Steven McHugh is from a large family – seven boys! – in a small Wisconsin town, far from the rich culinary tradition of New Orleans.

But his interest in the restaurant world started back on the farm, when he followed an older brother at age fourteen to work in a nearby tavern, washing dishes.  Within a year he had been elevated to short-order cook, flipping burgers and loving every minute of it.  A jazz saxophone scholarship got him to college, but he soon realized that he would rather study cooking – so he made his way to the Culinary Institute of America.  For his externship at the prestigious school, Steven requested a placement in New Orleans, where he figured that exposure to the jazz scene would be an enriching addition to his culinary experience.  He was right.  Upon graduating from the CIA, he got himself right back down to New Orleans, working with local Creole chef Chris Brown at Metro Bistro, as well as for Dickie Brennan and Ralph Brennan of the legendary family whose culinary empire has dominated the city’s restaurant world for generations. 

One evening, Steven and his wife went to dinner at John Besh’s restaurant, August.  He had, of course, been aware of the great impression this young chef was making around town -- and nationally.  He had heard talk about Besh’s new venture in the works, a steakhouse at Harrah’s Casino.  The meal was outstanding.  The next day he dropped off his résumé.  

As chef de cuisine at Besh Steak, Steven says John Besh “blew me away every day, planning the menus, working on the line, and just the way he thinks about cooking.”  And working at a casino meant learning a whole new corporate way of doing things – from being responsive to the regular client survey “report cards” issued to the restaurant, to accelerating the pace of the meals for high-rolling clientele anxious to get back to the gaming tables.  Steven enjoyed the challenge, and the innovative steakhouse cuisine he prepared in his open stainless steel kitchen.

When a morning sous chef position became available over at August in the spring of 2005, some might have questioned his eagerness to apply.  “To go from chef de cuisine to sous chef could be seen as a step down,” Steven admits, “but it all depends on the context:  I saw it as a chance to work in closer contact with John and all his creative energy.  August has the very highest standard of cooking, and I don’t mean just in New Orleans.  It’s where the action is.”  Steven was not disappointed.  In addition to handling the busy lunchtime at August, he was also put in charge of purchasing.  This, he explains, has been a real eye-opener.  “At most restaurants, menus are designed around the concept of cross-utilization of ingredients, for economy.  They also tend to buy as much as possible from as few vendors as possible, for efficiency.  Not John!  At August, no dish is a ‘by-product;” each dish is on the menu because John believes it should be on the menu – period.”  While there’s a lot to be said for watching labor hours and keeping costs in line, says Steven, at a restaurant like August, this seemingly backward practice of sourcing each ingredient from the best vendor and developing each dish individually pays off in the long run – because the sophisticated clientele appreciates the value.  As a chef, Steven appreciates the liberty of making food costs secondary to his main goal:  food brilliance. 

When Hurricane Katrina hit after Steven’s first few months at August, he and his wife spent an anxious month figuring out the next step.  They had just found an apartment in Chicago when the call came from John Besh: “Come back – we’re going to go for it.”  They were overjoyed.  Steven worked 20-hour days at Besh’s side, going through gallons of bleach in scrubbing out the kitchen, dining rooms, freezers.  As they prepared to re-open the restaurant, Besh won a contract to serve breakfasts to hundreds of FEMA workers. In the beginning, it was just the two of them, “a couple of fine-dining chefs slinging scrambled eggs for 600 - we didn’t know what we were doing!…” laughs Steven. 

As Chef de Cuisine at August, he relished the time he spent “in the trenches” serving the FEMA breakfasts.  Steven’s sense of connection to his adopted home has only been strengthened by the natural disaster, and jump-started his commitment to give back to the city that has given him so much.  He serves on the local Gretna farmers market committee and loves being there every Saturday morning.  “It’s great for me as a chef, but also as a member of the community,” says Steven.  “This morning I hung out with Jim Core, who supplies our heirloom tomatoes, met some other farmers, purveyors, neighbors, and politicians, all of them working together to affect this place where I live.  These local bonds are so important, and it’s reflected in the menus at all the Besh restaurants.” 

In March 2007, Steven moved again within the Besh Restaurant Group, becoming Executive Chef of the legendary La Provence, the Group’s recently acquired establishment in Lacombe, just across from Lake Ponchartrain on the North Shore.  Together, John Besh and Steven McHugh renovated the restaurant and created a menu together, respectfully keeping alive the spirit of the late Chef Chris Kerageorgiou, John’s mentor and friend.  One of the improvements they made to the extensive property is the addition of several acres of kitchen garden and a farmyard, to provide the freshest possible produce and small livestock for the menu: Steven McHugh, farmboy-turned-chef, was right at home again!