Chef goes with his instincts, in kitchen and in life

Growing up in Kansas City, Mo., Sean O'Brien had a passion for food. After high school he considered culinary school, but took the traditional college route, attending Georgetown University and following his father's footsteps into broadcasting.

After nine years with Cox Communications he couldn't shake the urge to heat things up in the kitchen and he enrolled in Kendall College's culinary arts program where he helped operate the student-run fine dining restaurant.

Since graduating, he's spent time at Joey's Brickhouse, Dunlay's and Park Grill. Today, at 37, he runs the kitchens for Timothy O'Toole's Pubs in Chicago and Gurnee. He lives in Wrigleyville with his wife, Kim, and 20-month-old daughter, Jordan.

Who inspired or mentored you? The first was my grandmother, Elizabeth "Bette" Jordan. When I was a child my sister and I used to spend afternoons after school at the home of my maternal grandparents Bette and Cook Jordan. Mimi, as we called her, decided that she was going to teach me to cook so each day she and I would prepare dinner together for the family.

Early on in our kitchen lessons I was not happy about being stuck inside for the afternoon while my friends were outside, but as time went on I began to enjoy and embrace the time we spent together and all that I was learning. At least twice a day as I work in the kitchen something I am doing will give me a flashback to one of those afternoons with Mimi and it always makes me smile.

The other two profound influences on my culinary background are Kendall College chefs Mike Artlip and Chris Koetke (also the college's dean). Both men are tremendously talented and skilled chefs, and both took great interest and care in my development as a chef.

Has your communications background helped you in your current role? In my previous career I learned quickly that he who hesitates or does not follow his instincts will quickly be passed by. As a chef I certainly follow trends in the industry, but I always use my own judgment and instincts when making decisions that affect my establishments.

Secondly, I learned that quality matters. In broadcasting, the lower the quality of a presentation, the lower the success. At Timothy O'Toole's we are not trying be a fine dining establishment, but we source the finest products we can find and prepare them to the highest standards. We feel that in our segment of the market we offer the best product possible at a competitive price.

Any funny stories to share? Disasters averted? I was running Park Cafe, the outdoor restaurant on the ice rink in Millennium Park. Allstate Insurance rented out Millennium Park for its annual party for top agents and executives. Thousands of people attended and Elton John was hired to perform. We had prepared thousands of canapes for the VIP reception.

One of the other sous chefs and I carefully loaded and wrapped a speed rack with pans and trays for the trip up to the tent on the upper level of the park. As we approached the tent, after a long journey, the wheels of the speed rack got caught in a seem in the pavement and over went the speed rack. He and I were inconsolable, but we quickly righted the rack, hustled back to the kitchen and the entire kitchen staff sprang into action and replaced every canape within 30 minutes and we got the replacements into the tent with time to spare and the guests were none the wiser. It was, in a single event, the worst disaster and most exhilarating triumph I have ever been a part of.

What's your favorite ingredient and how do you like to use it? Beef stock; a well-made stock can make or break a recipe.

What's your favorite kitchen tool? I would have to say it is a good, sharp chef's knife. All dishes and recipes must start with properly prepared ingredients and if you do not have a good sharp knife you will not be able to get off to the proper start. Also it is much more common to cut or injure yourself with a dull knife than it is with a sharp knife. For anyone who knows and practices proper knife skills (which I recommend everyone learn and practice) a sharp knife is known to be essential.

What was the last meal you cooked at home? Last week I took Sunday evening off and went home early enough to make dinner for the first time in a quite a while. I made a beer can chicken on the grill and made mashed sweet potatoes and grilled asparagus.

I love making beer can chicken. It is a simple main dish to prepare and it comes out moist and tender every time. You simply rinse the bird, pat it dry with paper towels, rub the bird with vegetable oil inside and out, season it with salt and pepper, then invert it onto a beer can that is about two-thirds full. Stand it up on the grill, using indirect heat, and cover and cook until the thigh juices run clear. It is a winner.

Any advise for home cooks? Be creative and experiment. I am often told by many home cooks that they are afraid to branch out of their comfort zone and try something new. I know we all like to stick to the basics some times, but you will never grow as a cook until you take some scary leaps. Don't be afraid to try new ingredients or dishes. If they don't turn out the way you thought, make some adjustments and try it again. Don't be discouraged by failure, learn from it and you will see the improvement in your knowledge and skill.

Tell us about this recipe: Timothy O'Toole's Veggie Burger. In August 2006 we decided to make some upgrades to our menu and one of the items we decided to focus on was the veggie burger. At the time we were using Boca Burgers and we felt that a Veggie Patty made in house could be a significant improvement in flavor and quality for our guests.

We started with a few basic goals, as we do with any recipe or menu item we develop: first it needed to be flavorful, second it needed to be repeatable consistently, and finally it needed to be cost effective. Throughout my career as a chef I have not had much experience with "house made" veggie patties so I started with research. I discovered that there are dozens of ways to go when developing a veggie patty. You can start with a base of rice, beans, cornmeal, oatmeal, potatoes or textured vegetable protein and many others and you can flavor them in hundreds of different ways.

I came up with recipes starting with all of the above as a base and none of them had the consistency or flavor profile I was looking for. At that point I started mixing bases together to find the right combination. After dozens of failed attempts I finally hit upon the combination I was looking for as a base with brown rice, black beans and oat bran. Now it was just a matter of determining what flavor profile we wanted to have, and the Southwest kick was the one we all liked the most. My number one test subject was our office manager Megan Regan who is a vegetarian, and once she gave the her approval, I knew we were good to go.

Try this at home or at Timothy O'Toole's Pub Chicago, 5572 Grand Ave., Gurnee. (847) 249-0800; timothyotooles.com.

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<div style="float:right;margin:0 0 6px 0;"> <div class="moreHeader"> Recipes </div> <div class="moreHolder"> <div style="margin:6px;text-wrap:auto;"> <ul class="moreLinks"> <li><a href="/story/?id=291389" class="mediaItem">Timothy O'Toole's Veggie Burger</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>