I'm No. 9

That's right. The Chef Kevin moniker is slowly slipping away. I've been called Chef Kevin for as long as I can remember. Ok, since my return from culinary school. I think credit for that goes to John Valentine, owner of Panache. He introduced me to everyone as Chef Kevin and it stuck. (Odd, though, I was never introduced to Accountant Bill, Nurse Amy, construction worker Steve, pharmaceutical rep Stacy...you get the drift). Even though I haven't really cooked "for real" (as some people put it) for almost 3 years, I'm still "Chef Kevin".

But now, I'm getting called Number 9. Huh? Why you ask?

There is a free Peoria area entertainment guide covering music, art, culture, etc. in Peoria. It is called Numero. It's been around for several months, I believe. On the inside of the back cover, there is a two page feature called "10 Things I Crave" (which I'm thinking means a. something anyone can buy, enjoy, etc. 2. It's available in Peoria.) This month's interviewee is Joe Metzka ..the extremely talented local guitarist\vocalist...and a personal friend of mine. I'm number 9 on his list because of my cooking prowess. And probably my wine knowledge. I get credit from him that I got him to eat steak medium rare and drink those monster 15% alcohol Zinfandels and old Bordeaux. Oh, and maybe Cabo Wabo Tequila. ("Face down in Cabo, baby, kissin' the ground!" - Thanks, Sammy.)

Yeah, I'm still out there cooking on occasion so I guess I fit into the above criteria. However, Joe & Cherie (Mrs. Joe) are probably my number 1 & 2 guinea pigs when my mind goes beserk, comes up with some new creation and I need an audience (Ummm....tasting panel) so they get the very creative side of Chef Kevin ... and a bottle of 1994 Leoville Barton or 1998 Torbreck "The Steading" to wash it down. Not that many people get the "untamed, unleased, un-Peoriaitized" version of Chef Kevin so I'm thinking that what the magazine wanted (what most people can find, eat and enjoy) vs. what Joe was thinking (Chef Kevin culinary madman creations) were two different things.
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Actually, I'm honored. I could think of a lot more things that I thot would have made Joe's top 10 list instead of me. Someday, when he is hugely famous, I hope he needs a personal chef.

For those of you who don't know him, he does a lot of jazz and blues gigs around the Peoria area. But, I've heard him do a classical piece or two, can break into C&W, knows quite a bit of "hairbanger '80's" stuff, does some Prince tunes and well, to the dismay of the rest of the audience one night was joking around playing some "VanHagar" intos. I've heard him rip into his Strat or Gibson 335 that would make SRV or Jimmy grin and almost brought me to tears doing a very Ray Charles-like (read slow & exhausted from the road sounding) version of Silent Night. He does mostly covers, but is in the studio now working on his first originals CD.

Every now and then, we put our collective talents together and do a Joe & Kevin "show". He plays, I cook (and we try our best not to switch roles), guests are usually thrilled. Unfortunately, we don't do it enough.

So, I'm still Chef Kevin and I guess I'll have to start responding to "Hey, Number 9"!

See you around the table.....