Area chef worked his way through the ranks

Christopher Doeppenschmidt is the Valley’s own Anthony Bourdain.

The executive chef at Landsky & Brats likes “old style” restaurants, where chefs curse and throw things, where burns are thought of as battle scars, and where the kitchen staff is comprised of a rough and tumble gang of ex-cons, people living on the fringe and eccentrics.

“Working in the kitchen can get really intense,” Doeppenschmidt, 27, said. “You’re working like an athlete. You’re hot, sweaty, tensions get high.”

Doeppenschmidt learned that when working in the trenches the only way to make the line cooks get off your back is to beat them at their own game.

“It’s like a fraternity,” he said. “It’s like hazing. The only way to gain their respect is to work harder and faster.”

Kitchens in the Valley are calmer than the original Macaroni Grill in Leon Springs, Texas, where Doeppenschmidt cut his teeth. But those first experiences in an “old style” restaurant prepared Doeppenschmidt for the position he holds now. Doeppenschmidt has acquired a tough skin and a unique ability to work fast under pressure.

The love of cooking though he credits to his mom and his “tias.”

“I grew up in a neighborhood without kids, and I spent a lot of time with my mom and tias in the kitchen,” Doeppenschmidt said.

His aunts and mom were expert chefs that could turn ordinary Mexican dishes - like tamales - into scrumptious, decadent meals. Even today with all the training and experience Doeppenschmidt has, he still gets a little nervous when he walks into the kitchen to prepare a meal for his family.

“I feel a little intimidated by them sometime,” he said. “They’re great cooks.”

Doeppenschmidt began cooking at 14. His first job was at the Long Shot Sports Bar and Grill in McAllen. He started working there as a busboy. Then a dishwasher and then worked his way onto the line. It wasn’t love at first sight, but Doeppenschmidt found that he had a passion for cooking.

When it came time for college though, music outweighed cooking. But he needed some extra spending money so he started working at the Outback Steak House in San Marcus. That restaurant pulled in more than $180,000 a week and was always busy. It was Doeppenschmidt’s first experience with a high volume restaurant, and he loved the adrenaline rush.

That experience, along with an eventful trip to Walt Disney World sealed the deal for Doeppenschmidt and made him finally decide that a career in cooking was his future. He and a friend had been accepted into the cooking internship at Walt Disney World, but Doeppenschmidt decided not to attend.

On a family trip to “The Most Magical Place on Earth” Doeppenschmidt met up with his friend, and applied for the advanced culinary program. He was accepted and was stationed at Epcot Center, where he learned to cook food from around the world.

Doeppenschmidt learned a lot at the program but he concedes “when you’re part of the magic; it disappears.”

After working at a number of “old style” restaurants, Doeppenschmidt moved back to the Valley and rounded out his culinary experience by working as a bartender, bar manager, server, and assistant manager at a number of Valley restaurants before settling in at Landsky & Brats.

“I like to start at the bottom,” he said. “It makes people see that you deserve to be there. It makes it a lot easier.”

Paige Lauren Deiner covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4425. For this and other local stories, visit www.themonitor.com.