The Country Club of Buffalo’s Joe Piazza, CEC, AAC, would like to see more club chefs find a better balance between work and home life.
Joe Piazza, CEC, AAC, has run the kitchen in some of the country’s most prestigious clubs. Prior to his current post at The Country Club of Buffalo, he served as Executive Chef of Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., Executive Chef of Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado and as Executive Sous Chef of Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y. Earlier this year, he was inducted into the American Academy of Chefs.
- You’d be surprised to learn that I am allergic to shellfish.
- If I could trade places with another chef, it would be Thomas Keller or Patrick O’Connell.
- One of my most memorable meals was at Eleven Madison Park.
- My go-to drink is Tito’s with grapefruit Pellegrino.
- My last meal would be a 45-day dry-aged ribeye steak with a roasted lobe of foie gras and a bottle of Domaine Romanee Conti.
- My worst culinary creation was a fruit carving.
- If I could change one thing about my club, it would be the location of the kitchen to the rest of the building’s service areas.
- My favorite junk food is potato chips with French onion dip.
- If I wasn’t a chef, I’d love to be a real-estate developer.
- I knew I wanted to be a chef when I was volunteering at a church carnival at the age of 14. I was cooking at a concession stand with a bunch of older guys who were getting slammed with orders, but I was having a great time.
- You’ll never see tripe on the menu at my club because it smells bad.
- The most ridiculous member or guest request I’ve ever had was to cut their sandwich directly in half and not on an angle. They said it tasted different.
- I love being a club chef because every day is different.
- When I’m not in the kitchen I’m with my family or golfing.
- My biggest mistake when I first started as a chef was trying to prove that I knew more than I did.
- During the quarantine, I made sure to have these five foods with me: whole chickens, garlic, semolina flour, avocados, and lemon.
- I cook spaghetti with oil and garlic with a ton of crushed red pepper and parmesan cheese at home, but I’d never cook it at the club.
- If I could have dinner with one person, dead or alive, it would be Bruce Lee.
- The most valuable piece of advice I’ve ever received was the golden rule.
- My favorite celebrity chef is Daniel Humm because he’s a badass.
- The most important thing in my kitchen is the tilting skillet.
- I want to learn more about cold-food show work because I feel it is the weakest part of my “toolbox.”
- My favorite ingredient is butter. Black truffle is the most overrated ingredient. Lemon is the most undervalued ingredient. I detest an overly sweet breakfast, and I can’t live without peanut butter.
- The rules of conduct in my kitchen are to not judge others and, when putting up a dish, always ask yourself, “Would I serve this to my mother?”
- I don’t like to brag, but I have hit a hole-in-one.