PAUL FISHER ’92 GRADUATED from Baylor with a business degree and “a typical Monday through Friday job that didn’t really excite ([him].”
“I really didn’t grow up wanting to be a chef,” Fisher says. “I grew up with home-cooked meals, but I don’t have the story of sitting there on the kitchen stool wanting to help. I don’t really remember when I got ‘the calling.’ I had graduated Baylor and gotten married to a Baylor grad. Catherine and I would spend our weekends cooking for friends and family because it was fun to entertain. One day, she asked me if I thought I wanted to pursue becoming a chef. It was something we had talked about… the big picture, where we would be in five, 10, or 15 years. We both felt that if this was going to be my career path that we should do it now… before life got too complicated and demanding.”
So Paul reached out to his mom’s cousin’s husband, John Floyd, who happened to be the editor in chief of Southern Living Magazine. He ultimately ended up connecting with Renie Steves, a long-time professional culinarian and wine expert in Fort Worth, who invited him to her home to discuss options on how to break into the culinary field with only “home” experience.
“We looked at what different schools had to offer, where they were located, the cost, and pretty much everything associated with starting a new adventure,” he says. They decided on the culinary program at Johnson & Wales University in Charleston, S.C., and found that earning his Baylor degree meant he only needed the culinary courses to complete his Associate’s degree.
Fisher became Executive Chef at Dallas National Golf Club 10 years ago, after spending his first 10 years in the industry working in restaurants and then as executive chef with ClubCorp properties.
“My cooking style or culinary philosophy has evolved quite a bit over the past seven years,” says Fisher, who concedes he had an epiphany in 2010, when he “tipped the scales at 285 pounds just seven months before his 40th birthday.”
“My goal was to lose 40 pounds by my 40* birthday,” he says. “I made that goal, and continued my journey to get my weight to 200 pounds. It took a full year to get there, but I have kept my weight at 200 pounds for the last six years. It has been a complete lifestyle change. I have had to discover how to balance work, exercise, and diet into this new lifestyle. My workout regimen consists of Crossfit, Hot Yoga, and Swimming, and my diet is a mixture of Whole 30 and Paleo.”
Fisher says that lifestyle change is a “large part of who [he is] now as a chef and how he look [s] at food and in cooking for [himself] and [his] members at the club,” who are often also looking to make healthy choices.
“Many of our members live a healthy balanced lifestyle and our menu provides them with many options to do just that,” he says.” Of course, there are the not-so healthy options; but that is just part of a good menu mix.”
Paul credits his success to his wife Catherine.
“This business is everything but normal,” he says. “There are late nights and weekends. You work just about every holiday: you miss gatherings and special occasions of friends and family. You work when your friends are off, and you’re off when everyone else is at work. I could never have started and continued on this journey without her love and understanding. Catherine never made me feel ashamed that I had to put work first. She would always turn it into a positive on the experience I was gaining. My schedule is a little more predictable now, but those first 10 years had some challenging hours attached to them. We have been married for 22 years, and she has been by my side since the first day I walked into a kitchen.”
When I’m at home, I normally cook… On my day off on Tuesdays. It is just me and my wife Catherine, so I cook meals that we can come home to, either byheating it up on the stove or popping in the microwave. I make a soup every week. And I’ll cook lots of steamed or roasted vegetables and lean proteins. We usually enjoy our “cheat” meal on Saturday night, which is why we behave during the week!
The lessons I’ve learned over the years that I’ve brought to both my work and home cooking are … Patience and Flexibility. This industry is full of last-minute changes – something not showing up on the food delivery truck, equipment breaking down. I have learned to be patient and flexible knowing that it always seems to work out in the end and your team responds better to a positive plan of action than screaming and yelling because it did not go according to plan. The same is true for cooking at the house. How many times has a dinner party number changed because you forgot to add someone to the guest list or the grocery store is out of a key item or your favorite food processor has decided to quit on you? If you are too focused on the negative, you won’t ever see that there is a workable solution right in front of you.
The thing most people notice first about my kitchen is… How clean it is. We operate in a constant state of readiness here at the club. We do not take tee times, so you never know who is going to show up. Members have full access to come in the kitchen anytime they want. It’s usually to say hello or borrow something so they don’t have to drop by the store on their way home! The state and appearance of a kitchen is a direct reflection on the chef and the operation as a whole.
The kitchen tool I can’t live without… Having your own high quality knife is essential. I’m brand loyal and have been using Wusthof Trident Grand Prix 10″ chef knives since I started. I have one at home and one at work. They hold an edge and are a little heavier, which I like for balance. I also can’t live without a good pair of tongs. Tongs are great because they are an extension of your hand. You can pick up hot pans or hot plates with tongs, pull sheet pans out the oven, or toss a salad with them. I also use them when I am sautéing an item or stirring an ingredient into a dish on the stove. You can also open up a bottle of beer with them if done correctly!
In my pantry, you’ll always find… At work we have pretty much everything you could think of, but you will always find a high-quality extra virgin olive oil. Great to cook with hot or cold and drizzle on vegetables or salads; I even cook my eggs for breakfast in olive oil rather than butter. Also, if you are out of lip balm, you can rub a little olive oil on to prevent chapped lips.
On weekends , I like to cook… On the weekends, the only place I am cooking is at the club. By the weekend, the last thing I want to do is cook at home, so we typically go out. And I let myself eat whatever I want. Usually after my Sunday swim workout; I’ve been known to go over to The Slow Bone BBQ joint in Dallas where I load up with brisket, fried chicken, slaw, green pea salad, and their squash casserole.
When I entertain, I like to make… Petite “BLT’s” as a hors d’oeuvre. Buttered brioche toast point, basil mayo, applewood smoked bacon, topped with chiffonade iceberg in a red wine vinaigrette and a half of a cherry tomato. It is bite-sized and no one can eat just one.
My favorite cooking “trick” is... Using a Kitchenaid mixer to pull or shred chicken. I was shown this trick by a fellow chef I was working with when we have to make 500 chicken mole tamales. The chicken breasts had to be pulled or shredded. Poach the chicken breasts first, then place it in small batches in the mixer with the paddle attachment, turn on low speed, and then the paddle will separate it into strands.
The books I cook from over and over again are… When I started working in Charleston, the banquet chef told me to go buy a little notebook and keep it with me so I could jot down recipes or techniques that I would be exposed to. I did that all through my restaurant days and still keep that notebook in my briefcase. It has all of my notes from my formative years in the business and quite a few food stains on it! I refer to it when I get stuck; or just need a refresher. Nowadays, people just hit up Pinterest; but I was writing these notes at the same time I was learning. The first cookbook I ever got was “The New Basics Cookbook” by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. It has great information and is a good all-around cookbook. It makes a great gift for newlyweds too.
My cooking mentor was… Chef Richard Shafer. Chef Richard hired me directly out of culinary school in 1996 as a line cook at The City Club of Fort Worth. He was incredibly intelligent and had logical reasoning for everything we did. He taught me how to think dishes through and to cook with purpose. He would always challenge you with “Why?” Why are you doing it that way? Why are you adding that as a garnish? Why did you choose this as a sauce? It was meant to train you to ask those questions of yourself before you went to the point of no return. I use those techniques today with my culinary team.
The one thing I HAVE to serve at every family get-together or party is… Maple & Herb Roasted Root Vegetables. We slow down during the winter months, which means I get tosee the whole family for some of the holiday festivities. My parents like todo the traditional meats. I will always do this as a side item because it goeswell with turkey, ham, or beef, and it invokes that aroma of the fall and winter seasons.
My favorite person to cook with… My wife Catherine when we host a dinner party for family or friends. And my nieces Casey & Caroline Speer. We took a family vacation to Rosemary Beach this summer. I took the girls to the local farmers market and we picked out what we were going to cook. They really got into it and learned how to make an heirloom tomato bruschetta and Peach Pain Perdu, which is a fancy way of saying French toast with caramelized peaches.
The best meal I’ve ever had is.. The French Laundry in Yountville, California. We went to Napa Valley this past March and it was the best dining experience at every level. That would be a whole other article on how amazing it was.
My time at Baylor made me a better chef because… I had a great experience during my time at Baylor. Not only are you earning a valuable education, but you are also learning social skills. You are thrust into meeting new people from all sorts of backrounds; as well as finding yourself in sometimes awkward social situations. That is the dynamic in the kitchen and the hospitality industry. You quickly find out that you need to treat others how you would like to be treated. You learn to adapt to different situations while keeping your moral standards and Christian values in place.
