In the Kitchen with Chef Ro
Chef Rowan Murray and my wife Kaylene became great friends during their time at Ursuline College in Cleveland, Ohio. Thanks to their friendship and social media, I connected with him through a shared love of all things food. Rowan and I would often exchange direct messages on Instagram sharing our excitement over restaurants and Top Chef.
In May of 2019, my wife and I went to New Orleans, Louisiana for the first time to soak up the historic jazz culture and eat lots of food with minimal breaks. Our first night there, we ended up at a restaurant called Maypop. In prime millennial fashion, I uploaded photos of my dinner and dessert to my Instagram story, which prompted Rowan to message me with some of his recommendations. He strongly recommended Bywater American Bistro, as he explained the restaurant’s Chef-Owner, Nina Compton, has inspired his artistry for years. Between the jerk chicken stew and the mushroom risotto, let’s just say Bywater is easily in my top three favorite restaurants of all time.
Rowan went to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for culinary school and soon after that worked at Eleven restaurant in downtown Pittsburgh under chef Derek Stevens. Once Rowan moved back to Ohio, he would go on to work for Moxie and Red The Steakhouse in multiple locations for eight years. Most recently, he was in the kitchen at Brim Kitchen + Brewery, before its unfortunate closure due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
I caught up with Chef Ro to see what has inspired his artistry, what dish his family would say he’s famous for and what new food trend he thinks may happen next.
What are some of the driving forces in your life that shaped your desire to become a chef?
I would have to start with my love of food and eating. I was always an eater; I was the one as a child that could eat all the groceries if you let me.
The next force that drives me would have to be my love of competition. I get to compete all day in many different ways. I get to learn daily, while trying to be better than I was the day before.
My other driving forces are my mother and grandmother. Both are great home cooks, and I would say my talent stems from them.
Tell me about some of your earliest memories in a kitchen.
The earliest memories I have in the kitchen is being a young kid in Jamaica (I don’t know the age, but I would say between four or five).
My grandmother came in town to visit and she fried some small fish for everyone to eat. I got to help flip the fish when it was time. Nothing crazy, but it’s a memory I forgot about until I was seriously pondering this question.
Another memory is making my own eggs every Saturday morning for breakfast. As a child eggs were one of my favorite things to make and eat, although nothing beats a great tomato.
What cultures most inspire your cooking?
I’ll have to start with my own culture. I’ve taken my time over the last few years to really work on some of the staple dishes in Jamaican cuisine.
I still have some work to do but I’ll get there.
The second biggest cultural inspiration for my food is Italian cuisine. I went to Italy last year for my 29th birthday and fell in love with the food and culture. I have spent the last two years of my career really working on my pasta skills. Prior to COVID-19, I added gnocchi to that list.
I really want to become known for the mix of Jamaican and Italian cuisine.
Caribbean culture as a whole, African American soul food, French cuisine, and I’d also have to add that some Asian flavors and dishes inspire me a lot. The way they develop flavor to me is unmatched. I could really think of a few more but I would have to say those are the main cultures that inspire my cuisine.
Tell me about the moment when you ultimately decided, “I want to go to culinary school.”
I was working in a college cafeteria doing many different jobs, including cooking. There was a moment in my life where I was trying to figure out what I could do with my life that would make me the happiest.
Cooking was the one thing I kept coming back to.
I had a dream that I was a great chef cooking for a full restaurant of people, when I awoke, I knew what I had to do. From that day forward, my sole focus in life was the pursuit of culinary greatness!
“I’ll have to start with my own culture, I’ve taken my time over the last few years to really work on some of the staple dishes in Jamaican cuisine.”
What dish would your friends, family, or colleagues say you’re famous for?
For my family I would say mac & cheese; that is what I like to make for any holidays or get-togethers.
I would have to guess that my friends and colleagues would say meatloaf. My first time ever making it was a complete disaster and one of the most embarrassing moments of my career. So, I worked hard to make a really good one.
If you could collaborate with any chef in the world, who would it be? What would you want to create with them?
This was a really hard question to answer and A LOT of chefs came to mind, but I decided to stick with the first chef I thought of because her dish touched me that much.
That chef is Nina Compton and the dish I would want to create with chef Nina is a dish that was on her menu at Bywater American Bistro. It was a Poached Red Snapper with Broccoli Rabe, Potatoes, and Crystalized Hollandaise. This dish is technical yet very simple at the same time.
The flavors are amazing, everything I love about that dish is what I love about cooking.
When you’re not cooking, what are you doing?
When I’m not in the kitchen you can find me spending time with family and friends, napping, watching YouTube, reading my new cookbook, playing video games, outside in some way, and eating at one of my favorite local restaurants.
How has the restaurant business been affected by all of the uncertainty of 2020?
The restaurant industry as a whole is in a very rough spot and there will probably be a lot of closures across the country as an aftermath of the virus.
This is a very hard industry and the margins are razor thin. The average restaurant makes about 3%-5% in profits from every dollar, so everything matters. Restaurants are running at 50%-60% capacity and are getting creative on how to maximize seating to be profitable enough to pay the staff and their bills.
Some places are also running with half of their normal staff too and that really sucks to see, that means that other half is likely unemployed.
At the moment I am nervous, but I know this is a resilient industry.
What city in the U.S. has the best cuisine? What are your restaurant recommendations?
I haven’t been everywhere, but out of all the cities I’ve visited two quickly come to my mind. The first is New Orleans because I really love and connect with the food. The other is New York City.
I’ve been visiting NYC since I was eight years old and I don’t think I’ve had a bad meal yet. So, I’ll be extremely basic and go NYC. The restaurant I’d have to recommend is Xian Famous Foods. They have multiple locations around the city. I was fortunate to eat at two different ones. Both meals were delicious and if anyone is a lover of spice, I would definitely say this is somewhere you need to go.
What are some of your go-to spots in the greater Cleveland area?
My first go to spot is Dave’s Cosmic Subs, I think they have the best subs in Cleveland (maybe even Ohio that’s how much I LOVE them).
Second is Szechuan Gourmet. I went to San Francisco last year and when I ate in Chinatown, I left convinced that more people should know about this little family run restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio. I have not had one “bad” meal there in eight years.
A couple more of my go-to restaurants include Ginko, Shuhei, Slyman’s, and Superior Pho. They are all great restaurants. I think Ginko has Cleveland’s best Sushi, the Scallop appetizer is CRAZY FIRE! Shuhei is amazing, Slyman’s corned beef is top notch, and Superior Pho never disappoints.
Over the years there have been cuisine trends such as, Greek, Thai, Pho, and BBQ just to name a few. What do you think will be next?
I think for right now casual restaurants with take-out will be the new trend as we wait for the effects of COVID-19 to pass.
Soon after that, I feel that cuisines from the African diaspora are building a lot of momentum from a lot of great chefs across the United States, so I would say that’s the next trend.
What’s a great movie or show that depicts the real-life of a chef?
“Funke” it is a newer documentary about an American sfoglino (a maker of fresh hand rolled pasta sheets) Evan Funke. It talks about his career and how he got where he is today. I think “Chef’s Table” is another great one but I have to go with “Funke” as it is amazingly raw and honest.
Do you listen to any music in the kitchen? If so, what are you listening to?
I do, and it all depends on my mood. Usually I like to let others play music because I can get into almost anything. If I am playing music in a kitchen it could be reggae, pop, R&B, 90s & 00s rap/ hip hop, and music from the 80s like soft rock or soul music.
I’ve been more into podcasts lately so when I cook, I like to throw on “Andrew Talks to Chefs” or “The Dave Chang Podcast.”
“Within the next five years I would like to make the shift from Chef to Chef-Owner. ”
What has cooking taught you about yourself?
I can accomplish any goal I consistently work towards; my work ethic is relentless when I am interested in what I’m doing, and I learn best while being hands on. I think there are probably a few more but these are the ones that come to mind.
What do the next five years look like for you?
The next five years for me consists of focusing on daily happiness while working towards all of my personal and professional goals. Within the next five years I would like to make the shift from Chef to Chef-Owner.
I have a business plan that is almost finished, a name, concept, and a menu ready to go. Maybe also become a family man. . . We will see how that part turns out; it takes more than just me!
