"I wanted certain things a certain way," says the 37-year-old executive chef of the Oceanaire Seafood Room in The Shops at Riverside in Hackensack. He'd question his mother if, say, the lasagna tasted a little different on a given day.
The Hawthorne native started his career at Houston's (in the same Hack- ensack mall) as a bartender part-time for four years while completing his bachelor's degree in culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. After graduation, he completed the management training program at the Hillstone Restaurant Group (Houston's parent company) and was transferred to the Rutherford Grill in Napa Valley, Calif., where he was the assistant kitchen manager (similar to a sous chef). A year later he was transferred to the Hillstone Restaurant in New York City, where he was also assistant kitchen manager, before leaving the company in 2006 for the executive chef position at Halcyon Brasserie, a fine-dining spot in Montclair.
He worked there for a year before opening his own restaurant, the Red Hen Bistro in Wood-Ridge but sold the 35-seat French-American bistro three years later and became executive chef at the Oceanaire Seafood Room in September 2013.
Here, he talks about how to cook seafood, the key to a perfect lobster, and why he loves ramen noodles.
The secret to cooking seafood: Realizing that what you are cooking is very delicate. You have to approach it with medium heat and less [cook time], and when you pair it with flavors, be careful not to mask the essence of the fish. I try never to make fish with pasta dishes that have very robust, tomato sauces; it's like you're eating two different things.
Favorite fish: Skate wing. The taste is very buttery, almost steak-like. That with some dark winter greens is just phenomenal.
Toughest dish to cook at my restaurant: The hash browns. You have to have good technique to flip them over. Not everybody can pull it off.
Key to cooking a perfect lobster: Knowing the weight of the lobster tail, because that's going to tell you how many minutes it goes in the steamer or pot — it's about a minute per ounce. A 1 1/4-pound lobster usually has a six-ounce tail, so you want to go six to seven minutes.
Guilty pleasure: In college, my wife put me onto cheap, packaged, really spicy ramen noodles. One of those and an egg cracked into it, I'm in heaven. It's great.
Simplest tip to improve home cooking: It's always fine to start with high flame to warm up your pan, but the minute the protein or vegetables hit the pan, you should lower it to medium. Even when you want to sear something: If you leave it on high, you'll over-caramelize the surface, and the inside probably won't yet be cooked.
What diners would be surprised to learn about chefs: That we are a lot less intense when we're out to eat. I just want to eat something and enjoy it – I don't want to take it apart.
Favorite local restaurant: Café Matisse in Rutherford. Chef Peter Loria has a way of being playful with flavors … I can almost close my eyes and point [at the menu], it's always great.
How I know I'm being ripped off in a restaurant: When you get a luxury item at a price that's too good to be true, you have to wonder, because good food is expensive. It happens a lot unfortunately with scallops.
My culinary hero: My executive sous-chef Justin Manzi. Working with him is a pleasure — as soon as we start talking about food, it's energizing, and it creates such a good energy. And that's necessary to work in a kitchen.
More info: The Oceanaire Seafood Room, The Shops at Riverside, 390 Hackensack Ave.; 201-343-8862; the oceanaire.com. Appetizers: $6 to $37; entrées: $22 to $60.
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http://www.northjersey.com/food-and-dining-news/dining-news/chef-carlos-valdez-of-oceanaire-in-hackensack-talks-on-cooking-lobster-and-ramen-noodles-1.1263930
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