at and possibly order from, but we live for those clients that come to us and say, “Can we do something DIFFERENT???” The answer to that is always YES we can. We have catered box lunches, weddings, private dinners, and all other sorts of events. We don’t limit the types of events we cater because half the fun is doing something new.

(4) Given the catering firm, as well as your training and experience, are there any food-related trends are you monitoring nationally, that you think foodies will see come to our region over the coming year?

Carpenter: I really try to keep up with food trends both because I am very interested in new methods and also because I want my food ideas to be fresh and not stagnant. I think we are really on the cusp of a trend towards molecular gastronomy. Breaking down food and dishes to the very core and deconstructing them, and then reconstructing them in a new and unusual way. An example is the mango caviar we used in a wine dinner a couple of months ago. We used a food chemical to turn the mango juice into beads of “caviar”.

(3) On a more personal note, your wife, Leslie, has written for our site on several occasions. Does food and recipe development play a big role in your family? Is it what brought you and Leslie together?

Carpenter: My wife Leslie and I have always shared a love for food and food artisans. Although that is not what brought us together it is something that has grown as we have grown as a couple and now as a family. Since I have made a career in the food industry it is something that we are always tossing around. She will often call when she sees a new product and gets an idea for a new recipe and we are constantly batting around ideas for new items or themes for dinners. It is always something that is fun for us because we enjoy it so much and it sure keeps it from feeling like work.

(2) Who inspires you? Do you have, or have you had, a professional and/or personal mentor? What was best advice you’ve ever received?

2-My grandmother inspired me from a young age. She worked as a cook and pastry maker at the Marriott in Cincinnati, OH for years. Her nickname was the “Pie Lady”. To this day I have never tasted a vanilla cream pie that tasted as good as hers and until about a year or two before she died she baked one just for me everytime I visited. (She also made one for everybody else to share.) One of my proudest keepsakes is a picture of she and I when I was wearing my very first Chef’s Coat.

(1) Finally, by way of giving back to the community, do you have any area non-profits that you would like to tell others about or that you have worked with in the past? We’ll be happy to post a link to them here.

Carpenter: I am very happy that as a community we have so many ways in which all of us foodies can give back. We have the Harvest Hope Food Bank for those of us that are busy and just want to drop off donations. Another opportunity to give back is our local Manna House. You can drop off donations anytime but if you have some extra time you can always volunteer to help prepare and serve meals. No matter how bad things are someone has always got it a little worse and there is nothing more rewarding than being able to help others.

Bonus – Are there any events coming up soon that you’d like to tell our readers about?

Carpenter: The next event that I will be involved in is the Books and Boil. Coqui Catering will have a table set up in the lobby and I will also be in the competition inside with the NYBS. It is a wonderful cause and I really hope to see my fellow foodies turn out for a good time and some good food.

Editor’s Note & Disclosure: PeeDeeFoodie.com™ would like to thank Coqui Catering for supporting our blog, as well as our attendance at the International Food Bloggers Conference (IFBC, August 26-28, 2011 in New Orleans). We encourage you to contact Coqui Catering to discuss ideas for your next event.

Category: CONTRIBUTORS, IFBC, Interviews, Meet-Ups, Sponsored Posts