Last week I was shooting the breeze with Amador Mora, the chef at Maximo. We talked about the 24 years he spent working his way up the ranks of the kitchen at the Mansion on Turtle Creek. Before he started working at the Mansion, he was a dishwasher at S&D Oyster. “It was 1979 and I needed another part-time job,” he said. “So I stopped by the construction site of the Mansion and got a job as a construction worker.” Mora literally built the restaurant and then moved inside to be the daytime dishwasher.
Mora started hanging out with the prep guys and asked them to teach him how to use a knife. At one point he was prepping alongside Dean Fearing (saucier), Kevin Ascolese (tournant), and Richard Chamberlain (grillardin). I sent Richard Chamberlain a note asking him to verify the scenario and he sent these pictures.
Dallas is unique—we have a nice community of chefs who have worked together at various times and places and still spend time with each other. They also devote a lot of time, product, and energy to charitable organizations. I bet there are a lot more pictures like these out there. Chefs, if you have a story, share it.
