My compliments to the chef

Jeff Walker
Published: July 1, 2008

Now that school is out, I wanted to reflect on a number of young people whom I felt deserve a public acknowledgement of their unique talents, hard work and creativity.

Today, I give my compliments to the chef and his staff.

The grand tradition of working your way through school is alive and well for many of our Culpeper County High School students. CJ’s Ice Cream, Country Cookin’, the movie theater, Blockbuster and Wal-Mart all have CCHS students punching in. Others labor at their family businesses, or on the farm.

One lucky group of Blue Devils has a guardian angel to guide them through their classes as well as their work schedule: The students of Jasper Morton.
Don’t know the name “Jasper Morton?” That’s because the moniker “Chef Jazz” has such a great ring to it.

The participants in Chef Jazz’s culinary arts classes look to him as their teacher and supervisor. He is their coach and their boss. And from what I’ve seen, I would stack his workers up against any restaurant or catering staff.

I hope you have seen them in action and tasted their handiwork. If you have not had the opportunity, please make sure that you do. If a neighbor says, “Chef Jazz is doing our anniversary party” or “The culinary arts students are preparing the picnic” — run, don’t walk, to the serving line.

These young men and women are not just great cooks and food preparers. As my friend Kathy Walsh pointed out, these students deserve praise for other reasons as well.
Kathy recently had Jazz and his students do her daughter’s wedding reception at the Depot. My wife and I were lucky enough to be among the guests.

Jazz and his staff did, indeed, prepare a wonderful meal. Mandarin orange-glazed chicken, roast beef, roasted mini-potatoes and other delights. Since it was a wedding, there was a magnificent cake, with layers of chocolate, white and spice. The butter cream truly was the icing on the cake.

You may say, “A wedding reception? They did what any good catering service would do.”

Yep, but on this particular Saturday, Jazz and his Blue Devil caterers prepared much of the food and worked on setting up everything during one of our blackouts. They were without power for much of the day of the reception.

And they still got the job done.

During the reception, serving and refilling the drinks, taking care of the food, and seeming to enjoy it all, Jazz’s crew did not let a power outage get in the way of their job. They were courteous, professional, and carried themselves like seasoned veterans of the food industry.

This recent wedding is just one example of their expertise. Throughout the year, Jazz and his crew provide food and service for a variety of school events and outside catering gigs, at which they time and again conduct themselves like ladies and gentlemen.

I also admire the fact that our resident “celebrity” chef provides these students with opportunities to prove themselves and work their way up into supervisory positions within his program. Two seniors this year each had the role of serving manager and behind-the-scenes kitchen manager, according to Jazz. At the Eastern View High School dedication, the chef said they were his right and left hands and he was sorry to see them go.

No matter where Jazz’s graduates end up attending school or working, they will be well prepared with a work ethic and a pride in their work that is sometimes rare in today’s younger work force.

Jeff Walker is an independent columnist who lives in Culpeper. He appears every other Wednesday in the Star-Exponent. E-mail walker_