Food: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Damien Eftekhar is an experienced and versatile Executive Chef. He has a proven history of revenue-generating product development, R&D, Quality Assurance and customer relations in the food production industry. Damien got into the industry because he truly enjoys it and is skilled in a wide array of aspects therein from Product Development and Project Management through to Menu Engineering and cooking. He is a strong, customer-focused professional with a Bachelor of Science focused in Business/Management from University of Phoenix and an Associates Degree in Culinary Arts from Kendall College, Chicago, Illinois.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• Damien’s grandfather’s unique journey that influenced his father’s life outlook

• Why Damien loves the food industry

• Damien’s kitchen career in Chicagoland restaurants

• The difference between a chef and a cook

• How there is beauty in even the uglier aspects of food

• The kinds of gruelling hours and work that kitchens demand

• How the highs and lows of chef careers are comparable to entrepreneurial attitudes

• What Damien believes will drive the food industry recovery from COVID

• Damien’s hopes for the future of food service and hospitality workers

In this episode….

Damien Eftekhar grew up with a multi-cultural background courtesy of a grandfather who was ambassador to the Shah of Iran. His grandfather took Damien’s father with him to places like Baghdad, Madrid, Rome, and Paris so when his father met and married his mother, a Michigan farm girl, he infused the family with a love of culture, food, and learning. Damien studied liberal arts in college but found he didn’t love it so he took a few years off then started working in restaurants as server and bartender before moving on to work in “busy nasty brutal kitchen” where he discovered he loved every minute of it. So he went to Culinary School and, quote, “I’ve found my calling”.

Damien doesn’t work in the food industry for money or even a love of food, though he does love food: instead his primary drive is making people happy and he believes that food can make the most people happy. He has actively sought out any and all kitchen experiences he could have, from French and Italian to seafood restaurants, and all manner of fine dining kitchens. It was when he married and became a stepfather that he moved from restaurants to a corporate chef career so he could have more time to spend with his family.

In this episode of What CEOs Talk About, host Martin Hunter and chef Damien Eftekhar discuss how much he enjoyed learning in difficult kitchen environments and relate many of his stressful chef experiences and fifteen hour days to the same highs and lows of entrepreneurship. They dive into why Damien believes restaurants will bounce back after COVID, how there’s beauty even in fast food, and Damien’s hope that hospitality industry workers will get both more respect and better pay going forward.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• URGEO

• Contact email: info@urgeo.com

• Martin Hunter on LinkedIn

• Damien Eftekhar on LinkedIn

• Damien Eftekhar on Facebook

• Damien Eftekhar on Instagram: cheftekarcatering

• Campagnola Restaurant (Chicago)

• Pampered Chef

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