by Jeff Miller
What’s the toughest challenge for a restaurant? Attracting customers? Creating a delicious menu?
Those count, for sure, but topping the list is getting and keeping a great crew. And one of the best ways to do that is to hire good people, bring them along, and then promote them to key positions when the time is right.
That’s the story of Mitchell Sjerven, who started as a dishwasher at age 16 in Minnesota, worked his way up, and eventually created bouchon, rated by many as the best restaurant in Santa Barbara. It’s also the story of bouchon’s new executive chef, Nate Van Etten, and chef de cuisine, Vicken Tavitian, both of whom have stepped up the in-house ladder.
Promoting from within is “absolutely” better for morale, Sjerven said. “That’s always my intention. It inspires people. One day it could be them.” Chef Van Etten agrees wholeheartedly. “Bring in somebody new to tell you what to do in your restaurant and morale can go south pretty fast,” he said.
Van Etten follows in the footsteps of Greg Murphy, bouchon’s executive chef for 13 years before moving to Ventura in March. For his long service and long notice of the plan to move, Murphy left under the best of terms. “I’m extremely grateful to him,” Sjerven said.
Van Etten also has reason for Murphy gratitude. He worked as a chef at nearby Petit Valentien for 14 years before deciding to try something else. “Maybe even construction,” Van Etten said. Then, out of the blue, came a call from Murphy. “Word was out on the street. That was nice.” And so, Van Etten came on board at bouchon, working his way up to sous chef and now exec.
The owner describes Van Etten’s style as less is more. “Inexperienced chefs try to compensate for their lack of experience with lots of ingredients.” Sjerven said. Such crutches “can lead to truffle oil on everything.”
To the contrary, Van Etten “just wants it to be correct,” Sjerven said. “He’s not pretentious. He avoids the trends, the items where the ingredients aren’t pronounceable. That aligns with my philosophy perfectly.”
The new chef de cuisine, Tavitian, is in tune too. “Vicken is great,” Sjerven said. “He’s been with me four years, and he’s really into food as well. His charge is to make sure every meal comes out right every time. He and Nate work very well together.”
What’s Van Etten’s favorite item to prepare at bouchon? “I love charcuterie,” he said. “And I really love slow-braised dishes, like pork shanks and short ribs. Things that take time I find I enjoy more.”
And then there are the experiences that takes all day. Those are the “Foodie Strolls,” during which a few diners accompany Van Etten on a ramble through a farmers’ market, watching him select items for that night’s menu. He brings a paring knife along, so strollers can taste the difference between, say, a regular tomato and an heirloom. Then that night they come to bouchon to dine on the ingredients they witnessed going into the wagon.
“A lot of people, surprisingly, don’t know how to cook at all,” Van Etten said. “It’s hard to fathom. They were just never taught to take the time and enjoy the process.” The Foodie Strolls truly show the “farm to plate aspect,” Van Etten said. “The connection and camaraderie and support of people who work hard to bring good produce to them.” (Van Etten said he was a shy person in the past, but the Strolls have “pushed me past that.”)
Van Etten’s restaurant career began at age 16, at a KFC in Manteca, CA. Now he’s 39 and the executive chef at the restaurant rated the best in Santa Barbara by many reviewers. The trick to thriving in the kitchen, is “keeping passionate about it,” he said. “When it becomes work it’s no good.” And like his ingredients, his goal is simple. “My goal is to be recognized as good at my job,” Van Etten said.
