Meet Executive Chef Stephen K. Eldridge of Pink Pony in Scottsdale.
AFM: Please give us your background story. Tell us about Chicago, and as your Twitter description says: "Cali Born...AZ Grown."
SE: I was born in Long Beach and raised in Tempe. Very proud to have been raised in Arizona, and to watch our state grow on every level. I left Phoenix to work in one of the great culinary cities in the world. Chicago was an amazing experience. Full of highs and lows that have helped me become the man I am today. I miss the city terribly at times. Everything around you in a metropolis can be viewed or looked upon for inspiration in your daily life or at work. The amount of community gardens in neighborhoods alone was incredible. You can be walking to the EL and see veggies growing in a garden box and then walk in to work and in your cooler is the same produce that one of the farmers dropped off that morning. The architecture and the sheer size of some of the buildings alone is inspiring. I worked for some amazing, chefs while I lived there. Chris Pandel, Raymond Stanis, Jared Lee Van Camp and Rick Tramonto just to name a few. I always believed in seasonal, local cooking and Chicago epitomizes that philosophy. I am honored and proud to have been a resident of that remarkable city.
AFM: We’re asking you to brag for a moment. How did you get to be so darn phenomenal at doing American food?
SE: I asked a lot of questions, staged a bunch at as many places I could. I made mistakes, the trick is only to make a mistake once though. I read, read, and then read some more. Before the Internet, I would be at the library or used books stores looking to find something I could learn from. At one point in time. I had library cards from Phoenix, Tempe, Boston (I still owe money to them I think) and Chicago. I would look for books on the history of food in cultures or the history-specific cuisines. I love the smell of a book as you turn the pages. I cooked at home. I was a line cook, and I could hardly afford to go out so I would hit the market and cook. I believe that we as a country are a melting pot of cultures that have melded together over the last few centuries to define what American food is. We eat a whole lot more than just meat and potatoes and we have many cultures that have come to our shores to thank for that.
AFM: The bone-in pork chop is a work of art and a must-have item on the Pink Pony menu. Please indulge us and describe the dish.
SE: Well, I love pork. Pork shoulder, neck and the head are my most favorite, but a good caramelized pork chop is comforting, I grew up eating pork chops. It was one of my favorite dinners as a kid. I serve it with good buttery mashed potatoes some griddled bok choy grown by McClendon’s Select and a rich bacon broth. To cut the richness of everything, I throw some fresh parsley leaves and a few strands of pickled onion in there too! I am actually getting ready to change from bok choy as soon as I know bok choy is no longer available. But the potatoes, pork and jus will all be there!
AFM: Tell us about your top culinary influences and how you have evolved as a chef.
SE: There are too many to name. I can say this though I am influenced by everyone around me. My cooks and coworkers, my wife and daughters, my family and friends. Many people have mentored me in many different ways. The culinary community just lost one of our greats in Chef Glenn Humphrey. He was an influence to so many here in the Valley and across the country. Chef was the definition of mentor. He is missed.
AFM: Susan Cope, your wife and director of events and marketing at Pink Pony. She is, in a word, cool. Tell us about meeting for coffee, grinning at each other while driving on the freeway, and who planted the first kiss.
SE: Susan is the bees knees. How did I get so lucky? We were tasked with a few projects together while opening Gertrude’s. Neither one of us wanted a relationship, neither one us wanted to be trapped by material possessions (neither one of us owned a couch or a TV), but it just happened so slowly and perfectly. It started out over coffee at Jobot discussing social media marketing agenda. Then I kind of asked her out to see a speaker about spelunking at the Mesa Center for the Arts and she linked her arm in mine. We took a walk out to the community garden at the DBG, and when we got back to our cars, I was too nervous to kiss her! So when we left, we were driving side by side down Van Buren and every time we would look at each other, we would have a goofy little smile. I should have just kissed her. I tell you now I couldn’t stop thinking about that fail and I would not let it happen again. Susan invited me over for coffee later that week and we were sitting on the kitchen floor and Larkin (her dog) was all over me giving me kisses and I said: “At least someone has the courage to kiss someone,” and Susan responded with “Oh really now!” That’s when I realized I had to get it done, so I kissed her, right on the kitchen floor. It was kind of awesome and I was in love then and there. We moved in together a couple weeks later and it wasn’t long before I asked her to marry me. I am the luckiest man!
AFM: That little doll, who is the apple of your eye...how well does she have you wrapped around her little finger?
SE: Oh, she has me wrapped so tightly! This is going to sound funny at first, but one of the best things that ever happened to me was to tear ligaments in my ankle and I had reconstructive surgery on the 13th of June, 2014. Sharon Rae decided she wanted to meet Mom and Dad a little quicker than expected. She arrived 6 weeks early, just five days after my surgery, on June 18. She was tiny, 3 pounds 15 oz. but she was our peanut and I was head over heels. She was in the NICU for a week and on the seventh day she came home. Since I had just had surgery, I was fortunate enough to be at home with her for a couple of months while I rehabbed. It was a bonding period most dads don’t get. I am the luckiest man!
AFM: What has she taught you?
SE: Patience, and unconditional love. It’s different than the way that you love your brothers and sisters or parents. It’s unfathomable -- the depth of love you have as a parent. Sharon Rae is an unbelievable little girl with such a great personality, so funny (and she knows it), sweet and super smart, and her strength and determination inspires me to be better. I love her. I am the luckiest man!
AFM: Name your favorite sport, flower, and vegetable.
SE: Baseball. I grew up watching and talking baseball with my dad. I played competitively into my twenties. Go Red Sox, there is no other team as far as I’m concerned. I love just about every vegetable, but if I would have to pick one to eat at home it might just be celery (I know I am weird)! As far as the flower, Tiger Lily.
AFM: Current food or foods that you are especially enjoying in your dishes?
SE: I love to use food that is good for you. So I use a lot of Niman Ranch, organic, non-GMO proteins if I can, and as much locally grown produce as possible.
AFM: What is your best advice for a young chef who wants a career like yours?
SE: Work smart and hard, be on time, keep your knives sharp, ask a lot of questions, only make the same mistake once, take care of your body, and prepare to have a headache most days!
AFM: When I wanted to take your photograph, you insisted that the photo include pastry chef Melissa Barth. Please explain.
SE: She is my partner here. I may be the executive chef, but Melissa is also a creative force in my kitchen and has earned the title of chef. I wondered what the bread and pastry program was going to be like here before I started and we were immediately on the same page. She works her ass off to produce fun, modern comfort food desserts and has a real knack for baking, hence the reason we have such outstanding bread offerings here. I couldn’t do it without her.
AFM: The kitchen is humming, the food is top notch, and Shawn Gaborhas the cocktails covered. Spring Training is here. Perfect timing?
SE: I would say so. We are just missing one piece to this puzzle. Susan is operating the Pony Room so expertly! Shawn has the craft beer line up, and the cocktail program moving in the right direction, and the kitchen is producing quality food and a very high volume. It’s a lot of fun at The New Pink Pony these days.
AFM: What are two items on the Pink Pony menu that we must order and why?
SE: Fried chicken (where else are you going to get smoked fried chicken served with Tepary bean mash and a mole)? I would say the pork chop because I love that dish personally but it will change very soon. The Blue Burger is another one. It just eats so damn well!
AFM: What do you love most about your job?
SE: Lots of things really. I get to work with the best event planner on the planet, I love the men I work for and I just love what I do. So I guess I win!
AFM: If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be and why?
SE: Somewhere where there are seasons. I mean a real winter that turns white, a fall that changes colors so vividly, a spring that you see people return to reading on the stoop and a summer that doesn’t burn you. Maybe Buffalo.
AFM: What's the best advice you ever received?
SE: “Never believe anything you hear and only half of what you see.” - my dad
“Work smart and hard.” – some random person I worked with
“Eat that!” – me
“Do yoga” – from a former chef who I worked for
