When you’re a 12-year-old boy whose parents work full-time,
and you come home hungry after a sports regimen, raiding the fridge is to be
expected. Craig Gerwick took that scenario a bit further though.
“I was on the swim team, and I ‘d be starving,” Craig said.
“So I started cooking out of necessity.” Eventually, that experience led to a
career as a professional chef.
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| Craig Gerwick at a banquet |
As a youth, Craig learned how to read recipes and experiment
with spices. “Curry, fennel, anise seed, caraway, they all have their own
taste,” he said. He also learned that adding just a little more cayenne wasn’t
always a good idea. Under the tutelage of his mom, Clara Gerwick, Craig’s
knowledge of cooking continued to grow and improve.
He got a job at what was then Nall Hills Country Club as a
dishwasher when he was 12, and a couple of years later became a waiter. At age
15, he was working two jobs, cooking at both the country club and a nursing
home. Though he was still a student at Shawnee Mission South High School, Craig
got out at noon on a work release, enabling him to work both places.
After high school, Craig attended the new hospitality
management program at Johnson County Community College. While there, he learned
a good deal more about cooking, as well as gaining the valuable experience of
how to manage a staff and run a kitchen.
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| One of Craig's appetizers |
He completed that program, and then elected to be trained at
the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. “It was hands-on cooking the
day I got there,” Craig said. He learned how to be a Garde Manger chef, which
is considered by many to be the most demanding station/job in any kitchen. It
involves learning how to season both hot and cold food, being aware of sanitation,
plate presentation, buffet decorating, becoming skilled in ice carvings, and
basically how to put different kinds of food together in the tastiest and
freshest ways.
The training also included working a cruise line for three
months at a time. “You work 10 hours a day, cooking for 2,000 every shift,”
Craig said. “I was only off ship for two hours a day.” Craig said that getting
used to the movement of a ship took some practice, and that the first storm was
especially challenging. He described a time when he was carrying a pot of stock
and vegetables that weighed 50 to 60 pounds, when a swell came, causing him to
lose his footing. The pot landed squarely on his chest, a painful experience,
but thankfully not as bad as it could have been if the stock had been heated.
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| Craig Gerwick busy cooking |
Craig said that in his class of 150, only 18 graduated. “You
know the show ‘Hell’s Kitchen?’ ” Craig said. “Multiply Gordon Ramsey by eight
chefs doing that all day. They try to belittle you but at the same time teach
you.” It took quite a bit of stamina to put up with that day after day.
After Craig graduated from the culinary institute, he found
it necessary to get what he called a “working chef license” from the American
Culinary Federation. Finally, he was ready for a career. He worked four years
for a hotel chain, 16-hour days, managing a staff of 12, cooking for as many as
5,000 people for conventions, receptions and the like. He followed this with a five-year stint at an
upscale senior living facility that was then at 119th and Lamar in Overland
Park. “They were looking for good quality food,” Craig said, rather than the
bland stuff you might imagine. Next, he consulted with his family’s health care
organization, C&L Gerwick Associates, helping with menus, purchasing and
more.
It was during this time that he met his wife, Brenda. “She
was selling quality pork,” Craig said, which meant he saw her regularly because
their jobs intersected. Since Brenda lived in Des Moines, Iowa, they dated long
distance for a couple of years before marrying in 1999.
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| Brenda Gerwick |
In 2008, Craig started a catering company with a partner,
but bought him out a couple of years later. The name of his company is Culinary
Crossroads, www.culinarycrossroads.co/.
It provides appetizers, salads, breakfast and dinner buffets, boxed lunches and
desserts. Perhaps you’ve had some of Craig’s chicken tortilla soup, or potato
soup, or beef vegetable soup at a Holy Cross Lenten supper.
Craig was also familiar with barbecued and smoked meats,
having competed in the Great Lenexa BBQ Battle from 1990 to 2005. Eventually,
he branched out with his own company, Orchard Pit BBQ, which offers a variety
of smoked meats and gift boxes.
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| Orchard Pit BBQ meat presentation |
The best praise Craig receives is the raves from satisfied
customers. “I like to see people going wild,” he said. “I did a wedding for 262
people. The food is always fresh. There’s always plenty of food. The vegetables
are green and vibrant; the brisket is tender, smoked.”
Looking ahead, Craig hopes to expand from operating on-line
into opening his own storefront catering company and butcher shop. He envisions
a place where people could come in and buy meat, and he could offer recipes and
tips on how best to serve it.
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| Craig Gerwick |
He has some advice for anyone seeking to follow the same
path. “I wish I would have started it earlier,” Craig said, “because it takes a
toll on knees and wrists.” He also says that you should never walk around with
a knife in your hand, but if you do, make sure it’s sharp, because a cut from a
dull knife takes a lot longer to heal.
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