Being responsible for four Hereford Houses and Pierpont’s
is all part of the day’s work for Corporate Chef Erik Hyre. What does being a corporate chef mean? Well,
perhaps fewer late night hours (except during holidays) and more decision
making to ensure all five restaurants move smoothly, create delicious meals,
and train responsive staff, all necessary for happy customers.
Chef Hyre began working in restaurants in high school and
soon decided he liked it and wanted to move up.
That meant school and he graduated from Johnson County Community
College’s extensive culinary training in 2000.
From there, he began climbing, working his way up from the line, to sous
chef, to chef, to executive chef and now being the guy who’s in charge of entire
group. To that task load, he’s also
currently the general manager for the Zona Rosa location where he’s adding extensive
front of the house experience. The major
difference from the whirlwind in the kitchen is “always listening to the
customers and determining what they are really saying,” he remarks. It’s a different field of vision and really
enlightening, especially when changing the dinner rolls can apparently rock a
person’s world, he says wryly.
The newest thing at the Hereford Houses is a new menu,
debuting September 3rd, which, while it will retain some of the must-have
favorites like chicken fried steak or beef stroganoff, is more geared to
“foodies” and the next generation of eaters.
Creativity and presentation are important and even the favs will be
tweaked. He’s hoping this doesn’t cause
an uproar with the many traditionalists who have relied on Hereford House for
years for their filets and KC steaks (almost equal in their top popularity) but
of course, the restaurant IS a long-time Kansas City steak house and the
charcoal grilling won’t ever change. The
unique flavor of all the meats done this way is too important he points out.
So what does the top chef at a mainstay steak restaurant
eat? For lunch, nearly always a
burger. His absolute favorite, which you,
too, can order is their slow cooked prime rib, rare, then tossed on the grill
for a minute to caramelize it – the sweetness and full charcoal flavor make it
taste like the best ribeye in the world, but different. It’s just great, he fervently claims. At Pierpont’s, since he’s eaten everything so
often, he extols the variety of the menu which changes quarterly to take
advantage of what’s fresh and local. And
he loves the “wow” factor of the Union Station location, and its beautiful bar
– but he’s well aware it takes more than a pretty place: service and food must
be exemplary as well.
With four daughters, from 16 years to 8 months, Chef Hyre
doesn’t have much free time. He doesn’t
cook at home – his wife likes to – but he will grill. Or call for a pizza. He and his wife eat out as much as they can –
it’s research, too, of course. Maybe
twice a week he puts on his head phones, gets out his bicycle, and zooms away
for stress relief.
He notes that the stress is mitigated by the enjoyment of
running restaurants and making people happy. He trusts his team of chefs and
staff and knows that everyone plays a role. “The happiest hours are when we’ve
pleased someone from the front door to the back,” he says. And that happens enough to keep him happy,
too.
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