John Cox, The Bear and Star
Hometown: Born in Dallas, but moved to Northern New Mexico when I was 10. I have spent the better part of the last two decades in California.
What made you realize you wanted to work in the food industry?
When I was 12 I got a paper route and would get paid $32 per month to deliver newspapers around my neighborhood. Every year when the annual restaurant guide for Santa Fe would come out in the newspaper I would mark the restaurants that looked exciting and save my checks until I had enough money to take the bus to Santa Fe and take a friend to dinner. We were terrible guests, too young to drink and content with ordering a few appetizers in order to maintain our budget. Those early meals at places like Coyote Cafe, Geronimo and The Compound kindled my passion to become a chef. When I was 16 I got my first job in a professional kitchen and have been there ever since!
Who is the person you most admire in the food industry?
The countless dishwashers and line cooks who work 16 hours a day to provide for their families back home. Even though you never see them on the pages of Food and Wine magazine or on The Food Network, they are the real unheralded heroes of the restaurant industry.
What is your favorite part about being a chef?
Every day is a new challenge; there is always a new technique to learn, a new culture to explore and a formerly unknown ingredient to inspire new ideas.
How do you unwind after service?
Listening to an Audible book while I drive back home to the Santa Barbara Harbor, then, if it’s early enough, going to the gym.
What cookbook should every home have?
Google. Just kidding (sort of). Anyone who has been to The Bear and Star knows that I absolutely LOVE cookbooks. I have my personal library on display in our chef’s room. This includes books like The Inn at Little Washington and The French Laundry that I bought in high school.
What is the one recipe/ingredient you struggled to master and how did you overcome it?
I struggle with recipes in general, which probably explains why I steer clear of pastries and other items that require precise measurements and formulas. I prefer to think about cooking as being more similar to jazz than classical. The best dishes often result from improvising using the ingredients that surround you.
What’s your favorite kitchen scar?
On my right bicep there is a scar from boiling pasta water that splashed on me when I was a child and got under foot in the kitchen. Another time, when I was a toddler, I was so excited to see pancakes cooking on my family’s old Chambers range that I ran up and kissed the side of the cast iron stove, burning my lips in the process (lucky this encounter neither left a scar or dissuaded my love of pancakes).
Do you have a hidden talent?
I’m not sure it’s a talent, or hidden, but I really enjoy photography and writing. If you follow me on Instagram @chefjohncox you can see my travels and photography.
For information about VisitSYV Restaurant Weeks, go to www.dinesyv.com.
