{From left, Jessica Gilroy, Michelle Meyer}
The executive chef isn’t the only person in the kitchen. In fact, the top toque will be the first to tell you that without the rest of the culinary brigade, the kitchen would go up in flames. In this column, we chat with the men and women responsible for executing the dishes that land on your plate. Not every friendship could survive life on the line, but Jessica Gilroy and Michelle Meyer’s was forged on it. The 27-year-old chefs de cuisine met five years ago in the kitchens of Charlie Gitto’s and have been inseparable ever since. They joined executive chef Justin Haifley at The Tavern, and most recently played a major role at his newest project, Cucina Pazzo in the Central West End, where they’re easy to spot in the open kitchen. Gilroy and Meyer are the ones calling the shots and firing dishes while the kitchen team scurries to keep up. Meet the women who function as Haifley’s right – and left – hands on the line at Cucina Pazzo.
Read her mind
M.M.: “Now that we have to do the orders a lot, I’m like, Oh crap, I forgot to order basil, and it’s an Italian restaurant! and she’s like, Oh, don’t worry about it, I got it … I saw that you didn’t do it and I ordered some.”
J.G.: “Well, we go through like 3 pounds a day!”
M.M.: “It goes unspoken … It’s kind of [being] in each other’s brains…”
J.G.: “I don’t think we consciously do it anymore.”
Get on her nerves
M.M.: “I’m a little more aggressive during service. I don’t like people getting in my way. I don’t like people leaving dirty towels on my station – I don’t like people leaving anything on my station, really. If you’re going to get in the oven, you better go fast or you’re going to end up in there with your food.”
J.G.: “And you better not make any noise when you’re opening that oven or hell will rain down on you.”
M.M.: “Yes. I can tell you my shortcoming right off the bat. I’m trying to correct it.”
J.G.: “And I’m perfect! … I can be a little messy; I’ll admit that. I know she says I’m organized, but I get just as scatterbrained as she does.”
Trust her
M.M.: “I think that we both decided that there’s nobody else I would want to do this with.”
J.G.: “I think we probably would have murdered the other person by now.”
M.M.: “I have a lot of confidence in Jessica, and I’m confident in her ability to get things done and her dedication. There’s absolutely nobody else I would want to be a partner with.”
J.G.: “Aw, that’s so sweet!”
M.M.: “Yeah, she’s pretty awesome.”
J.G.: “And everything she just said about me, I think about her. Just ditto!”
-photo by Michelle Volansky
This article appears in December 2013.