When most in those situations would break down, “Andy would always remain calm. After making you recognize your mistake, he’d immediately say ‘try it this way,’ and everything would continue to run smoothly,” said Rusty Anderson, chef de cuisine at Big Bad Breakfast and co-worker/friend of McCown.
The respect co-workers like Anderson have for McCown is a product of his work in the kitchen.
“I was into it the first few years, then I went to school and always planned to get out of it,” he said. “I never meant for this to be a career.”
McCown stayed because of Currence and Bhatt, both past recipients of the James Beard Award for Best Chef: South. A change in attitude towards food came when McCown began to work more closely with Currence and Bhatt, particularly with prep work, as well as traveling.
After transitioning from the daily grind of being a chef de partie, or line cook, McCown had the eye-opening experience of “seeing dishes from start to finish.”
“That’s when it became a lot more interesting to me,” he said. “Then I started doing research on my own, and I got to travel a bit with John and Vish. That was pretty inspiring to see other people who took [food] seriously.”
Bhatt said McCown has always been a great worker.
“His speed on the line and attention to detail, getting the dishes right, always stood out to us,” Bhatt said.
That attention to detail is an x-factor when working with pastry preparation, which doesn’t allow for on-the-fly improvisation that can be done with savory food. Recipes often measure in the metric system and require more exact measurements like grams that can’t be easily measured through a “pinch” or “handful.”
The seemingly difficult transition from savory to sweet “has been surprisingly fun,” said McCown. “It’s something new, and I can feel myself getting better at it.”
McCown has the tall task of not only preparing dessert menus for two restaurants (City Grocery and Snackbar), but has to change it up every five to six weeks to stay on pace with what ingredients are in season and the changing menus at the two respective restaurants.
To get inspiration for new menu dishes, McCown will usually “take a look at the restaurants, determine what their style is, and then craft dishes that cater to that style.”
“I try to keep it simple, maybe have some tweaks here and there, think about flavors I know go well from savory foods, and apply that to sweet,” he said.
Further inspiration comes from his mother, his wife, who is also a baker, and the works of critically-acclaimed American Chef Nancy Silverton, who is credited with helping popularize sourdough and artisan breads in the U.S.
But, “more than anything, I’ll just daydream and then Google and see if [the food] is actually something, and just go from there,” said McCown.
While patience and attention to detail have always been present, since starting a family of his own, “He’s so much more focused now more that ever, and that’s a product of caring, both for the food he cooks and the family he cares for,” says Bhatt.
What is McCown’s next goal?
“I’m just trying to get better at techniques for now, and I’ll take care of everything else later,” he said.
Although he’s been described as intense, McCown offered advice for the kitchen and life.
“From what I’ve seen, people let ego make things more frustrating than they should be,” he said. “It’s best to leave that at the door and remember it’s just food; you’re not a rockstar.
“Just have fun. Don’t take yourself too seriously, because that makes everything more frustrating. I’d probably say that about anything.”