An Interview With Martita Mestey
I wish I knew about being an executive chef. I would have stayed in school a year longer to take business classes. My very first job as a cook came after I graduated culinary school. I worked as a prep cook, then a line cook. Although being a chef was my second career, I still needed more experience.
As part of our series about the lessons from influential ‘TasteMakers’, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Chef Tobias Cooks.
An Oakland, Calif., native, Chef Tobias Cooks is an award-winning celebrity chef. An influencer in the culinary space, Chef Tobias Cooks credits her Creole, Louisiana-born mother for her love of cooking. As the former owner of La Dolce Vita Bakery and Café, she created a space for customers to indulge their sweet tooth. A mover and shaker in her space, she is the recipient of the 2022 13th TASTE Award Beverly Hills, CA.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to ‘get to know’ you a bit. Can you share with our readers a story about what inspired you to become a restauranteur or chef?
My inspiration story is like most chefs, it’s our mother or grandmother that has heavily inspired us to become professional chef. Growing up watching the ladies cook dinners in the church kitchen, my school cafeteria ladies making us breakfast and lunch and the one place that filled my head with becoming not only a cook but a pastry chef was PBS cooking shows!
This was before all of the food networks or celebrity chefs. Channel 9, in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 70s-90s, was my go-to for food inspiration. I knew that one day I would be a CHEF.
Do you have a specific type of food that you focus on? What was it that first drew you to cooking that type of food? Can you share a story about that with us?
This is a two part-story. The first part is that in 2002, my oldest daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease and milk intolerance. For a young child that meant no pizza, ice cream or cake, so going to a friend’s birthday parties for her was not fun. I had to educate myself on this and how to provide good daily meals for her. From this, birth my vegan, gluten-free cooking and baking style by taking traditional foods and making them easy and fun to eat.
The second part happened when I was in baking class and my instructor wrote cannoli on the board. This took me back to the first time ever trying a cannoli at age 10 years old in San Francisco, in a little Italy village. Once I learned how to make it from scratch, then I practiced every day until it was perfect, creating different recipes and my own flavors.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that has happened to you since you became a chef? What was the lesson or take away you took out of that story?
As a full-time chef, fun is a continuous process! My funniest time is when I opened my very own bakery and café, called La Dolce Vita Bakery and Café. I was so full of excitement and very proud of not only myself, but my family and friends that had supported me along the way. The most fun was to serve them food while laughing and having a good time. The lesson to take away from La Dolce Vita Bakery and Café, meaning it’s a sweet life, is follow your dreams and have fun while doing it. Your love ones are the best thing to have in life.
Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? How did you overcome this obstacle?
When I started culinary school, I was 38 years old, married, and pregnant with our fourth child! Crazy right? However, I look at my situation the same as any goal accomplished. I overcame this by having open communication with my family and organized priorities for my very hectic busy schedule. My mother also lived with us. She was the backbone of our family. The progress took me one year longer but I completed college with two culinary degrees and some friends that became like family members.
In your experience, what is the key to creating a dish that customers are crazy about?
Besides offering whole foods like vegan/gluten-free options. My claim to fame is the cannoli. My bakery was centered around my freshly made shells dipped in melted blended chocolate, semi-sweet, dark, white chocolate, and thick rich caramel sauce. I have over two dozen flavors that I would make to fit all holiday themes. I pride myself on my cannoli. It is truly an experience that your tastebuds will have to try.
Personally, what is the ‘perfect meal for you’? Where does your inspiration for creating come from?
The “perfect meal” for me would be Sunday dinner at my home, cooking for my vegan daughter, and meat-eating hubby and sons. The good news is that everyone loves vegetables, fruits, and spices! Every dish has to have its own sauce or spice mix. The go-to would be homemade pasta with a bechamel sauce with derivatives. From there I can add fresh herbs and finish with white wine or marsala cooking wine.
Is there something that you turn to for a daily creativity boost? Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? What impact do you think this will have?
My daily affirmation, “Being Grateful” everyday, I am able to work and profit from my passion for food. Working from home as a cook full-time or part-time by opening your cottage kitchen is an exciting new opportunity. The impact will be a game changer for new food businesses.
What advice would you give to other chefs or restaurateurs to thrive and avoid burnout?
Grow your customer base first, start by doing pop-ups, community events, and volunteer to network. Find people who genuinely love you, this will help your self-care. Lastly, create and find as many resources for your business and opportunities.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started as a Chef” and why? Please share a story or an example for each. How many ways to make money by becoming a chef?
I wish I knew about being an executive chef. I would have stayed in school a year longer to take business classes. My very first job as a cook came after I graduated culinary school. I worked as a prep cook, then a line cook. Although being a chef was my second career, I still needed more experience.
What’s the one dish people have to try if they visit your establishment?
My Mocha Double Chocolate Cannoli with shells dip in white chocolate. The coffee to chocolate ratio will wow your taste buds!
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Currently I am working to help spread more information, and culinary education about cooks working from home, and making profit from their passion for cooking. I have an online course that goes into great details about how to organize your cottage kitchen. It’s called, My Home Kitchen Is My Business with Chef Tobias Cooks. My other passion also is to teach people how to cook easy and simple restaurant style meals right from the comfort of their very own homes. In 2022, I received a golden medal award from The Taste Awards, (Tasty Awards) in Beverly Hills for Best Virtual Tasting in a Web-Series for “Cooks Thyme” with Chef Tobias Cooks. Our show was featured on PBS network over the past summer. I hope to encourage all chefs to have more opportunities within the food industry besides just cooking in the restaurant. Moving forward, the social media space has opened a new way for me to market new food recipes and food concepts. My new conversation is to explore more ways to get good food out to the people, by in-person or online.
This was very meaningful, thank you so much, and we wish you only continued success.
Chef Tobias Cooks: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became a Chef was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.