Former "Top Chef" contestant Jesse Sandlin, 36, from Butchers Hill, fell in love with food at a young age and has been in the kitchen ever since.
Most recently, Sandlin worked as head chef at Oliver Speck's in Harbor East, which opened in July 2013 selling comfort food and barbecue, and closed in May. She will be at the Baltimore Farmers' Market from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Sunday to demonstrate how to make some delicious chocolate bacon treats, perfect for the holiday season. Or, you know, perfect for any season.
Sandlin recently talked to us about what she has been up to since Oliver Speck's closing and what she loves about being a chef.
You didn't go to culinary school. So how did you get into the cooking industry?
I started working in a little sub shop, a foot-long hot dog stand in Glen Burnie, when I was in high school, when I was 16, and I've just kind of worked in professional kitchens ever since. I kind of fell in love with food and the lifestyle and it's just kind of what I've always done.
What do you love about being a chef?
I love food in general. I love kind of the organized chaos of the kitchen and restaurants in general. I'm not very much a morning person so the hours suit me well. … I think there's also kind of a family sort of mentality in restaurants and that appeals to me on a lot of levels as well. Everybody kind of relies on each other, everybody plays their own part in making the place successful.
What can we expect from you at the Baltimore Farmers' Market on Sunday?
I am doing a demo of a bacon chocolate bark. When [farmers' market manager] Sandy Lawler contacted me to see if I would do something, she kind of wanted something that would be easily replicable for people in their homes so they could potentially give it out as a little gift or stocking stuffers or something like that. So that's why I decided on the bark because its super simple, its got bacon in it, and everyone loves that s---.
What are your favorite foods to cook and eat?
One of the reasons I'm doing the bacon thing is because I am a big fan of pork. You can do a lot with it and its always super-flavorful. And I really like to eat breakfast food, but I only cook it for myself. I'm not a fan of cooking brunch in a restaurant … but I feel like I could eat breakfast pretty much any time of the day or night as long as somebody else is making it for me.
What have you been up to since Oliver Speck's closed and what's ahead for you?
I have been working at Jack's Bistro in Canton. I help the chef and owner, Ted [Stelzenmuller]. He's a longtime friend of mine and luckily he kind of needed an extra hand in the kitchen. So I help him out a few days a week doing prep and I work on the floor as a server a few nights a week. And I don't know what's next. You know, I'm happy doing what I am now. I'm kind of taking some time for myself and spending time with family and all that stuff. What I'd ideally like is either a job in a small place that I can kind of be creative and do my own thing. Or if I can find a couple of investors, to get together a small spot of my own ... but you know, we'll see what happens.