Interview by Jason Schreurs
Oceano guitarist Michael Kasper has lived in Chicago, Illinois his whole life, save for a few years in Florida while going to university. During his time in the Windy City, Kasper has held down many chef jobs when he wasn’t spreading the good word of American deathcore with his band on tour. Now on the road for the better part of each year with Oceano, Kasper still keeps his hands in the food scene by doing private catering. We recently asked him to tell us about Chicago’s constantly evolving food landscape.
Can you tell me about the food scene in Chicago and how it might differ from other bigger cities in the US?
Well, we’re known for our pizza, and to be perfectly honest, growing up here I wasn’t much of a deep-dish guy like everybody here rants and raves over. I was more of a thin, crispy-crust guy, so there’s a couple of different places that are actually my favourite pizza places that are not in the proper city limits of Chicago. Also, the taquerias in Chicago are definitely the most infamous; you can literally go to every major corner of the city and there’s a little shop selling dollar tacos, and eight out of 10 of them are the best tacos/burritos you’ve ever had in your entire life. And another big thing would be the BBQ scene, and I know Memphis and areas in the South are definitely known for their BBQ, but there’s a lot of big influence of BBQ in this area. Hillery’s would be my favourite place; it’s got this nice vinegary sauce that’s light and not too smokey, not too sweet; definitely very good.
Would you say that Chicago’s food scene has changed a lot of the past few years?
Yeah, definitely. One of the big things is the trends have gone from wine to beer in the past 10 years. I was lucky enough to work for a gastropub called The Park Tavern; I was their executive sous chef. They had 60-70 beers on tap and I had to create specials with them every day. So I made a Bell’s Brewery brown gravy, and I made a Guinness cheese sauces, and all different plays on beers. I’ve done full beer-paired menus, so I guess beer is the new wine in Chicago.
When people come to Chicago to visit you, where do you take them?
I’ll take them for pizza or BBQ. Some people ask me to take them to the traditional spots in Chicago, but I won’t do that; it’s just a little corporate and too streamlined. It’s almost like if you said, “Hey, take me to your favourite spot,” and they take you to Applebee’s; that’s how I feel about bringing people to a popular place in Chicago like Giordano’s. Oh, there’s definitely a good sushi scene here, too, even though we’re so far away from the ocean in the Midwest.
Does Chicago have a signature dish besides the deep-dish pizza?
In the early 1900s, Chicago was known for their stockyards, so there are a lot of big steakhouses in this area. The Midwest is a very blue-collar area, and it’s cold, so a lot of people generally go towards meat and potatoes, so the steakhouses here are really big.
What’s it been like for you, working in the Chicago food scene?
It’s been interesting. I bounce around quite a bit. I worked for a Japanese place called Roy’s for quite awhile. I was the executive chef at an Italian country club for a little while. I worked in the gastropub scene. I’ve done sushi. So it’s really hard, but I do like the Chicago food scene. It’s very cut-throat; it’s very progressive. If you’re not riding the front of the culinary wave, you’re riding the back of the wave. You have to be one step ahead of everybody, because chances are 10 other people have your idea and they’re working just as hard to execute it. Another thing is, as a chef, there’s always someone willing to come in and do it better for less.
How has it been touring with the band so much? Do you have pick up and leave jobs often, and are the restaurants pretty understanding?
A lot of the places, I tell them that I’m a touring musician and I tour seven or eight months out of the year, and it has stopped employers from picking me up, and it has cost me money, as far as the amount of hours they’ll give me, so it’s definitely a struggle.
How does Chicago’s food compare to other cities you’ve toured through?
The first place that comes to mind is Australia. A lot of things in Australia remind me of home, and there’s also a lot that doesn’t remind me of home. But anywhere you go in Australia you can get falafels or kebab and shawarma, and a lot of places in Chicago you get the same kind of thing. A lot of cities are trying to replicate each other; there’s always a Chicago pizza place in California, and there’s always a California-style sushi place in Chicago. For me, just knowing my way around a kitchen, it’s not that much different everywhere you go. So I don’t necessarily buy into the stereotypical food lore when it comes to certain areas. People will tell me to go to this place or this place, but if I put my head inside and it’s gross in there, or it smells weird, I won’t eat there. I’m a little picky. It’s ironic for a 240-pound guy to be picky about what he eats. [Laughs]
So it doesn’t matter where the food is, as long as it’s good? That’s what you’re saying?
That’s exactly what I’m saying. You nailed it.
Oceano‘s Ascendants is out March 23 on Earache Records.
No Comments