For chef, it's all about quality when dining at Cantigny
For a guy who's worked at some of the area's premier golf courses - including Medinah - John M. Scieszka would rather spend his day off casting a rod than swinging a club.
Yet this father of three and executive chef at Cantigny Park and Golf in Wheaton admits his days on the stream are few and far between.
Scieszka oversees culinary operations at The Red Oak Room, the club's fine dining venue, Fareways Grill (closed for the season) and at LeJardin and Bertie's coffee shop on the sprawling club, museum and garden grounds, and he has his hand in the property's extensive banquet operation.
He's never strayed too far from his childhood home in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood; he graduated from Washburne Culinary School in Chicago and has worked at the Ritz Carlton and at restaurants and country clubs throughout the western suburbs.
He joined Cantigny in 2006 and lives in Carol Stream with his wife, Soco, and children Jake, 13, Natalie, 6, and Christian 11/2.
Who influenced you to become a chef? I learned to cook from my parents. They had a lot of European influence in their dishes. My mom used to watch a lot of cooking shows like Julia Child and the Galloping Gourmet - and we were her guinea pigs. It was never boring.
Do you have any food memories? Every Sunday, my father would get up about 5 a.m. and start Sunday dinner. We would all go to mass together at 11:30, without breakfast, and then after mass, we would come home famished. We walked into the wonderful aromas of food like rotisserie duck, pork, a whole turkey; the anticipation was like torture. My father would finish the meal and we would all sit down as a family and feast.
What was your first kitchen job? While going to school at Washburne Culinary; my first job was in 1981 at the Ritz Carlton in Chicago. The entire culinary staff at the restaurant blew my mind.
What is your culinary philosophy? Be it the simplest comfort food or the most intricately prepared dish make it the best possible. Cook the food with love, treat it with respect. Waste not want not.
Do any meals served in your 26 years stand out? One of the most memorable meals was for Cantigny's former CEO, David Grange, an Army Ranger General. We did an all game dinner, using game brought down by General Grange. I was able to use various techniques and styles to prepare elk, venison, pheasant, antelope and quail. This dinner was to introduce wild game to the Generals' constituents. The dinner was well received, and cooking for him I feel has been the highlight of my career.
What is your favorite part of your role at Cantigny? Working for an organization that stresses quality in everything that we do and having the opportunity to create menus for our different restaurants on the property and for our diversity of guests.
What is the most challenging part of your job? Overseeing both restaurant and banquet production for two locations on our property while still making enough one-on-one time to work with our apprentices.
What is your favorite ingredient and how do you like to use it? Sunchokes (roots of miniature sunflowers) because they are soft yet rich and unique. They have a satisfying and filling flavor. They work well with potato soup and my favorite dish - hazelnut encrusted halibut with spaghetti squash, arugula and sunchoke purée.
What is your go-to comfort food? It depends in what context. If I am going out it is a burger. If I am cooking at home it is pasta, and at the restaurant it is mashed potatoes, because you can twist them up (saffron, Thai curry, sun-dried tomato or wasabi).
What is your favorite food on the Thanksgiving table? The stuffing. I use my mom's recipe, using the giblets, livers and sausage.
What do you do in your spare time? Fishing, but I usually don't have time for that. I spend my days off with my family, playing with the kids, and doing family things like building a gingerbread house or baking cookies.
Tell us about this recipe: Chicken Crostini? We actually put it on our menu to show our culinary students how to hot smoke on the stove top. Do not smoke the chicken in the house unless you have an industrial exhaust fan - smoke it on a grill! The chicken could be substituted with almost anything. We have taken the chicken crostini and subbed artichokes for vegetarians.
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<div class="infoBox"> <h1>Recipes</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> </div> <div class="recipeLink"> <ul class="moreLinks"> <li><a href="/story/?id=335244" class="mediaItem"> Chicken Crostini</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>