Chef Rick, an Army Veteran has worked in the restaurant most of his life gaining experience in everything from food trucks to fine dining. He started in professional kitchens at the age of 15 working as a dishwasher and quickly rising through the ranks, learning every station in the restaurant by the time he was 18.

Showing a knack for professional cooking, his chefs encouraged him to attend culinary school. Initially, he applied to the CIA New York, but chose instead to join the armed forces in order to have the ability to pay for his schooling. After his service, he attended Western Culinary Institute of Portland, Oregon for an accelerated program of 22 weeks rather that the 2 years it would have taken at the CIA.

He worked at various restaurants from Harry’s Soup factory, learning how to batch 200 gallons of soup at a time, to amazing seafood restaurants in the Pacific North West, honing new skills while learning classical techniques through schooling.

Using his knowledge of the classical kitchen brigade system, military training, and years of kitchen operations he has built the kitchen at Who’s on First from the ground up.

The kitchen, about the size of a food truck, hosts 5 manned stations including an expo. Chef Rick’s philosophy in his kitchen is that everything must be made in house from scratch and using only fresh ingredients. He expects each cook to become efficient at every station and produce excellence with every order received.

We gave Chef Rick the task of writing a menu that was “Elevated Bar Food” for Who’s on First. From there, he decided on a Cuban Southern fusion concept keeping every item on his menu “Familiar” but very elevated. From the 5-step production of his chicken wings to the signature Cuban sandwich, each item is given an attention to detail that the food deserves. Plating the food is a process completed by the expo, not the cook, so that each dish is checked for accuracy and presentation. 

Chef Rick runs a tough kitchen with a customer first mindset—it isn’t for everyone, but his cooks actually learn how to cook and flavor build under his guidance. According to Chef, “All of our food is built on a flavor layering process that completes the Cuban Southern fusion concept. I want each item on my menu to be comfortable and familiar but still complex in flavor and presentation”

We may be biased, but we think he knocked it out of the park!