Grace Chapel

I received a nice thank you note from the folks at Grace Chapel.

United Church of Christ Event

I received a nice thank you letter from the Scottsdale Congretational United Church of Christ.
One of the best parts of working and living in this community is spending some time with the local churches and charities. One of the reasons that I close the cafe on Sunday is not just so that my employees can have a day of rest, but so that we can be active in the local religious community, not just our own churches, but the churches of our neighbors and customers and the folks we see at the grocery store. Where I live in South Scottsdale is an older neighborhood, a place where people still go for walks together and help each other out with home projects.

The Renovation Is Nearly Done -- Before...

During the fourth quarter of 2005, we completed a major renovation of our restaurant, which will be complete by the beginning of 2006. Already, we have completed new paint, floors, tables & chair, and a general upgrade to the space. As many of you know, we also rented the space next door, and we will be adding some seating capacity to our restaurant next year. We are still working on the plans and permits, and we hope to do all the work on the weekends in the Spring.

For historical purposes, below are a couple of photos of the cafe before the renovating and adding the new space.

2004 - Phoenix Magazine - Best of the Valley

In July of 2004, we were notified that we received a "Best of the Valley" award in Phoenix Magazine for the Simple Chef Cafe. We attended a gala reception with other award winners and were written up in Phoenix Magazine.

Related Phoenix Magazine Article

Best SoSco PitstopThe Simple Chef: South Scottsdale gets a bad rap, but this graceful older neighborhood has far more sophistication than most people will allow. The Simple Chef reflects the situation perfectly. Small and unpretentious, it doesn’t look like much on the outside, but it’s got heart and soul, turning out yummy (and often sophisticated) salads, sandwiches, sweets and simple breakfasts for locals who know a good thing when they see it. And for those who think the address is unfashionable, too bad. They’ll never know the joys of Suzanne’s Spinach Salad or the amazing Dr. Evil. 2910 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale, 480-941-7200

2004 - The Simple ChefMobile

Although I have a love-hate personal relationship with my car, the business relationship with the ChefMobile is great. It has a big window on the back for advertising, huge storage area inside for doing those catering jobs, and about twice as good in the gas mileage department compared to an SUV with this much storage. Now that gas is more than $2.50 a gallon, and I am driving all over for catering jobs, the love-hate relatinship is leaning a bit more on the love side.

2001 - Flavors of Phoenix

In 2001, my last year with Robert McGrath, I was delighted to assist at the "Flavors of Phoenix" event, a $300 per plate black tie benefit featuring some of the area's best chefs. Each of the chefs signed the poster below to commemorate the event.

2001 - Gregory's World Bistro

One of my favorite chefs, friends, and mentors in the Scottsdale culinary scene is Gregory Casale who started Gregory's Grill and Gregory's World Bistro. Chef Casale is now the executive chef at T Cooks, and in 2001, I had the pleasure of working with him at Gregory's World Bistro prior to his return to the corporate restaurant scene.

1986 - Top NY Newsday Paperboy

If you only get 15 minutes of fame, then I had mine when I was 11 years old as the top NY Newsday delivery boy.

So, what does this have to do with being a chef? Well, actually, everything. Because of this advertisement, I developed a reputation for being the hardest working kid in my neighborhood, and shortly afterwards, the owner of a local New York pizzeria recruited me to work in his kitchen cranking out pizzas as fast as his ovens could cook them.

About Chef Eric Guerin

The Simple Chef

The ChefGuerin.com blog is about simple foods, made with the freshest ingredients, prepared by folks who love to cook and entertain, and who do it for a living. On this site, I will be talking about my food, which is my personal artistic contribution to the world (or at least one little corner of the world). So, this blog is about ingredients, recipes, catering, presentation, all of the culinary arts.
I own the Simple Chef Cafe in Scottsdale, Arizona. After an exciting ride in the culinary world, working with some of the best chefs on the planet, cooking at some of the finest five-star five-diamond restaurants and resorts, in 2003, I decided to hang up my "fancy" chef's hat, and I opened a up a neighborhood cafe in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Why a cafe? Well, it goes back to my earliest work experience at neighborhood restaurants in Long Island, you know, local pizzerias, a slice and a drink for two bucks. At the better pie joints, you see the same faces several times a week, and if the pizza is really good, you had long lines, because everybody in the neighborhood came in, and if the lines got too long, people ordered to go, and if your pizza was over-the-top, then some people ordered a dozen pizzas for their parties. Well, obviously, our pies were pretty dang good, and NY has become somewhat famous for their pizzas these days, and several of the best pizzerias in Arizona now claim NY origins.

Originally, I developed the concept for the cafe with a friend who since put his fancy chef's hat back on and returned to New York City (traitor!). We started by asking ourselves what five-star restaurants would serve for lunch if they were open for lunch (most are not). I love salads made with 100% fresh ingredients, so I started there, and then added cool lunch stuff like wraps and paninis. We cook everything on-site, including spicing, brining, marinating, baking, and slicing the lunch meats. Then we added some breakfasts, most of them healthy, plus a burrito bomb for people wanting to carb-up before heading to the gym next door. Finally, we added soups and dinner entrees, again 100% fresh -- the only things we do not make in the cafe are the breads and cheeses.

So, the first cafe is doing pretty well. We have lines during lunch, and I have rented the space next door to increase the seating next year. Lots of people order food to go, and for some of the people who workout at the gym, we prepare three-meals-a-day to go. And, some of the local businesses order lunches for dozens of people at a time, plus we cater parties, etc. We now have a bunch of business people who come to town and want to order boxed lunches for meetings with clients, and they want something nice, so they come to us.

I would say 100% fresh is going well. So, what's on the horizon? Well, actually a lot, but I will save that for future blog entries.

If you want to learn more about me and my career, you can visit my Chef's Profile at the restaurant site, www.SimpleChefCafe.com/chef.htm. Or you can search "chef eric guerin" on the web, but if it says that I am cooking at a restaurant in France, that guy is an imposter! I cooked in England for awhile, but never in France.

Oh, and if you want to email me, send it to eric at simplechefcafe.com.