Chef Pajo Bruich 

-interview by John Paul Khoury,CCC

Largely self taught, Pajo Bruich’s culinary career has taken a course not unlike Heston Blumenthal’s where although having limited restaurant experience intensive reading, dining, and application of technique in his own kitchen has been noticed by the likes of Anani Lawson of The French Laundry and Roberto Cortez, one of the top boutique private chefs in the country. Now the owner of Pajo’s Boutique Catering he is considered one of the top fine dining caterers in the region. Here is his story:

What drew you to the industry and why become a Chef?
I’m not formally trained but I have always had a passion for food. I grew up in a Serbian/British household where my folks were foodies and my Serbian grandmother was a phenomenal cook. Early on I was involved in the process of spit roasting whole animals and by the time I was 5 or 6 I was ordering rack of lamb and escargot in restaurants, so my palate was trained for good eating from a young age.

My grandfather imported in the first fish fryer from Europe and introduced fish & chips to America, in fact he started Dean Industries. That background lead to my mother opening Sierra Express which became a successful family restaurant supply business that I helped her run for years.  

When I got married I was fortunate enough to build a place of my own with a kitchen that I really wanted. I have done some traveling and dined at places like Pierre Gagnier and The French Laundry, so I started to throw these elaborate dinner parties, elaborate in the sense that they were small but the cuisine was intensive like the places we had dined at and it was running me like $800 to $1200 to host dinners for a handful of friends. Well my wife quickly put a kibosh on that! My passion for cuisine and desire to please friends and family was costing us a small fortune! This was really my culinary school – We ate out, I talked to chefs, and collected cookbooks, the CIA book, Daniel Boulud, some of Julia Child’s early work, and then I’d try and reproduce these recipes at home. The book that changed my culinary perspective was The French Laundry Cookbook. What started out as perhaps a coffee table book soon became apparent to me as a real guide to intensive technique. This is when I began going through recipes and executing them over and over again until I felt I had nailed it and it approached the cuisine I had eaten in these places.

At this point, which was about 2005, I started hosting cooking/dinner parties and now folks were more than happy to pay for these and the demand started to increase. In 2007 I asked Chef Courtney MacDonald & Eric Alexander at Carpe Vino in Auburn, CA. , which was close to my home, if I could stage in their kitchen because we had enjoyed eating there so much. Well they and I both jumped at the opportunity. It was a small family run kitchen with two CIA grad chefs. I did everything from wash pots to eventually learning the whole menu and running the line. Looking back I’d say for the year I spent there, off and on, I learned the most in the shortest period of time.  

I was now ready to leave Sierra Express, which I was still running, and make my culinary career move and start cooking professionally getting paid to do so. I got in on the opening of HAWKS, in Granite Bay, under Chefs/Owners Michael & Molly Fagnoni. This was the first exposure I had to a real brigade system where the staff was large and all had their specific jobs to execute and expected to know. I was put in garde manger and quickly realized that I was not going to be able to advance quick enough to make this feasible from a culinary or financial standpoint, so as excellent as that kitchen was I decided to move on after only about two days. At this point Carpe Vino offered me a paid position and I went back there. I also went to Catte Vedera Golf Club where I worked and ran the line for a short time then went back to Auburn to the classical French kitchen of Le Bilig where I was basically the sous, I ran the kitchen when the Chef/Owner was not there. This was 2008-2009 when I finally decided to get my catering license so I could go beyond my private chef dinners and do public events. That springboarded into the high end private catering business. In 2010 I found myself turning 30 and now with a wife and a daughter to support I became more ambitious than before as my level of responsibility increased. Along with my passion I also had a skill set now that had been lacking prior. I started to do exclusive events and the word spread. I was actually noticed by the sommelier from the French Laundry, Anani Lawson, who proposed we do an event together and it was a great success. I had always dreamed of working at The French Laundry but realized because of my circumstance that I probably would never be able to, but this was confirmation that I had found practical application of my passion at this level. My business finds its niche in clientele that wants the best in ingredients and appreciates the time and technique that is involved in elevating the catered experience beyond the chafing dish.  
 

Culinary highlights:
· In 2006 I took a class that was partly hosted by Harold McGee on emulsions. That evening we prepared a dinner for the class and I made various ice creams and Harold mentioned it was some of the best ice cream he had ever eaten. Coming from him that meant a lot and was confirmation of technique I was working on.

· Working with Chef Roberto Cortez. He trained with Albert Adria and his cuisine is amazing. I followed him on the web and reached out to him, he was impressed by my demeanor and what I was doing so he brought me down to L.A. to be his sous chef for an event and now we’re doing another together and also future projects.

· Working with Anani Lawson from The French Laundry.

How would you define your style?
It is ingredient driven coupled with new fresh techniques. I think bringing the scientific element to play helps redefine what these ingredients can be. For example a anti-griddle adds a new texture/temperature experience that can be eye opening. Using sous-vide allows you to get certain results that are difficult to acquire otherwise, but regardless of the technique the integrity of the ingredients are foremost. 
 

What do you like most/least about the industry?
MOST: An outlet for creativity and allows me to challenge the way people think about what they are eating by presenting flavor combinations they may have never had before. People are not always open to that so when I succeed it is tremendously rewarding. I think we are in a time now where more and more are open to being adventurous in trying new things.

LEAST: The sheer amount of work that needs to be done. I don’t have a large staff as of yet so there is training of who you have while doing my job, to at times washing the dishes after the day is done. To meet the goals that I need to meet is sometimes painstaking.

What chefs influenced you the most?
· Courtney MacDonald & Eric Alexander of Carpe Vino

· Roberto Cortez because he is very modern in his cuisine and he opened my eyes to the practical use of many of the hydrocolloids.

· Thomas Keller because he set my standard when I delved into TFL cookbook as I was developing my technique and cuisine.

If you could keep only 3 culinary books, what would they be?
· The French Laundry Cookbook- Thomas Keller
· The Fat Duck Cookbook- Heston Blumenthal
· On Food and Cooking – Harold McGee

Favorite kitchen gadget:
Pastry knife. I use it extensively for plating.
 

Culinary trends that bug you/ trends you like:
LIKE: The use of hydrocolloids in being creative with cuisine. Call it molecular gastronomy or experimental cuisine I believe this trend is going to yield new techniques and ingredients that will be beneficial to all chefs.

BUG ME: The trend in the economic downturn to use inferior quality ingredients in an effort to make more money. In the long run it hurts the business because it will cause a perception of cheapness or lack of quality and integrity. To me its always been about the quality of the product so it bothers me when there is a trend in the other direction.
 

An ingredient that you’re attached to:
Vinegar. I will use it from the amuse bouche all the way down to the dessert.
 

Most memorable dining experience:
Pierre Gagnier in Paris. It was a step above anything I had ever experienced before. It was like 23 courses of continuous dining that went on for like 5 hours using techniques and ingredients I had never experienced in the States. It blew my mind really.
 

Favorite ‘elbows on the table hole in the wall’:
Ikeda’s Burgers in Auburn,CA.
 

A food item you hate to admit to liking:
I like Jimboy’s Tacos- a little greasy but I grew up eating them and I just kinda like’em. Better than Taco Bell for sure.
 

Three things in fridge right now:
Heavy cream, prosciutto, Parmesan Reggiano

Secret junk food indulgence:
Plain Lay’s potato chips with El Tapatio hot sauce and lime juice squeezed all over them, there’s just something about it.

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Pajo Bruich on Preferred Meats: