The normally light-hearted Executive Chef Eric Degroot gets serious when it comes to food. Having started as a bus boy and server at Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater in Fresno in 1987, Eric knows the restaurant business from the ground up. Eric was born and raised in Fresno and makes great use of the Central Valley’s locally grown products. He is committed to incorporating organically grown produce into his menus whenever it is available.
In addition to working full-time for Roger Rocka’s, Eric creates recipes for WellPict Berries and occasionally travels to food shows to demonstrate the recipes on WellPict’s behalf. These recipes have resulted in interviews for national restaurant magazines and his work at Roger Rocka’s has made Eric’s culinary skills very popular with local talk-show programs as well
The Interview
Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater: What’s your favorite item on your menu right now?
Eric DeGroot: Probably the braised short ribs. I love them. People want to spend extra money on a cooked well-done filet mignon but the braised short ribs give you that melt-in-your-mouth quality that a well-done filet can’t. If you’re looking for that special item on my current menu, this would have to be it.
RR: For Roger Rocka’s, you have to recreate the menu about every two months for the new show. How do you come up with the items on the menu? What is your inspiration?
ED: For me, it ties in with the season. The menu now is comfort food. It’s winter time and this is real comfort food – the lentils with the salmon, the ribs and potatoes – it’s all comfort food that is perfect for this time of year. Sometimes the show provides good inspiration as well but it’s often hard to tie in food to the production onstage.
RR: Where is your favorite local place to eat when you go out?
ED: Well it used to be Upstairs Downtown before it closed. Sharon Alexander (the former owner) had a very nice restaurant and I get a lot of inspiration from her too.
RR: Since Upstairs Downtown closed, where else do you like to eat out?
ED: I eat at my restaurant and I eat at home. I don’t really have time to eat out.
RR: What do you eat at home?
ED: Most of the time, cereal. [laughs]
RR: Do you have a favorite ingredient?
ED: Most people that work with me would say lemon. It balances out flavors and if something tastes a little plain you can add a little fresh lemon and it will zing it up. It’s great for anything, I love it.
RR: What cuisine are you most influenced by?
ED: I’m mostly influenced by French and Italian.
RR: How did you come up with the Salmon and Lentils with Crème Fraîche and Pickled Onions.
ED: I like to think of it as a tri-pod of flavors. Salmon’s “flavor pals” are Applewood bacon, lentils, stuff like that and that’s all the things that go with the salmon. The pickled onions really add another dimension of flavor and when you add the creaminess of Crème Fraîche, it completes the journey. That’s how I envision it.
RR: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever attempted to cook? Anything that didn’t work?
ED: Oh man, there are a lot of things I’ve tried over the years. Early on some really naive things, some overly complicated things, but that’s what cooking is about – finding what works and what doesn’t.
View the complete Beehive dinner menu at Roger Rocka’s Dinner Theater.
Original Interview on InnerFatMan.com