Cookin' in the Kitchen with K-Dizzle

After sharpening his skills sating the demanding tastes of big name comics and movie stars, Chef Kevin Bennett has returned to Glasgow to share his talents with the local populous.

Bennett, 33, of St. Marie, is the head chef at Soma Dis Deli on Main Street in Glasgow.

These days, he bakes bread and prepares many of the ingredients slated for inclusion in the establishments storied sandwiches.

Being in the "Middle of Nowhere" is a far cry from sunny California beaches, but is a welcome break for Bennett, who got his start at The Ice House in Pasadena.

His father, Timothy Bennett, is still a chef at the establishment after 30 years in service.

"I had the opportunity to have really good chefs take me under their wing," Bennett told The Courier recently while cooking up his favorite dish, fettuccine Alfredo, at his St. Marie home.

Look for the recipe in a future column by Bennett.

"I worked from the ground up from dishwasher to sous chef. I gave up my music career for it when we were well known in California."

Bennett had been the lead singer for Kill the Fashion, a local favorite which had recorded an EP before he quit to pursue a career in commerical kitchens.

At the Ice House, Bennett learned quickly to cook under stress, as he would serve some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

The Ice House Comedy Club "helped create the careers of Dana Carvey, Robin Williams and Jay Leno. They all started there."

A memorable customer was Kevin Heffernan, who is well known for portraying Rod Farva in the Super Troopers movies.

"I made him what I called my 'stoner burger,'" Bennett said. "He fell in love with it."

As a chef, the biggest pleasure is when a customer enjoys the gourmet food Bennett painstakingly hand crafts from scratch, he said.

"That is my favorite thing during service. You put out all this food, but before it hits the table, its loud and people are talking. Once it hits the table, and it is dead silent, you know you did a good job. The first time it happened to me, it brought a tear to my eye."

Lessons from the Kitchen

Starting as a dishwasher and progressing up through the ranks is not for the faint of heart, Bennett said.

"It is tedious. There is a lot of hazing."

But, it was worth it in the end, he said.

"You have a lot of head chefs that get in your face and yell and scream at you. You can feel the spit hitting your face and are trying to keep calm. They are like the boot camp drill sergeants. It is because it is an effective way [to train]. If you keep on doing that, sooner or later if they have the talent, they are going to retain [the lessons]. Also, in the back of their head, they are not going to want to mess up. You get tested a lot in the kitchen to see if you can hold your own. They want to see you try every station so they can know" where your strengths are.

Bennett said he "learned to try and keep a level head and be patient with people. It doesn't always work out that way because sometimes you get stupid people working on the line. You give them a chance and they mess everything up."

Such mess ups become even more apparent when in the position of executive chef, Bennett said.

"As an executive chef, you are trying to break away from the kitchen a little bit to be a creator. You then want them to recreate it and you deal with the crowd and expedite for them. You see a lot of executive chefs plate [the dish], applying final garnishments. That is what I was always trying to do [as executive chef] at Cafe Cola, but every time I took a break to go to an event, something happened."

Bennett, was co-owner and executive chef for two years before eventually returning to Glasgow by way of Idaho to take a much needed break.

"I had opportunities to work at some pretty great restaurants after that, but I chose not to."

He arrived in St. Marie in late February, nnd now hides in plain sight.

Because Soma Dis is generally only open for lunch hours, Bennett does not currently have many opportunities to show off his dinner service skills. He hopes to change that someday when he opens a food truck with his childhood friend, Jake.

"My goal is to offer five star food for three star prices," Bennett said.

Battle Scars

As a chef, Bennett can do things most folks cannot, including wicked fast chopping of veggies and handling pans without mitts straight from the oven.

These skills were earned the hard way, with scars and burns aplenty.

Bennett earned some of this at his favorite station, saute.

"I was away from everyone in my own world, and I love to put alcohol in the pan and see flames coming up," Bennett said. On one occasion, "I had a mustache and curled it with wax. That is a big no-no in the kitchen. There was a huge flame that came up and mustache caught fire."

Back in Glasgow, where Bennett spent much of his youth before moving to California, he has time to dabble once more in music, and is looking forward to this next steps in the culinary world.

Be sure to check out Bennett's upcoming column, "Cookin' in the Kitchen with K-Dizzle," in future editions of the Courier.