TEXAS LIFESTYLE | A BETTER TEXAN
Who I Am: As told to E.A. Shumate
Chef Vijay Sadhu
Nothing makes happier than being in the kitchen. The Indian-born chef, who previously worked with Stephan Pyles at Samar and appeared on the Food Network's “Cutthroat Kitchen,” took the helm of Cook Hall, the American gastropub inside Dallas’ W Hotel, in 2015. You won’t find anything fussy or complicated on Chef Sadhu's new Southern comfort menu, but you will find big flavors.
My interest in cooking started when I was a kid in India, hanging out in the kitchen with our
cook. I went to culinary school in Australia and I’ve worked all over the globe - New York, California, D.C., Thailand, Bangkok and Malaysia. I had my own restaurant in Wisconsin. But I love the South. You don’t have to be a Southern guy to make good Southern food. I love being here in Texas. It’s given me so much … the experience of working with great chefs and all the wonderful flavors here.
This is my first hotel restaurant experience, but we’re treating it as a freestanding restaurant that just happens to be attached to a hotel. The [hotel management company] gave me the freedom to create a new menu. Before starting the process, I traveled through the South – Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina – learning about comfort foods. Even in simple food, you need to understand the flavor profile and how it feels when it hits your palate. Making the perfect dish means creating a marriage between the right four or five ingredients. When I’m in the kitchen, I’m like a kid, playing
with flavors and ingredients. When I’m not in the kitchen, I’m like a fish out of water but I do go to Barnes & Noble sometimes to read cookbooks by chefs like Chef Sean Brock (his food is simple good Southern cooking from his mother’s recipes); [Gordon] Ramsey (I love the way he works, so disciplined); and Tony Bourdain.
I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They’re so simple. I
want to add one to the menu, fried with a scoop of ice cream and French fries. I want to bring the kid out of the adult guest in my restaurant.
2440 VICTORY PARK LANE | DALLAS | at the W Hotel cookhalldallas.com
72 Texas Lifestyle Magazine | Winter 2016
CREDIT: Clint Brewer
Whatever you do,
put your love, focus and passion into it. That’s what makes a great chef. If you put love into your cooking, it will come out good. I make simple food with big, bold flavors and quality products. When guests leave my restaurant, I am most satisfied when they feel happy.