At the helm of Nottoway Plantation’s new upscale eatery, The Mansion, is Chef David Reyes, a Chicago native with a love for Old World cuisine and local ingredients, who’s hoping to lure Baton Rougeans with dishes like duck confit, lacquered veal with marrow on toast and ricotta gnudi. The ambitious young chef and his team have installed a sprawling herb garden and citrus grove to support a rustic, seasonal menu that changes every few weeks.
Reyes’ culinary chops were honed in Humboldt Park, a northwest Chicago neighborhood known for gangs and violence. The area has been gentrified today, but in the ’80s when he was young, it wasn’t unusual for school kids to take cover at the sound of gunshots. “I remember a drive-by happening during recess when I was in kindergarten,” says Reyes, 27, adding that cooking became his hobby since he wasn’t allowed to play outside much. The neighborhood was also the site of sterling ethnic fare, particularly Latin American and Asian. Reyes’ family, led by his Mexican immigrant grandfather, ran restaurants and a catering company. It gave him a chance to cook for the masses. More nuanced meals were concocted at home for his relatives. “I thought it was an honor to prepare food for the family,” he recalls.
The bug sent him to the culinary arts program at Chicago’s Kendall College, from which he graduated last year. His cooking school tenure included internships at a major resort in Puerto Vallarta and a Michelin-starred restaurant in Toulouse, France. Last May, he was awarded the grand prize and a $20,000 scholarship in the national Kraft Foods 2008 Chefs of Grey Poupon Student Culinary Competition for his original recipe, Dijon Surf and Turf in a New World Romesco Sauce.
