How chefs with families get both their jobs done

When I called Curtis Duffy, the 2010 Hope School Celebrity Chef, to arrange an interview, I assured him that I’d work around his schedule. But Duffy, executive chef of Chicago’s Avenues restaurant and the youngest four-star chef in America didn’t see a problem. “I’m at the restaurant by 10 every morning, so anytime before service is fine,” he told me. Did he leave in the afternoon for a while? “No, I’m here from 10 until the end of service,” he told me. That means that Duffy’s average workday lasts more than 12 hours.

He has two small children. Chefs and professional kitchen staff work notoriously long and crazy hours. They labor over their stoves and ovens on holidays and weekends. My youngest daughter, Ashley, works for a Chicago caterer, Big Delicious Planet. When she’s in charge of the food backstage at large events, such as the recent Crossroads Guitar Festival, her workday can start at 5 a.m. and finish the following morning at 1 a.m. or later.

But the only ones missing out on time with Ashley on those days are her dog and her boyfriend. How do chefs with families cope? Are they doomed to be parents in absentia?

That’s something that Lawrence (Chip) Kennedy, executive chef of 5Flavors Catering has been struggling with ever since his first child, Lawrence IV (Lane), was born June 29. “Lane was born right in the middle of our busiest season,” he says. “Last week we had 18 gigs. Sometimes I’m working from 4:30 a.m. until 10:30 or 11 at night.”

Fortunately Kennedy and his wife, Shelly, who teaches Spanish at Jacksonville High School, have lots of family support on both sides. Chip and Shelly take turns getting up at night with Lane: “I don’t get a lot of sleep, as it is,” says Chip. “So it’s working out OK.” Most frustrating is that he’s busiest on weekends, which, of course, is when Shelly is home, so what’s really become rare is time for the three of them to be together. Before Lane’s birth, Shelly occasionally helped out, but at least for now, that’s not possible.

On the plus side, Chip’s irregular hours mean that sometimes he can get away during the day to spend time with his newborn. “I really feel for people who are on salary and have a 9-5 job,” he says. And, he says, having Lane has helped him focus even more on making 5Flavors a success: “Before, I didn’t have a care in the world. But now I’m thinking about the future every day, and how I can build the business.”

Patrick Groth, chef/owner of Incredibly Delicious, and his wife, Bitzy, have what could be considered the ideal way to combine family and professional chefdom: They live above the shop, on the top floor of the incredibly beautiful, historic Weber Mansion, with their three children, Samuel, 9, Isaac, 7, and Aj, 3. I first understood – and envied - how wonderful their situation was years ago, while observing Groth making croissants in the pre-dawn hours. (More information about Groth’s croissants is available online in my 3/7/07 RealCuisine column at illinoistimes.com.) Suddenly I realized there was someone else in the kitchen: Samuel, quiet but awake in his umbrella stroller. Bitzy, then pregnant with Isaac, had fed him, changed him, and then brought him downstairs in order to catch a few more minutes of sleep – clearly a routine requiring no words. As workers arrived, Samuel was cuddled, passed around and addressed in French by his father.

There can be drawbacks, however, such as the time recently when three-year-old Aj got downstairs and ran through the dining rooms during the middle of the bustling lunch service. Overall, however, Groth treasures his ability to combine the bakery/restaurant with family life: “We always have dinner together,” he says. “And I try to make everybody breakfast.” Groth is very clear about his and Bitzy’s priorities: “Work is very important, but the family comes first. Work doesn’t encompass our family, our family encompasses the work. Bitzy and I ‘divide and conquer.’ We’re very much a team.”

Samuel and Isaac are old enough now to help with such tasks as folding towels and cleaning tables – not an official part of the homeschooling curriculum that Bitzy teaches them, but an invaluable learning experience nonetheless. There’s no better way to instill a sense of responsibility and a good work ethic in children than for them to grow up in their family’s restaurant, whether or not they live on the premises.

Just ask John (Yanni) Pappas, chef/owner

of Yanni’s Gyros. His parents, Pete (Petros) and Kim, owned several Springfield restaurants, including The Sirloin House, The Olympic House, and Dealer’s Choice throughout Pappas’ early years. “I grew up in the restaurants,” he says. “I was washing dishes by the time I was 10.”

Pappas plans on passing the down that heritage to the next generation. During a recent Saturday lunch at Yanni’s, I was intensely scrutinized by four young eyes. I looked over and smiled. “They’re wanting their dad to introduce them,” said a woman who I learned was their mom, Tiffany. Obviously they’d been instructed to not bother customers, but once Pappas formally introduced me to his 5-year-old twins, the floodgates opened: “Wow, we were in the back watching Dad cut up onions. They made my eyes REALLY burn!!” said Mikos. “Yeah, it was AWFUL,” chimed in Myles, rubbing his eyes to prove the point. The twins attend Ball Charter School during the week, but help their dad open Yanni’s every Saturday, filling salt shakers, napkin holders and catsup bottles.

“Eventually, when they’re old enough, we’ll have the bus drop ’em off here,” says Pappas. “It’s a sure thing that they’ll grow up here at the restaurant,” adds Tiffany. What lucky boys!

Contact Julianne Glatz at realcuisine.jg@gmail.com.