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.”
