Rick Mace
Rick Mace grew up on his family's farm in rural Ohio, knowing where his food came from, and understanding the toils of farming and gardening. But just like life on the farm, the food also was simple. So he remembers clearly when his Father, who was in the Air Force, returned from Greece. His dad was absolutely taken with the food he had eaten during his travels and wanted to recreate it for his family. Rick joined his dad in the kitchen and that was when he found out about cooking. "I'll never forget the first time that I smelled a nice olive oil." recalls Rick. Before then, Rick had never thought about how to make the food taste good, and the boundless landscape of cuisine. Learning about a different culture through its food and bringing it to the table for his family was thrilling.
Once Rick started cooking he made his way through all the restaurant kitchens in his small home town. High school wasn't where he wanted to spend his time and he found himself more and more taken with the idea of becoming a chef. When he was done with high school he applied to Johnson and Wales, but circumstances got in the way and he never enrolled. Rick continued to work at his local restaurant, which is where he met his soon-to-be wife, Siobhan. After their first child was born, and with help from Rick's aunt and uncle, the young family moved to Indiana and Rick entered the local community college to receive his AOS in Hospitality and Administration. But Rick still wanted to cook.
The dream of becoming a chef was still strong two years later, after he and his family took a trip to Lake Placid in upstate New York. Rick knew that there was a culinary school across the lake and while on vacation he made a point of taking the ferry to Burlington to visit NECI. Rick was immediately captivated by the school. He knew he was done with learning in a classroom, and NECI would get him into the kitchen immediately. It was real world experience and he was ready for it.
Because Rick had been working for a while, he took the AP exam and passed with flying colors. It wasn't long before the family apartment and all their belongings were packed and ready to go. But Rick couldn't leave. Rick's daughter, Kimberley, had undergone a medical procedure and her doctors weren't ready to release her. The family had to make a momentous decision — stay in Indiana to care for their daughter or move to Vermont to pursue Rick's dream. Siobhan and Rick's family again came to the rescue. Rick's wife and daughter stayed with their family, and Rick left for Vermont, knowing that as soon as Kimberley was permitted to leave, the rest of his family would join him.
Rick loved NECI and Vermont. Having grown up in rural Ohio, living in Vermont was comfortable to him. Rick immediately made connections with his instructors. He knew that he couldn't waste time and planned to maximize his experience. Students at NECI worked for six days with Sunday's off. Rick started working on Sundays as well; first by showing up at 5:00 a.m. to help bake the bread then going into Butler's to help with brunch. It wasn't long before he had developed a rapport with the chefs on Sunday mornings.
Soon, Rick was invited by "Goldie" (Laurence Goldberg) to work service at Butler's on Sundays. There were no other students working at that time and Rick was terrified. Goldie was known for his formidable stature, efficiency and his highly tuned sense of urgency. Rick worked hard, picked up techniques and got up to speed in the Butler's kitchen. When it came time for him to hit the classroom with Chef Louise, he was ready.
The three weeks Rick spent in Chef Louise's A la Carte class in Butlers was his most rewarding time at NECI. The work in class laid the foundation for his fine dining experience. When it came time to find his internship, Rick knew that uprooting his family from Vermont was not a good idea, therefore, he arranged for his internship to take place at Butlers. With his earlier experience with Goldie under his belt, Rick spent his internship learning everything possible. After his internship was over, Rick stayed on to teach at NECI for another 6 months.
Rick counts Chef Louise as one of his true mentors. Her help in learning the nuances of fine dining at Butler's has held him in good stead and they keep in touch to this day.
But Rick knew that he would have to move on. Two friends from NECI, Chefs Dean Thomas and Keith Schroeder, were based in southern California. Rick and Keith had been good friends while at NECI, and Keith offered Rick a chance to join them out in California. The call to support his family was strong and Rick and Siobhan picked up and traveled all the way across the country to try something new.
Rick was quickly put in charge of a huge staff of 90 cooks and 6 sous chefs. The restaurant was producing 1,700 covers a day with 4,000 covers on holidays. Things were seriously different from his days back in Vermont. Rick learned the managerial side of things becoming very efficient in the office and learning how to manage the personnel aspects of such a large staff. However, he wasn't comfortable. Rick was far removed from cooking with his only interaction with the kitchen spent communicating and delegating work. A life lesson was learned: more money doesn't always equal happiness with what you are doing.
Chef Dean and Keith understood that Rick wasn't happy and they offered him the opportunity to run the butcher shop. Rick had developed an interest in charcuterie and spent a year working with the butchers. Rick feels that he gained immense experience during his time in southern California, though it was just a stop on his way.
Over the years, Rick had maintained contact with a childhood friend who had spent time with him in the kitchens of that small rural town in Ohio. His friend had gone to CIA and had moved to Las Vegas at the same time Rick had landed in San Diego. Knowing that Rick was in search of a new adventure, he suggested that Rick get to know the executive chef of Brasserie Boulud at the Wynn Las Vegas where he worked. Rick was excited. He could move his family to Las Vegas and work, once again, with his childhood friend, but now at one of the top restaurants in the country.
Rick arrived in Las Vegas to take the position of sous chef at Brasserie Boulud three weeks before his friend left for West Palm Beach. But Rick was okay. There were places to grow at the Brasserie and he was going to take advantage of everything. Rick started off at the saucier station. This was a good place to be properly trained in the restaurant's system for doing things. It got him in the right mentality and soon he knew how to do things the Boulud way. Never one to rest on his laurels, Rick quickly took on more and more responsibilities. It was a good way to show his work ethic by being effective at a very busy station.
It wasn't long before he spoke to the Executive Chef to suggest that he could do more. Rick was promoted from sauce to meat and then, within a matter of months, he was promoted again, this time to supervising two chef de parties who he trained for the sauce and meat stations. Rick had established himself as a valuable member of the kitchen at Daniel Boulud Brasserie. After nearly two years, Rick was promoted in February to Chef de Cuisine. He now supports the Executive Chef in running the entire kitchen.
Rick believes NECI is directly responsible for his success. The most important thing he learned, and should be known by any aspiring culinarian, was taught to him by Chef Michel leBorgne–Master the Basics. All true invention and creation in the kitchen starts with the basics. Rick lives and works by two mottos: always strive for progress not perfection and always be a professional, not a personality.
Rick maintains a simplistic reverence for food that began growing up on the family farm. For three generations, his family has produced food to sustain life. They have hunted, fished and grown their food. He learned the old ways to put up their produce, maintain a root cellar, and preserve their meat. He feels that too many people these days can not relate to the food on the table.
He wants to return to his roots himself. Rick would love to bring his family back home, purchase land and teach his children about the land and where their food comes from. Rick and Siobhan are expecting their second child in September. His family is proud of what he has done, but Rick isn't done yet. There is another chapter to his story, and he knows it will bring him back full circle to where he began.