CLICK HERE: Michael Symon Full Biography
Michael Symon hardly needs an introduction. The chef has been cooking in Cleveland since the early ‘90’s. With wife Liz, their partner Doug Petkovic, and an incredible kitchen team he currently dishes up great food at Lolita in Tremont and the East 4th Street hotspot Lola. Symon is a well known figure for anyone with a pulse living in this town not only for his culinary skills but also because he’s a diehard civic booster, a generous supporter of countless local causes and organizations, and an easy-to-like guy who’s known for pushing his colleagues and employees into the spotlight. He’s become familiar to a public that goes far beyond northeast Ohio thanks to his appearances on television’s Iron Chef America and his competition win at then end of the 2007 season, and his new role as host of the Food Network’s popular Dinner: Impossible.
But owning and running two restaurants and being on camera, and the 80 hour work weeks that come with all that wasn’t enough to keep him occupied. So the hometown star decided to write a cookbook, launch a new concept restaurant in Detroit, and open a café and pastry shop in the Eton Collection. You might think that with so much going on, he’d be a little harried, not to mention tired. But you’d be wrong. Giving the Fabulous Food Show an update via cell phone on his many projects, Symon sounded just like he always does- upbeat, down-to-earth and brimming with energy.
Fabulous Food Show: Tell us about the new restaurant.
Michael Symon: It’s called Roast, and we’re talking meat. I’ll be grilling and spit-roasting steaks, chops, and whole suckling pigs over open flames and cooking in an oven that burns cherry wood. All the equipment was custom-made for us. I’ve been thinking about doing something like this for a long time and we have a perfect place here. We’re located on the Book Cadillac Hotel. It’s a downtown Detroit landmark but was closed for 20 years. The developers did a spectacular job with the renovations. It’s gorgeous.
FFS: Will you be living in Detroit now?
MS: Absolutely not. It’s only two hours away. I can drive back and forth in a day. People spend more time in their cars commuting to work. I have a solid staff here- they’re great. The October opening went very smoothly.
FFS: How far along is the cookbook and can you tell us anything about it?
MS: [Michael] Ruhlman and I are working on the final draft. I wrote most of it, but I wasn’t the greatest of students so luckily he fixed my stuff. Sometimes I’d tell him stories and he’d do the writing. I’m really thrilled with what we’ve got. It’s my life in food, from childhood through my experiences with Lola and on Iron Chef. It should be out next fall.
FFS: What’s happening with the patisserie in the mall in Woodmere?
MS: I’m doing this in partnership with Cory Barrett, my amazing pastry chef at Lola . It will be called Bittersweet and we’re hoping to be ready for business by March.
FFS: And what’s happening with your TV gigs?
MS: We filmed ten Iron Chef Battles in eleven days in July and I’m done for the season. It really doesn’t take as much time as you’d think. We’ve wrapped up 13 episodes of Dinner Impossible too. It was hard but we had a great time. The best part was getting to bring along some of my friends who also happen to be great local chefs like Jonathon Sawyer [Bar Cento], Greg MacLaren [Marigold Catering], and Tim Bando [Theory].
FFS: You’ve got so much going on. Is it making you crazy? If you had hair, would you be pulling it out?
MS: You mean more crazy than I already am! But really, so far, so good. That’s because I’ve got Liz and Doug. I couldn’t do all this without them. I’m a chef, not a CEO or a celebrity. I’m hands on. I still cook and I always will.
FFS: Are you still having fun?
MS: Oh god, yes.