When Jason Stevens was hired a little more than three years ago to nudge the George Watts & Son Tea Shop into the 21st century, he was expected to bring the venerable restaurant a new menu.
Stevens did not only that. He also delivered a James Beard America's Classic restaurant award. Watts was one of only five winners nationwide in that category this year.
That is pretty heady stuff for a 33-year-old executive chef, even if he has been cooking since he was a kid.
Stevens arrived at Watts from the Brookfield vegetarian restaurant Cafe Manna sparking with energy and ideas. His background included French cuisine, having learned the business under the tutelage of the owner of suburban Chicago's Le Vichyssois, who had once cooked at Maxim's in Paris. A move to Milwaukee to be the first sous chef at Devon in the Bayshore Town Center was Stevens' introduction to Wisconsin.
Joining Watts, which closes its restaurant at 4, was motivated by the chef's desire for family time in the evening. "I was pretty much handed the tea shop," he said during a recent chat after the lunch rush had receded.
"It didn't have a chef running it, and it was essentially serving cold food -- salads, sandwiches and afternoon tea. I took it on as a challenge."
Stevens hired an in-house baker and began offering a quiche of the day and daily specials. The biggest change was his addition of lunch entrees to the menu.
Thai chili roasted chicken was introduced as a special. "It sold like crazy," Stevens said. It became a menu staple.
The chef is proud of his Portobello mushroom stuffed with risotto, which has also become a Tea Shop standard. Coming from Cafe Manna, where he was the founding chef, Stevens has integrated vegetarian dishes into the Watts menu.
But longtime fans of the restaurant's quaint quirks need not worry. Chicken salad is still coming out of the kitchen.
"My challenge was creating a more contemporary menu while honoring the tradition of the shop," the chef explained. Watts continues to serve a proper British afternoon tea with assorted finger sandwiches. And its beloved Sunshine cake, a three-layer chiffon sponge cake with a French custard stuffing, remains wildly popular.
Here are Stevens' answers to some standard chef questions.
OnMilwaukee.com: What do you like most about being an executive chef?
Jason Stevens: I love the stress, the fast pace. I am beyond hyperactive. I also like that it is different every day.
OMC: What is the biggest negative about the business?
JS: The hours, but I am spoiled by my situation here.
OMC: What is your favorite food?
JS: Asian. I love so many levels of flavors.
OMC: Your favorite Milwaukee restaurant?
JS: I don't get out much, but we recently went to Hue, and I really liked it.
OMC: Who is your favorite television chef?
Stevens: I didn't have one until we went to the Beard Awards. Emeril is such a nice guy.
Damien has been around so long, he was at Summerfest the night George Carlin was arrested for speaking the seven dirty words you can't say on TV. He was also at the Uptown Theatre the night Bruce Springsteen's first Milwaukee concert was interrupted for three hours by a bomb scare. Damien was reviewing the concert for the Milwaukee Journal. He wrote for the Journal and Journal Sentinel for 37 years, the last 29 as theater critic.
During those years, Damien served two terms on the board of the American Theatre Critics Association, a term on the board of the association's foundation, and he studied the Latinization of American culture in a University of Southern California fellowship program. Damien also hosted his own arts radio program, "Milwaukee Presents with Damien Jaques," on WHAD for eight years.
Travel, books and, not surprisingly, theater top the list of Damien's interests. A news junkie, he is particularly plugged into politics and international affairs, but he also closely follows the Brewers, Packers and Marquette baskeball. Damien lives downtown, within easy walking distance of most of the theaters he attends.
