Chef du Jour: Granite City chef enhances menu with fresh-brewed beer
Marc Tromble, executive chef for the Granite City Food and Brewery now in Naperville, began cooking under his German mother's tutorage. After graduating from high school however, he embarked on a journey in pursuit of his cooking career. The first stop was Colorado where he worked for the Denver Buffalo Company, then it was on to New York to attend The Culinary Institute of America.
After an internship in Florida, he came to Chicago to cook for the Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. Next, he traveled to California to work with the Patina Restaurant group in Los Angeles. He headed back to the Midwest as the executive chef at McCormick and Schmick's in Indianpolis. Now he's back in the Chicago area learning how to weave beer into his locally focused menus.
With your German roots and French culinary training, how do you describe your cooking style? My style of food is actually very simple. Take the freshest seasonal ingredients at their peak and keep it simple. If you have the best product available you should enhance them not cover them up.
Your career has taken you across the United States. What have you learned about food from the different regions? Each place has its own identity and style of food, so with each place that I have gone I have learned something new. I try to learn recipes and new dishes from each place, work with local farmers and purveyors from each location. My favorite place has to be California because of how diverse the food is. Because of the climate you can get just about anything you could ever want to cook with.
Who has had the greatest influence on your cooking? I would have to say the greatest influence on my cooking was Eric Lhuillier of the Patina Restaurant Group. He really taught me to look at food differently and utilize local purveyors and local seafood.
At Granite City, how does the brewery influence the menu? The beer that our brewers create really go well with all of our food. Beer is just like wine in the fact that they each have their own characteristics. Many of the recipes that we have in our kitchen utilize our beer in the cooking process to enhance the flavor of the dishes. So both the beer and the food go hand in hand.
What should diners know about pairing beer with food? When you pair food with beer you want to use like profiles together. You are looking to enhance each other not cover them up.
Is it difficult to cater to special dietary needs? We believe in providing the very best food to all of our guests. When we have a guest that comes in and has a dietary need I take it as a challenge. This is also a time where you can get creative and really make a guest feel you care about their needs. I think too many chefs take this as a negative and they should use this to keep their guests happy.
Do you cook at home? I usually do not cook at home. I like to try new restaurants and to keep up on food trends in the restaurant industry. I think it is important to see what our competition is doing. Many dishes that I have created were inspired by something that I have seen or eaten at another restaurant.
Where do you like to dine on your day off? I love all types of cuisine and it usually depends on how I'm feeling on that particular day. However I'm very fond of Asian food because the flavors and ingredients are so different.
What five ingredients do you think are essential to any kitchen? Salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil and butter. These are all used daily in my kitchen.
What is your favorite cooking gadget? A Vitamix blender for its many different functions.
What is the most important thing you learned in cooking school? Mis en place, having all your ingredients in place.
Tell us about this recipe: Pulled Barbecue Pork on a Roasted Corn Jalapeno Waffle. The components of the dish work very well with each other. Chicken and Waffles is a very Southern dish and the waffle lends itself well with the barbecue pork. The jalepeno in the waffle gives the dish a little heat and makes the waffle a more savory component. The best tip for the dish is to make sure the waffles are crispy so that when you put the pork and the barbecue sauce on the waffle it stays crispy. A very nice lager would be perfect with this dish.
Try it at home or at Granite City Food and Brewery, 1828 Abriter Court, Naperville. (630) 544-3700.
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