The U is Silent; We Aren’t-Episode 5
Breaking Bread and Boundaries: The Audacious Rise of Ian Boden
From small-town roots to national acclaim, Ian Boden’s story is anything but ordinary. Hear how this 3x James Beard nominated chef took the path less traveled—and added a little fire along the way. We talk culinary passion, rebellious flavors, and how Staunton became the epicenter of food innovation in the Shenandoah Valley.
About This Podcast
The U may be silent, but Staunton has a lot to say. Join Visit Staunton as we sit down with inspiring individuals at the top of their craft. We’re chatting about what drives their passion, the actions behind the impact, and a little about the place where they’re making it all happen.
SUBSCRIBE NOW!
The U is Silent; We Aren’t is available wherever you listen to podcasts. Click the links below to subscribe and listen in to audio only. If you like what you hear, don’t forget to subscribe, give this video a like, and tell your friends.
TRANSCRIPT
0:00
Music.
0:09
Welcome back to the US silent. We aren’t podcast right here in Staunton. I am so excited for today’s episode. We’ve been looking forward to it since this idea, this podcast even first came about kind of beyond a local legend. Many people will know his name and reputation precedes him a little bit here, but super happy to be joined by three time James Beard finalist, multiple award winning chef and owner of the shack, and also Maude and the bear here in Staunton. Ian Bodom, thank you so much for joining us here today. Thanks for the invite. Yeah. So there is so many aspects of your career, as we were just talking about, your career spans over 30 years, a whole diverse background. So we’ve got a little bit of leg to travel today. For sure. So I guess first, is there anything you want to share about your journey or about yourself before we kind of jump in?
1:08
That’s, that’s a, that’s a loaded question. No, it
1:11
really, is it really so I’ll, I’ll ask, because I know we were just talking a little bit ago about where you even kind of started out in the restaurant industry. So I know your your family actually owned a restaurant. Or how did I know you started super, super young? How did you like, at
1:29
13 years old, end up in a restaurant? So my
1:31
folks went to a restaurant that was in Yorkshire, Virginia, which is between Centerville and Manassas in Northern Virginia, and it had just opened, and it was a chef, and his wife, and his wife was working the front of the house, and the chef was in back, obviously, and they had no other employees. And my parents went in for lunch one day, and they started talking to him, and they made friends, and they said, hey, you know, can our young son come and spend a day in the kitchen with you guys? And he said, Yes. And they’re like, well, just like on a slow day, you know, on a Monday or something like, they said absolutely not. If he’s gonna come, he’s gotta see what it’s gonna be like. And so he’s gotta come on a Saturday. And so I started then, and I never looked back been doing it since.
2:12
So at
2:14
that point, were you already interested? No, were they just kind of like, you know, what, my son needs
2:19
a job. No, no. It wasn’t even I need a job. It was, you know, my folks have always been super supportive and very into us trying as much as we possibly can. But, you know, you dip your toe in the water and as many different things, and hopefully you find something that sticks. I was just fortunate and not the first thing I really tried to pursue, I really fell in love with. So, yeah,
2:40
so what was that journey like back then, at the main beginning, before you really knew anything, what was it like being so young?
2:47
I mean, it’s in a restaurant, you know, it’s hard to it’s hard to say. I mean, it’s the only experience I’ve ever had, you know, so So comparing it to something else is challenging. I mean, I talk to people about this a lot where you know me, relating even to my kids, when me and oh, they’re my stepchildren, but when we me and my wife first started dating, you know, they were three and six, and then as they hit their teen years, it was really hard for me, because at 13, I was very motivated, driven, and I knew exactly what I wanted, and that’s the only experience I’ve ever had. So relating to a 13 year old, that is being a 13 year old, like I should have been, you know, it’s difficult. It’s challenging. So, you know, like I said, you know, you know what you know and and your experience. So comparatively speaking, it’s really hard. Yeah,
3:30
I am curious, especially because you did start so young. Was there a meal you prepared, or a moment that sticks out that kind of gave you this aha moment that, you know what,
3:41
this is actually something I have,
3:43
you know, there’s something super kinetic about being in a busy kitchen and and the it, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s like, it’s like a drug addict tracing a high. It really is. I mean, there’s endorphins, there’s there’s stress, there’s crazy energy, there’s noise, there’s, you know, flames, there’s everything, reflections, it’s crazy. And so to be able to find this calm within that storm is awesome, and it’s addictive. It really is, I mean, and you know, one of the great things about the restaurant business and kitchens in particular, is that you are judged solely on what you produce every day, solely so, so your personality doesn’t matter so much. You’re, you know, you’re, you’re, you know what happened to you yesterday doesn’t really matter. Everything that matters is what’s happening right now and how you’re producing. And that gets you to the next spot. You know what I mean, that’s, that’s where your progression is, and that’s all you’re judged on. And you know more so now, I think, than than prior because, you know, obviously the industry has had some horrible things happen in it. There’s been some some some rockiness over the years. But, yeah, I mean, it’s all about what you produce on a daily basis, and how well you you deal with your situation.
4:54
I am really curious about that, especially the idea of, I. So each day, it’s kind of a different judge each day of what you’re doing. And I know you’ve you’ve done a lot of leadership as a mentor at different aspects of your career, when you are leading a team, whether they’re already established in a restaurant that you’re coming into as an executive chef, or the experience you’ve had lately as owner and training a team. How do you how do you teach that, that mentality of each day?
5:26
Honestly, I just say it, you know, teaching it, it’s up to the person and the person across from me, whether or not they they process it or how they take it. But I just tell them. I tell them, every day is like, you know, yesterday doesn’t matter. What matters is what happens today. And every day, we come in and we work hard and we push ourselves to be better than we were yesterday. If you don’t, and you’re stuck on what happened yesterday, then you’re not going to last. You’re just not going to last in this industry. You have to push forward. It’s it’s important. You know, growth is important. And you know you don’t grow by reflecting all the time, right? You grow by pushing forward. Yeah,
6:02
I am. I heard once years ago
6:04
this line that it’s always stayed with me when, you know, a day gets a little hairy, it’s one one day doth, not a life make so I’ve always liked that of whether you have a really big high or really big low doesn’t matter. It always comes back back in Yep, you
6:19
just got to keep on pushing. I mean, you know, part of the reason I set up my restaurants the way I did, I have and do, as far as how often we change the menu and how progressive everything always is is for that very reason. You know, stagnation, to me, is death. You know perpetual emotion is important. And if you stop growing and you start resting on morals, then how do you have pride in what you do? You like? It’s like reflecting, oh, you know the glory days? Well, every day should, you know, you should be pushing in that direction. Every day you know, don’t, don’t reflect so much, push forward more. Yeah.
6:54
What’s next? Yep, yeah. From a technical side, I am really, really curious, because it is. It’s fascinating to watch you in the space and in the restaurant, but not even just as you’re at work, but explaining the business side. So from your standpoint, because you have really created just an incredible reputation for an elevated culinary experience, and I don’t say culinary meal, that’s part of it, but you really have cultivated an entire experience around what are the key elements you think it takes to have this elevated experience?
7:29
Everything You Know From the moment you walk into the door and the first person you interact with to the last person you interact with and you walk out the door, every second counts, and we try to we try to hit all our points. Doesn’t always happen. We try to get better every day, like I said prior, and we try to progress. So one of the things that are important to me is collaboration, and that goes with my friend of the house staff and my kitchen staff, and, of course, my wife, who’s also my business partner, and so, you know, we’re we’re always listening to each other and talking, and there’s always a conversation, and it’s always, how do we make this better? Or what can we do, be it, you know, the color of a wall or the way a door handle is working or not working. You know what? I mean, it’s everything we talk about, everything. One of the coolest things, in my opinion, one of the coolest compliments we’ve gotten is when we had our wash when we had our Washington Post review, the critic was talking to me on the phone, and he’s like, you know, he’s like, I don’t know if this was intentional. He’s like, but the hand towels in your bathrooms were awesome. And I was like, Yeah, because it’s something that I put a lot of thought into, yeah, you know, and to see that somebody noticed it is really cool. There’s been other times where people pick up the silverware and like, the silverware is really well balanced. It feels good. I’m like, yes, people don’t think about that stuff. But it’s important. It’s important when you’re doing what we do, it’s important, you know, it’s not important in every restaurant, and every restaurant is not the same, right? But for what we do, the silverware is important. The plates are important. The glass, how the glass how the glass feels in your hand, is important. You know, all of those things are important.
9:04
Yeah, is there you
9:06
were talking about, like, all the different items we interact with? Is there something you maybe many other people like myself, if I went into any, you know, restaurant, anywhere, and I picked, I may not notice, but is there anything in particular like I so I have a theater background, I always just like hyper focus on the lighting design or the sound levels. Is there anything kind of like that? You hyper focus on it?
9:28
You know, when we call it restaurant view, like you walk into a restaurant and you how you process and see everything is, and it varies, obviously by experience and all those things. And all those things. And when we hire a front of the house server, that’s one of the things we’re looking at. We’re not just looking at, you know, their personality or their technical ability. We want to see if they see the room. So as an owner and as someone who’s been in this business for a long time, I see a lot of things that a lot of people don’t see. But yeah, there’s nothing in particular. It’s just, you know, the first thing you notice, honestly, is not how anything. Looks or sounds. It’s how you feel right when you how you feel in the space. And that’s something that Leslie and myself have focused on at mod and at the shack. It’s super the shack. You wouldn’t think that we focused on anything, because, you know, it’s my little, my little trashy building in the middle of parking lot that I love dearly, you know, but how it makes you feel when you walk in the door. We’re in a small town, and we’re we’re on the higher end as far as price point goes. And so for me, it’s super important that people walk through the door don’t and don’t feel that. I want them to feel that it’s nice in there, but I want them to feel comfortable walking in the door. And that’s something you know from my first restaurant in Staunton, almost 20 years ago to now, like there’s an obvious difference at the original Stanton grocery, I wasn’t concerned about how people felt when they walked through the door because I was a young punk kid right now it’s super important to me. I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable walking through our doors. I don’t want anybody to feel intimidated walking through our doors. And so we do everything within our power to mitigate that. And so that’s something that I notice when I walk into a restaurant. And to be truthful, a lot of the high end restaurants that are out there that I walk in the door in, I don’t feel comfortable in, like, legitimately, after all this time, does it matter if I understand the food? Does it matter if I know the owners or the chef, or whatever it is, most restaurants I walk into I feel uncomfortable in what
11:21
do you think plays a part in that the most? I
11:25
mean, some of it’s me, you know, some of it’s my mic works. But yeah, I just, I think people are more focused on the esthetic than the feel. And to me,
11:37
and it is something that you can capture, that’s, that’s something we talk about, even whether we’re hosting an event or or whatever it might be, is, I think our job a lot of times, if we are the host of that is, is, of course, all the logistics and things like that. But when it comes time for the person to person, our job is to set the tone of energy and taking care of your you’re taken care of when you’re here, you’re safe. When you’re here, you’re going to
12:02
call it we refer to it a lot in the restaurants, and we call it intent. You know, we work with intent. We cook with intent. We plate with intent, like we develop with intent. We have there’s a purpose. That purpose stays in your mind the whole time we’re doing all these things. And that, that energy, I know it sounds kind of weird, but you know that energy kind of infuses all of what you do. And to me, it’s important. To me, it’s very important. I am curious
12:27
from your history. So as we discussed, you’re a three times James Beard nominee. The first two were, it was for best chef, right? And now this one’s even a little bit extra special. So best new restaurant with Mod and the bear over the course of your your career and your journey, how have you balanced? Because even even now, how do you balance your role as head chef, but also owner? So do those things go cohesively, or do you feel like they sometimes? How do you balance that the those two different sides
13:01
now. Now it’s a little different, because I do have, I have a small management team now, and I have my wife, and so it’s a little easier to balance now, but the truth is, I do everything you know. There’s things that Leslie takes care of, there’s things that you know, my friend house manager and my wine director take care of. My bartender they she takes care of but like, you know, it all comes down to me, and so it’s easier now that I have this support system at the shack. It was crazy for the first several years. It was crazy. And eventually, you know, when I was staffed and we kind of fell into our routine a little bit, things got easier. But yeah, I mean, yeah, the to me, I’ve only been the chef of two restaurants and not been the owner or three restaurants, I guess so. I mean, for me, it’s all the same, I guess, yeah, I guess that’s a little convoluted answer, but yeah,
13:52
yeah. And I am curious. So as as you discussed, your wife, Leslie, is your business partner, and she has such a great eye for detail through throughout the space. It really is just she’s the best the detail and everything that
14:05
I can’t take credit for any of the decor. Oh, it’s incredible. Like that. I get to push her out front because she she hates being out front, so I like to push her out as much as I possibly can. She’s
14:15
done a great job. And I know she grew up here in Staunton. Your family has now come to Staunton. I guess, looking looking back, was there a moment, I guess what? What drove you guys, of course, family connection here, to come to Staunton. But why do you think Staunton is able to support these innovative restaurant ideas? And I guess, was there a moment that that made you guys think, you know what, this is the right place and the right time to there’s,
14:41
there’s, there’s several answers to that question. The first being that, you know, when I first moved here, the reason I moved here, not just because of my family being here, but I was ready to do something on my own, and I was living in New York City at the time, and, you know, I guess it’s 19 years July will be 19 years I’ve been here. I. Um, you know, the cost of entry in New York to open a restaurant was, you know, four or five, $6 million now it’s probably double that, sure. And in order to raise money like that, you know, it’s a lot, it’s a lot, and then you have investors over your head, constantly pushing, pushing, pushing, right, financially, financially speaking, um. And so what I found is that a lot of restaurants were opening up, and the creativity wasn’t there. The the room to learn and grow and fail, honestly, wasn’t there. And in Staunton, the cost of entry was extremely low, comparatively speaking, and it gave me space to mess up. You know, I moved here at 26 right? At 26 you’re not a fully developed adult yet, right? And, and I needed the time to mess up. And so that’s something that standard afforded me, which I think is really
15:56
cool, yeah, so I am curious, because we kind of touched on a little bit. So you’ve had all these different phases of pushing forward and what’s the next thing? But I am curious, from your standpoint of what it what it was like, kind of stepping out on the edge a little bit, going from being a chef in in spaces, whether coming from New York, and then other, you know, a little bit larger areas around here, and then taking a leap of faith to open up Staunton growth story, which then went into the shack, then going a step further, because the the shack was having great success, and you were getting national attention. And then right at the kind of peak of that, you said, You know what, I think it’s time to open up culinary Inn. It’s all
16:42
Leslie’s. Yeah, 100% she gets all the blame. And the co host, she’s been trying to convince me to open an inn for about five years. And the whole rationale is that, you know, the Shack has always been a destination restaurant. While we do have a great base of locals and regular clientele, it’s always been a destination, and they’re obviously staying somewhere, right? And so why not extend what we do into an in and I fought her on it for years and years and years. About five years ago, the house where the Maude the bear currently is went on the market, and she showed it to me, and I I shit on it. I did not because I didn’t like the house, but because I was like, There’s no way in hell that I’m doing this, not doing it. Yeah. And she kept on pushing. And I said, I kept on saying no. And then in 2023 ended 2023 Leslie is obsessed with real estate, and was flipping through one of the real estate websites and saw that it never sold. It just came off the market. And so she reached out to a friend of ours, who’s a real estate agent, who represented the people in the first time they tried to sell the house, and one thing led to another, and we ended up in the house, and then we bought the house, you know? It just, just happens, you know. So, yeah, so It’s all her fault.
18:03
We’ll say her accomplishment. There we go. So let’s talk about modern the bear, because it is, it is phenomenal, and I want to dive into the shack a little bit more, too, in a minute. But So modern the bear, it’s a historic home. Can you talk about what that process was like, still, probably nightmares a little bit. No, no, we’re over it. Wherever you’re going well, so we’re so that’s nice. I mean, only, like, a year or so out of nightmares. So,
18:33
I mean, you know, as far as renovations went, I mean, we obviously put a lot into the house, but as far as renovations went, we kept as much of the integrity of the home as we possibly could. So literally, there’s one wall that we removed because the kitchen is basically in the dining room. So we removed that wall and put a new header in, and then upstairs in one of the suites, we had to close, close the wall and open another one so we could make it to two suites. But other than that, I mean, structurally, we really didn’t touch anything. Leslie’s from here, we’ve lived in historic houses the whole time we’ve been married. I mean, the first house that I purchased in Staunton is over on callarama Street, and it’s, you know, it’s 110 years old now, something like that, you know, yeah, we’ve always lived in old homes. So, you know, one of the great things about this town is the old homes, and to destroy that or take that away, we weren’t going to do that. So we kept as much of the architecture. Actually, I think we kept all the architecture, you know, so all the little features of the home are all still there, you know. We kept all the door handles. So the door handles are, you know, 100 year old door to handle. So, you know, it’s that was very important to us. Yeah,
19:39
I think though Mother Bear matches so much of Staunton, though. And what I mean by that is, like you mentioned, one of our defining features here is our architecture. I mean, it is just so stunning and it’s so historic, but there’s kind of like two levels to that. And I always say, you know, when you. Through town if you ever want to speak to to a visitor or a tourist, here, look for the person looking up on the sidewalk. Because you look
20:07
up. Don’t talk to people so
20:10
opposite here, that’s
20:11
who you ask me. You have great conversations every time. But I always love this juxtaposition in Staunton of if you look up this amazing architecture and old school design that’s happening. But then you you’re on the ground level. And I mean, Stanton alone, it is. It’s mom, it’s modern in terms of the business happening within these structures. So from art galleries to boutiques, and how many bookstores you can pass along the way, in theaters. And I think modern, the bear is such a great example of that, too, of this historic preserve nature, and then you come in and and you’ve woven the historic elements and culture into this new envelope pushing what’s
20:53
kind of art form. It’s kind of like we were talking about before, as far as how a place feels when you walk in the door. You know, I think the the age of the home plays into that, right? So when you walk into mud, like the lines are very defined, right? The color palette is is very neutral, which is also very modern, right? But it’s got all of these, you know, historic. What’s the word I’m looking for? It’s got all these touches that you can tell are older, right? So, once again, we preserved as much of the architecture as we can, but we did, you know, modernize quite a bit where, you know, the paint color is not what they would have painted 100 years ago. There’s no wallpaper. Well, that’s not true. There’s very little wallpaper. We’ll leave the bathroom as a surprise for everybody. But yeah, I mean, so there’s very little wallpaper. And obviously, you know, 100 years ago, wallpaper was everything, right? So, um, so, yeah. I mean, I think it plays into that, that that that feel of comfort, you know, you walk in the door and it’s obviously clean, and it’s got very clean lines and clean paint colors and but, but there’s something clean there, yeah, yeah, there’s something that really
21:52
does, yeah. How would you compare? I know you lovingly, lovingly called it trash your decor at the shack,
21:59
your decor. I You said I was allowed one one
22:03
cuss word depends which one you’re using. Let’s hear which one you’re thinking. Oh
22:07
no, no. So I call it my shit hole in the middle of a shitting part shitty parking lot, because that’s what it is. It’s a little shit hole. I love that place to death. We just did our on Sunday. We did our 11th anniversary, yes, and me and Mike, who’s my chef there, and my CDC from mod, all cooked together, and I said it probably 50 times on Sunday that it just felt so good to be cooking in that kitchen again. And I really do miss it, and I really do love it, and I’m hoping as as we progress at mod, I’ll be able to spend more time at Shaq and split my time a little bit better, because I love that place. Yeah, I love that place. That place made everything that I’m doing and everything that I’ve done possible and and you know, what it represents to me is not just, you know, the food and the staff that’s been through there, but but my wife and my life together and her family was the inspiration for that place, and that’s all so important to me. So, yeah, I’m Yeah. So it is my shithole, but I love it. I love it,
23:03
yeah. How do you how do you continue cultivating and honoring all those things that made it so special to you? Oh, I mean, you guys just celebrated 11 years. How do you maintain that initial concept and the things that are so important along the journey. So the
23:22
one thing that’s never changed about the shack is our style of service and the way we interact and deal with our guests and how we welcome our guests. You know, be it when we first started and we were doing burgers two nights a week, and on Friday and Saturday, we had a prefix menu to, you know, pre COVID, when it was all prefixed to post COVID, when it was a tasting menu, and now it’s current incarnation. We never treated our guests any different. We never, you know, the whole point of the shack is to unprocess under promise and over deliver and make everybody feel comfortable and welcome. And I think that we’ve managed to do that from day one, and will continue to it’s, it is it is what the shack is.
24:00
And another aspect, I think that you have really just kind of taken a new heights, is you have it seems to be a through line in your career, of while the skill and the technique and and the product that you offer is just like other levels, you always seem to be able to incorporate elements of rural culture. Why have you done that? And how have you done that to continue honoring like the rural culture in what you’re doing well, so
24:31
I think any any chef or restaurant or who doesn’t pay homage to their location is missing, missing the point completely. So I mean, it’s irresponsible for me not to honor where we are and what we are. Additionally, my wife being from here. I mean, she grew up in Churchville, you know. So for me to ignore that is ridiculous. And then for me to ignore my heritage, my my Jewish, my Russian, Jewish heritage is is ridiculous. I mean, all of those things. Things make me and these restaurants what they are. And it, you know, it makes everything much more personal. And I think that makes the food better. And I think it’s easier to have the staff buy in, which is what you have to do. You have to have your I always say they have to drink the Kool Aid, right? If you don’t have some kind of personal attachment to what you’re doing. The end product is not what it what it could be. And so, you know, we’re always paying homage to to our environment. And then as far as my staff goes, incorporating them into that, I want them to reach into their, you know, food memories or family memories, and I want them to put that on the menu. I want, I want to work with them to put that on the menu, put that into our service, because, once again, they’re drinking the Kool Aid. They have a personal attachment to what we’re doing and how it’s done. It leads to happier staff. It leads to staff that’s much more vested in what we do, which leads to happier guests. You know, you got to take care of your staff before you take care of the guests. And it
26:02
gives staff a chance. Guests. And it gives staff a chance to kind of shine a little bit too, and show off what’s valuable to
26:06
them. I mean, whenever you come into the restaurant, if anybody comes to the past to tell me how great everything is, the first thing I do is it’s them. You know, I don’t cook for everybody. Some days I don’t cook at all. You know, I have my hand and my finger and everything, of course. But you know, I’m not the one who, well, depending on staffing, I’m not always the one cooking your food. So to keep praise on me is misguided. It’s all of us. Yes, I have created the environment. Me and Leslie have created this environment for these things to happen. But you know, it’s it’s them, not me. That’s why the this, this latest beard nomination, is so important to me and so great to me. You know, not only is it not just regional nomination, it’s a national nomination, but I mean, it’s not about me this time, and I like that. I like that my staff gets to my staff, both at the shack and on the bear, because one is not possible without the other. You know, it’s because of them they did this,
27:13
and for anybody, not for anybody listening that maybe isn’t as familiar with with kind of menu items that you offer. Can you give an example of of a dish that combines all these different flares and cultures? Or do you have a favorite? A favorite of the moment changes constantly,
27:32
constantly. So one of the things that I’ve always worked with is is drawing drawing lines right between Appalachia and the mountain south and the valley here, with my culture, you know, my Russian, Hungarian, Jewish upbringing, right? And my family’s history. So most people think of Appalachia, and they think Scots Irish. And Scots Irish is not all of Appalachia, right? It’s not all the mountains. There’s also. There was large wave of Italian immigrants, right? And the pepperoni roll in West Virginia, right? You know, there was Hungarian immigration. There was a bunch of Eastern Europe polish, especially in the coal mines, totally. I mean, everyone came here for work, right? So all of those influences did affect the food here. And so figuring out how those things, how I can draw parallels between what people consider southern or Appalachian food and what people consider Eastern European or even Jewish cooking, right? How I can connect those two? And it’s really easy. It’s really easy. And the first thing that I always talk about is, is lard versus schmaltz, right? So lard, obviously, you know you have your pig killing. You take all the fat, you render all the fat, and that’s your fat. That’s your lipid. That’s that’s your cooking medium. Until the next hog killing, in Jewish cooking, we have schmaltz. And depending on your family and where they’re from, that means different things for me, traditionally, it’s chicken skin that’s rendered out. And then we add onions to it and cook it until it caramelizes a little bit. And then you get all these anxious flavors from from the from the onions. So we’ve always made schmaltz out of everything. And I know my grandparents are probably rolling in their grade. But yes, we make pork schmaltz. We’ve done smoked beef schmaltz. We have wagyu schmaltz, lamb schmaltz, you name it. Traditionally, it was goose. In the old country, it was goose, and then ducks were more readily available, so it turned into duck. And then in the new world, it was chicken, because chickens were readily available, whereas goose and duck was not. But yeah, like I said, we make it out of everything. So that’s like one of those parallels for me. So like perfect example is light bread. So Leslie taught me how her grandma, Tizzy made light bread, which is basically it’s a white bread that has a ton of fat incorporated into it. Think brioche, but instead of eggs and butter, it’s just pork fat and. So I’ve taken that and now we make it with schmaltz, you know. So it’s the same thing. It’s the same bread. It’s just the fat is slightly different. So it’s one of those ways for me to kind of, kind of bring those things back around.
30:12
That is so fascinating. And so when you’re like creating these recipes or new ideas. Is it often, typically, like, you know exactly, like you have an idea and you know exactly what you want to get, or sometimes, is it made? So there’s
30:26
always, you know, you know, like I mentioned this earlier, but you know, restaurants are conversation, and so you know, our conversation always starts in the kitchen and starts with our producers. So all of these things come out of conversation, and that’s that, and that’s the short answer. You know, we talk about food constantly, be it with my friend of the house staff, when we’re describing what we’re doing on the menu, so they can have that same conversation with our guests, or when we’re talking to our farmers and producers about what’s coming in season and seeing what they’ve done with it, what we’re gonna do with it. You know, we’re always pushing people for ideas. Leslie calls her dad for me, you know, several times a year when we have something and I’m like, ask your dad how they did this. Ask how grandma Tizzy did this. What did grandma Tizzy do with this? You know? So it’s just that conversation. It’s a constant conversation. So do I go in with a clear vision, not every day. Usually we’ll have, you know, we sit down every Wednesday, before our prep day starts, we sit down and talk about the menu, and the dishes kind of evolve a little bit. And then Thursday, we’re actually in there for service, and they evolve a little bit more. And then, so the menu walk in with on Thursday is not necessarily the menu you walk out with on Saturday. So it’s always developing, because we’re always talking about it,
31:42
I would just stay hungry all the time. No, when
31:46
you work around food, you end up eating a lot less. Is it just because you’re just in it so much? Yeah, it’s not quite as intriguing. Yeah,
31:53
in a different hunger is weird. When you’re in the kitchen, right? Your body is telling you you’re hungry and that you need to eat something, but your mind’s like, I’m not hungry at all. Get in this little so you fight. You fight back and forth with yourself quick, yeah.
32:06
Now, how do you go about creating really strong relationships with local producers and farmers? They’re
32:11
the, you know, they’re, most of them are my friends now, and I’ve been, you know, when I first moved to Staunton, the first thing I did was went down to the farmers market and market, and I went and bought a bunch of produce and went home and cooked it all. And then the next time I went down there, I started talking to the farmers, and at the time, nobody in Stanton was using anything local at all. There’s two exceptions. Baja used to use pegs pies way back in the day. And then what’s it called the Pullman. The Pullman had local trout, and that was the extent of the local product used in Staunton. So when I went down there and started to introduce myself to people and farmers, I was, you know, it’s like, my name is Ian, and I’m opening a restaurant this winter, you know, and we’d like to see if we can work together a little bit. And they were all like, Yeah, whatever. Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever. You know, we opened January, 2 of, oh, seven so on, you know, December, whatever it was. I was like, I know it’s the middle of winter, and I know there’s not a lot going on, but do you have anything where we’re writing our menus? And they were like, Oh, are you serious? And I said, yeah, yeah. I told you six months ago that I was doing this and, you know, no because no one had talked to them before. So how do you develop those relationships? You talk to people. It’s, once again, it’s a conversation. It’s a conversation that I have every day with a number of vendors, you know, and from from the local produce to, you know, the guy that I work with to get most of my fish now, who’s based out of Massachusetts, he calls me every day and he’s like, Hey, this is landing today. This is really cool. This is something maybe you haven’t worked with. You know, do you want to try this? I mean, it’s always a conversation. We have friends in in Pennsylvania. They have a vinegar and miso company that we work with, and they were pastry chefs at a friend’s restaurant, and so I was introduced to them. And it’s just, it’s, it’s all connections and conversations. It’s an entire
33:58
web and and to a lot of credit. I mean, I think so much of the wave of the culinary experience in Staunton has evolved along with it as a whole. I mean, so many more places are trying to source locally and have that be a part of who we are in our farmers market has grown so much. It is just. Best, yeah, phenomenal, yeah,
34:17
yeah. I was lucky. I was on the board of the farmers market for four years, and it was a really cool to help. You know, I joined with, I think it was right before COVID, so I was there through the whole COVID, you know, debacle, and a couple other debacle, but, yeah, I mean, so So to help shape how the Farmers Market is now, I’m really proud of that. You know, it was cool to be a part of it, yeah,
34:42
and it’s such an interesting spot. And I think that’s what food allows itself to so much anyway, especially in a community like Staunton, it’s a smaller, more rural community, but it really is a common ground from locals, but also visitors should come in like it is a place. I mean, the fact that our farmers market is a place that visitors come when they’re here, our dining experience, it really is a place that brings everybody to the table. That’s
35:05
the whole, that’s the whole point, isn’t it? Yeah, the whole point of restaurants, yes, it’s, you know, it’s, it’s a community. It’s all about community. If you’re not, if it’s not about community, you’re doing it wrong. You know, it’s always about breaking bread
35:17
and so on that side of things. So both the shack modern, the bear, your own accomplishments have brought a lot of national attention to Staunton and to the work that we’re doing. I mean, we’ve, we’ve commented several times where, like, we couldn’t, we could, we could not even put this kind of press in but, and I know you’re, you’re very like,
35:40
I’m gonna say casual, because it’s not that. It doesn’t
35:42
stop anything. It’s not important, right? It just isn’t. It’s not the goal, Yeah, but how do you, how do you see this national attention that comes with it? How do you see a way that it can elevate the area, or how we move forward
35:56
as the truth is, whenever the town of Staunton gets mentioned in any national press, I mean, it brings more tourism, and Staunton thrives on tourism. So there were several years here where, where, where people were trying to make it not be a tourism town, but that’s just not the case. I mean, this is what we are. And so anytime we get any kind of attention, yeah, it goes to the bottom line of the town which helps everybody, you know, I wish people would would understand that a little bit more. Sometimes, I feel that sometimes people kind of poo poo on the idea of, you know, the Staunton being in on a list, or, you know, getting this article written about it, but it, you know, we like our roads, right? We like, we like that. We have, you know, services available to us in this town, you know, we like that. The downtown area is beautiful and is taken care of, and it’s got fresh flowers all the time. Like, we like all that stuff, right? So, you know, it, it’s we need the tourism. And the way to get the tourism is by having articles and press coming through. So, yeah, I mean, yeah,
36:56
yeah, yeah. Is there so thinking 10 years from now? So I know you guys just celebrated, right? You really think so I
37:06
would like to be quasi retired. We have a piece of property in Churchville. It’s seven acres. It backs up to George Washington National Forest, and we are building a house there, and that’s where we’re going to retire. So I hope that in 10 years time, we at least have that house. Yes, seven acres. I mean, almost enough room for, like, a culinary resort
37:25
Leslie. So one of the one of the places that Leslie wanted to put this in at years and years years ago, had a had an apartment on the top floor, and she’s like, Oh, we can live in a like, Absolutely not. I’m not going to live where I work that separation, separation. I yeah, I would go down a rabbit hole and I would do nothing else other than work, and that’s just not healthy anymore. Yeah,
37:50
is there anything in particular, I’m curious is Is there anything that jumps out to you? And I know there’s, you know, so many along the way, they were like, Oh, I would have done it this way. But are there any lessons, or, I guess, anything in particular that that you know about my mistakes?
38:06
Sure, yeah, let’s do that tons, yeah, tons and tons and tons. But I wouldn’t change any of it. Yeah. I would never change any of it. It’s, you know, everything that’s happened, everything that happens to you in your life, turns you into the person you are and put you where you are currently. And I happen to be very proud of what I’ve done, and love my life, love my family, and yeah, I wouldn’t be in the situation I am without the mistakes that I’ve made along the way. So no, I know I wouldn’t change anything. Yeah, and change anything when you were starting out with Did you ever imagine that you would now have a whole family owned business basically,
38:44
you know, it was, No, I don’t think it was ever in in my it was never the intent. It’s just how it developed. Yeah, I mean, like I was saying earlier, you know, you don’t know anything other than what’s in front of you, especially at that age, right? Of course, I wanted to own my own restaurant. And, you know, the restaurant that I started out in, like I said, was a family owned, family run restaurant, and so, I mean, it’s what I know. I’ve never worked. I’ve worked in one or two big places in my career, but the majority of the place. I’ve worked, have been small, so I like that.
39:20
I like that. Would you share the story behind the name modern? Yeah,
39:24
of course. So so it’s named after our kids, so Lila’s middle name is Maude, so Lila Maud Simmons and then Lucians. Nickname since birth has been bear, and Leslie is still called Mama Bear by most of Lucians friends from high school. But yeah, so I mean, and then the logo itself is a picture of a young girl and a bear sitting underneath a tree reading books. And the tree in our backyard is the model for that tree. It’s a huge, huge spruce that’s in the backyard. And then, you know, Leslie’s also obsessed with the ASAP fables, and so that kind of falls into the whole thing, right? So then the rooms, all of our suites, are named after different ASAP fables. And you know, the name of the restaurant kind of blends well with that. So, yeah, yeah, it
really does. I think just capture so much the focus on detail that we talked about that it’s, it’s so natural, it’s so personal, and it feels personal, but a person in a way that’s inviting, like it feels like, it feels like the somebody’s home, that you always felt comfortable having a seat at the table too, is, is? That’s the impression I have. Yeah, yeah. So you guys have done an amazing job. Any any final advice that you would share with somebody, let’s say, for somebody already in the restaurant, don’t do it. Don’t do it. Get out. Get out while you can. I mean, you know what? I think one of the biggest mistakes that restaurant tours and cooks make, especially earlier in their careers, they don’t eat enough. You know, a big part of your job as a chef is taste. It’s flavor, right? And so you don’t learn more by tasting your own food. You learn by tasting others. So eating out is super, super, super important. And for somebody who’s in the front of the house, the same thing like seeing different styles of service, seeing how different restaurants run their front of the house, seeing how a bar runs in different places. It’s important. So eating out, dining out, going out, having drinks, all of those things are super important, especially earlier in your career. So I would say, go eat more market research, yeah, yeah, kind of Yeah, yeah. You gotta get to find the things that you like and don’t like about other restaurants, so you can redefine what your vision for your establishment is going to be.
41:43
Final question, just curious, is there a particular ingredient you would say that can make or break a dish quicker than anything else? Salt, too much, too little, both? Yeah, yeah. Salt, and acid, I guess, yeah, acidity is super, super important. Do you think places should utilize salt more? Yeah, most of the time, really time, yeah. And it’s one of the biggest mistakes of home cooks, is that they don’t season enough. You don’t use salt for things to taste like salt. You use things for you salt for things to taste more like themselves. It’s, in a flavor enhancer, yeah, and so, yeah,
42:20
yeah. I’m learning how to bake right now. I’m notoriously, just a horrendous Baker, but I’m trying to solve that’s been. The biggest surprise to me is a call for salt. Add some salt, Yes, such a huge difference. First recipes I started, I’m like, this isn’t real. It’s real. It makes such a difference. It’s huge. It’s huge.
42:41
Somewhere in Italy, I don’t know why. I can’t think of it off the top of my head, but they’re infamous for not putting salt in their bread, and it is the weirdest thing to me ever. Salt also helps, you know, with crust development and all kinds of other things in bread. But, yeah, yeah, it’s bland. It drives me crazy.
43:37
Thank you so much for your time here. Any final thoughts, anything you want to share? I don’t think so people know, yeah. Well, come on out when you’re when people are coming to Staunton, we hear this all the time. I mean, people come to Staunton many times to visit one of your your restaurants as the central point of their trip, and they they build it out along the way. So thank you for the the creation you’ve made, you and Leslie together, the the details are just amazing, and the the energy and the environment you’ve created is what we continue to hope happen. Hopes happen here in Staunton. So thanks for joining Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me. Yeah. All right, guys, thank you for joining us. The U is silent. We are we’ll be back again soon, in a couple of weeks, but check out this episode if you like what you hear. Give us a good rating. Give us a thumbs up. Tell your friends, your family, your neighbor, somebody in the grocery store. We’ll go that way. So thanks for joining us. We’ll see you soon.
Newsletter Sign-up
Stay up to date on the latest and greatest happening in Staunton.
