Rick Gresh on AceBounce, Flight Club, His Most Popular Dishes, Advice for Aspiring Chefs
With an Associate Degree in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America, and having led the kitchens of many acclaimed restaurants in Chicago, Rick Gresh is one of the most well-known figures of Chicago’s restaurant scene.
Currently, Rick Gresh is the Director of U.S. Culinary Operations for AceBounce and Flight Club Chicago.
Rick has taken time out from the kitchen to talk to Chef’s Pencil about his career and life as a chef.
What inspired you to become a Chef?
Food was a big part of my growing up; both my parents and grandparents had large gardens in their backyards. We did a ton of canning and preserving. Every summer we would make fruit preserves for the year.
Both of my parents worked so my mom planned meals that I could start by putting the food in the oven at a certain time, so when they got home we could have dinner together. Saturday night my dad cooked, and Sunday was always a big family dinner.
As I got older I started taking over all of the dinner prep and creating my own dishes.
Tell us a bit about AceBounce. What drew you to accept running their food program and how do you reflect on your decision two years into it?
AceBounce is an adult’s playground; it has great food, amazing cocktails and it’s fun.
I worked for so many years in hotels where we always had company outings, and normally when you go to a place with an activity the food and beverage is really poor compared to going out to a restaurant.
I looked at this as a good challenge to be able to take all the years of working in fine dining and apply the skill to this fun atmosphere. I have learned a lot about how people order and eat when in large groups over the last few years.
Acebounce Chicago; Photo credit: AceBounce
You are the culinary director for both AceBounce and Flight Club, which open last year. What was the inspiration for creating Flight Club’s menu?
I was inspired by the space and colors, actually. It was bright, open and airy with the floor to ceiling windows. It is very colorful so I wanted lighter and brighter food. It had to be easy to eat because as you play darts it’s a quick bite, a sip of your drink and it’s your turn to throw the darts again.
Messy food wouldn’t work as you are sharing the darts with the rest of the people you are playing with. I also knew that I had to offer some things vertically because everyone is standing and I don’t want the food to be hidden, hence the seafood towers were born.
What’s the most popular dish in AceBounce and Flight Club?
The two most popular items at AceBounce are:
- Mini quinoa tacos, crunchy corn tortilla, quinoa taco meat, cheddar cheese, lettuce, salsa & crema
- Grilled chicken thigh kebab, togarashi and brown sugar soy glaze
The two most popular items at Flight Club are:
- Mini short rib barbacoa tacos, chipotle, onion, cilantro sour cream
- Ginger vegetable dumplings, mushroom, bok choy, spiced soy sauce
What’s the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of my job now is growing this business across the country. We are moving into other states and I need to make sure the daily operating tasks and standards are in place so we are successful.
I can’t just hop on a plane for every issue that may come up. Having the right leaders and instilling a great working culture is key.
Tell us about your signature dishes – what makes them special?
The specialties of AceBounce and Flight Club are items based on the idea that you don’t need a knife or fork for most of the food because you are eating while playing the games.
I thought because it was only 1 to 2 bites I needed to pack as much flavor as possible into that bite. Some of the dishes I think might actually be too strong if the dish was larger. I concentrate heavily on items on sticks like chicken and steak skewers, millionaire’s bacon, and al pastor skewers.
I also created a modern version of the classic cheese stick using pate de brique. Guests love my mini tacos; they are 1 to 2 bites at most.
I constantly hear how cute they are with fillings like tuna poke, quinoa taco meat, crispy shrimp and short rib barbacoa. My homemade dumplings like ginger vegetable, shrimp, bbq chicken and apple pie are very popular. Plus we have easy-to-eat items like oysters on the half shell and shrimp cocktail.
How important are high-quality ingredients in creating an outstanding dish? Where do you source your produce and ingredients for your restaurants? Can you please provide some specific examples?
High quality ingredients are essential to making great food. A few years back I had the opportunity to go harvest and make the olive oil we use in the restaurant at California Olive Ranch.
Most people have this romantic idea of how great it must be to have a vegetable farm or winery or to crush olive oil. Farming is a lot of backbreaking work, plus today the science involved in turning out a consistent great product is front and center at the best operations.
At California Olive Ranch they have the most amazing mechanical harvesters and they are crushing the olives within 4 hours of picking. If they were to allow the olives to sit for too long before crushing, undesirable flavors would develop.
The olives are tested in the lab before crushing and once they are crushed it never sees oxygen again until I open the bottle. This freshness produces the most amazing olive oil. When tasting their oil side-by-side with other producers’ oils there was no comparison. I equate it to wine making, the best wineries are crushing as fast as they can get the grapes out of the field.
I also know of farmers that weigh each seed before they plant it. They have found out that the larger seeds produce better; it’s worth their time to weigh each seed to get that higher level of production out on the farm.
I enjoy that my local farmers ask every year if there is something special that I want them to grow. I had Nichols Farm grow some Jimmy Nardello peppers for me; they were so delicious, I look forward to them every year now.
Many chefs struggle with a healthy work and life balance? What’s your take on this?
I think in many businesses, people tend to become martyrs for the job. So they forego the vacation, or their friend’s wedding.
It’s a tough business for sure, but I think many people struggle with work/life balance, not just chefs.
I think in many businesses, people tend to become martyrs for the job. So they forego the vacation, or their friend’s wedding.
Instead of going home after work, it’s common to go out to the bar with the crew. The idea that the business can’t survive without them is preposterous.
If you have to be there 24/7 then you are doing it wrong. If you have a well-trained staff and a healthy culture they can handle anything. After all, this is a team effort. To me the best compliment I get these days is that someone I know was in when I was not in the building and everything was great.
How competitive is Chicago’s restaurant scene? What do you need to do to survive and thrive?
The best restaurants have a great team culture; I can sense walking in the door if the culture is not healthy.
It’s highly competitive in Chicago; restaurants need to have an identity or concept that allows them to grow over time but not change who they are.
The best restaurants have a great team culture; I can sense walking in the door if the culture is not healthy.
They also need to be on top of their operational costs on a daily basis as well as their menu mix. Being able to adjust the menus quickly to be more profitable is key, as every dollar counts.
You earned a degree from the famous Culinary Institute of America. Do you recommend a formal training for someone who wants to become a Chef?
Yes, I do recommend formal training for someone who wants to be a chef. I was fortunate to attend the CIA.
I was exposed to everything the culinary world offered at a young age. The resources I had at my fingertips at CIA were incredible.
I also enjoyed the building block system approach; you have to learn to walk before you can run. By breaking down the classes into short intensely focused classes kept them interesting and gave you room to continue to explore a topic or join a club that focused on the subject matter.
What advice would you give someone who wants to become a Chef?
You cannot read too many cookbooks or articles on food.
Get some thick skin and set your mind up for success. Your life is going to be different than everyone else that isn’t in the restaurant industry. Realize that pretty much every holiday, birthday, Friday and Saturday night you are working. You are off on days when “normal people” are working, so it’s hard to have non-industry friends.
It’s a team effort in the restaurant and it sucks to be the weak link on a team so dig down deep and work hard every day to always help push the team forward.
You cannot read too many cookbooks or articles on food.
Taste EVERYTHING, taste it raw, in the beginning of the cooking process, at the end of the cooking process, ripe, unripe, just taste everything and learn how its flavor or texture changes. Cleanliness and organization are critical.
How do you hire your kitchen staff? What is your criteria for hiring a chef or sous chef for your restaurants?
For the Chef and Sous Chefs I look for someone who is a good leader and understands that this is a business.
I don’t get too caught up in having tastings. They usually are horrible and it’s like some form of torture having someone come into a strange kitchen, run around trying to find where everything is kept and make a 4-course meal in a few hours. I don’t want to sit through eating bad food for an interview, so I stopped doing that years ago.
I spend most of the time talking and listening to the potential chef. I’m more interested in that person having the right positive cultural ideas. We can work through recipes and techniques if someone is struggling, but if you are the wrong cultural leader you can ruin the restaurant.
For the hourly staff I want them to be honest, be nice to other people and passionate about making people happy.
I’m not into the person who wants to take every shortcut. I’d rather have someone take the 20 seconds to do it right and deliver a great product to our guests.
I rely heavily on the Chef and Sous chef of each restaurant to pick the right team because they have to work and lead the team daily.
Where to Find Rick Gresh
Stay in touch with Rick Gresh on Instagram and Twitter. Even better, book a table at AceBounce or Flight Club Chicago to experience his amazing dishes.
You can also check out his delicious grilled chicken thigh skewers recipe here.
