On the Menu
We challenged these successful chefs and restaurant owners to bring us a dish inspired by their favorite ingredient. What they brought was a delicious cross-section of local cuisine.
By Stacy Moser | Photography by Justin Borja
Vlatka Adams
Owner: Acropolis Greek Cuisine, Harker Heights
Favorite ingredient: Feta cheese
What’s so special about feta cheese? Like me, Greek people can’t live without feta. It can create an explosion of flavor in food. I use it for creaminess, saltiness, and sometimes just for its crumbly texture. I can’t imagine life without it!
What brought you to Texas? I moved here from Bosnia in 2001. During the war there, I worked for the United Nations and Dutch Army as a translator and that’s how I met my husband. We moved to Texas after we got married.
Do you cook for your family after a long day at the restaurant? I love to cook for my family. Their first name is “Always” and their last name is “Hungry.” At the restaurant or at home, I have a passion to cook the best meal possible. The difference is that at home I can be more laid back. I can take my time. In the restaurant, you need efficiency, which only a well-trained staff can provide. Rarely will you get acknowledgment for your food if it is anything less than perfect. You must pay attention to every detail.
Dish: Stuffed Peppers with Rice and Feta Cheese
Alex Robertson
Chef: Megg’s Cafe, Temple
Favorite ingredient: Pork
What inspires you to think outside the box with salads? I think vegetables are the unsung heroes of kitchens. I’m inspired by our farming partners—they put so much effort into growing beautiful produce. My goal is to respect the ingredients and let them speak for themselves. I’m always testing new items for seasonal changes in our dishes.
Who influenced you to start cooking? My dad. He makes a traditional Sunday sauce that takes two days to make. By the time we’d finally get to eat the spaghetti, I’m not sure if it was so delicious because of the ingredients, or the anticipation!
What’s the difference between cooking at home and cooking at work? Cooking at the cafe is easier in so many ways. Everything I need is on hand. We make everything from scratch with fresh ingredients, so we’re always completely stocked with any essentials I need. And I’m not going to lie … having an industrial dish room is also a huge luxury.
Dish: Kale Salad with Maple Bacon and Butternut Squash
Jacob Bates
Owner: Bird Creek Burger Company, Temple
Favorite ingredient: Beef
Who was your first mentor in the kitchen? I started cooking when I was 8 years old. I was absolutely obsessed with Martin Yan from the PBS show “Yan Can Cook.” My mentor was, without question, my mother. She cooked every night and would take time to do extra steps or use different foods just to have a little bit of fun in the kitchen with me.
What’s with the obsession with beef? It is incredibly versatile and it can be seen in cooking in most cultures throughout history. There just aren’t many things on our planet as good as beef.
What’s your favorite part about cooking? I go to a different place in my mind and try to create something that people enjoy eating. My mind works very differently with food than it does with anything else. I can almost visualize flavors using my palate and I construct that visualization with the tools and ingredients around me. It is a very exciting dance inside my mind.
What’s unique about Bird Creek Burger Company? We don’t have a freezer. I think that idea excites people. My customers know they will get something fresh when they come in.
Dish: Caprese Burger with Garlic Parm Fries
Wally Redelk
Owner: Opa’s Schnitzel Hut, Harker Heights
Favorite ingredient: Onions
What inspired your restaurant’s name? My father, Herbert Schreiber, was the head chef of his family’s large, beautiful hotel in Germany. His schnitzel was the best! But during World War II, he was sent to the front lines and became a POW in Africa before returning to Europe. He found out his beloved hotel had been turned into apartments after the war. He didn’t have the heart to go back and see it again. So I named my restaurant after him (Opa is what his grandkids call him), and his schnitzel.
Why are onions your favorite ingredient? They add flavor to everything—my goulash, side dishes, salads, gravy. They make it all taste better. And they can make a grown man cry.
How did you restaurant get its start? Before I opened the restaurant, I would bring leftovers of my cooking to work and my colleagues always wanted more. Then friends and family urged me to open the restaurant. They helped me do it—from painting walls to designing a menu to hauling and hooking up equipment.
What draws people to Opa’s? I try to provide a slice of Germany for everybody who walks in.
Dishes: Red Cabbage, Spätzle and Wiener Schnitzel
Thomas Maddux
Owner: Oscar Store, Temple
Favorite ingredient: Freshly cut round steak
How did Oscar Store get started? Oscar Store has been here since 1934. Grace and Rudy Schiller owned it before me—they would have turkey shoots on weekends and dances under the outdoor pavilion. I bought the property in 2006 after the old Oscar Store burned down. I built the new one out of reclaimed lumber and tin. For three years, there was a steady stream of traffic driving by—looking to see what I was doing. People were really curious! We opened the doors in 2009.
What’s your favorite part about cooking? I love seasoning the food. I personally cut and tenderize all the meat that we cook here. I want the food to taste like it came out of your mom’s kitchen.
What’s the biggest challenge about cooking for a living? The restaurant business consumes your life—you’re married to it.
What draws people to the Oscar Store? We offer home cooking and we’re off the beaten path. You always see a smiling face here, we’re a family and we treat our customers like they are, too.
Dish: Chicken-Fried Steak and Gravy
Staci Schoepf
Owner: Schoepf’s BBQ, Belton
Favorite ingredient: Jalapeños
Some home cooks are afraid to use jalapeños in their dishes. How do you control the heat in yours? Nothing adds flavor like a jalapeño. Even their color adds a zing to any dish. If you’re afraid of the heat, remove the light-colored ribs and seeds before chopping it up. Those are the hottest parts of the pepper.
How did Schoepf’s BBQ get its start? Back in 1993, my husband, Ronnie, helped his dad find a location for the restaurant. They picked this building, which was owned by the former mayor of Belton—Clark Potter, and it was about to be torn down. Then, in 2007, we bought the business from Ronnie’s dad. We remodeled the building, added lots more food options and incorporated music into the business, too, with our Free Texas Music Series in our outdoor Schoepf’s Backyard venue.
Who taught you how to cook? My grandmother and parents were my biggest mentors in cooking. They always cooked from scratch and made delicious meals every day. When I was a young girl, they gave me the freedom to experiment with different recipes. Now, I cook for my family as much as possible—it’s a love that I want to pass down to my children.
Dish: Smoked Brisket Nachos with Cheddar Cheese and Jalapeños
Steve Henderson and Honorio Gallegos
Chefs: Bay Street Steak & Grille, Temple
Favorite ingredient: Butter
Why is butter your favorite ingredient?
Honorio: Butter just makes everything better—no matter what. Herbs or spices, add them to butter and you’re done!
Steve: As a younger man I would have said garlic is my favorite, but over the years I’ve discovered so many different flavors that I would hate to limit myself to just one favorite. I wouldn’t want to do without butter in the kitchen, though.
What’s your favorite part of being in the kitchen?
Steve: There’s nothing like taking different ingredients and combining them into something that people stop and talk about. My father was my cooking mentor, and I’ve been cooking professionally since I was 21 years old. Every day I feel the same way, I love bringing the ingredients together to make something wonderful.
Honorio: I feel like my parents were my biggest mentors, teaching me to cook since I was 13. But I have to give credit to a lot of hours spent watching Emeril Lagasse and Anthony Bourdain. Their TV shows were like a master class in cooking. I absorbed everything they did. BAM!
Dish: Crab Cake Benedict
Narunya Estrada
Owner: Narunya’s Modern Thai, Belton
Favorite ingredient: Garlic
Why do you love garlic so much? It’s a small ingredient, but it packs a big punch of flavor. Plus I hear it keeps vampires away!
What’s your favorite part of the day at work? It’s the feeling I get after a lunch rush. I feel a sense of achievement when everyone has come and gone and I fulfilled their hunger. I know Thai food is different from what people expect here—we’re in Texas, where burgers and barbecue dominate. But I keep seeing new faces coming into my restaurant, along with my regulars. That lets me know I’m doing something right.
Do you cook for your family at home? That’s my husband’s job! He’s a retired U.S. Marine and cooking for the kids when mom can’t be there comes with that title.
Dish: Eggplant Tower
Christina Castro
Owner: Sweet Confections Café & Bakery, Temple
Favorite ingredient: Sugar
How much does sugar influence your life? I run through sugar like no tomorrow while I’m baking. I even use it in savory things, like tomato basil soup, to help temper the acidity that tomatoes give off. I constantly smell like sugar and consume sugar to make me less of a zombie at 5 every morning when I come to work.
Who influenced you to start baking? The person who showed me the most about baking (and ate the most cookie dough with me) would be my grandmother. We baked cookies while we sang songs. My mentor is Rebecca Alcozer, my culinary arts teacher from my years at Belton High School. We still share recipes and tricks with each other. I help out with the culinary department at the school when she needs a cake-decorating instructor.
What’s your favorite part about baking? It’s very relaxing, even when I want to tear my hair out. Living with anxiety, I’ve realized that very repetitive things make me feel better—I don’t have to think or worry. I mix, scoop, put things in the oven and create a delicious product. What’s even better is when people, especially kids, eat my products or see a cake I’ve spent hours working on. Their eyes light up and they’re so excited. It makes my day.
Dish: Custom White Cake with Fondant Frosting
Sonya Southee and Fidel Ramos
Chefs: Palmeras Tex-Mex Con Sabor, Harker Heights
Favorite ingredient: Guajillo chile
Why is a guajillo chile your favorite ingredient?
Fidel: When I cook with it, it gives off a wonderful aroma and I can tell when it has the optimal spicy level just by smelling it. And I love the bright red color.
Who mentored you as you learned to cook?
Sonya: When I was young, I would sit on the floor with my grandmother with a bowl of glass noodles, a colorful array of shredded vegetables and little meatballs. There were thin circular sheets I had to learn to separate. After many ripped sheets, I finally rolled my first egg roll. After rolling hundreds of them, we drove around and gave them to her many Thai friends. The joy she got from teaching me traditions made cooking special to me. What better way to make someone smile, than with a good bite to eat?
How is cooking at work different than cooking for family at home?
Fidel: I love the action of cooking, you know? It means a lot to me that I can sustain my family with something I really enjoy.
Sonya: Cooking at work, you have to please everyone with one recipe. At home, my family doesn’t get to be picky—they either eat or go hungry. Lucky for them, I’m a good cook!
Dish: Shrimp La Diabla
Our thanks to the team at Country Restaurant Supply in Temple for graciously allowing us to gather these chefs for a rip-roaring food fest and photoshoot. CountryRestaurantSupply.com
