Know your chefs interview series, episode 3.

Head chefs Jeffery Davidson and Jake Wilson sat down with the Monarch for a kitchen confessional, extrapolating on oyster diets, ping-pong, and climbing the career ladder. Davidson, of The Backdoor at Roxy’s, has been cooking since his teens, starting at a fast-food joint in Spokane. Wilson, of Pete’s Fremont Fire Pit, took a more traditional approach, attending culinary school in California and interning at highbrow kitchens around Seattle. Now they’re neighbors, a powerhouse of skillful cookery in the heart of Fremont. Impressively, both are under 30 – and innovative as hell.

A: When did you two start working together?

Jeff: I met Jake a few weeks after I walked into Ray’s Boathouse. There he was on the line. Jake was my boss then. I had taken a break from the kitchen when the construction business was good. I came back after my lady and I had our first child because she went back to working days, so I was back to nights. It was still a learning process for me – trying to learn all the basics of cooking well. Once you have all the basics, the artistry comes later. When you’re in that creative place, it gets interesting, but it’s grueling otherwise.

Jake: We worked at rays together in 2008. Obviously, we hated working with each other. I had pretty big dreams from the start. I took a different path [than Jeff] – and now I’ve gotta pay off these stupid, expensive school loans. I’m working hard to make a name for myself and get a bigger salary – the goal is always to be able to do what you want in the kitchen.

A: How did you get into the food business? Culinary school verses working your way up? What was your big break?

Jeff: I knew I wanted to be in the business when I was young. My mom would always find me mixing up sauces and fixing up juices. I got the feel for it early, and then I went into fast food, which has its ups and down. You learn a lot about the workings of a streamlined restaurant, but I didn’t want to get stuck in fast food. I chicken-hawked on the good jobs in town – Luna in Spokane was my first scratch kitchen. We made everything. I was able to see things and how they worked – got to be the guy on the sidelines. You step in when somebody doesn’t show up, and all of a sudden you’re on the line. Nine months down the road you’re running expo. I got involved with Roxy’s six months ago in April. I had been at Vios Café previously as head chef – my first head chef position. I was a line cook up to that point but always carried myself as a senior member in the kitchen.

Jake: I was thinking of taking a more traditional route at WSU. I didn’t flourish in Pullman, but I had been looking at culinary schools. I looked at Pasadena, CA – there was a great culinary school down there. When I left Spokane it was 16 degrees, and in Pasadena it was 65. I was sold already. I did a two-year program, and the last 3 months was an externship. I was sick of LA so I applied to three restaurants in Seattle. I got one no and two yesses and picked Ray’s Boathouse. I did a stint in fine dining there but mostly stayed in the casual dining as a line cook. After Ray’s I went to Café Juanita; I was pantry cook. Next was Vios Café, with Jeff. I was initially a part-time supervisor at Vios, but quickly became sous chef.

A: Most humbling moment in the kitchen?

Jeff: One comes to mind. I was working with Jake, and at Ray’s you have three rice-steaming bins. I was wrapping things with foil, and grabbed what I thought was rice – but it was actually rockfish. I put rockfish in the steamer instead of rice. We lost about a quarter of it! You’re gonna make mistakes sometimes.

Jake: Best part of it was me and Jeff and another friend were working together that day. We still remember it and tease the heck out of Jeff. Everybody makes mistakes. For me, the most humbling was the first time I got my ass kicked at Ray’s. I was working the lead shift – it was my first busy shift at Ray’s. You get so many servers. I handled it the best I could. I didn’t lose it but I wasn’t happy about my performance. You never want to be unprepared. I was so new; it was so fast and big – like a Freshman playing on the Varsity for the first time. It made me say to myself, “That’s not gonna happen again.”

A: Important question: Who plays better ping-pong? How does it affect your working relationship?

[Jake laughs]

Jeff: [Looking at Jake] Shut up! It relives stress. You can just focus on a little white ball. We try to help each other along in the restaurant business. It’s a give and take, a back and forth, much like the game of ping-pong. I get Jake to smoke a piece of something for me, or I’ll lend him ingredients. The goal is to get our two new places off the ground. We want to help each other. Ultimately, we want to open another restaurant. There would be collaboration, but not sure how much – we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get there.

If it’s successful, we might open up a brick and mortar Mo’fun. The spirit of it would be what the people want. It’s so much work to have a rotating permanent menu – seasonal is easier. You’ve got to see what’s lacking in a neighborhood. You don’t want to be doing what someone down the street is doing. Essentially, you want to be doing good food. Set yourself apart – but be familiar.

Jake: Clearly, we’re more competitive at ping-pong than in our working relationship.

A: What’s on the horizon for Mo’fun?

Jeff: Breakfast for dinner coming up! This is going to be the epic one.

Jake: Yes, over the top.

Jeff: We’re trying to find new venues for it. Don’t know if I can keep my presence in it every time. I want the opportunity to include other new chefs. So if anyone’s out there… I should also say, Mo’fun owes a lot to chefs Skyler Milgate, Rita Hanhardt, Andy Hansen and Macgreggor Manwiller.

A: How do you see your restaurants evolving?

Jeff: Right now, The Backdoor is known as a great craft cocktail lounge. I am evolving the menu and people are slowly but surely learning that we’ve got great food and not just great cocktails. As I have gone through the process, I have asked myself: what kind of restaurant is it? It’s definitely Northwest. It has an Asian influence and an Indian influence. I try to add a booze or bitters influence to the food as well. We’re young, there are still some people who come in just for drinks and not for dinner; we want to change that.

Jake: My restaurant is still new and trying to find its identity. It’s 8 months old and I have been there for 2 months. We are trying to figure out if we are family-friendly, or a solid bar, or downhome-y. Trying to do whatever we do well so we can establish that good, solid clientele base so they keep coming back.

A: Who are your biggest influences; what cookbooks do you love?

Jeff: The biggest influence in the kitchen is my love for French and classic technique. I take my influences from the great classic chefs and also from the peasants around the world who use everything – if you look at both, there are similarities. I was lucky enough to cook a dinner once for Thomas Keller of Bastille when I was working. I studied his work forever. He has a beautiful style of cookbooks: they incorporate beautiful art and pictures of humanity. I have influences but I have my own style, too. I was raised poor, so to waste anything was sin. We did have a lot of crab legs; my dad would go crabbing. He also took three days to make tomato sauce. My mom made magic happen out of very little with a crock-pot. I have a deep love for slow foods because of the crock-pot.

Jake: My mother. She had a very interesting upbringing that involved living in Southern California and Tensseee. She has a fun outlook on food; she’s not afraid to cook or try anything. It’s those southern roots. I also learned a lot of things about my palette through Jonah Abbott, the sous chef at Café Juanita. He taught me some hard things. Everyone has a different outlook; everyone has a different perspective. Some people are really dedicated and it’s a beautiful thing. I try to eat and drink some of the finer things and I have a solid base of French cooking – I love classical cooking – but I would not consider myself a classical chef. I like to pull from a lot of different inspirations, like Jeff. We eat amazing shellfish, wine and oysters all the time.

Jeff: I am obsessed with oysters.

Jake: Jeff and I once did a fitness challenge at Ray’s. We went on a strict diet of oysters and vodka sodas. We called it the oyster diet. We worked out a lot, too. I won and Jeff came in second in the challenge…

A: Favorite cheap eat?

Jake: Pho. I get medium sized number one – sliced rare beef that cooks in the broth. I like meat and I put a lot of sauce in it.

Jeff: If I have my choice, it’s going to be a ramen shop. For our second Mo’fun, we did a ramen dish. If I am going to a pastry it’s gotta be Café Besalu. Or, Jake and I’ll get Humbow at the [Pike Place] market. It’s instant sweet-savory, and portable.

Jake: Jeff and I used to go down to the market and get lunch and then buy some stuff to make for dinner. We like to check out what’s new. There’s always something new there, like the Mt. Townsend cheese shop – they have the most amazing chevre.

A: Food trend you think is ridiculous?

Jeff: The misdiagnosis of Celiac disease and everyone being gluten free. I know there’s some truth behind it, but let’s be honest, we wouldn’t be here without bread. Some people actually have it, but it’s misdiagnosed often. A lot of the gluten-free products are bad. There are some good ones out there. I try and have a few options, something I can modify. Every third person is gluten free these days. If you have all these things that you have to cater to, it’s silly.

A: Ever stolen anything?

Jake: Yeah. My first theft was probably in second grade – at a grocery store. My sister stuffed candy bars in my overalls. I got my ass spanked when I got home. She never got in trouble.

Jeff: Yep. Cars, hearts, and lots of employees.

A: What’s your biggest kitchen pet-peeve?

Jeff: Mcgregor! (Laughs) No. Lack of drive – when someone is like, “Whatever, it’s just a job.” It’s a craft, for Christ’s sake! Push yourself hard, or else you get stuck. If you’re a garbage man, be the best one there is. That’s a problem where I come from, and that’s why I advanced quickly.

Jake: Lack of passion. If you don’t want to be there to learn something new every day, why be there? We are doing this because we’re passionate about food.

A: Jeff, you’re 29; Jake, 26. What’s the best part about being a young head chef?

Jeff: The excitement – you have the energy still. As long as there is faith and movement, you have the ability to impress that upon people. Also, you’re in the biggest group of diners – you have a beat on what the young people like. Older chefs might be out of touch. You can enlighten the older generation of chefs about what’s going on. I plan on being in Seattle a long time; I want to keep the traditions of the greats alive.

Jake: It’s a great honor and opportunity. I imagined I would be doing this eventually but I didn’t fully think it was possible in this short time frame. It just makes me excited for whatever is in the future. I am lucky enough to have someone like Jeff to make the work environment more familiar. I think the reason why we are friends and we work well together is that we have similar passions for food – oh, and ping-pong.

Jeff: We have complimenting styles. Good cop bad cop.

Jake: We can critique each other so that it’s the best possible food for our customers. And then we’ll cook stuff for us to eat. But because we’re friends there is no bad blood. It’s a great relationship.

A: What are you cooking at your respective homes? What would I find in your fridge?

Jeff: Smoked salmon and cream cheese, eggs, tomatoes. I like to throw together a stew. Sometimes when I have the kids we’ll make pasta. Sweet Baby Ray’s barbeque sauce is my guilty pleasure – and Goldfish crackers.

Jake: I have an absurd amount of hot sauce. With almost everything I eat, I try to find a way to put hot sauce on it. I like hummus and hot sauce. I put hot sauce in a tortilla – roasted turkey and Sriracha! I keep it simple. We cook for 50 hours a week. I’m not going to invest more time cooking a lot at home.

A: If you want to impress a date, what would you cook her?

Jeff: Veal chop with mushroom pan sauce and potatoes. Risotto – that’s always impressive. Pan seared scallops, steamed crab legs, drawn butter. Duck breast. And you can’t beat a steak.

Jake: Jeff took my scallops! Those are what worked most recently. She’s waiting for those scallops again… I also really enjoy cooking pasta.

A: If you weren’t a chef, what would you be doing?

Jeff: A theoretical physicist. There is nothing besides that. No, I would be working with my hands. You get to see that you’ve done something at the end of the day. Not just blips on the screen. (Turns to Jake) Don’t say porn star!

Jake: Something to do with sports. Maybe a coach, like soccer or lacrosse. The kitchen environment is like a team and I love that aspect about it.

A: What can we look forward to seeing on your fall menus?

Jake: Our pulled pork. It’s a South Carolina-style sandwich with mustard sauce. I think right now we’re trying to do too many things, though. I would rather do fewer things better and do what we’re doing right – that makes the whole process easier. Pay more attention and put a little more care in each plate.

Jeff: One of the winners on our new menu is the beer and onion soup. I love fall food. It’s the embodiment of good cooking. Summer’s easy but fall and winter are where you get into your stocks and rich sauces. I am excited to work with new products. I am also excited to see what artisan producers and small farms have to give me, and I am interested to get into the odd bits – like tripe. In the hands of someone who knows how to cook, anything can be delicious.