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East coast and Midwest foods mesh in Brad Isaak’s kitchen at Lester’s
• by Catherine Neville • Photo by Josh Monken
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Talk about a TV dinner! Walk into Lester’s Sports Bar and Grill, the newest eatery from Lester Miller of Busch’s Grove, and the first thing to strike you will be the number of TVs scattered around the space – 68, plus a projection screen. This is a sports bar and then some: At each table, a speaker system allows diners to tune into whatever they wish; in the kitchen, executive chef Brad Isaak is serving New York-style deli sandwiches and house-made barbecue along with other American comfort foods. And if the concept catches on, watch for more Lester’s to pop up across the area.
You had some intense training at landmark New York-area delis for this position.
I actually went to New York three times. One of my sous chefs, Ryan Hample, … went with me the last time.
Did you do a stage?
We went in and worked 12 to 14 hours a day for free. Harold’s, which is in New Jersey, on any given Saturday or Sunday, would serve over 4,000 people. [They had] a wait from 12:30 until 9:30 at night. It was insane. In New York I learned how to cook pastrami and corned beef. Also the injecting process of the corned beef, how to handle the corned beef and how to use the holding steamers we have in the back. That was my whole objective, to go up there and learn from Harold, who used to be the proprietor of Carnegie Deli.
That’s the place renowned for huge, fabulous sandwiches. Can we find sandwiches like that on your menu?
A gentleman [from St. Louis] came in here and [had gone] to Carnegie the week prior; [he] said that our pastrami was better than Carnegie Deli.
What is it like to come and dine at Lester’s?
It’s an open kitchen. You can actually see the steam coming up from the holding steamers. It’s really visual and that’s what people want to see – a show. As far as the food goes, Lester had a dream and this was his dream. He wanted to come up with a different concept that no one has come up with, and he asked me to come along for the ride. And I love it.
If you were to have visiting chefs come in, what would you serve to them?
We have a Triple Decker [sandwich] on our menu; it’s meant for more than one person. It’s 24 ounces of your choice of hot pastrami, corned beef or smoked turkey. Either that or the ribs. Or the smoked beef
brisket sandwich.
Tell me about your barbecue.
It’s dry-rubbed and we serve homemade sauces on the side. We have a sweet-and-smoky and a spicy barbecue sauce. The spicy’s my favorite; it’s got a lot of bacon in it.
What are some of the sides?
Homemade everything. Baked beans, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, french fries … and potato pancakes, that’s one of Lester’s secrets.
You mean secret recipes?
Yes. He traveled all over New York and New Jersey to find this potato pancake that he really, really liked. It’s served with sour cream and applesauce, and you can get it on the side
of anything.
What do you think makes Lester’s unique?
Meshing the New York-style deli and the East Coast versus the Midwest barbecue and the sports atmosphere. He … wants to branch off from here, so hopefully I can be a part of that as well.
You mean become a chain?
Yeah. He wants to open from here to Kansas City is what he said.
So what is your day like?
We come in and brine the meats, boil the corned beef, accept humongous orders. Right now we’re going through over $20,000 a week just in product alone. I get here at 5 o’clock in the morning and stay until 10:30, 11 o’clock at night.
And you just had a baby.
His name’s Cooper.
You must be tired. Working all that time in New York and New Jersey, having a baby, opening a restaurant ...
Yeah. I have an understanding wife, so that helps out a lot.
And things are starting to smooth out now that you’re open?
Yesterday was only 15 hours. I was home by 9:15 and actually got to see my son awake.
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