Like most talented chefs, Darren Weiss toiled away in others’ kitchens for years before opening his own spot, Café Catalina in Redondo Beach, Calif., in 2000. The restaurant was a humble one in a strip center with an upstairs kitchen from which he and a pair of servers fed 10 tables. As the chef-owner, the pressure was always on, but he loved being in charge.
Customers enjoyed the diminutive cafe and its ever-smiling chef, who they would learn was deaf but an excellent lip reader. Now bilateral cochlear implants have allowed Weiss to hear.
In its five-year run, Café Catalina drew solid reviews, which led others to discover the hidden restaurant. But as lines mounted at the door, customers got frustrated with the wait, and like a Yogi Berra saying come true, Weiss’ restaurant was so busy, no one went there anymore. Moving to a larger restaurant wasn’t an option financially, so he closed it and became an employee again for three years.
While executive chef at La Bahia Restaurant at the Horseshoe Bay Resort, Weiss moved to buy a struggling restaurant in tony Manhattan Beach, Calif., in 2007. The spot was a world removed from Café Catalina: a 65-seater perched on a scenic hill a half mile above the roiling Pacific and the town’s tourist-magnet pier.
When Darren’s Restaurant & Bar opened in Manhattan Beach that December, Weiss’s seasonal menu mirrored those of his past: inventive mélanges of tradition and imagination. Notable nibbles include sweet-and-spicy lobster chowder steeped in coconut broth, razor-thin slices of beet “carpaccio” sprinkled with pomegranate vinaigrette, and Pacific halibut cheeks with pancetta succotash. Weiss says he takes great care to pair boutique wines with his quirky food to yield tastes “I think are original.”
Calling your menu “fusion cuisine” doesn’t quite cover it. How would you describe it?
It’s all about world cuisines, balancing them and mixing them together. I like to describe my food as American with Mediterranean and Asian influences. It’s more contemporary, but at the same time very accessible.
As a chef-owner again, what’s most challenging for you?
Sometimes things just aren’t right in the kitchen, or it’s an off day for some reason. Maintaining a high standard is an ongoing job. It’s my responsibility to make sure that every dish is perfect, and if it’s not, find out what happened and fix it.
You began your cooking career without being able to hear. Were your bosses and co-workers patient in training you?
Usually, most of my bosses had patience with me. We also had preshift meetings with all the cooks where we could ask questions about what they wanted. It really wasn’t that difficult.
Did any chef take a personal interest in helping you? Yes, Alex Purroy, when I worked at the Stouffers Wailea Beach Resort [now the Renaissance] in Maui. He now owns Doce Lunas Restaurant in Kenwood, Calif.
BIOGRAPHY Title: chef-owner, Darren’s Restaurant, Manhattan Beach, Calif. Birth date: Nov. 29, 1967 Hometown: Playa del Rey, Calif. Education: Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, N.Y., 1996 graduate Career highlight: opening his own restaurant
Was your restaurant life different after your cochlear implantation in 2000?
It was difficult and very confusing at first. I heard so many new noises that it took me about two years to settle in with it. Now I am able to hear sizzling, the noise of china, silverware and glassware rattling and falling, and I hear people calling my name. Still, it’s sometimes kind of annoying for me to hear all the noises of the kitchen.
When the distraction becomes too much, what do you do?
I just turn them off. Most of the time I keep them on, but other times it can become very annoying when people are screaming.
How does the staff communicate back to you?
They just have to get my attention, speak slower and make sure I read their lips. They can tell me with their hands and their fingers which table to pick up. I also use vibrating pagers, much like the ones used to give to people while they wait for a table at a restaurant. Servers use the pagers to alert me that they’re coming to the kitchen to pick up plates.
Has your deafness challenged you in an industry so dependent on hearing?
For one, I have people in the kitchen who speak Spanish and English, so that’s difficult. But the most difficult thing is when we work on the line. To be able to say, “I need table five picked up,” isn’t always as easy as it seems.
When I call out to the kitchen, it sounds like I have a sore throat the way I have to scream so loud.
Since people who can’t hear have to have good eyes, some of the cooks get mad at me because I see everything. Not much gets by me.
Regarding safety, how does an employee let you know they’re coming near?
It’s very, very difficult to do kitchen work. It slows things down because I’m deaf. So they give me a tap on the back to let me know.
How did you gain your employees’ confidence despite your deafness?
They know my talent. But if they’re not sure of me and what I can do, I tell them to come talk to me. Knowing them better makes communication a lot easier. In the kitchen, there are no egos.
CHEF’S TIPS When making crab cakes, goat cheese is a great item for binding instead of mayonnaise. To broaden your food knowledge, eat at lots of other restaurants. Two favorites are Josie Restaurant and JiRaffe, both in Santa Monica, Calif.
Would you like to mentor other deaf persons in the kitchen?
Absolutely—if they were motivated to cook. I think I could be a positive example that you can do anything. It would be important for me to give other deaf people encouragement and education in the kitchen so they can pursue their love of cooking in any kitchen anywhere.
Personally, I’ve never really felt being hearing-impaired has been a detriment. My parents raised me in a way that didn’t highlight my disability. They encouraged me to interact like everyone else.
Wine is featured prominently in your restaurant: Who gets the credit for that?
I’m the sommelier, and choosing the perfect wine to accompany my food while also paying attention to guests’ preferences is a very rewarding job. Our wine list offers 98 different wines, plus we have a reserve list of 14 wines.
Got any favorites?
I love the New World-style wines, and our list features many smaller wineries from Italy, France, Spain, New Zealand, as well as California and Oregon wines. It’s not about a well-known brand name for me.
What led you to choose this facility?
I liked the location and the open space. We did quite a lot to the place when we remodeled, adding dark bamboo floors inside and travertine tiles outside on our heated patio. Also, we installed a removable partition that separates the dining room from the bar area. So, if you’re in the dining room, you enjoy more of a white-tablecloth-style experience without seeing the bar. My overall goal with Darren’s was to make it a welcoming comfortable place for everyone: warm colors, comfortable banquettes, padded bar stools…I think it’s working.
