These days, you don’t need to blot your cheesesteak with a napkin to enjoy a bite to eat in Philadelphia.
It’s not that good food is new to the city. Philadelphia has always been home to numerous family-favorite culinary gems tucked away in the neighborhoods the city is known for. It’s just that recently, people outside the city are noticing — and it’s brimming with chefs who not only train here, but stay here as well.
In the past five years, The New York Times, Food & Wine and Travel + Leisure have all tipped their hats to the Philly food scene for its “homegrown restaurant empires,” its “evolving palate” and its “enormously satisfying” small restaurants.
Philadelphia is a city that exalts high and low cuisine alike — as long as it’s good, you know? — where gourmet restaurants vie for reputation with loud gastropubs; an esteemed Iron Chef also runs a popular food truck; and small, precious plates are as popular as a chef’s eclectic donut-and-chicken combos. Like the city itself, Philadelphia’s professional kitchens are discerning but not pretentious, creative but also pragmatic.
It’s fitting, then, that Philadelphia is home to one of the first baccalaureate degrees in culinary arts — a Drexel program consisting of equal parts liberal arts, business, hospitality management and of course, culinary arts.
What makes a Drexel chef different?
“Our graduates don’t have limitations,” says Jonathan Deutsch, who has directed Drexel’s culinary arts, hospitality management and food science programs and is now the head of the newly formed Center for Hospitality and Sport Management (see “A Corner Place of Our Own”).
“[They] rise easily from cook to chef, manager or owner,” he says. “There are many great culinary programs, but Drexel’s is the only one at a research university. Too many culinary graduates find themselves unable to move beyond a cook position because they don’t have a depth of knowledge in other areas.”
The culinary arts program, bolstered by Drexel’s top-notch general education curriculum, is a standout. The program’s faculty consists of world-renowned chefs and food thought-leaders — Philadelphia Inquirer food critic Craig LaBan, for one — and complements valuable classroom time with a study-abroad opportunity in London and ongoing networking opportunities with the United Kingdom’s most revered chefs. It’s one of very few culinary programs to offer full-time, for-credit fieldwork as co-op sessions. And for practicality, it offers an integrated minor in business from Drexel’s LeBow College of Business.
It’s a program that’s producing well-rounded chefs — such as Garces Group’s Natalie Maronski, Honest Tom’s Taco Shop’s Tom McCusker and David Clouser of the new fried chicken joint Wishbone — for Philadelphian gastrophiles who can appreciate a well-seasoned fois gras as easily as a hoagie with extra oregano.
In honor of the 15th anniversary this spring of the culinary arts program’s first graduating class (1999), Drexel Magazine spoke with some Drexel culinary alumni who are dressing dinner plates in and around Philadelphia.
The Team Players
In 1999, Josh and Colleen Lawler were two jetlagged Drexel students exiting a plane from Philadelphia to London.
“If you think I’m helping you carry those bags, you’re nuts,” Josh said to his then-platonic friend, Colleen, at the airport.
But in the six months the two spent studying abroad, they learned a little bit about teamwork — and fell in love along the way.
Today, the 2001 Drexel graduates — a BS in culinary arts for Colleen and a BS in hospitality management for Josh — are successful partners in both life and business. They manage not only their wildly popular farm-to-table Philadelphia BYO near Washington Square, The Farm and Fisherman, but also 3-year-old twin boys and a newborn daughter.
“We’re very busy. It’s extremely hard, and you get angry sometimes, but to have someone who trusts you and who believes in you working to hold together the same things you care about outweighs any of the downsides,” Josh says of sharing a business with his wife.
Both say they were given a solid foundation at Drexel to make it work.
“So many chefs spend their whole lives in the kitchen,” says Josh, a native of Conshohocken, Pa. “Having more than just a culinary degree made me more well-rounded. Not only did we learn how to cook, but we learned how to appreciate the art of it, how to run a business, the finances, how to manage people.”
“Learning about business — especially management — was a big part of the education,” Colleen says. “It can be hard to deal with people on the spot. I learned that dealing with people is not as cut and dry as it is in the kitchen, and that you have to be flexible.”
These days, at The Farm and Fisherman, Josh runs the kitchen while Colleen runs the front of the house. The duo is now expanding on the restaurant’s success with plans to open a family-friendly offshoot, The Farm and Fisherman Tavern & Market, in Cherry Hill, N.J., where they recently bought a house.
“I love the teamwork aspect of it,” Colleen says. “It can be stressful, but it’s a good stress that gets things done.”
The two have been in the restaurant game together since graduating from Drexel. They spent a few years working their way through the restaurants of New York City, with Colleen dabbling in cuisines varying from French to Mediterranean to Asian fusion while Josh honed his skills in farm-to-table cuisine. After the birth of their twin sons, they decided to return to Philadelphia.
“There wasn’t much to lose. We didn’t have a house or a car payment, and the restaurant seemed like a good option for us. It was time to return home,” says Colleen, originally from Winslow, N.J. “For me, this is what I’ve always wanted to do. It needs to be in your heart, because it’s not an easy job, and it becomes harder when you have a family.”
What is your favorite place to take the kids for dinner?
“Han Dynasty.
They usually get the lo mein, but they will eat the scallion pancakes and spicy cucumbers, too.”
—Colleen Lawler
The Multitasker
At 33, Charles “Chip” Roman is young in years, and young at heart.
“My food philosophy still changes every few weeks,” says Roman, BS ’02.
But with three nationally lauded restaurants and a catering company, you can hardly call Roman fresh meat.
Roman’s seafood-centric Blackfish in Conshohocken was named “Best Restaurant” in Philadelphia Magazine’s 2011 “50 Best Restaurants” edition. The soft, refined Mica in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia received a gushing, “three bells” review from Philadelphia Inquirer food critic Craig LaBan. And Ela, the Queen Village restaurant Roman leads with Chef Jason Cichonski (a season 11 “Top Chef” contender), was touted by Zagat as an inventive spot that’s “wowing everyone.” And the empire keeps growing. Most recently, Roman opened a chocolate shop next door to Blackfish called Tradestone Confections with pastry chef Fred Ortega.
Roman credits his commercial success to business savvy, a valuable network and a lot of hard work — all of which he says were instilled in him at Drexel.
“There are a lot of culinary schools out there, but Drexel’s was well-rounded, and a lot of what I took away from it was dealing with the business end of things,” Roman says, noting he picked up valuable skills in finance and management. “Business was something I struggled with, and [I] wound up focusing on that while in school.”
Outside of the classroom, the Fishtown native spent his years at Drexel working out of Taco Lou’s food truck in Powelton Village. When a fellow brother in the Epsilon Kappa chapter of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity heard Roman was in the culinary arts program, Roman was referred to his first big job as a cook — with internationally applauded chef and Drexel LeBow College of Business alumnus Marc Vetri, marketing and finance BS ’90, at his namesake restaurant, Vetri.
“I was able to make some crafty connections,” says Roman, who went on from Vetri to work with superstar chefs such as Georges Perrier of Le Bec-Fin and Daniel Stern of R2L Restaurant. “I learned to be thoughtful and creative […] not to change for the sake of change — only if it’s for something better.”
Not only that, but Roman says it was during those early years at Drexel he learned that to survive and thrive in the food world, it was necessary to put in your time at the bottom of the culinary food chain.
“For the first five years, don’t worry about the money and keep your mouth shut,” Roman says. “Your schooling is your foundation. And in the culinary world, it’s just the beginning of a career’s worth of training.”
Where do you like to eat in the city?
“Any of the ethnic restaurants around the city, like the Vietnamese places on Washington Avenue. Also, Pat’s and Geno’s.”
— Chip Roman
The Freshman
Krzysztof Babik has come a long way from learning how to properly hold a knife — and in a very short amount of time.
Since his first days fumbling in a professional kitchen during high school at Cork in Haddonfield, N.J., Babik, culinary arts BS ’11, has worked his way up the ranks to become the chef at ZINC, a Parisian-style bar and restaurant in midtown owned by acclaimed chef Olivier Desaintmartin — all within two years of graduating from Drexel’s culinary arts program.
The alumnus landed at ZINC fresh out of school, working as a cook. When a new chef came on board, Babik was promoted to sous-chef. After a year, the new chef moved on to a new opportunity, leaving ZINC’s chef spot in the hands of Babik.
“It was crazy, to suddenly be in charge of everything,” Babik says.
His first order of business was to rethink the menu, with a focus on cultivating four or five house-made items, including charcuterie, bread and condiments.
“I wanted to scale down the menu while adding layers of complexity to some of the dishes, still keeping it as classically French as possible,” Babik says. “I love comfort food and want to make things that will make people think of childhood — with just a little twist, something that makes it a little different.”
Babik says it was the faculty at Drexel — like professor and food journalist Edward Bottone — that helped him earn the confidence to take big risks in such a big role.
“My professors at Drexel weren’t so cut-and-dry; they let you experiment,” Babik says. “They let you just go with it — make mistakes, but then turn around and learn from them.”
Babik remembers the S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition, where he was the favorite to take home the gold.
The hype got the best of him, and Babik left the competition without taking the prize.
“Professor Bottone told me how important it was to stay humble,” Babik says. “I’ll never forget that now.”
Throughout the college search, Babik’s first-choice school was the Culinary Institute of America in upstate New York. He applied and, to his surprise, he was accepted.
But when he accompanied a friend to an open house at Drexel, his culinary school plans were turned upside-down.
“Here I was, just because my friend didn’t want to go to the visit alone,” Babik says. “At the time I didn’t even know Drexel had a culinary program. But as I was there, I saw what a small program it was, and how very personal it was. I saw that they weren’t just a school churning out people who could cook. They were cultivating chefs. That was the kind of education I wanted, and that was the education I got.”
What’s your favorite meal?
“Pizza. Currently from Bufad on Spring Garden Street.”
— Krzysztof Babik
Destination Dining
While many Drexel chefs settle in Philadelphia, massively talented Dragons have starring roles in restaurants across the United States, from the boardwalk of Atlantic City to the San Francisco Bay. Drexel Magazine caught up with two of them: Celina Tio, a James Beard Award winner and seasoned Food Network chef who’s battled Michael Symon on “Iron Chef America” and competed in the network’s “Next Food Network Star,” and Kam Golightly, a Food & Wine-recognized pastry chef rising through the ranks of the California dining scene.
Celina Tio
Chef and Owner, JULIAN and Collection
Kansas City, Mo.
What I can thank Drexel for: Most of my classes have prepared me for being a business owner. I do all of my own bookkeeping and pretty much control every single aspect of my business.
What I miss about Philly: Monk’s. I like my beer, too.
My signature dish: Anything I do with my house-cured and smoked salmon.
My most memorable career moment: Having lunch with Julia Child.
In 10 years down the road: I’ll be continuing to learn new things, and creating new experiences for my guests in as many restaurants as I can handle.
Kam Golightly
Executive Pastry Chef, Oliveto Cafe and Restaurant
Oakland, Calif.
What I can thank Drexel for: Drexel helped me build a strong foundation to rest my career on. It gave me the confidence to strive for a job in a Michelin-rated restaurant straight out of culinary school.
What I miss about Philly: I loved the program at Drexel!
My signature dish: Butterscotch budino. It’s a thick, rich and salty butterscotch pudding. I top it with white vanilla shortbread crumble, pretzel pieces, toffee bits and vanilla anglaise foam. It’s like a party of textures in your mouth.
My most memorable career moment: Being selected by Food & Wine magazine as one of the People’s Best New Pastry Chefs of 2012. The competition was fierce, and though I didn’t take the title to be recognized, it was an unforgettable moment.
In 10 years down the road: I would love to be teaching. It seems right to return to Drexel, my alma mater, if the opportunity ever arose.